1. Thunder, It Begins . . .
When the rumble of a Spring storm or early morning light disturbs deep sleep, Thunder arouses us to attention, movement, and activity. All are awakened. In human affairs, flashes of coming change animate dreams, anxiety, hope, and fear. Nerves energize a fight or flight response. A sage uses this focus to find a sure path, grow new skills, and germinate opportunities.
---
The I Ching emerged from the ancient fires of China over 5,000 years ago. Its building blocks of Yang and Yin and eight elements slowly evolved into today’s sixty-four hexagrams and 384 lines. Countless I Ching translations echo its universal truths throughout time and place.
This indigenous birth, and the people who sought I Ching guidance, might seem vastly different from our world, but the same motives remain today. People consult the I Ching to better self, improve resources, and gain spiritual insights. Here is one story.
Thunder Booms: Why Consult the I Ching?
Adolescence was difficult. I was 15 years-old when the court emancipated me from my parents. The shock reverberated challenges. Survival meant working before and after high school. Church, school counselors, family, and friends offered partial aid. I wanted opportunity, so graduation was necessary. I struggled as a Montana “street kid” and prayed this was not my fate.
In spring 1971 I was in a sophomore humanities class. A guest speaker was discussing comparative religions. One of the books passed around was The I Ching or Book of Changes, by Richard Wilhelm and Cary F. Baynes (Princeton University Press).
When it was my turn to view Wilhelm/Baynes, I randomly opened a page and pointed. The sentence directly under my finger startled me. Strange imagery from a distant land spoke directly to my situation. How could this be? I understood! The Bible never replied so clearly. Months later I had saved enough money to finally buy a Wilhelm/Baynes copy.
Make no doubt, Wilhelm/Baynes is daunting. I kept a dictionary handy. Some ideas floated over my head and earned decades of study, but many did not. I found a voice for my Native American heritage with references to Father Heaven and Mother Earth, to Four Directions, and to Eight Elements. Wilhelm/Baynes translated archaic ideas that offend modern sensibilities, but I was ignited by it ancient roots, imagery, and ability to describe very real experiences.
During my emancipated high school years, the I Ching grounded me. Despair had an antidote. I wanted to avoid danger, learn skills to stabilize chaos, and create a better future. How could three coins help? Was it fate, or destiny? How can I take control of my life?
Thunder Booms First Tradition: Hellmut Wilhelm, Shao Yung, and Change Cycle
Little did I realize my startled wakening would lead to an I Ching discovery. I developed graphics used in decades of private readings, classes, and weekend workshops. They illustrate the texts that followed. I met with people who I respected. This is one thread of my life journey.
I claim Real I Ching Guy because I take Wilhelm/Baynes traditions seriously. Book II contains commentary that erupted my imagination with ancient concepts of an effortless world construct. The I Ching became my confidant and not for academia, fun-play, or cult. I found more than personal revelations in its earliest texts. In fact, I rejuvenate ageless ideas thereby honoring former masters. The author of the I Ching Workbook, R.L. Wing, called my work revolutionary. Let me explain.
At the back of Wilhelm/Baynes is an index of hexagrams by Shao Yung (1011-1077). Yung arranged the 64 I Ching hexagrams into a progressive order, rather than into the polarity order traditionally used by most authors, including Wilhelm/Baynes. Polarity means that each pair of hexagrams are inverse images of each other. Check the arrangement of your editions.
Richard Wilhelm’s son, Hellmut Wilhelm, added the index to Wilhelm/Baynes. He labeled the Yung index a mystery, but I developed a solution – the Change Cycle.
Hellmut Wilhelm agreed to meet and discuss Yung, his mystery, and the Change Cycle. On a sunny afternoon in his home, we viewed the Master Sheet of All Hexagrams. Visit Toolbox.
The Master Sheet illustrates an updated Yung index. The progressive order of hexagram images is visually intuitive as they morph from all solid-line, Creative 1t/1c to all broken-line, Receptive 2t/64c. Each hexagram image also has its name, traditional number (t), and Change Cycle number (c), which substitutes for Yung reference numbers.
We discussed how the Master Sheet gives modern context to the historic Yung index. The next illustration exhibited was the Correlation Sheet. Visit Toolbox.
Wilhelm/Baynes referenced twelve hexagrams to months. Hellmut noticed them listed in order on the left side of the Correlation Sheet, while on the right were matching hexagram images. Placing the images in timely order unveiled remarkable, organic patterns, including:
I explained how twelve Wilhelm/Baynes hexagrams established consistent, compatible, and consequential patterns. I renamed them the Twelve Principle Hexagrams because they align the 64 hexagrams into the Change Cycle. Visit Toolbox.
