Animation created and minted by 
How will we bring this covid-19 situation to an end? Given that nobody, including scientists, seems to have a good answer, I took it upon myself to do a little divination and ask an ancient oracle how we can resolve the situation. I know divination is not a very scientific pursuit, but the scientific method has its roots in ancient alchemical systems, so it’s of interest to neuronauts who wish to investigate the mechanics of these proto-scientific methods of analysis, modeling, and forecasting. I’m using a Chinese oracle called I or I Ching to pose the question regarding the management of the Covid-19 pandemic and design an answer by means of a divination procedure. I am using a translated version of the I Ching by Ritsema and Karcher (1995). In these series of posts, I describe the nature of this oracle and demonstrate the procedure required to submit a query and produce a response. If you haven’t read the previous entries and would like to catch up, you can follow these links:
- Introduction: A question for the oracle.
- Background: The I Ching as a tool for divination
- Apparatus: Tools of the trade
- Design: How do you use it?
- The research question: How will we end the pandemic?
- Results and Interpretation: What did the oracle tell me?
- Summary and Discussion: The I Ching, what is it good for?
Analogies can be useful to better understand a complex system like the I Ching. A search engine analogy is appropriate for our purposes. When you use a search engine, the digital spirits (aka computational algorithms) provide you with several answers on the canvass of the screen. After completing the search query using a prescribed set of arcane symbols (terms, tags, phrases, etc) and commands (clicks, key presses, shortcuts, etc), the engine gets to work and serves you with the relevant answer based on the search parameters and techniques that you used. Different types of information are placed on different areas of the screen, so the answer has a spatial component. The key results will be front and center, while tangentially related information is put off to either side or towards the bottom of the page.
Similarly, consulting the I oracle follows the general sequence of events as consulting a digital search engine. Using ‘primitive’ technology (like coins, sticks, and bones), you follow prescribed methods and methodologies to run the search query, then once you’re done, you’ll get an answer in the form of a hexagram. This is the key. The hexagram contains the relevant (and irrelevant) hyperlinks, or lines, that lead to the relevant key passages in the text of the I Ching. The hexagram is like a web page in which the answer to your question is presented. It is the empty screen that fills up with the results when you finish formulating your question and press enter.
Because of its theoretical and methodological complexity, it is not possible to describe all the intricacies of a hexagram, but there are a few basic things that are of interest. Ritsema and Karcher(1995) do a magnificent job of explaining the exquisite details, so if you’re interested in the subject, I recommend their book. Not easy to digest but fascinating nevertheless.
Rather than describe the nature of the I Ching hexagram in exhaustive detail, I designed and minted an animation to facilitate discussion of the key elements of the hexagram, and what they represent in the context of divination. The animation contains several features that are based on my understanding of the hexagram as delineated in Ritsema and Karcher's (1995) translation of the ancient text.
In total, there are 64 hexagrams. Each hexagram is composed of 6 lines developed using the coin or yarrow stalks divination procedure. If you use the sticks method, you will use numbers 6-9 to develop a hexagram composed of four possible types of lines. The line in a hexagram denotes either a universal characteristic of yin (suppleness) or yang (solidity). If the line is broken, then it is said to be open. If the line is solid, then it is said to be whole. Ritsema and Karcher’s (1995) indicate that each line is an empty space through which energy moves from the bottom up. Therefore, the initial movement of the lines (its energy) in the animation is shown as moving from the bottom to the top.
What kind of energy moves through the hexagram? The flow of changes in the universe, psychic forces bearing on a situation. The collective unconscious. Tao in motion. Memory. Quantum flux. Whatever the name of this mysterious force, it constitutes the internal and external processes that influence the situation and are the key to answering your question.
By using the yarrow method, a diviner will create six lines that will correspond to the numbers 6, 7, 8, and 9. The procedure is pseudo-random in that mathematically speaking, there is a bias inherent in the procedure, which according to the ancient Taoists, aligns with the dynamic interplay between yin and yang (Ritsema and Karcher, 1995). In the animation, the running number counter and the flashing lines represent this undifferentiated potential as the divination procedure is conducted and each of the hexagram’s six lines is created.
