The Tao of I Ching:
Way to Divination

I always think that everyone knows about the I Ching but I'm usually wrong when I think that my favorite subjects have gone mainstream. Although I'm not sure what the public view of the old Book of Changes is, it probably isn't right or accurate. The I Ching has more to do with logical observation of the world than with mystical processes. Many seem to think it's something like a horoscope or book of philosophy, but it's really something else. I consider it a practical way to look at the probable future and I've used it for most of my life. It helps me chart a course through difficult times.

I knew the book (people who use the I Ching often get into the habit of talking about the book as a living person) for some years before I took up electronics as a vocation, and when I started learning about computers and binary code I immediately saw the connection. Hey! That's computer code! Well, maybe it is and maybe it isn't, there's a story now that fifteen years or so ago a guy saw that connection and wrote an algorithm based on the 64 hexagrams, punched it into a computer and let it run. The algorithm is supposed to have charted the course of human history and run to a stop in the year 2012. I don't actually have any evidence that the story is true, but it's an interesting idea.

The I Ching: Or,
Book of Changes,
Wilhelm/Baynes

Although there are many good hardcover and paperback versions of the I Ching I will only recommend two. The first on the list is Jou Tsung Hwa's The Tao of I Ching. In this book you'll find the musings of a math teacher who took up the ancient mysteries as a hobby after he was diagnosed as dying of heart disease. In his last few months he intended to enjoy himself and learn some of the things he hadn't taken time to do before. Those old things cured his heart disease and set him on a new adventure. He includes in this book some of the old illustrations of the I Ching and explains how to use them intuitively rather than depend totally on the written interpretations. Jou also writes about the Plum Flower Mind I Ching, which is a very brief version of the I Ching based on observation of the physical world. That should appeal to any literalist who doesn't believe in the supernatural. Sherlock Holmes would have loved the Plum Flower Mind I Ching.

Follow up:

The second book is The I Ching or Book of Changes as interpreted by Richard Wilhelm, and later translated into English by Cary Baynes. Commonly known as the Wilhelm/Baynes I Ching, this book is extremely thorough and very difficult. In the preface you'll find instructions for both the coin oracle and the yarrow stick oracle. The yarrow stick is my preferred method, but I use sticks I whittled from split bamboo back in the 70's. The book I have now actually went with me to Vietnam in 1970. As a portable oracle I used a bundle of toothpicks to cast the answers to my many questions and it seemed to work well enough. Anyone who tackles this version of the I Ching should be a very serious student. Keep in mind that this isn't the most detailed and complex interpretation.

I recall arriving in Vietnam as a typically confused and disoriented soldier without a clue as to how I should conduct myself, fortunate to be stationed in Saigon but assigned to stories all over the country, and my major concern was how to live through it. In response to my question the I Ching gave me sound advice, suggesting that I should spend my evenings quietly and stay out of trouble. As it turned out, probably the easiest way for me to get blown up over there was to hang out in bars. Usually what you get from the I Ching is practical, not fanciful.

The I Ching: The
Book of Answers
Kindle Edition

I haven't personally worked with Wu Wei's The I Ching -- The Book of Answers (Kindle Edition) but it does come highly recommended. Written by an artist with a thorough understanding of the oracle, this interpretation has a reputation as an easy to comprehend version of what can be a very intimidating intellectual and intuitive process.

If you'd like to play with the I Ching awhile for free, Pagan Heart Software still has a link up to a free download of a computerized version. I've tried it and it's pretty handy -- uses a random number generation to select the hexagrams and guides users to the interpretative passages easily. You don't really need to know the system of the I Ching to use this program. The problem is, if you don't know the system you won't get the real benefits. The program is shareware and drops some of the features after thirty days.

Excerpt from Jou's story of the Plum Flower Mind I Ching and Shao's Wonderful Pillow. If you can't read this just click on the photo and a right click on the new page should allow zooming.