The Change Cycle is a progressive, organic order of 64 hexagrams. It naturally complements the polarity-paired traditional order of hexagrams. No discord between arrangements. As a result, traditional interpretations and editions support the Change Cycle. Use your favorite author. Together with the Change Cycle, a new dimension opens. A mystery solved shakes the very foundation of the I Ching!
In the end Yung’s intent was still unknown, but Hellmut gave I Ching insights that drew awe. He supercharged my enthusiasm. I forever remain humbled by his willingness to share. One comment stayed with me, “The I Ching is not meant to be logical.” No truer words said.
There is no logic when I Ching text describes your life and experiences. It affirms or alerts but ignore at your peril. As a practical guide, the I Ching demands nothing yet reveals much to people observing self and environment and desiring their full potential.
Hellmut encouraged me to experiment to experience the I Ching. Its words come alive only when you apply counsel to life. I pass his words on to you.
Thunder Booms Second Tradition: Active Lines
Wilhelm/Baynes teaches three I Ching traditions, including:
In Wilhelm/Baynes, all changing lines switch to create a related hexagram. The presumed outcome. However, randomness may produce two or more changing lines. Counsel conflicts. What then? Follow one and disregard the other? Also, the role of a related hexagram can confuse. At this point, frustration dismisses the I Ching. Understandable, but reconsider.
The Change Cycle reframes the I Ching. Hexagrams as experiences unfold in predictable order. This organic template applies to a personal consult too. However, traditional use of changing line and related hexagram limit Change Cycle function. They need redefining.
A changing line is either active or inactive. Active lines (sums 6, 9) counsel an event or issue of remembrance. Make a conscious choice. If you take correct action by following directions, you cause the experience to evolve as indicated. Inactive lines hold opposite polarity. They are placeholders and show neutered counsel, but still play a vital role. Nonactive lines are silent.
Important!!! Because active lines counsel change, they introduce before-after and cause-effect surprises. More later. Until then, waken your I Ching mindfulness with these tools, including:
Whether one or all six lines are randomly active, Wilhelm/Baynes tradition has you redraw changing lines to expose a related hexagram.
Thunder Booms Third Tradition: Related Hexagram
Related hexagram as used by Wilhelm/Baynes also limits Change Cycle function. I clarify three types of related hexagrams, including:
A primary hexagram has six lines with each line linking to a hexagram. The Change Cycle snaps this web of related hexagrams into predictable order. However, active lines narrow the web to a reading change cycle. Yours might have all three types. A primary static hexagram has only nonactive lines. They deserve special attention. I later discuss all in detail.
Over the years, I found reading change cycles to sort into one of four types or models. Each indicates a different ability to manage outcomes. I have examples to describe the following models, including:
Think of the four categories as instigator, receiver, or caught by events and flowing along with limited to no ability to affect the trending direction. The four categories give guidance on telling the story of your reading change cycle and the progressive counsel of active lines.
It all starts with a question. A primary hexagram answered, but a reading change cycle reveals evolving experiences. Models help identify your role and the potential to shift outcomes. Put the pieces together as if a story. Keep it simple. While examples shed light, discover these categories by experiment to experience.
The Change Cycle transforms the I Ching. The details of 64 hexagrams linked by 384 lines are illustrated by the Change Cycle Chart. An active line illuminates one link, which energizes the limited network of a reading change cycle. Visit Toolbox.
Synchronizing, Precise Goal of an I Ching Reading
C. G. Jung wrote the forward to Wilhelm/Baynes stating, “In the I Ching, the only criterion of the validity of synchronicity is the observer’s opinion that the text of the hexagram amounts to a true rendering of his psychic condition.”
The I Ching woke me by a random act of putting my finger on a page and reading. The recognition of that text in my real-world experiences and events was a synchronizing moment. It was shocking and unexplainable, yet intuitive and exhilarating. My world began to make sense.
You too can synchronize. A reading change cycle is a timely arc of hexagram and line counsel. Synchronizing connects your reality in a single moment to I Ching text. That spark in time ties into other events and experiences. Review progression of events against active line counsel. They are on the same predictable arc.
Loudest Thunder Boom: Time introduces an I Ching Revolution
Life changes, time passes. Eternally. The in-betweens are decisions and events to sum our daily lives. In a reading change cycle, active lines show decisions and events triggering change.
A primary hexagram slices ongoing experiences. It is a single pane. Active lines counsel change with before-after, cause-effect consequences. This creates time in the I Ching. Time is defined here as the orderly progression of experiences. Unfolding experiences do not follow a clock.
