How will we end the covid19 pandemic?
This is the question that I will be asking the I Ching- a 3000+ year-old oracle from ancient China. I am using a book by Ritsema and Karcher (1995) in which they explain all details of this divination system, summarized in these series of posts.
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?
Loosely translated, the I Ching refers to a ‘fundamental’ text that allows practitioners to ‘channel’ their focus and attention, so they can examine and direct the flow or stream of events influencing a situation. It uses a system of hexagrams to put an inquirer/diviner in touch with inner and external forces, thus allowing them to realize their full potential in the eternally changing universal stream that is called the Tao. Before I discuss the nuts and bolts of the system, let’s talk about the elephant in the room.
Divination. Is this for real?
Sooner or later, we all have to deal with complex and difficult situations that require a course of action. A problem can be defined, undefined, or a mixture of both. A defined problem has a clear solution or procedure to solve it. For example, if you wake up hungry in the morning, the solution to the problem is to prepare breakfast and consume nutrients. It’s a straight forward solution. The goal and the means to achieve it are clear and well defined.
Let’s take a look at a different situation. Say you’re a farmer in rural ancient China who’s having a bad crop season, and you’re facing starvation in the winter, then what would you do? The answer is not so straight forward and easy. There are many things to consider: resources available, time of the year, long-range weather, physical health, family-social life, philosophical outlook, religious leanings, mental agility & fortitude, cultural norms, political climate, and so forth. Trying to solve such an open-ended problem with so many unpredictable parameters can quickly become overwhelming.
Nowadays we have institutions and businesses that we rely on to solve problems such as the one facing our hypothetical farmer. In ancient times, however, things were different. In all likelihood, a farmer did not have a formal education. They did not have the convenience of banks or other modern institutions and professions that could help them resolve the difficult situation. Therefore, they had to find other means to do so.
When confronted with a complex and difficult situation, rigid reasoning and logic can fail us. So, a more intuitive approach may be needed. An approach that connects the nebulous inner ‘forces’ shaping the situation with the outer forces that also come into play. This facilitates finding a solution to the problem by changing our awareness and understanding of the situation. To bypass the obstacles presented by the rational mind, some cultures developed oracles and obtained answers to difficult questions by means of divination.
Divination is a set of tools and procedures designed to alter consciousness and open channels of communication between dimensions of experience. As Ritsema and Karcher (1995) explain, divination creates a balance among the forces of the diviner, the inquirer, and the processes shaping the situation. It creates a link between your subconscious “spirits” and those of the collective unconscious, where you can interact with the archetypal programs and obtain a fresh view of the situation, as well as a possible course of action. The procedure aims to remove mental barriers by giving you permission to think of the situation in terms of higher processes and not just the limits imposed by the vicissitudes of everyday life.
The oracle of changes or I Ching is a system that facilitates the resolution of a situation by means of divination. By completing a set of procedures, a practitioner can use it to access universal forces that influence the situation. Once he (or she) receives an answer, then he can interpret the result and resolve on a course of action that is in concordance with spirit of the times or the tao.
In the next post, I will discuss in greater detail the mechanics of the system and how it can be used to resolve a difficult situation.
Resource
Ritsema, R. and Karcher, S. (1995). I Ching: The classic Chinese oracle of change : the first complete translation with concordance. Ascona: Eranos Foundation.