About

The Book of Changes captures the meaning of the changes we experience within each moment of our lives.  We see the regular patterns of change within each breath, the shape of a day, and the seasons of the years and life itself.  Knowing the outcome of a course of action has great value, and ancients of four thousand years ago developed the I Ching as a way to divine the future.

Yet the I Ching is more than an oracle.  It describes the way things are through images and words, catching the meaning of the moment as a net captures fish.  Through its readings you can delve into a profound understanding of the universe and yourself in relation to it. For those willing and able to look beneath the surface of things, the I Ching reveals the complex dynamics of the cosmos, and shows us ways of aligning the way we live as individuals and as society with nature. 

The I Ching has been reworked and revised by many for specific purposes over the millennia.  We present the I Ching here as a guide through our difficult times by taking a path of harmony with nature and with each other.  Those who might have greatest benefit from our hexagram essays are those who feel actually called to participate in that transformation.

You will need to look elsewhere for a scholarly analysis of the I Ching.  Here we explore what the I Ching suggests as the path of transformation of ourselves and our world.  We offer it in hopes that it helps those awake and aware make a difference in the world.

What occurs occurs in the outer world reflects and affects us.  Any changes we wish to make in the outer is leveraged and guided from within. Ignoring any dynamic, inner or outer, leads to separation, imbalance, and eventually to disaster. The I Ching reveals the infinitely complex inner and outer and the path to change.

This exploration of the I Ching draws largely from the following sources:

• The I Ching, the Richard Wilhelm translation rendered into English by Cary F. Baynes with a foreward by C.G. Jung (1924.)  Richard Wilhelm was the first European to translate the I Ching into German, which Baynes later rendered into English.  This I Ching has been considered the best translation until the recent Ritsema/Sabbadini translation, and it perhaps is the most accessible to most readers, especially for beginners.  The patriarchy and sexism that readers will encounter in reading this translation and others is uncomfortable.  The reader is encouraged to view these biases as reflections of the translators' culture rather than inherent to the I Ching.
• The Taoist I Ching commentary of Liu I-ming (early 19th century) translated by Thomas Cleary (1986) emphasizes aspects of inner spiritual development.  It harmonizes the Taoist, Confucian, and Buddhist philosophies as understood by Chinese adepts of the time.
• The Original I Ching Oracle by Rudolf Ritsema and Shantena Augusto Sabbadini (2005.)  The authors have produced the only translation from the original Chinese that offers the I Ching in its original purity, freeing it from layers of interpretation.   great value of this work is the effort of the authors, with the guidance of the Eranos Foundation, to , helpful in explaining the language of the I Ching. This book is not recommended for beginners but for the serioud student of the I Ching.

Louise Gorenflo is a long-time student of the I Ching and climate justice activist living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

George Draffan is a Seattle-based Buddhist and Taoist practitioner and teacher and an independent researcher-activist for environmental and social justice campaigns. He can be found at NaturalAwareness.net.