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If one is going to use the Yi Jing as a tool for growth, I would suggest using a Chinese calendar, such as Khiegh Alx Dhieghs Yi Jing: Daoist Book of Days, ( 1983 ) which is a calendar-diary, keyed to the Chinese year of 384 days. It also has a description of the twelve energy cycles of the Yi Jing, and the thirty-six kinds of involvements that are made manifest by the Yi Jing. Dhiegh (1983: 193-211 ) describes the energy cycles, and how they are used. Furthermore, he also describes the different types of involvements of the Yi Jing, and how they are to be integrated into the energy cycles. Ni ( 1983 ) describes the relationship between the energy cycles and the Celestial Stems and Terrestrial Branches.
Whilst it is obvious that the Yi Jing has cycles within it after all, it does state that all that is, is change and that the Fu Xi Order shows polar opposites, there is nothing quite as explicit as the passage in Ecclesiastes 3: 1 - 8, which is as follows:
To everything there is a season
and a time to every purpose under the heaven:A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant;
A time to harvest;
A time to kill;
A time to heal;
A time to destroy;
A time to rebuild;
A time to cry;
A time to laugh;
A time to grieve;
A time to dance;
A time for scattering stones;
A time for gathering stones;
A time to hug;
A time not to hug;
A to find;
A time to lose;
A time for keeping;
A time for throwing away;
A time to tear;
A time to repair;
A time to be quiet;
A time to speak up;
A time for loving;
A time for hating;
A time for war
A time for peace.
Verse one is from the King James Version, verses 2 though 8 are from The Way.
These energy conditions, if one wants to call them that, vary tremendously from those in the Yi Jing.
| Engagements | Commencing Plowing |
| Weddings festivities | Planting Grain |
| Commencing Studies | Planting Vegetables |
| Assuming A New Position | Collecting Honey |
| Moving Residences | Cutting Lumber |
| Starting A Journey | Building a Chicken Coop |
| Meditation Self-cultivation | Building A Pig Sty |
| Seeking Cures | Building A Horse Barn |
| Visiting the Sick | Building A Cow Pen |
| Airing out the Room | Obtaining Poultry |
| Setting up the Hearth | Obtaining Pigs |
| Burials | Obtaining Horses |
| Openings | Obtaining Cattle |
| Contracts and Trade | Obtaining Cats |
| Purchasing Property | Obtaining Dogs |
| Dividing Property | Earth Moving & Land Leveling |
| Letting out Money ( Lending ) | Commencing Building |
| Collecting Money ( Debts ) | Digging Pools or Ponds. |
These are implied in the arrangement of the hexagrams, but are not noticeable, unless one studies the Yi Jing sequence that tradition ascribes to Fu Xi. Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8 whilst telling us how the person would act, does not tell us when to cry, or when to laugh. The Yi Jing can provide an answer as when to plant crops, and, do the right thing. This can be done either by reading the time straight off the hexagram, or by using any one of the numerous systems of astrology, and numerology, which is associated with the Yi Jing, such as:
| Branch | Stem | Element |
|---|---|---|
| Tze | Quei | Water |
| Chui | Quei | Water |
| Chui | Ji | Earth |
| Chui | Hsin | Metal |
| Ein | Bien | Fire |
| Ein | Jia | Air |
| Ein | Wuh | Earth |
| Mao | Yi | Air |
| Chen | Yi | Air |
| Chen | Wuh | Earth |
| Chen | Quei | Water |
| Sze | Wuh | Earth |
| Sze | Bien | Fire |
| Sze | Geng | Metal |
| Wu | Ding | Fire |
| Wu | Ji | Earth |
| Wei | Yi | Air |
| Wei | Ji | Earth |
| Wei | Ding | Fire |
| Shen | Wuh | Earth |
| Shen | Geng | Metal |
| Shen | Ren | Water |
| Yu | Hsin | Metal |
| Shu | Hsin | Metal |
| Shu | Wuh | Earth |
| Shu | Ding | Fire |
| Hai | Ren | Water |
| Hai | Jia | Air |
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 4 February | Spring Begins |
| 18 February | Rain Water |
| 5 March | Awake from hibernation |
| 20 March | Spring Equinox |
| 4 April | Clear and Bright |
| 20 April | Rain for Grains |
