Collective Wisdom Blogs

above  CH’IEN  THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN below  CH’IEN  THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN The first hexagram is made up of six unbroken lines. These unbroken lines stand for the primal power, which is light-giving, active, strong, and of the spirit. The hexagram is...

above  K’AN  THE ABYSMAL, WATER below  CHêN  THE AROUSING, THUNDER The name of the hexagram, Chun, really connotes a blade of grass pushing against an obstacle as it sprouts out of the earth–hence the meaning, “difficulty at the beginning.” The...

above  KêN  KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN below  K’AN  THE ABYSMAL, WATER Youthful folly is the natural extension of difficulty at the beginning. Whenever we venture into the unknown or new circumstance we are vulnerable to the folly of our own inexperience. In this...

above  K’AN  THE ABYSMAL, WATER below  CH’IEN  THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN All beings have need of nourishment from above. But the gift of food comes in its own time, and for this one must wait. this hexagram shows the clouds in the heavens, giving rain to...

above K’UN THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH below K’AN THE ABYSMAL, WATER this hexagram is made up of the trigrams K’an, water, and K’un, earth, and thus it symbolizes the ground water stored up in the earth. In the same way military strength is stored up...

above  K’AN  THE ABYSMAL, WATER below  K’UN  THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH The waters on the surface of the earth flow together wherever they can, as for example in the ocean, where all the rivers come together. Symbolically this connotes holding together and the...

above  K’UN  THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH below  CH’IEN  THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN The Receptive, which moves downward, stands above; the Creative, which moves upward, is below. Hence their influences meet and are in harmony, so that all living things bloom and...

above  CH’IEN  THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN below  K’UN  THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH this hexagram is the opposite of the preceding one. Heaven is above, drawing farther and farther away, while the earth below sinks farther into the depths. The creative powers are not in...

above K’UN THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH below TUI THE JOYOUS, LAKE The Chinese word lin has a range of meanings that is not exhausted by any single word of another language. The ancient explanations in the Book of Changes give as its first meaning, “becoming...