A reading change cycle organizes related hexagrams into a timely past, present, and potential future framework. Active lines are the instructive links between evolving experiences. If you synchronize counsel to a real moment in time, it locks into your reading change cycle. From there, find great insights into unrecognized moments. A new I Ching dimension opens.
Be vigilant noticing subtle shifts in experiences. Check ongoing active line counsel. Reconsider if warned of danger or act with haste if clear. Success is more likely when you synchronize self and environment to evolving line counsel.
Reading change cycle, active line, and inactive line distinctions are in harmony with I Ching roots. They enable sequencing of real experiences and parallel metering of I Ching counsel.
Therefore, observe life. A precise reflection is your reading change cycle. Tune-in to active line counsel as experiences change. Find harmony so hindsight leads to foresight.
Yung opened I Ching horizons millennia ago. His mystery index is reborn as the Change Cycle. Three traditions shook from Thunder booms radiating from Wilhelm/Baynes, Book II. The loudest boom comes from revelation of I Ching time. Masters hear the rumble of change.
All things transform, from daily routines to the I Ching. How change announces itself is by polarity alert “What just happened?” or by decay from cyclic grinding, “old broken, need replacement.” Either way, a thunderous wakening starts from small and life-changing external events and from internal drives to flip fate into destiny.
Sage, Step One. Let Thunder reverberate. Then ponder a safe path forward, grow the skills and resources needed for what might be coming, and germinate opportunities rather than danger. When the whirlwind calms, write your question down on paper.
all material copyright jrw(c)2022
When the rumble of a Spring storm or early morning light disturbs deep sleep, Thunder arouses us to attention, movement, and activity. All are awakened. In human affairs, flashes of coming change animate dreams, anxiety, hope, and fear. Nerves energize a fight or flight response. A sage uses this focus to find a sure path, grow new skills, and germinate opportunities.
---
The I Ching emerged from the ancient fires of China over 5,000 years ago. Its building blocks of Yang and Yin and eight elements slowly evolved into today’s sixty-four hexagrams and 384 lines. Countless I Ching translations echo its universal truths throughout time and place.
This indigenous birth, and the people who sought I Ching guidance, might seem vastly different from our world, but the same motives remain today. People consult the I Ching to better self, improve resources, and gain spiritual insights. Here is one story.
Thunder Booms: Why Consult the I Ching?
Adolescence was difficult. I was 15 years-old when the court emancipated me from my parents. The shock reverberated challenges. Survival meant working before and after high school. Church, school counselors, family, and friends offered partial aid. I wanted opportunity, so graduation was necessary. I struggled as a Montana “street kid” and prayed this was not my fate.
In spring 1971 I was in a sophomore humanities class. A guest speaker was discussing comparative religions. One of the books passed around was The I Ching or Book of Changes, by Richard Wilhelm and Cary F. Baynes (Princeton University Press).
When it was my turn to view Wilhelm/Baynes, I randomly opened a page and pointed. The sentence directly under my finger startled me. Strange imagery from a distant land spoke directly to my situation. How could this be? I understood! The Bible never replied so clearly. Months later I had saved enough money to finally buy a Wilhelm/Baynes copy.
Make no doubt, Wilhelm/Baynes is daunting. I kept a dictionary handy. Some ideas floated over my head and earned decades of study, but many did not. I found a voice for my Native American heritage with references to Father Heaven and Mother Earth, to Four Directions, and to Eight Elements. Wilhelm/Baynes translated archaic ideas that offend modern sensibilities, but I was ignited by it ancient roots, imagery, and ability to describe very real experiences.
During my emancipated high school years, the I Ching grounded me. Despair had an antidote. I wanted to avoid danger, learn skills to stabilize chaos, and create a better future. How could three coins help? Was it fate, or destiny? How can I take control of my life?
Thunder Booms First Tradition: Hellmut Wilhelm, Shao Yung, and Change Cycle
Little did I realize my startled wakening would lead to an I Ching discovery. I developed graphics used in decades of private readings, classes, and weekend workshops. They illustrate the texts that followed. I met with people who I respected. This is one thread of my life journey.
I claim Real I Ching Guy because I take Wilhelm/Baynes traditions seriously. Book II contains commentary that erupted my imagination with ancient concepts of an effortless world construct. The I Ching became my confidant and not for academia, fun-play, or cult. I found more than personal revelations in its earliest texts. In fact, I rejuvenate ageless ideas thereby honoring former masters. The author of the I Ching Workbook, R.L. Wing, called my work revolutionary. Let me explain.
