The Step-Wise Year 2014

To look at this full year I'm using a method that Taoist Master Khigh Alx Dhiegh described in his 1976 Taoist Book of Days. He calls the cast hexagram the "Synchronistic Response." 


Looking at this and carefully following Dhiegh's steps, I see I made an error: the derived hexagram is NOT the first in the 12 step series. Instead, the cast hexagram is used, and the first line is transformed for the Now (or January) interpretation, then the second line for the second period (or February), etc.
 
Here it is for our year with changing lines in gray. 

 Moving forward correctly then, February's hexagram is 1–Solid Life Force. Dheigh name is The Originating, he writes:

Originating is the infinite origin of itself and hence infinite potential is ever its own source of sources. The source of The Originating is vaster than our comprehension. Rejoice in awe of it.

To become a sage, one takes heaven as a model and studies how to best develop oneself. By making oneself strong in every way one comes into harmony with all creation and so one's influence endures. The sage attains tirelessness by selectively limiting the areas of his activities.

So, let's rejoice in the thrill of correcting our errors and selectively choosing our activities.

Source:
Dhiegh, Khigh Alx. 1976. I Ching: Taoist Book of Days Calendar-Diary, 1976, pp. 66, 195-200. 

Feb 2014 I Ching Transition

Hello Everyone,

You may recall that for the start of the year I asked our Reiki community to help with crowdsourcing an hexagram from the I Ching.

This is what we got:

         33                   31

Images credit: russellcottrell.com/

Note: I will use a constructed pronoun, per, for third person references to he or she. It's the first part of person.

H33: Complying. Complying with per's present situation is the right thing to do. Now, only small goals should be pursued. (Benson)

A closer look at H33, line 6, which is a moving Yang line, reads: Events change and bring per benefits, more than could be expected in the situation.

And after the moving line:

H31: Ability to Change Matters. Per has the ability to change matters and per benefits by doing so. Doing this with a partner is even better. (Benson)

So, how do we move into February?

Khigh Alx Dhiegh, human, actor & author, included in his I Ching: Taoist Book of Days Calendar-Diary, 1976 an article of the use of the I Ching for long-range planning. "Through the process of a methodical changing of its lines, beginning with the bottom line and moving upwards to the sixth and topmost line, one is able to draft the complete cyclical evolution of a kua (hexagram). ... This process is ... completed in 12 stages." Which fits neatly with the 12 months of our year.

Dhiegh system calls H33 our Synchronous Response and H31 our "Now." H31 provided guidance for January.

To find out what guidance would be useful for February, this method changes the bottom line of H31 Influence/Wooing leading us to H49 (Revolution).

       31              49

Dhiegh interprets H49 this way:

Revolution means exorcizing that which is no long harmonious with the whole. Times change, and each thing and condition has its period of development and fulfillment and degeneration. To be creative one must have confidence in expectancy and a sense of the right time. In this transformations are constructive. 

Another way to express this: "Turn, turn, turn, to everything there is a season."

What will you be turning this month?

John Perkins
206 524.4496

Sources
Images: russellcottrell.com, Virtual Yarrow Stalks.

Dhiegh Khigh Alx. 1976. I Ching: Taoist Book of Days Calendar-Diary, 1976, pp. 58, 195-200.

What can our Reiki Community Expect for 2014

January 2014

Hello Everyone, and thanks again to our 6 list members who contributed their coin tosses
for this I Ching 2014 reading for the whole Reikialumni community.

The lines of a hexagram are built up from the bottom to the top. Heads and tails are given a numberic value, are added together to determine the nature of a specific line. Heads = 3, Tails = 2, and the totals are 6, 7, 8, or 9. A line with a 6 or 9 is considered excessively yin (6) or yang (9), and these evolve to the stable counterpart for the other polarity. So a 6 changes to a 7, and a 9 changes to an 8. This shift provides a different hexagram and is interpreted as what the first one may be evolving towards. The 'o' on line 6 symbolizes this change from a yang line to a yin one.

Line 6 HHH or 9   --o--   -- -- Submitted by Aylea Allen
Line 5 TTH or 7   -----     ----- Submitted by Jo Rabin
Line 4 THT or 7   -----     ----- Submitted by Amy McCaleb
Line 3 TTH or 7   -----     ----- Submitted by Donna Nicholson
Line 2 HHT or 8  -- --      -- -- Submitted by Mike Soriano
Line 1 HHT or 8  -- --      -- -- Submitted by Brooke Schuster
Hexagrams:           33        31

 Here we look more carefully at each hexagram (H) chapter. Most translations or reinterpretations provide a general contextual overview and also specific interpretations of moving lines.

Note: I will use a constructed pronoun, per, for third person references to he or she. It's the first part of person.

H33: Complying. Complying with per's present situation is the right thing to do. Now, only small goals should be pursued. (Benson).

For the start of the year, then, let's keep our focus on small goals or small wins. A string of these can add up, so take heart if you have a major challenge lurking. As it happens, I've been personally thinking about small wins and came across this acronym from the Meredith Capstone Program: Bridges to a Small Win. [I just looked and this page has been removed from their website. email me if you'd like a copy.]

B = Big Picture of the Big Problem in all its messy complexities
R = Redefining the Problem from several perspectives
I = Identify your opportunity for modest sized, visible actions & results
D = Describe your small win (concrete, complete, implemented outcome of moderate importance)
G = Goal Achieved, Visible Results
E = Evaluation, especially small wins that are present but unnoticed
S = Solutions that preserve gains that don't unravel

A closer look at H33, line 6, which is a moving Yang line, reads: Events change and bring per benefits, more than could be expected in the situation.

"External conditions have changed, but per hasn't changed them. Factors in the past that were restrictions now bring benefits, or perhaps other people now help per to escape restrictions. Per may now even be free to help themselves to some extent. Overall, per is very fortunate that per can surmount per's situation."

This is encouraging. It may take a bit of patience (it is the 6th line after all) but escaping or surmounting our situation can be expected due to external shifts.

We turn now to H31's general description for how to prepare for what may be coming with the change.

H31: Ability to Change Matters. Per has the ability to change matters and per benefits by doing so. Doing this with a partner is even better.

Straightforward and more active than the top line for H33. Get yer done!

Thanks again to our 6 volunteers.

This concludes the experiment.

Have a transformative 2014.

John Perkins
206 524.4496

Source
Benson, Robert G. 2002. I Ching for a New Age: The Book of Answers for Changing Times. Garden City Park, NY: Square One.