So I just threw the I Ching for the first time in my life.
It was difficult to maintain an optimistic mood while reading through the short introduction. Words like "Venerable Reverend" immediately send off red flags in my head, especially when used in someone's title. There was no small amount of what I would deem "hocus pocus" in the introduction, referencing cosmic energies collecting in my shaking hands as I mulled over the forward question. Despite my affinity for the Tao, the truth is that I don't really buy the more mystical aspects of the ancient philosophy. When I first read the Tao Te Ching a few years ago, I will not deny only retaining the more sensible bits, and forgetting the ones dealing with enlightening energies.
But, with Lincoln-adorned pennies in-hand, I completed the millennia old ritual. The upper trigram came to Lake, and the lower trigram was Mountain, making my Canto number 31. This particular Canto seems to be rooted in reflection and a forging of ideas through words. The particular verse for this Canto is as follows:
Scholars and poets
Gather at mountain lakes
To speak of words of making
That uplifts the heartmind of humanity.
I can't quite make out how this affects my proposed question. Perhaps it is referring to how I should come to my conclusion. What is more interesting, however, is the Hidden Hexagram 44, associated with my Canto of 31. The 44th Canto deals with my accessible notions of attraction and desire, giants I have grappled with for years now. The verse for the Hidden Hexagram is as follows:
Issuing from heaven
A continuous wind blows across the land.
Only a woman of stature and uncommon strength
Can resist the tempest.
The "Musing Words" mostly deal with hidden desires, words like voluptuous and intercourse. Yet the "Mystic Window" speaks about some kind of evil trying to enter my life, and how I and a small group of close friends must smite this evil. How very epic.
I wonder how much of the I Ching is getting people to think through their problems, much like the simple probing questions of a modern psychiatrist.
