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Hi!
There are a few nice I Ching oracles on the market. I read a bit about this system and I have a stupid question for those of you who do I Ching readings: do you learn the meanings by heart (or go back to some book or something) to interpret the hexagrams?
That sounds like some heavy brains work for me, memorizing 64 hexagrams!!!
Just wondering...
Kissa
I use the book to start. It is more than just 64 hexagrams, it is also every moving line within each hexagram. Once I check the book, then I start the actual reading, applying it to the issue.
Laura Borealis
15-03-2012, 06:08
Dude. Definitely the book! :D
I can't imagine memorizing the hexagrams. They are just combinations of lines.
Hi!
There are a few nice I Ching oracles on the market. I read a bit about this system and I have a stupid question for those of you who do I Ching readings: do you learn the meanings by heart (or go back to some book or something) to interpret the hexagrams?
That sounds like some heavy brains work for me, memorizing 64 hexagrams!!!
Just wondering...
Kissa
Have a look around, read reviews because there are also a few translations of the I Ching around from traditional to very modern interpretations. It feels like ages since I last did an I Ching reading and they do take time, tossing the coins or the yarrow stalks, working out the hexagram then the changing lines but it is very rewarding. :)
Thanks for the answers, still wondering whether I should even try...
K
Thanks for the answers, still wondering whether I should even try...
K
If you don't want to get a book straight away then have a search online, there are some nice sites with interpretations that are from most of the modern books. Then you only need 3 coins.
At first the I Ching can seem daunting, especially if you are trying to use one of the old translations, I soon changed to a couple of books that actually used language I could understand but I keep the Wilhelm book at hand to read the original interpretations.
It does take a while to do a reading, then to work it out but its very relaxing to do. I use 3 really old Chinese coins, worn and battered but they have a really nice feel to them, so it's worth searching out coins that feel nice in the hand. :)
Laura Borealis
17-03-2012, 02:44
This is the site I've been using -- http://theabysmal.wordpress.com/synaptic-calendar-links/
This is an interesting site, it's the Legge translation.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/ich/index.htm
I love the I-ching. I use whatever coins I can find when I get the urge but will start looking for some nicer ones.
I guess with the oracle i-ching decks you just got the plain hexagrams, no changing lines. And the lines are the cool part!
What I like the most about it is how smack-in-the-face and to-the-point these hexagrams and moving lines can be. Very literal.
I use some book by Karcher that is in turn translated to swedish but will check out that link now :-D
rachelcat
17-03-2012, 04:05
It's easy to get changing lines with cards: just draw 2 cards and the changing lines are the ones that are different in the second card! The only thing is then you always get changing lines (no chance of all young lines!).
I had four oracles based on I-ching over the years, all the books vary in what the hexagrams mean. Not Wildly, one book probably wouldn't say "the horse rides south' and the next say 'walls have ears', but in a translation one or two words can make a world of difference. Look at all the infighting about the bible translations :)