I Ching Readings

☯ From the I Ching, 50. Ting / The Caldron - 鼎

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Above: Li - The Clinging, Fire
Below: Sun - The Gentle, Wind/Wood

The six lines construct the image of Ting, THE CALDRON; at the bottom are the legs, over them the belly, then come the ears (handles), and at the top the carrying rings. At the same time, the image suggests the idea of nourishment. The ting, cast of bronze, was the vessel that held the cooked viands in the temple of the ancestors and at banquets. The heads of the family served the food from the ting into the bowls of the guests. THE WELL (48)
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likewise has the secondary meaning of giving nourishment, but rather more in relation to the people. The ting, as a utensil pertaining to a refined civilization, suggests the fostering and nourishing of able people, which redounded to the benefit of the state.
This hexagram and THE WELL are the only two in the Book of Changes that represent concrete, human-made objects. Yet here too the thought has its abstract connotation.
Sun, below, is wood and wind; Li, above, is flame. Thus together they stand for the flame kindled by wood and wind, which likewise suggests the idea of preparing food.

☯ THE JUDGMENT
THE CALDRON. Supreme good fortune.
Success.
While THE WELL relates to the social foundation of our life, and this foundation is likened to the water that serves to nourish growing wood, the present hexagram refers to the cultural superstructure of society. Here it is the wood that serves as nourishment for the flame, the spirit. All that is visible must grow beyond itself, extend into the realm of the invisible. Thereby it receives its true consecration and clarity and takes firm root in the cosmic order.
Here we see civilization as it reaches its culmination in spirituality. The ting serves in offering sacrifice to the divine -- for which the highest earthly values must be sacrificed. But the truly divine does not manifest itself apart from people. The supreme revelations of the divine might be revealed within any of us, and to venerate those revelations is the veneration of the will of the divine; and should be accepted in humility. This brings inner enlightenment and true understanding of the world, and leads to great good fortune and success.

☯ THE IMAGE
Fire over wood:
The image of THE CALDRON.
Thus the superior person consolidates their fate
By making their position correct.
The fate of fire depends on wood; as long as there is wood below, the fire burns above. It is the same in human life; there is, in people, likewise a fate that lends power to their lives. And if they succeed in assigning the right place to life and to fate, thus bringing the two into harmony, they put their fate on a firm footing. These words contain hints about fostering of life as handed on by oral tradition in the secret teachings of Chinese yoga.

Notes:
1) A Ting is a ritual vessel. It is somewhat different than a cauldron or crucible, so the word Ting has been used above where feasible.
2) The other three hexagrams dealing with nourishment are 5: Hsü/Waiting (Nourishment), 27: I/The Corners of the Mouth (Providing Nourishment) and 48: Ching/The Well.
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Your consultation might include the hexagram Ting/The Cauldron, and a whole lot more. Send a message to-day to schedule a reading, and see what the Book of Changes has in store for you!
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Pic: Fire over Wood. Michaux State Forest, PA; June 2016.

☯ From the I Ching, #48. Ching/The Well

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Above: K'an - The Abysmal, Water
Below: Sun - The Gentle, Wind/Wood

Wood is below, water above. The wood goes down into the earth to bring up water. The image derives from the pole-and-bucket well of ancient China. The wood represents not the buckets, which in ancient times were made of clay, but rather the wooden poles by which the water is hauled up from the well. The image also refers to the world of plants, which lift water out of the earth by means of their fibers.
The well from which water is drawn conveys the further idea of an inexhaustible dispensing of nourishment.

