I was talking with someone the other day about methods of ‘Casting the Yi’
and they mentioned that they did not like using computer programs. In part I had
to agree that sitting quietly with my casting stones ( 16 Token Method )
gives a great resonance with the Yi. Having said that the results I get from a
program are just as effective. After all the divination takes place in us and not in
the stones or the computer.
One advantage our Yijing program has over paper is that it calculates all of the different dimensions of the
Reading Matrix and brings all of the relevant texts together for ease of
reading. So if you are one who prefers not to use a program for casting you
might consider trying the free trial and manually enter your readings after
divining in your preferred manner, or just use it as a lookup tool.
Currently Stephen’s latest work is only available electronically on this
site, with the exception of a Yijing in Danish. We are looking at ways of
getting his work available on paper too. Until then, Foundations for Change
is a much expanded and easier to understand development of
the introductory chapters in the Total I Ching Book. It is now a ‘book’ in
itself and it is the companion to the Total Yijing Program.
Well that’s the marketing done!
I have posted a short article by Stephen “Using Crossline Omens” here.
In it he
says a little more about how he approaches and uses Crossline Omens in his
readings. This is particularly useful as it can be a little overwhelming for the
newcomer approaching his depth reading techniques for the first time. The
important thing to remember is that the first step to using his methodology, in
practice, is to look briefly at what each approach has to say for a given
reading and then to focus on those parts that seem to speak to the situation
with the most ‘charge’.
A little news
Stephen is just back from teaching in the US. He had a great time and is
looking forward to his next trip later this year. I will post details shortly.
However if you can get a group and venue together he can often extend his tours
to accommodate - please let him know through the Contact Us area.
More News
As those who have attended Stephen’s courses will know his latest development
is coming to fruition. We will post more about this over the next few weeks. He
has been working to relocate the Yi back into its deep ritual and imaginative
context. He brings the images alive through very beautiful artwork. These can
then form a focus for readings and ritual. No, we are not asked to dress up in
funny robes and chant, but rather to use additional ritual and art to open up
the imaginal world where the Xiang (symbols) can circulate and allow their
meanings to precipitate.
Wishing folk a good year of the Male Earth Rat:
15 Humbling/The Great Grey Rat QIAN
Balance, adjust yourself, cut through pride and complication, stay close to fundamentals; think and act in a modest way, yielding and reverent; the Great Grey Rat, an Animal Ancestor showing that liminal unconscious processes are constellated in your favor.
This is an Inspiring Figure. Part of the Sacred Sickness Pathway, it contains a Zone of Radical Transformation that acts as the experience of the Centers of power in the stage or Decade of life when we struggle with identity and its relation to society.
Core theme: 40 Deliverance from suffering.
Season: Winter, finding the seed of the new through hardship. North, midnight, Water, black; ordeal, divination and the judgement of the spirits; elders and ancestors.
Trigrams: Mountain below the Earth. Inner self-constraint now brings you a deep faith in the overall processes of life. Reduce the many to augment the few. Evaluate and even things out. This is not the time to step out to meet a new destiny.
Stimulus: 23 Strip away the past.
Ideal and Shadow: Think of this as a time of blessing and pour in more energy and involvement (42). Do not think of it as the founding of a noble house or a new paradigm (50), for there is much personal work to be done.
Kevin