I Ching (and other Oracles)

Just wondering if any other Jedi use the I Ching (or similar "divination" tools) in their daily life?

I can't claim to use it daily, actually, but when I'm facing a difficult problem it's a useful tool to help free up my mind for some new thinking, or a new approach to the situation.

I don't read the I Ching for some profound insight from the cosmos and I don't believe that the combination of lines has more than a passing significance; in short I don't read it for an answer, I read it to unlock the answers which are already inside me.

For me it's a nice symbol of the Jedi belief in our own inherent "Forceliness". We look at something in the world for an insight about ourselves, and that's a reflection of the fact that what's in the world and what's in ourselves is the same.

Keen to hear any thoughts, opinions, experiences or insights you may have

I have tried the I Ching in the past but I haven't in years. Honestly, it never seemed to help much. Maybe I just didn't understand it. Even though it had interesting advice, I never used it.

I like how you put it tzb, finding the answers you already had inside you. That's why, if I need advice, I look inside too. Just pose a question to the universe, open your mind, and wait for an answer to come

tzb wrote: Just wondering if any other Jedi use the I Ching (or similar "divination" tools) in their daily life?

I think there are different kinds of "oracular aids" for different purposes, and I've made a habit of collecting them.

tzb wrote: I don't read the I Ching for some profound insight from the cosmos and I don't believe that the combination of lines has more than a passing significance; in short I don't read it for an answer, I read it to unlock the answers which are already inside me.

I tend to take to the Tarot the way you've described the I Ching: I look at the meaning of the spread I've drawn and focus my attention on the things in my life that could be helped by it.

Yes yes and Yes! I think divination of various methods is impossibly useful. To the max.

It's not mystical, except where the Force has a mystery to it. We can look at a spread of cards, see a "meaning", and interpret it from a personal standpoint. The Force can guide us to see what we need to see, beneath our conscious mind.

Connor L. wrote: To the max.

Unexpected positive consequence of starting this thread: discovering I'm not the only person who says this!

I'm afraid I have never heard of I Ching.
What is it exactly?

It revolves around the Book of Changes, a 3000 year old Chinese text. It's a way of "divining" a bit like tarot or rune casting. It relates to yin and yang, and combinations of both which make up six-line "hexagrams". Each hexagram has a meaning, so depending on the combination you get, you'll get a different hexagram. One way to read the I Ching is to flip a coin six times (or more commonly 3 coins, twice - building up two "trigrams"). You then need to look up the result.. or speak to your local ancient Chinese sage

You can find out more about it here .

Welcome, by the way!

oh, neat

I use oracles like Tarot, Norse Runes and Ogham for meditation and divination. I have thought of adding the I, Ching to my other oracles. I find there is a lot of synchronicity between the cards and runes that I draw and what is happening with me or the world around me. Fascinating.

I sort of use it... :huh: So I present the unofficial jedI-Ching;


NB: Point of view is from (not at) 'Heaven'

A central vertical axis with two points represents the principles of Heaven and Earth. Placed around Earth are the remaining principles. Basically putting Heaven at the top of a tetrahedron shape, with all points connected to it. That placement though tends to become a centre point on that axis when/if using multiple casting's of connected Ground planes.

I enter the 'process' at some determination of my 'connection' along that vertical axis. This sounds vague because its just a type of contemplative tool for meditating. Then I try to assess iterations of relationships (permutations) between principles on that ground plane.... to determine any perturbations/influences. What that might reflect probably has more to do with my health or focus, then any divination, but its just another something.

Edit: the possible iterations of a single casting can be found as the Fano Plane Steiner system.

In middle school I became proficient in runes, in high school it was the I ching and tarot, while I still have the tools I rarely ever use them any more...I've advanced beyond needing any physical tools to journey inward to the inner world, sometimes called the spiritual realm...the process is sometimes called "crossing the hedge" and in many wiccan/pagan/shaman cultures those that do it are often called "hedge-riders"...

They're still fun to use and very useful for freeing/clearing the mind in order to see the answers we seek...

Connor L. wrote: It's not mystical, except where it is

I amended your quote to reflect my personal beliefs, because in my experience there are three ways divination works:

1. It's B.S. spouted to you by someone wanting to take your money or who doesn't know better
2. It's being used as a psychological tool to get you to open up about problems you may be having that the "oracles" pulled up based on happenstance
3. it's being used as a contact method for some external force in a manner consistent with what it says on the tin

It may be that not everyone believes in or has experienced the third, but it is the reason I highly suggest that people don't "dabble" in certain kinds of oracles, because they are not all created equally. For example, tarot is harmless, but everytime someone new picks up a set of runes without a teacher or a reputable book, I worry ever-so-slightly.

Like a ouija board.... :evil:

Which I used with my friend.....he was quite disappointed as absolutely nothing happened

Bump this!

I love the I-Ching. While I wouldn't say I use it for "answers" (I have a Magic 8-Ball for that ), I use it when situations have multiple pressures at work to really get a feel of where the momentum of the 'whole' is going. The break down of of trigrams for 'past' and 'present' works really well because (especially as an artist) words carry lots of weight, color, and texture, and it is these associations that I "read" or permute in a meditation.

I have found that it's not about "giving a direct answer" as it is more about "giving shape to patterns" and that our skill (regardless of the oracle/divinatory method) in "reading" lies more in our ability to be open enough to our own sense of possibility and actuality. Especially if you get into the "Greater/Lesser (Older/Younger) Yin/Yangs"- it gets quite deep Alice

I think it is there that we really find that it is not the oracle "telling" us anything, but it is more about us "acknowledging" and becoming aware of that particular momenta of the Force.

Adder- I really dig that triangular arrangement!! I just thought about a way to stretch that triangle out to look like the Tree of Life!! Let me get some sketches and meditation sessions on it it, and I'll get back to you!

Good Luck, and Practice, Practice, Practice!!