#FREE I CHING ORACLE HOW TO#

In the next lesson I’ll show you how to discriminate between the good translations and the all-too-common wastes of paper, and give you some links where you can find free texts and information on the I Ching. But if you don’t get hold of a true, authentic translation, all this potential remains beyond your reach. (This could be because there’s no such thing…) Do you know the Serenity Prayer of Reinhold Niebuhr? “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” The I Ching brings both the wisdom to know the difference and the insight and confidence to make one. The important thing is that it isn’t, and never has been, just a way to predict a future that’s set in stone. (True, it’s more likely to be about the emotional consequences of moving in together than the political repercussions of an arranged marriage – but things do change a little over 3,000 years!) Probably these examples have already started you thinking about what you can achieve with the I Ching. Now, people have always asked the I Ching about their relationships. The Marquis of Wei, in 478BC, was following an age-old tradition when he asked the oracle to help him understand a dream I often do dream interpretation readings for clients. The ancient diviners would ask two questions – ‘If the king sets forth?’ ‘If the king does not set forth?’ you might ask ‘what if I take this job?’ and ‘what if I don’t?’. Early Chinese diviners asked whether they should invade a certain state in the 21st century, business people ask about advertising campaigns. However, people have most often asked it specific questions about projects in their lives. So what is it used for? You can consult the I Ching as a meditation, without any particular question in mind. The modern world is finding new meanings within the oracle: it’s answering questions about everything from stock market investment to the latest New Age gurus, and new I Ching books are proliferating! (In the next part of the course, I’ll cover how to recognise a good I Ching book, and recommend some of the best available.) As you develop your own relationship with the oracle, I think you’ll find that its timeless voice speaks directly to modern concerns. But it isn’t called the Book of Change for nothing. Some of their words have been enshrined as part of the I Ching in use today. Since then, generations of people who studied the oracle and consulted it for guidance in their own lives have added their own commentaries to it – practical, spiritual, and philosophical. This has been in continuous use since the kings of the Zhou dynasty used it to plan their campaign to overthrow the corrupt Shang rulers, in about 1000BC. The very oldest texts within it are known as the Zhouyi – the Changes of Zhou. But what is truly remarkable about the I Ching is that it has developed organically from these ancient roots, with new ‘branches’ of theory and experience growing and flourishing over the millennia. However, they are thought to come from a spoken tradition of shamanism that is immeasurably older: how old, it is impossible to say. The oldest parts of the I Ching oracle were first written down some 3,000 years ago in ancient China.

The I Ching offers ways of changing your own life, and of understanding and moving with the changes around you. Change is the only constant, in your outer and inner experience alike. Part 1: Where does it come from, and what is it for? The I Ching is an ancient Chinese oracle: its name means Book of Changes. Introductory I Ching Course _ 1 Table of Contents _ 2 Part 1: Where does it come from, and what is it for? _ 3 So what is it used for?_ 3 Part 2: How to identify a good I Ching translation_ 5 Part 3: Reviews of some of the best I Ching books _ 7 Stephen Karcher, how to use the I Ching _ 7 Alfred Huang’s ‘Complete I Ching’ _ 8 Part 4: The working parts _ 10 Part 5: Finding the real question _ 13 Are there any wrong questions?_ 14 Part 6: How to consult _ 16 Part 7: A sample reading _ 19 “What’s the potential in this relationship?”_ 19 To sum up: _ 20 Part 8: What now? _ 22 Become a friend _ 22 Get some different translations_ 22 Introductory I Ching course © Hilary J Barrett 2004 Please send any questions or comments about this course to: Hilary Barrett (0)1993 881984 Introductor y I Ching Course from Clarity Covering everything you need to know to start divining with the I Ching

Free i ching oracle