At the back of Wilhelm/Baynes is an index of hexagrams by Shao Yung (1011-1077). Yung arranged the 64 I Ching hexagrams into a progressive order, rather than into the polarity order traditionally used by most authors, including Wilhelm/Baynes. Polarity means that each pair of hexagrams are inverse images of each other. Check the arrangement of your editions.
Richard Wilhelm’s son, Hellmut Wilhelm, added the index to Wilhelm/Baynes. He labeled the Yung index a mystery, but I developed a solution – the Change Cycle.
Hellmut Wilhelm agreed to meet and discuss Yung, his mystery, and the Change Cycle. On a sunny afternoon in his home, we viewed the Master Sheet of All Hexagrams. Visit Toolbox.
The Master Sheet illustrates an updated Yung index. The progressive order of hexagram images is visually intuitive as they morph from all solid-line, Creative 1t/1c to all broken-line, Receptive 2t/64c. Each hexagram image also has its name, traditional number (t), and Change Cycle number (c), which substitutes for Yung reference numbers.
We discussed how the Master Sheet gives modern context to the historic Yung index. The next illustration exhibited was the Correlation Sheet. Visit Toolbox.
Wilhelm/Baynes referenced twelve hexagrams to months. Hellmut noticed them listed in order on the left side of the Correlation Sheet, while on the right were matching hexagram images. Placing the images in timely order unveiled remarkable, organic patterns, including:
- Hexagram images displayed intuitive development.
- Change Cycle numbers organically progressed.
- Hexagram traditional reference numbers paired; lines along the far right connect pairs.
- Paired hexagram references zip the traditional order together with the Change Cycle.
I explained how twelve Wilhelm/Baynes hexagrams established consistent, compatible, and consequential patterns. I renamed them the Twelve Principle Hexagrams because they align the 64 hexagrams into the Change Cycle. Visit Toolbox.
The Change Cycle is a progressive, organic order of 64 hexagrams. It naturally complements the polarity-paired traditional order of hexagrams. No discord between arrangements. As a result, traditional interpretations and editions support the Change Cycle. Use your favorite author. Together with the Change Cycle, a new dimension opens. A mystery solved shakes the very foundation of the I Ching!
In the end Yung’s intent was still unknown, but Hellmut gave I Ching insights that drew awe. He supercharged my enthusiasm. I forever remain humbled by his willingness to share. One comment stayed with me, “The I Ching is not meant to be logical.” No truer words said.
There is no logic when I Ching text describes your life and experiences. It affirms or alerts but ignore at your peril. As a practical guide, the I Ching demands nothing yet reveals much to people observing self and environment and desiring their full potential.
Hellmut encouraged me to experiment to experience the I Ching. Its words come alive only when you apply counsel to life. I pass his words on to you.
Thunder Booms Second Tradition: Active Lines
Wilhelm/Baynes teaches three I Ching traditions, including:
- Randomness creates six hexagram lines, including changing lines (sums 6, 9).
- Changing lines switch polarity. Line image turns from solid line to broken line or from broken line to solid line.
- Redraw changing lines to produce a related hexagram.
In Wilhelm/Baynes, all changing lines switch to create a related hexagram. The presumed outcome. However, randomness may produce two or more changing lines. Counsel conflicts. What then? Follow one and disregard the other? Also, the role of a related hexagram can confuse. At this point, frustration dismisses the I Ching. Understandable, but reconsider.
The Change Cycle reframes the I Ching. Hexagrams as experiences unfold in predictable order. This organic template applies to a personal consult too. However, traditional use of changing line and related hexagram limit Change Cycle function. They need redefining.
A changing line is either active or inactive. Active lines (sums 6, 9) counsel an event or issue of remembrance. Make a conscious choice. If you take correct action by following directions, you cause the experience to evolve as indicated. Inactive lines hold opposite polarity. They are placeholders and show neutered counsel, but still play a vital role. Nonactive lines are silent.
Important!!! Because active lines counsel change, they introduce before-after and cause-effect surprises. More later. Until then, waken your I Ching mindfulness with these tools, including:
- Consider what conditions lead to your question, current options, and what might be next.
- Recall traceable experiences and tangible events. Linkages form a timely progression to experiences, events, and decisions. Reveal these to create a path of encounters.
- Discern progress towards goal – reading change cycle answers with a tending direction.
Whether one or all six lines are randomly active, Wilhelm/Baynes tradition has you redraw changing lines to expose a related hexagram.
Thunder Booms Third Tradition: Related Hexagram
Related hexagram as used by Wilhelm/Baynes also limits Change Cycle function. I clarify three types of related hexagrams, including:
- Primary hexagram; randomly generated by nonactive lines (sums 7, 8) and by possible active lines (sums 6, 9).
