The Great Vessel Blog

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Ideal and Shadow

I have re-worked the 'Basics' article on Ideal and Shadow so that it reflects a new perspective that emerged from the divinatory work at the Vallecitos Retreat. We found this quite valuable and hope that you do too. The Article has been re-worked and contains an example of how this can function in a Reading (link).

The Ideal Form and the Shadow Site form a pair of figures that let you grasp the ideal potential of the situation and a necessary transformative potential that is, for the moment, shadowed and unavailable but will manifest spontaneously if you do not seek it out. This focuses you on the sort of motivations and activities that the Primary Figure seeks to inspire and those it asks you to let go of.  

The Ideal Form gives you a hexagram that represents the most effective way to think about your entire situation, the ideal way to visualize it and act on it. It will further the emergence of the bright spirit and idealizing energies that the situation contains.

This is a quite effective perspective that was developed over the last few years after I came through contact with the students of an old Chinese master in South Africa. It works by reflecting the positions of the trigrams of a Figure in the King Wen or Later Heaven Sequence of Trigrams back into the Fuxi or Early Heaven Sequence.  It is a brilliant move that has a solid foundation in Daoist thinking about the relation of these two primal trigram sequences.  

The Shadow Site gives you a hexagram that represents what is, at the moment, counter-indicated in your situation, covered by a sort of negative screen that can contain often painful memories. This screen or shadow is blocking transformative energy. If you completely release your awareness from these configurations by focusing on the Ideal, the necessary energy the Shadow Site contains will manifest itself spontaneously.

I had been pondering the possible meanings of what I call the Shadow Site, the reflection of a given hexagram in the Reverse Sequence of the 64 hexagrams, for quite a while. One of its functions made immediate sense to me when it was paired with the Ideal Form as a sort of negative mirror. This is the way Change seems to work, tactically pairing opposites with a situational rather than an abstract moral judgment on their innate qualities. Another realization came as I was working in depth with the Reverse Sequence in deep divinations as representing a kind of mystical re-birth, a union that can only be achieved through indirection or not-acting (wu-wei). From this came the awareness that whatever is shadowed is necessary for the completion of the transformative possibilities of the moment but cannot be reached through conscious action. It can and will manifest synchronistically, however, when there is no conscious effort directed towards it. This sort of indirection frees the quality in question from the linear flow of time and the karmic chain of cause and effect.

I have tried these out in quite a few divinations and, to my mind, they add a special and quite effective way to see what we should and should not be doing, practically rather than morally, at a given moment along with what we might achieve directly and what we can achieve only by renouncing our desires for it.

Ancestor Worship in the Modern World

Ancestors and the Personal Altar is a new article on our site.

Some years ago I began to read about early Chinese culture in order to better understand the values, beliefs and imagery found in the Yijing. In those days I learned a little factual material about Ancestor Worship with the thought that the knowledge would help, but that of course it is a bit of “What they did then” and that I would have to work with it as a metaphor.

In my day job, in mental health, I work with a lot of displaced or estranged people. Some are displaced in that they may have come to the UK as refugees from very different cultures or who are parted from the culture and people who make up their feeling of home. Those who are estranged have lost the roots of their identity. An example of estranged people might be some of those British people who made the long ancestral journey by way of slavery, freedom and later a second migration. Some groups of these peoples are now doing a lot of work to reclaim their roots. This is an act of reclaiming identity, of rebuilding a foundation of the self with which to withstand the tugging winds of high speed western culture where every marketing campaign tries to redefine us by the image of the car we drive, the clothes we wear or some other fashionable commodity. Of course its more than just about marketing, there are many such winds blowing at us. Stephen Karcher wrote about the need for roots in The Furies and the Water Spirit Disorder . The part of this article which addresses the Water Spirit Disorder explores the act of reclaiming our place in the community in which we live and the community of ancestors from whence we came.

Ancestors and the Personal Altar takes a look at Ancestor Worship in ancient China. It may be read as spiritual fact, or as an expression of working with those Jungian archetypes which we hold within us, and its centrality to our use of the Yijing. This doesn’t necessarily mean that we all need to build an Ancestor Altar on which to make offerings, though that act does fix (heng) the process in our hearts. For many of us it might mean recognising the hardships and struggles that our earlier relatives and their community made to continue the line. Perhaps to feel deep sadness at the trials they underwent, gratitude that they struggled through or wonder at some of the things they created, discovered or thought. Seeing ourselves in this light is to see ourselves as part of a long succession, or as the current holder of the torch in a long line of creative thrust. Seeing ourselves like this is to reclaim the anchor of who we really are and from whence we came. It is to be, ‘not alone’, it is also to feel the gravity of our responsibility to those who come after.

