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.
Breakthrough
In our
Life-Readings, we always consult our I Ching
Oracle to gain insight into a person’s
position and purpose in life. In our Life-Reading
for you today, the oracle suggests, through the
images of Breakthrough and Peace that you are on
the verge of a momentous attainment to a level of
being that promises an entirely new experience of
living in the world. It may be that the
breakthrough to this new level comes to you after
many lifetimes during which your soul has
struggled toward this end. Or, you may view the
breakthrough as something that you achieve, along
with certain other people, as a step along the
path of human development, generally speaking.
Viewed in the latter perspective, the oracle
suggests that you are making progress toward a
more peaceful way of life that all people, to a
greater or lesser extent, are destined ultimately
to enjoy.
For in
the image of Breakthrough there is a strong sense
of benefit and blessing that comes to many people
through the effectiveness of one particular
individual. Thus, in the central verse associated
with this image from very ancient times, the
oracle says, “The superior person dispenses
riches downward and refrains from resting on her
virtue.” In other words, the image of
Breakthrough conveys a sense of your role in the
community, and that role is viewed as enriching
other people with the lofty virtues that you have
been able to cultivate in your own individual
experience of life.
However,
this idea should properly be understood as the
ultimate achievement toward which you may strive
during your lifetime, and it should not be taken
for granted as already given – a present
reality, or a “fait accomplis,” so to
speak. As I say, whether viewed as something that
you achieve through the course of many lifetimes,
or simply as something that you may hope to
achieve as a fulffilment of your experience
during your current life, the oracle describes
your situation as one in which much has already
been accomplished. This is true, yet there is
something still remaining to be done, something
yet to be realized in your personality and way of
living. How close you are to the great goal! You
might even be tempted to underestimate the
significance of what still remains to be
achieved. To be on the verge of a great
accomplishment is to be poised on a point of very
fine balance. Picture in your mind a massive dam
that holds back an immense and continually
accumulating body of water. Depending on the
specifications of its construction, only a
certain amount of pressure can be sustained by
the dam. When that pressure is exceeded, even if
by only a tiny and seemingly insignificant
amount, a breakthrough results.
This is,
in fact, almost literally the situation that is
described through the image of Breakthrough. In
the structural features of this image, an
accumulation of water reaches this delicate point
of impending breakthrough just before washing
over its banks of confinement in a bursting flood
of rushing power that remakes the world. Of
course, this means that a condition of
considerable danger is usually associated with
the image of Breakthrough. The danger as it
applies to your own situation is simply that,
having come this far on the way to the goal, you
might somehow fall back, through a failure of
resolve, and then never attain to the condition
of harmony and peace that is described in the
second of the two images that we have drawn for
you today.
This
danger should not be underestimated. Thus, in one
of the verses that has been highlighted
specifically by today’s Reading from the
image of Breakthrough, the oracle says,
“There is no skin on her thighs, and walking
comes hard. If she were to let herself be led
like a sheep, remorse would disappear. But if
these words are heard, they will not be
believed.” I do hope that you will not take
this verse as a portent of your future reality.
In this verse, someone has the benefit of wise
counsel, but faith in its efficacy is sorely
lacking. This does NOT have to be your story.
This is the danger, a lack of faith. But faith is
not so much a gift of grace as it is a choice
that we make. In this sense, a secondary name for
the image of Breakthrough is particularly
relevant. The other name is
“Resoluteness."
While
faith may not come to us as a gift of grace, a
lack of faith seems always to be handed out to us
with the morning’s coffee and porridge.
After all, with specific reference to the idea of
peace, we are all of us surrounded by people who
have no use for it. The mundane
“wisdom” of fools constantly barrages
us with the impossibility of being at peace
either with others or with ourselves. In such
circumstances, doubt and pessimism are
practically inevitable.
The
oracle speaks very directly to this fact in the
second of the two verses that has been
highlighted specifically by today’s Reading
from the image of Breakthrough. In this second
verse, the oracle says, “In dealing with
weeds, firm resolution is necessary. Walking in
the middle remains free of blame.” It is
only natural, that you should be assailed by
doubt and fears of one kind or another. Your
inner ideals concerning the possibility of living
without contention, in harmony and peace with
other people in all of your interactions must
necessarily be challenged by the prevailing
belligerence of daily life. Your doubts and fears
are a product of modern life, pure and simple.
However, the oracle shows you the way to deal
with these doubts and fears. When it speaks of
the “middle way,” it is telling you to
maintain a strict distinction in your mind with
respect to the difference between you and others.
You are closer than others to a final disposition
of yourself on the plane of peace and harmony.
And when you realize this, and resolve to take
the last step forward into a way of life that
knows nothing of anger and combativeness, you
will not only attain to your personal destiny but
also bring all of us one step closer to creating
a world in which all people will live peacefully
and harmoniously in a new Eden of untold
blessings.
More
on Breakthrough
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