☯ THE JUDGMENT
THE WELL. The town may be changed,
But the well cannot be changed.
It neither decreases nor increases.
They come and go and draw from the well.
If one gets down almost to the water
And the rope does not go all the way,
Or the jug breaks, it brings misfortune.
In ancient China the capital cities were sometimes moved, partly for the sake of more favorable location, partly because of a change in dynasties. The style of architecture changed in the course of centuries, but the shape of the well has remained the same from ancient times to this day. Thus the well is the symbol of that social structure which, evolved by mankind in meeting its most primitive needs, is independent of all political forms. Political structures change, as do nations, but the life of humans with its needs remains eternally the same - this cannot be changed. Life is also inexhaustible. It grows neither less nor more; it exists for one and for all. The generations come and go, and all enjoy life in its inexhaustible abundance.
However, there are two prerequisites for a satisfactory political or social organization of humankind. We must go down to the very foundations of life. For any merely superficial ordering of life that leaves its deepest needs unsatisfied is as ineffectual as if no attempt at order had ever been made.
Carelessness -- by which the jug is broken -- is also disastrous. If, for instance, the military defense of a state is carried to such excess that it provokes wars by which the power of the state is annihilated, this is a breaking of the jug.
This hexagram applies also to the individual. However people may differ in disposition and in education, the foundations of human nature are the same in everyone. And every human being can draw in the course of their education from the inexhaustible wellspring of the divine in their nature. But here likewise two dangers threaten: a person may fail in their education to pe*****te to the real roots of humanity and remain fixed in convention -- a partial education of this sort is as bad as none -- or they may suddenly collapse and neglect their self-development.

☯ THE IMAGE
Water over wood: the image of THE WELL.
Thus the superior person encourages the people at their work,
And exhorts them to help one another.
The trigram Sun, wood, is below, and the trigram K'an, water, is above it. Wood sucks water upward. Just as wood as an organism imitates the action of the well, which benefits all parts of the plant, the superior person organizes human society, so that, as in a plant organism, its parts co-operate for the benefit of the whole.
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Your consultation might include the hexagram Ching/The Well, and a whole lot more. Send a message to-day to schedule a reading, and see what the Book of Changes has in store for you!
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Pic: Water over wood. Pine Grove State Park, PA; August 2020.

☯ From the I Ching, # 45. Ts'ui / Gathering Together (Massing)

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Above: Tui - The Joyous, Lake
Below: K'un - The Receptive, Earth

This hexagram is related in form and meaning to #8 - Pi, Holding Together:
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In the latter, water is over the earth; here a lake is over the earth. But since the lake is a place where water collects, the idea of gathering together is even more strongly expressed here than in the other hexagram. The same idea also arises from the fact that in the present case it is two strong lines (the fourth and the fifth) that bring about the gather together, whereas in the former case one strong line (the fifth) stands in the midst of weak lines.

☯THE JUDGMENT
GATHERING TOGETHER. Success.
The ruler approaches their temple.
It furthers a person to see the great one.
This brings success. Perseverance furthers.
To bring great offerings creates good fortune.
It furthers one to undertake something.
The gathering together of people in large communities is either a natural occurrence, as in the case of the family, or an artificial one, as in the case of the state. The family gathers about its head. The perpetuation of this gathering in groups is achieved through the reverence of ancestors, where the whole clan is gathered together. Through the collective piety of the living members of the family, the ancestors become so integrated in the spiritual life of the family that it cannot be dispersed or dissolved.
Where people are to be gathered together, such spiritual forces are needed. But there must also be a human leader to serve as the center of the group. In order to be able to bring others together, this leader must first of all be collected within themselves. Only collective moral force can unite the world. Such great times of unification will leave great achievements behind them. This is the significance of the great offerings that are made. In the secular sphere likewise there is no need of great deeds in the time of GATHERING TOGETHER.

☯THE IMAGE
Over the earth, the lake:
The image of GATHERING TOGETHER.
Thus the superior person renews their weapons
In order to meet the unforeseen.
If the water in the lake gathers until it rises above the earth, there is danger of a break-through. Precautions must be taken to prevent this. Similarly where people gather together in great numbers, strife is likely to arise; where possessions are collected, robbery is likely to occur. Thus in the time of GATHERING TOGETHER we must arm promptly to ward off the unexpected. Human woes usually come as a result of unexpected events against which we are not forearmed. If we are prepared, they can be prevented.
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Your consultation might include the hexagram Ts'ui / Gathering Together (Massing), and a whole lot more. Send a message to-day to schedule a reading, and see what the Book of Changes has in store for you!
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Pic: Lake on the Earth. Loch Raven Reservoir, Baltimore. September 2023.