As shown in this diagram, the six lines of a hexagram can be divided into groups of three called triagrams. There is two of them: upper and lower. Given that each line can be open or whole, young and old, then there are four different types of possible lines, as determined by whether you obtain 6, 7, 8, or 9. The triagrams and the nature of each line become important in interpreting the results of the divination procedure.
One intriguing aspect of the hexagram is that at its core, it embodies the world-view of Taoist philosophy in terms of yin-yang clouds of possibilities. On-off. Ones and Zeros. Some quantum philosophers have attempted to decode the deeper meaning behind the I Ching (see the Invisible Landscape by T. McKenna) in terms of its computational characteristics. If you’re technically, mathematically, and scientifically inclined, you’d probably have a field day trying to decipher any novelty code that may be buried in there. Secret code or not, it is clear that while the Taoists may not have understood the elements of computing and scientific thought, their on-off, yin-yang view of the universe embodies these principles as described in the text of the I Ching. Each hexagram has an associated passage in the text. Once you have developed a hexagram, then you read the corresponding passage that describes the situation and provides the answer to your query.
In the animation example, I recreated the hexagram called Li, Radiance. The description of this hexagram is quite extensive, so instead of describing it, I created a painting based on the imagery found in the text of the I Ching. The situation, according to this hexagram, is described in terms of “expanding light, warmth, and awareness” (Ritsema and Karcher, 1995). The translated "image of the situation" reads as follow:
Radiance, Harvesting Trial.
Growing. Accumulating female cattle. Significant.
This radiance is viewed in similar terms as the radiance of the sun and the moon. So I added both elements to the painting. Each line has its own imagery, depending on whether it is old or young, open or whole (solid). For example, the initial line at the bottom is old yang, which is understood in terms of treading a path. Therefore, I put a path in that line. The fifth line from the bottom is described in terms of the gushing of water or rain. So, I added the clouds and waterfall to that line. And so on. The entire hexagram has an ecological sense to it, as the Taoists viewed all of existence in such terms.
There is much more to this hexagram business, but let’s not get lost in the weeds though. The point is that the hexagram is the universal description of a situation and advice on a potential solution. I say potential because you’re still required to interpret the answer the same way you interpret the results from a Google search. Some results will be more relevant than others and influenced not only by the characteristics of the search system, but also by the nature of the query, and the psychological state of the user. So, there are no guarantees that you will get the ‘right’ answer to your question. I will discuss further details when I finally get around to questioning the oracle (hopefully before the pandemic is over 😅).
In a previous post, I mentioned that the I Ching was popular among the 60s counter-culture. One particularly good example is by one of my favorite bands, Pink Floyd. Syd Barret was interested in the I Ching and wrote a song called Chapter 24. This magical and haunting song uses text and imagery from the I Ching, and it’s is a cosmic delight. The song was posted in the Pink Floyd official Youtube channel, so that's cool of them. Thank you for reading and enjoy!
Chapter 24 by Pink Floyd
A movement is accomplished in six stages
And the seventh brings return.
The seven is the number of the young light
It forms when darkness is increased by one.
Change returns success
Going and coming without error.
Action brings good fortune.
Sunset.
The time is with the month of winter solstice
When the change is due to come.
Thunder in the other course of heaven.
Things cannot be destroyed once and for all.
Change returns success
Going and coming without error.
Action brings good fortune.
Sunset, sunrise.
A movement is accomplished in six stages
And the seventh brings return.
The seven is the number of the young light
It forms when darkness is increased by one.
Change returns success
Going and coming without error.
Action brings good fortune.
Sunset, sunrise.
Resources
Ritsema, R. and Karcher, S. (1995). I Ching: The classic Chinese oracle of change : the first complete translation with concordance. Ascona: Eranos Foundation.