| 5 May | Summer begins |
| 21 May | Grain buds |
| 5 June | Bearded Grain |
| 21 June | Summr Solstice |
| 7 July | Slight Heat |
| 22 July | Great Heat |
| 7 August | Autumn Begins |
| 23 August | Limited Head |
| 7 September | White Dew |
| 23 September | Autumn Equinox |
| 8 October | Cold Dew |
| 23 October | Hoarfrost Descends |
| 7 November | Winter Begins |
| 22 November | Little Snow |
| 7 December | Heavy Snow |
| 21 December | Summer Solstice |
| 5 January | Slight Cold |
| 20 January | Great Cold |
The hexagrams do give an idea of the potential, for time, in the fact that the lines can refer to time, in terms of either weeks, months, or days! One has to know things fairly well, to know which one of the several time periods is being referred to. Time is indicated by the moving line, and the period is indicated by the line number. For example, if the moving line is Nine in the third place, then the events will occur either three days, or three weeks, or three months time, from the date of asking the Yi Jing.
On the other hand, the hexagrams do form a time series. Every hexagram changes through a spcific sequence, to 15 other hexgrams, before changing back into itself.
Also bear in mind that the hexagrams do correspond, if only roughly to both the seasonal year, and the 5 element, 12 celestial stem cycle of of time.
The next aspect to look at, would be placing the hexagram in the appropriate family relationship. This is done by examination of the trigram, to determine its sex. This point is one of the biggest differences between the Fu Xi Arrangement and King Wen Arrangement. Thus, both are listed below. « I have no data on the attributes of trigrams according to the Diviner's Arrangement. I suspect that it follows whatever the diviner finds most useful at the time. »
| FuXi | Sex/Family Relationship | King Wen |
|---|---|---|
| Creative | Father | Creative |
| Receptive | Mother | Receptive |
| Arousing | Oldest Son | Arousing |
| Clinging | Middle Son | Abysmal |
| Joyous | Youngest Son | Keeping Still |
| Gentle | Oldest Daughter | Gentle |
| Abysmal | Middle Daughter | Clinging |
| Keeping Still | Youngest Daughter | Joyous. |
However, the family relationship plays a part in the five- element-theory-of-the-multiverse, by providing a base from which the different trigrams can join, to show the proper element for each trigram. However, do not look at the Trigram Cycles of Change for the sequences listed above, as they are not there. The trigrams derive their sex from a simple method. The King Wen arrangement gives the minority line the sex of the trigram, and the height above the base line is the birth order. Thus, yang is masculine, and the third line indicates the youngest child. The exceptions being Heaven, and Earth, which have no minority lines. These are the sex of the three lines, whilst implying the existence of the absent lines.
Fu Xi saw the base line as giving the sex, whilst the line that was the same as the base line gave the birth order. IE: Youngest Son is a Yang line in the second place, whilst the Middle Son would be a yang line on top.
The next mode of analysis of the hexagram is to consider that each hexagram implies its opposite. That is to say that just as Wind implies Thunder as its reverse, so Wind implies Lake, as its inverse. Thus the idea that the hexagrams reveal each other, by their inverse, and by their reverse, arose. The two schools of thought were respectively termed the P'ang-tung and the Ch'in-kua. Thus when one consults the Yi Jing, one not only makes a nuclear hexagram, lines 3, 4 & 5 above lines 2 , 3 & 4 and a moving hexagram, along with its nuclear hexagram, but also the inverse hexagram, and the reverse hexagram., in order to find out what the situation is not.
A third mode of analysis, is to consider which hexagram the hexagram is married to. This is a concept that was developed by Aleister Crowely. This is most useful for those who wish to gain a Thelemic understanding of the Yi Jing
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