☯ From the I Ching, #44. Kou / Coming to Meet - 姤

Above: Ch'ien - The Creative, Heaven
Below: Sun - The Gentle, Wind

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This hexagram indicates a situation in which the principle of darkness, after having been eliminated, furtively and unexpectedly obtrudes again from within and below. Of its own accord the female principle comes to meet the male. It is an unfavorable and dangerous situation, and we must understand and promptly prevent the possible consequences.
The hexagram is linked with the fifth month [June-July], because at the summer solstice the principle of darkness gradually becomes ascendant again.

☯ THE JUDGMENT:
COMING TO MEET. The maiden is powerful.
One should not marry such a maiden.
The rise of the dark element is pictured here in the image of a bold girl who lightly surrenders herself and thus seizes power. This would not be possible if the strong and light-giving element had not in turn come halfway. The dark thing seems so harmless and inviting that a person delights in it; it looks so innocuous that they imagine they may dally with it and come to no harm.
The inferior person rises only because the superior person does not regard them as dangerous and so lends them power. If they were resisted from the first, they could never gain influence.
The time of COMING TO MEET is important in still another way. Although as a general rule the weak should not come to meet the strong, there are times when this has great significance. When heaven and earth come to meet each other, all creatures prosper; when the ruler's heir and their official come to meet each other, the world is put in order. It is necessary for elements predestined to be joined and mutually dependent to come to meet one another halfway. But the coming together must be free of dishonest ulterior motives, otherwise harm will result.

☯ THE IMAGE:
Under heaven, wind:
The image of COMING TO MEET.
Thus does the ruler's heir act when disseminating their commands
And proclaiming them to the four quarters of heaven.
The situation here resembles that in hexagram 20 - Kuan / CONTEMPLATION - 觀:
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In the latter the wind blows over the earth; here it blows under heaven -- in both cases it goes everywhere. There the wind is on the earth and symbolizes the ruler taking note of the conditions in their kingdom; here the wind blows from above and symbolizes the influence exercised by the ruler through their commands. Heaven is far from the things of earth, but it sets them in motion by means of the wind. The ruler is far from their people, but they set them in motion by means of their commands and decrees.
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Your consultation might include the hexagram Kou / Coming to Meet and a whole lot more. Send a message to-day to schedule a reading, and see what the Book of Changes has in store for you!
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Pic: Heaven over the wind. Probably Mt. Pleasant Rd in Hanover, PA. Mid-1990s.

☯ From the I Ching: # 39. Chien / Obstruction - 蹇

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Above: K'an - The Abysmal, Water
Below: Kên - Keeping Still, Mountain

The hexagram pictures a dangerous abyss lying before us and a steep, inaccessible mountain rising behind us. We are surrounded by obstacles; at the same time, since the mountain has the attribute of keeping still, there is implicit a hint as to how we can extricate ourselves. The hexagram represents obstructions that appear in the course of time but that can and should be overcome. Therefore all the instruction given is directed to overcoming them.

☯ THE JUDGMENT
OBSTRUCTION. The southwest furthers.
The northeast does not further.
It furthers a person to see the great one.
Perseverance brings good fortune.
The southwest is the region of retreat, the northeast that of advance. Here an individual is confronted by obstacles that cannot be overcome directly. In such a situation it is wise to pause in view of the danger and to retreat. However, this is merely a preparation for overcoming the obstructions. One must join forces with friends of like mind and put himself under the leadership of a person equal to the situation: then one will succeed in removing the obstacles. This requires the will to persevere just when one apparently must do something that leads away from their goal. This unswerving inner purpose brings good fortune in the end. An obstruction that lasts only for a time is useful for self-development. This is the value of adversity.

☯ THE IMAGE
Water on the mountain:
The image of OBSTRUCTION.
Thus the superior person turns his attention to themselves
And molds their character.
Difficulties and obstructions throw a person back upon themselves. While the inferior person seeks to put the blame on other persons, bewailing his fate, the superior person seeks the error within themselves, and through this introspection the external obstacle becomes for them an occasion for inner enrichment and education.
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Your consultation might include the hexagram Chien / Obstruction and a whole lot more. Send a message to-day to schedule a reading, and see what the Book of Changes has in store for you!
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Pic: Lyman Run Reservoir, Lyman Run State Park. Galeton, PA. August 2023.



-- This post taken virtually verbatim from the Wilhelm/Baynes translation of the I Ching.