Changes: January 1

I am much behind in blogging, which I regret. The last week has been much-needed recovery time, during which I have made gestures at trying to work, but have mostly had a lot of down time and recreating (re-creating). It works too. The creative energy is returning, but slowly.

Although I am playing catch-up, I think I'm still going to go with my new idea about using the Book of Changes. I have decided to continue my study of the Changes by casting one every day, and studying both the original text and a Han dynasty elaboration on it called Master Jiao's Forest of Changes. Master Jiao's Forest of Changes has never been translated, though there are some hobbyists on little fjord of the world wide web who are interested in the project. I'm doing my own thing though. Master Jiao's principle is this: for each potential hexagram, and for each potential change from one hexagram to another, he wrote a little poem. Yes, that's 4096 poems, though there are some repeats. I don't find them quite as uncannily enlightening as the actual hexagram and line statements, but they are interesting in their own right as part of Han dynasty intellectual activity. Maybe I'll get paper out of it someday, but for now it's fun to just dabble.

Without further ado, then, I will give the hexagrams that I encountered (coin toss method), the Wilhelm/Baynes translation of the hexagram and line statements (which I got from here), and the Forest of Changes poem with commentary. Eventually I'll catch up but for now I'm starting with:

January 1, 2009
Bi / Holding Together [Union]
Above KAN THE ABYSMAL, WATER
Below KUN THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH

The Judgment
HOLDING TOGETHER brings good fortune.
Inquire of the oracle once again
Whether you possess sublimity, constancy, and perseverance;
Then there is no blame.
Those who are uncertain gradually join.
Whoever come too late
Meets with misfortune.

The Image
On the earth is water:
The image of HOLDING TOGETHER.
Thus the kings of antiquity
Bestowed the different states as fiefs
And cultivated friendly relations
With the feudal lords.

Fifth line
Nine in the fifth place means:
Manifestation of holding together.
In the hunt the king uses beaters on three sides only
And forgoes game that runs off in front.
The citizens need no warning.
Good fortune.

Kun / The Receptive
Above KUN THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH
Below KUN THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH

The Judgment
THE RECEPTIVE brings about sublime success,
Furthering through the perseverance of a mare.
If the superior man undertakes something and tries to lead,
He goes astray;
But if he follows, he finds guidance.
It is favorable to find friends in the west and south,
To forego friends in the east and north.
Quiet perseverance brings good fortune.

The Image
The earth's condition is receptive devotion.
Thus the superior man who has breadth of character
Carries the outer world.

Master Jiao's Forest of Changes (my translation)

Holding Together Changing to The Receptive
A unicorn filly, a fledgling phoenix cock
Born and reared in a fine state,
Their spirit in harmony with where they reside,
Healthy and happy in the warmth of benevolence.
The country has many wise men.

Commentary (by Shang Binghe, my translation):
Kun is pattern (wen), the female unicorn and the phoenix, the state, and the country. When encountering the hexagram "Holding Together": Kan [Water, the Abysmal, the upper trigram of "Holding Together"] is harmony and enlightened wisdom; Gen (Mountain, Keeping Still, the first inner trigram] is fiery and thus it says "the warmth of benevolence." For "the warmth of benevolence", I rely on the Song and Yuan editions. The Jigu edition has it as "without cares."

My comments:
It is an oracle not just for the day but for the year. As such, it has its appropriateness. Holding together with Pocket of Bolts--at least this is what I would hope. Being receptive to whatever happens. The changing line image of some game getting away could easily refer to the job market where there are always missed opportunities, but there is nothing wrong in this.

I should add the obligatory note that I am not a believer in any supernatural power of the Changes. The Changes are a mirror of the mind, as a long-ago Chinese scholar once said. It's an interpretive exercise which sometimes succeeds and sometimes fails. You see if you can make meaning of something. To what end? Perhaps I will gain some insight from the practice. Anyway, a fun experiment.

Master Jiao's poem about the unicorn and the phoenix was particularly delightful to me. I like to think of myself and Pocket of Bolts in this way, healthy and happy, well-liked, and surrounded by wise people (philosophers). Most of the poems are much darker.