by Hilary Barrett
For some 3,000 years, people have turned to the I Ching, the Book of Changes, to help them uncover the meaning of their experience, to bring their actions into harmony with their underlying purpose, and above all to build a foundation of confident awareness for their choices.
Down the millennia, as the I Ching tradition has grown richer and deeper, the things we consult about may have changed a little. But the moment of consultation is much the same. These are the times when you're turning in circles, hemmed in and frustrated by all the things you can't see or don't understand. You can think it over (and over, and over); you can 'journal' it; you can gather opinions. But how can you have confidence in choosing a way to go, if you can't quite be sure of seeing where you are?
Down the millennia, as the I Ching tradition has grown richer and deeper, the things we consult about may have changed a little. But the moment of consultation is much the same. These are the times when you're turning in circles, hemmed in and frustrated by all the things you can't see or don't understand. You can think it over (and over, and over); you can 'journal' it; you can gather opinions. But how can you have confidence in choosing a way to go, if you can't quite be sure of seeing where you are?
Only understand where you are now, and you rediscover your power to make changes. This is the heart of I Ching divination. Once you can really see into the present moment, all its possibilities open out before you - and you are free to create your future.
What is the I Ching?
The I Ching (or Yijing) is an oracle book: it answers the question you ask. You can call on it to help with any question you have: issues with relationships of all kinds, ways to attain your personal goals, the outcomes of different choices for a key decision. It grounds you in present reality, encourages you to grow, and nurtures your self-knowledge. When things aren't working, it opens up a space for you to get 'off the ride', out of the rut, and choose your own direction. And above all, it's a wide-open, free-flowing channel for truth.
I Ching Drumming
For some years, I’ve been ‘drumming’ the I Ching from time to time. Not properly or skillfully, generally just on the nearest tabletop. I take a yang line as a single beat, and a yin line as two half beats, and set out through the Sequence in compound duple (six eight) time.
It turns out I’m not the only one. I came across a whole site dedicated to drumming I Ching patterns. It seems that the drumming becomes a kind of divination in itself - where do you stumble as you drum through the sequence? - and a kind of healing.
I drum my way through the Sequence from memory. It creates a particular quality of concentration, way beyond an intellectual ‘memory exercise’: if I try consciously to remember each hexagram pair while I stay in rhythm, rather than simply allowing the next one to come to mind, it all comes apart. And travelling right through the Sequence is… well, something you need to experience for yourself. If you don’t want to do this from memory, there’s a chart of the hexagrams in order, with the trigrams helpfully colour-coded, at the drumming site above.
Drumming is also another way to engage with a reading. You can remember your hexagram as rhythm as well as words, and carry it in your awareness through the day. It’s a completely different way of remembering and being aware: words and images are always flowing into our minds; rhythm’s always being created within our bodies. So an I Ching reading doesn’t only give particular words and images from that constant inundation an added glow of meaning; it’s something we can walk and breathe.
I drum my way through the Sequence from memory. It creates a particular quality of concentration, way beyond an intellectual ‘memory exercise’: if I try consciously to remember each hexagram pair while I stay in rhythm, rather than simply allowing the next one to come to mind, it all comes apart. And travelling right through the Sequence is… well, something you need to experience for yourself. If you don’t want to do this from memory, there’s a chart of the hexagrams in order, with the trigrams helpfully colour-coded, at the drumming site above.
Drumming is also another way to engage with a reading. You can remember your hexagram as rhythm as well as words, and carry it in your awareness through the day. It’s a completely different way of remembering and being aware: words and images are always flowing into our minds; rhythm’s always being created within our bodies. So an I Ching reading doesn’t only give particular words and images from that constant inundation an added glow of meaning; it’s something we can walk and breathe.
About the Author
Hilary Barrett is an I Ching diviner fromOxfordshire , England
Copyright 2000 - 2011 Clarity I Ching Readings
I Ching Resources:
I Ching Reading
I Ching : The Tao of Drumming
Hilary Barrett is an I Ching diviner from
Copyright 2000 - 2011 Clarity I Ching Readings
I Ching Resources:
I Ching Reading
I Ching : The Tao of Drumming
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