Hillary Barrett wrote a beautiful piece about her own experiences of loosing her mother. She entered into a dialogue with herself and the image of her mother at the ‘altar’ of her mothers old home. The process enabled her to re-form part of her identity, claiming the strength and abilities she needed. This, for me, is one very good example of how the idea of Ancestor Worship might be expressed in our modern world.

Kevin

Dedicated to Hillary and her mother.

The Furies and the Water Spirit Disorder

In his new article ‘The Furies and the Water Spirit Disorder’ Stephen Karcher takes us on two journeys, each represents cultural and personal stances which are deeply flawed and which are the cause of much suffering in our world.

First he brings together modern Western imagery with that of the ancient Mediterranean world, Buddhism and the Yijing to take the reader to the heart of darkness which pervades our culture in modern times. He explains how we wilfully found this path and then followed it. With equal care and detail he uses text and imagery from the Yijing to show a possible route back to a wholeness.

He then takes us out on to the plain of the ‘wandering rootless’ and shows how this too is a path all too easily found by the way we have structured our culture. Again he uses text from the Yijing and other sources to offer us a personal and cultural path back to our hearts sanity.

The article ends with an excursus into both the psychology involved in relating to the Yijing as a divinatory system and those processes necessary to make our readings effective in our lives. In part he uses a reading where the Yi itself is brought in as a guide to this process. As always the Yijing has some very interesting things to say.

I found this article rich with a knowing and very informative.

Kevin

Sources for the Decades

Sources for the Decades is a new article just posted on our site.

In this article Stephen Karcher lays out the case that the King Wen sequence of hexagrams, which is the standard order found in the I Ching, is not a random sequence, but that it is highly organised. He shows that it is a rational sequence which reflects the stages of life we all pass through from birth to our death. This is in addition to the usual imagery found in the text for each hexagram.

Stephen has been working on this idea for many years and we already have a short introductory article here as well as a brief article about applying them in readings here.

He says of this article:

“The Decades model the ideal shape of the Symbolic Life. Each tells of a birth, death and re-birth process that enables us to Accumulate De, the actualizing power that lets an individual connect his or her own identity to the Ancestral foundation of life. Each recreates the shape and dynamic of the sacred or ritual cosmos at a different Stage of Life. The movement through a Decade or sequence of ten hexagrams can be simultaneously imagined as a personal experience; as a progressive reorganization of the intelligence and the nervous system; as a step in the evolution of culture; and as an experience of the creatio continua, the continuous creation of life and spirit."

In addition to this he begins his article by describing the I Ching’s symbolic landscape as well as the core ritual moments which are acted out within it. This part of the article is gold dust in itself.

I have used this decade model in readings for both myself and for others. It is particularly useful when the questioner is undertaking a major remodelling of their life or is struggling with a deep inner world crisis. Additionally it has great value as a framework to understanding the dynamic relations within the I Ching. It provides much food for thought for those trying to fathom the King Wen sequence.

Kevin

Where Does the Yi Come From?

We have just posted Stephen’s 11th Reading.

Soshin Dreschler sent us the results to his question “Where do you come from?”, which he addressed to the Yijing. His question was prompted by his reading about the Mawangdui Silk Texts The cast oracle is both subtle and eloquent and Stephen deals with it in depth.

He begins with a brilliant excursis on the ‘Trikster’, who appears in every major divinatory system. In it explores some of the ways in which we can approach ‘Depth Divination’ and some of the pitfalls which can mislead us. He describes the metic approach and explains why it is so important in this type of reading.

He then gives the Yijing a voice, summarising its reply in a chillingly beautiful paragraph which reaches across time and space. This message is one to put on the wall, it contains both hopes and warnings.

Before going on to deal with the reading in more detail he gives us another excursis. This time on myths and the difference between Western and ancient Chinese myths. The two approaches work in different ways and this brief piece opens a door of understanding the processes involved for those working with the imagery of the Yijing.

When dealing with the transforming lines Stephen uses his Voices of the Lines approach. This dissolves those issues of how to deal with multiple moving lines which can often seem to contradict one another.

Like myself many Yijing diviners have pondered the different rules for dealing with multiple moving lines. This is much like a scientist trying to work out if the oboe or the cello should be listened to in an orchestral work! Obviously all of the instruments are contributing to the whole and it is only by listening to the sound they make together and the way they move one to the other, that the piece can be appreciated. This is what the 'Voices of the Lines' approach achieves for the reader. Stephen has written another article which goes into this in more depth. See the new article Voices of the Lines II.

He has also introduced short semantic explanations of some of the key words used in the text of the changing lines. These show how these words ‘key in’ to the meanings the text promotes giving resonance to the lines.

Before closing Stephen adds one final excursis on the term Junzi more often known as the ‘Noble One’. This small semantic piece clears up some of the confusion about the term and its use in the Yijing in different periods.

Kevin

Seeing Through Time

One of the great lessons the Yijing teaches is that of how to manage events through time. It encourages a thoughtful stance, patience and an eye for the distant effects of our actions.

Knowing how the current situation came about is every bit as important to our life’s lessons as knowing where we are headed.

Consider this example: I have a problem and want to solve it. The Yijing tells me to go and see the 'Great Sage' and he will tell me what I need to know and thus I will be able to solve the problem and take one more step along my path.

There is a technique which puts this into a greater perspective. Now my reading tells me that this problem grew out of a particular situation. Its the same reading so I still need to go and see the ‘Great Sage’ and that this will give me the missing key to solve the problem and that all of this is so that I can go on and address another task which is…

This greater perspective adds substantial depth and insight into our path, purpose and actions.

I have just posted a new article on this, its called Time Cycles. It explains the use of Seasonal Hexagrams. This is the oldest process model of divinatory time. Its alluded to in the magic formula Yuan Heng Li Zhen.

This model was developed by Stephen Karcher out discussions with Mary Powell who did considerable work in this area.

Essentially all hexagrams may be arranged in groups of 4 around a common Core Theme (nuclear hexagram). By considering the cast hexagram (primary hexagram) in this cyclical context a new time dynamic is revealed.

Instead of a reading merely describing the time and a potential direction of change it now gives a deeper history and the steps required to fulfill a longer term development of which the primary and relating hexagrams might only be a part.

This technique is simple to work out, but like all perspectives its importance in a given reading may vary.

Next week Stephen will post another of his readings series where this approach yelds some very interesting insights.

Kevin

Crossline Omens - New Article

When we put a question to the I Ching the response is, to a large degree, like shining a flashlight on the landscape of Change in which we are situated. The primary, or cast, hexagram represents our situation just as a map shows us the landscape around us. It is the changing line(s) which actually contain the advice, omen, or prognostication.

A changing line, if there is one, is like a pathway through the landscape described by the primary hexagram. It most often has an oracular charge such as, “the way is open” or “this is not a mistake”. The text of the changing lines advise on particular courses of action and their likely outcomes.

Some years ago Stephen Karcher noticed that if the transforming lines were combined with the tradition of fan yao then a circle of changes would be described that went beyond the relating hexagram. It effectively extended the oracular message.

Seeing that these paths were textually coherent he applied them to old readings where the changes and outcomes were known. He found that they gave astonishingly accurate detail, not just about where the changes were leading, but that they accurately mapped the steps through which the changes proceeded.

I have been using this method for some years now and it has consistently given accurate and detailed descriptions which far surpass the simple ‘changing line to relating hexagram’ technique.

For a fuller explanation of Crossline Omens click here.

Who is Kuan Yin? - And drinking tea in Wales

I will be away on holiday, up in the Welsh mountains, for a week. Meanwhile I have posted two articles. The first is Entering the Ghost River – The World of Change. Amogst other things the article explores the way pairs of hexagrams interconnect. The other article is Behind the Red Door. It explores some of the nature and background of the Goddess Kuan Yin and the Chinese oracle associated with her. I enjoyed this article a lot! All I have to do now is pack a weeks supply of my favourite tea and then to try and not get lost.

A Short History of the Yijing

A Short History of Change is now online. We will be posting quite a few pieces this week so you might want to keep an eye on What’s New as we will not be covering them all here.

Throughout history famous people have said some version of, “History is written by the Victors.” My favourite example of this is the modern mythical image of the historical English feudal lord who supposedly oppressed his serfs with his castle troops. It was a French historian who asked the question, “Where did he get the troops from?” He went on to show that these lords raised their armies from their estates and that the same people farmed his lands, shod his horses and milled his grain. Indeed there was little overt oppression as these communities, including the Feudal Lord, existed in a complex set of mutual obligations. He went on to explore the institution of the Vestry. This was the fore-runner of the Parish Council. Any man who had property or a trade was automatically a member. They would meet to decide how the commonly owned land should be farmed and to decide who would do what work on it and when. The produce from this land was shared throughout the community. The Vestry also relieved hardship in the community with alms and services. This was an old Saxon tradition which was essentially socialist in nature. Then came the Industrial Revolution and history was rewritten. The new industrialists fighting for control in Parliament (See the Corn Laws as an example) and for the hearts and minds of the people, developed the myth of the callous and cruel Feudal Lord. Such a myth served to maintain the peoples belief that no matter how grim those ‘Dark Satanic Mills’ of the new towns became, they had to be better than what went before.

More recently I was watching an episode of the X-Files. A Navaho Indian Shaman said, “Each new government rewrites history to support its cause… they write with the blood of murdered truth.” In this context it is not surprising that we have a number of views on the history of the Yijing. It is quite possible that the myth that its early authors included the great culture heroes Yu the Great, King Wen, Duke Zhou and Confucius, was a culturally acceptable way of giving it the authority it deserved at the time. However what we find is that the Yijing has grown and metamorphosed as it was transmitted through each epoch. From time to time it underwent redactions such as the one which produced the Palace Edition from where we get our Wilhelm Baynes edition.

The history of the Yijing reflects it as a cultural artefact which has had to continually find new garb and a new voice in order to reach across to each period and culture. To attempt to freeze it in any particular shape or form is perhaps to write it in the blood of murdered truth.

The Love of Fate - Amor Fati

Michael Ortiz Hill, Writer African Shaman, Nurse, Husband and more has led an extraordinary life. He has kindly allowed us to post his article Amor Fati – The love of fate. In it he weaves moments from his life together in a beautiful and evocative manner. Moving times in Africa are brought together with childhood struggles in a family farming the Mexican desert after being ambushed from California. This collage of his struggle toward understanding is compassionate and beautifully written. It speaks of a path toward compassion and wisdom. The jewel buried within it is Amor Fati.

Pairs and Crossline Omens

I have just posted Pairs and Crossline Omens the fourth of our Yijing ‘Basics in Brief’ articles.

This article describes the way the King Wen sequence is based on pairs of hexagrams. These pairs are made up of an ‘Inspirational’ hexagram and a ‘Realization’ hexagram. Thus hexagrams 3,5,7,9 etc. have an inspirational aspect similar to hexagram 1 and their pairs 4,6,8,10 etc. have a quality of ‘realization’ similar in quality to hexagram 2.

The article explores the way in which the hexagrams of each pair exist in a tension which enables the energy of their lines to change back and forth between them, from Inspiration to Realization or manifestation and back again. It goes on to show how the three different types of pairs, and their different relationships, influences the quality of the exchange which takes place through the hexagrams' line positions.

Understanding the dynamics and exchanges which take place between a given pair sheds a lot of light on the meaning of each hexagram as a dynamic force.

The lines relate across two pairs, or four hexagrams. The fifth step returning to the first line where we started. This is the Crossline Omen as presented in the Total Yijing Program. They are the routes of the dynamic exchanges between the hexagrams. This article introduces Crossline Omens, which will be explored in another article to be posted in coming weeks.

The article can be found here.

Multiple moving lines as voices

As promised we have started to add more ‘Basics’ articles to the website. These are designed to take the user through the different parts of a reading, explaining ways of using the different dimensions. So here is the article “Voices of the Lines”.

This approach treats each line as being a voice speaking from that line position. So for example line one is the ‘voice’ talking of those things which have not yet, or are beginning to emerge into the situation described by the primary hexagram. Looking at lines in this light enables the diviner to see the lines as representing different dynamics happening at different points in the ‘change’. Multiple moving lines then become more manageable and there is no problem with lines which appear to contradict each other.

I will be on the forums, in the coming week, to talk more about this, as well as other ways of working with multiple moving lines. Hope you will join me.

Do remember our announcements page where everything we do is posted to make it easy to keep up to date. Announcements are here.

A World of Change

A short piece newly posted on our site:
It introduces the Yijing and looks at some of the different sorts of change found there. I particularly liked the part on how one can use change, Wang Lai, “going and coming on the river of time and space." You can find the article by clicking here.

‘Yijing and the Ethic of the Image’

I have just posted another of Stephen’s academic papers on the site. It is ‘Yijing and the Ethic of the Image’. This is an Eranos Round table paper.

There are a number of interesting ideas in this paper, but the part which particularly caught my eye was on ‘Preserving the Language’. Here Stephen talks about the way the Yijing’s short phrases create image clusters which we can roll and turn in our minds until, “the texts touch a meaningful cluster of images and emotions…” It is at this point that the spirit and the understanding of the text and its meaning constellates within us.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. You can find the article by clicking here.