- Static hexagram; nonactive lines and possible inactive lines.
- Secondary hexagram; nonactive lines, active lines, and inactive lines.
A primary hexagram has six lines with each line linking to a hexagram. The Change Cycle snaps this web of related hexagrams into predictable order. However, active lines narrow the web to a reading change cycle. Yours might have all three types. A primary static hexagram has only nonactive lines. They deserve special attention. I later discuss all in detail.
Over the years, I found reading change cycles to sort into one of four types or models. Each indicates a different ability to manage outcomes. I have examples to describe the following models, including:
- Predictive; primary hexagram occurs first in reading change cycle. It shows the potential future outcome of the question.
- Historic; primary hexagram occurs last in reading change cycle. Retrospective development of the question. “Reaping what one sowed” storyline.
- Predictive Flow; primary hexagram is not first/last but “inside” reading change cycle, primary hexagram occurs before static hexagram, and ongoing events with limited ability to affect.
- Historic Flow; primary hexagram is not first/last but “inside” reading change cycle, static hexagram occurs before primary hexagram, and ongoing events with no ability to affect.
Think of the four categories as instigator, receiver, or caught by events and flowing along with limited to no ability to affect the trending direction. The four categories give guidance on telling the story of your reading change cycle and the progressive counsel of active lines.
It all starts with a question. A primary hexagram answered, but a reading change cycle reveals evolving experiences. Models help identify your role and the potential to shift outcomes. Put the pieces together as if a story. Keep it simple. While examples shed light, discover these categories by experiment to experience.
The Change Cycle transforms the I Ching. The details of 64 hexagrams linked by 384 lines are illustrated by the Change Cycle Chart. An active line illuminates one link, which energizes the limited network of a reading change cycle. Visit Toolbox.
Synchronizing, Precise Goal of an I Ching Reading
C. G. Jung wrote the forward to Wilhelm/Baynes stating, “In the I Ching, the only criterion of the validity of synchronicity is the observer’s opinion that the text of the hexagram amounts to a true rendering of his psychic condition.”
The I Ching woke me by a random act of putting my finger on a page and reading. The recognition of that text in my real-world experiences and events was a synchronizing moment. It was shocking and unexplainable, yet intuitive and exhilarating. My world began to make sense.
You too can synchronize. A reading change cycle is a timely arc of hexagram and line counsel. Synchronizing connects your reality in a single moment to I Ching text. That spark in time ties into other events and experiences. Review progression of events against active line counsel. They are on the same predictable arc.
Loudest Thunder Boom: Time introduces an I Ching Revolution
Life changes, time passes. Eternally. The in-betweens are decisions and events to sum our daily lives. In a reading change cycle, active lines show decisions and events triggering change.
A primary hexagram slices ongoing experiences. It is a single pane. Active lines counsel change with before-after, cause-effect consequences. This creates time in the I Ching. Time is defined here as the orderly progression of experiences. Unfolding experiences do not follow a clock.
A reading change cycle organizes related hexagrams into a timely past, present, and potential future framework. Active lines are the instructive links between evolving experiences. If you synchronize counsel to a real moment in time, it locks into your reading change cycle. From there, find great insights into unrecognized moments. A new I Ching dimension opens.
Be vigilant noticing subtle shifts in experiences. Check ongoing active line counsel. Reconsider if warned of danger or act with haste if clear. Success is more likely when you synchronize self and environment to evolving line counsel.
Reading change cycle, active line, and inactive line distinctions are in harmony with I Ching roots. They enable sequencing of real experiences and parallel metering of I Ching counsel.
Therefore, observe life. A precise reflection is your reading change cycle. Tune-in to active line counsel as experiences change. Find harmony so hindsight leads to foresight.
Yung opened I Ching horizons millennia ago. His mystery index is reborn as the Change Cycle. Three traditions shook from Thunder booms radiating from Wilhelm/Baynes, Book II. The loudest boom comes from revelation of I Ching time. Masters hear the rumble of change.
All things transform, from daily routines to the I Ching. How change announces itself is by polarity alert “What just happened?” or by decay from cyclic grinding, “old broken, need replacement.” Either way, a thunderous wakening starts from small and life-changing external events and from internal drives to flip fate into destiny.
Sage, Step One. Let Thunder reverberate. Then ponder a safe path forward, grow the skills and resources needed for what might be coming, and germinate opportunities rather than danger. When the whirlwind calms, write your question down on paper.
all material copyright jrw(c)2022
These slides introduce the I Ching and the Change Cycle: