Psychic Readings from The
Psychic Internet often feature images drawn from the
I Ching Oracle. To offer supplementary
information about these images for our clients,
and for the public, we have provided this archive
of brief articles.
For general information on
the I Ching Oracle, click here.
The
abstract images of the I Ching Oracle (usually
called "hexagrams") symbolize all of
the related and interacting aspects of reality.
In the following excerpts from actual Psychic Readings, the images of the I Ching
are discussed.
Click here for links to all
of the images.
The Abysmal
It is
worth pointing out in this Reading that the image
of The Devil, from a traditional point of view,
is usually associated with the idea of bondage.
Often, in the painted representations of this
image, we see Adam and Eve bound at the collar
with chains that are held in the hands of the
Arch Fiend Himself. It is a kind of reversal of
the idea of the Garden of End, where people had
perfect freedom from material want and disease.
In the Devil’s realm, life is quite like the
situation described in one of the verses that is
highlighted specifically for you by today’s
Reading from the image of The Abysmal. In this
verse the oracle says, “Bound with cords and
ropes, shut in between thorn-hedged prison walls.
For three years one does not find the way.
Misfortune.” Richard Wilhelm says of this
verse, “A man who in the extremity of danger
has lost the right way and is irremediably
entangled in his sins has no prospect of escape.
He is like a criminal who sits shackled behind
thorn-hedged prison walls.” The Devil will
make you believe that this is your condition. But
DO NOT believe it. The Devil deals in the world
of illusion, not in Reality.
The
danger referred to here, in Wilhelm’s
commentary quoted above, is a basic feature of
the image of The Abysmal, which describes the
element of water. From the idea that water is an
irresistible force for good or bad, and from
observing that water carves great canyons out of
the earth into which lonely travelers dare not
fall, the sages attached the idea of danger to
the image as a whole. Wilhelm’s comments in
this regard are particularly interesting:
“Thus the hexagram is intended to designate
an objective situation to which one must become
accustomed, not a subjective attitude. For danger
due to a subjective attitude means either
foolhardiness or guile. Hence too a ravine is
used to symbolize danger; it is a situation in
which a man is in the same pass as the water in a
ravine, and, like the water, he can escape if he
behaves correctly.”
Indeed
the portent carried by the image is highly
favorable. In the Judgment verse, the oracle
says, “The Abysmal repeated. If you are
sincere, you have success in your heart, and
whatever you do succeeds.” And here too,
especially in view of the comments quoted above,
I will refer to Wilhelm’s commentaries:
“Through repetition of danger we grow
accustomed to it. Water sets the example for the
right conduct under such circumstances. It flows
on and on, and merely fills up all the places
through which it flows; it does not shrink from
any dangerous spot nor from any plunge, and
nothing can make it lose it own essential nature.
It remains true to itself under all conditions.
Thus likewise, if one is sincere when confronted
with difficulties, the heart can penetrate the
meaning of the situation. And once we have gained
inner mastery of a problem, it will come about
naturally that the action we take will succeed.
In danger all that counts is really carrying out
all that has to be
done—thoroughness—and going forward, in
order not to perish through tarrying in the
danger.”
These
general ideas are expressed poetically in the
central verse associated with this image. In this
verse, the oracle says, “Water flows on
uninterruptedly and reaches its goal: The image
of the Abysmal repeated.
Thus the superior man walks in lasting virtue and
carries on the business of teaching.”
In
another of the verses that is highlighted
specifically for you by today’s Reading from
the image of The Abysmal, the oracle says,
“Forward and backward, abyss on abyss. In
danger like this, pause at first and wait,
otherwise you will fall into a pit in the abyss.
Do not act in this way.” And Wilhelm, says
of this, “Here every step, forward or
backward, leads into danger. Escape is out of the
question. Therefore we must not be misled into
action, as a result of which we should only bog
down deeper in the danger; disagreeable as it may
be to remain in such a situation, we must wait
until a way out shows itself.”
And in
the last of the verses that is highlighted
specifically for you by today’s Reading from
the image of The Abysmal, the oracle reassures
you in no uncertain terms. It says, “The
abyss is not filled to overflowing, it is filled
only to the rim. No blame.” This image warns
you away from excessive action – or in the
terms used at the beginning of this Reading, one
could say that it warns you about action without
clarity. In fact, as a general measure of the
overall conditions at this time in your business
affairs, we can say that the required clarity has
not fully resolved itself in your view of things.
Avoid precipitate actions until this
crystallization of consciousness makes your next
move absolutely clear.
More on The
Abysmal
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