I’d like to share a personal story that illustrates for you what I call an I Ching “News Alert.” The I Ching is a 3,000-year-old oracle from China that psychologist, Carl Jung recognized as a tool for amplifying unconscious, intuitive wisdom. That still small voice within us all is overshadowed by noisy modern life. The I Ching amplifies our inner awareness and helps with hearing intuition.

You can form any question and locate the answer. Since the I Ching only speaks when spoken to, if I would benefit from a warning about something that is approaching, one of my questions may have to be overridden. That opportunity may be used to deliver an important warning. It’s like a News Alert or Breaking News Bulletin that overrides and replaces the planned broadcast with something both timely and important.

There is one illustration of the “News Alert” style I Ching reading that I won’t ever forget. Just before bed on September 10, 2001, I asked a minor question about a project I was happily working on and received, to my surprise, an ill-fitting, clunker-feeling “News Alert” about some other issue altogether.

I had no idea what to expect on this final night before the New York terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 where thousands soon would die. The reading was Hexagram 36, “Darkening of the Light.”

This includes the image “the sun has sunk under the earth and is therefore darkened.” The name itself means, “Wounding of the bright,” and the Wilhelm translation (I was using at the time) says that “a man of dark nature is in a position of authority and brings harm to wise and able men.”

These warnings disturbed and alerted me. They clearly did not relate to the project I was working on. The I Ching’s prediction of the great harm that a powerful, dark man could cause that would block out the sun and harm the innocent, only made sense the next morning when I witnessed, live on television, the second plane hitting the twin towers. “Oh, my God,I exclaimed, “so this is what the I Ching was preparing me for.”

I was, and I am still, grateful that the I Ching prepared me for this enormous psychic shock. I felt like I slept on alert that night and I spontaneously jumped out of bed and turned on the TV (extremely rare for me) just in time to witness the unfolding events live.

I am grateful that the I Ching does, occasionally, override routine questions to provide timely warnings. I eventually adopted the process of asking a Zen Question, one with no content specified, before I ask any personal questions of my own. This alleviates the need for the News Alert interruptions by letting the I Ching speak first.

Beginning with a Zen Question also opens a door to valuable feedback that I would not know to ask about. Since I didn’t ask a specific question, I have to discover what the hints refer to.

I must say, that I am glad that if I were to ask the I Ching tomorrow about wearing my lovely green shirt-when there’s an avoidable car crash awaiting me a few hours later-that I would be alerted to some imminent danger and mentally prepared to retreat, instead of getting the fashion advice I originally asked for.

(Not that I couldn’t also use some fashion advice! But, only if I survive that avoidable car crash.) I chose that example since an I Ching reading once warned me of, and saved me from, certain death in a car crash. The “I Ching News Alert” forewarns and forearms.

I want to tell you an important story about a trivial decision. What matters is the process. How it was made is profound because it applies to any life question. We consulted Carl Jung’s favorite oracle, the I Ching. This ancient book of Chinese wisdom has been in continuous use for 3,000 years. You can ask any question and locate a very specific answer-an answer that mirrors your own deepest intuition. It’s like a megaphone for the “still small voice” of inner knowing.

My partner, Debbie Hart, and I have used the I Ching to inform our major life questions, career choices and health decisions for years. We would hate to do without it. Guessing at life choices that have huge consequences is a risky business.

Along with big issues, we often “discuss” everyday issues with the I Ching. For example, when we lived in the romantic coastal village of Mendocino, California, Debbie had driven 10 miles to Fort Bragg to purchase a “wheeled cart.” I wasn’t able to go along that day.

Only after she returned home with a fine “two-wheeler,” did I realize I really wanted one that could convert to a four-wheeled cart like one I once used to move my stone sculptures. Oops!

We didn’t want to make a pointless 20-mile journey to the hardware store if this was ultimately our best choice. We also didn’t want to simply settle for this “bird in the hand” when we could ask a reliable source: the I Ching. Above all, we didn’t want to create relationship friction over “this minor issue” (a phrase I prefer to “this mistake of mine”). Neither of us really knew what was best to do at this point.

Most life choices are made with partial information amid great uncertainty. We must choose where to work and where to live and whom to marry, with no advance assurance what path is best for us. The divorce rate and the business-failure rate testify to the difficulty of love and work decisions.

We make better choices with relevant information from without and by hearing our intuition from within. I Ching readings mirror intuitive knowing and thereby help you hear the guide inside. Readings trigger insights you can feel. There is an “Aha” of recognition and often, a physical sense of “felt validity.” Don’t just take advice-listen for your own inner resonance. The I Ching stimulates self-awareness instead of needing weeks in a retreat to arrive at inner clarity. It accelerates intuitive awareness.

For decision help, we turned to our favorite future-predictor, relationship-mediator, and now hardware-store-Sherpa: the ancient I Ching. To have a mutually trusted referee available to mediate relationship questions and decisions has allowed us to eliminate needless conflicts from our relationship; the I Ching result that means the most to me, personally.

We asked first about keeping the two-wheeler we already had and next about seeking out a potential four-wheeler.

For the convenient choice of keeping the two-wheeler we were told: “Matters are at a standstill. Take the initiative in helping to put things right. A completely new approach is needed.” (Hexagram 59:5, > 4)

For a wheeled moving-device, to be “at a standstill” is not good. We agreed to “take the initiative to put things right” by continuing our search. The “completely new approach” meant finding a completely new cart.

We were also told: “Because you lack experience of the issues involved you feel confused… you need to ask for help,” but there is no fault or blame involved. This helped disperse any negativity: It’s good to search further and it’s OK to not know. Knowing that you don’t have the answer opens the door to learning.

Further insight followed from the phrase “ideas you cherish may now be turned upside down,” since the desired cart does turn upside down! I realized our search for a cart was already a waking life symbol of seeking new life “vehicles” since we had turned our Colorado lives upside down to begin a new phase of life in California.

For our second question about seeking the four-wheeler, we were told: “The resources you have steadily accumulated can at last be used. You can now achieve something truly worthwhile” (Dening) and, “In doing this, you walk heaven’s highway. Have no doubt about its success” (Karcher). (Hexagram 26:6, into 11)

It is quite a cart that can travel a heavenly path! I would translate “walk heaven’s highway” to mean we were choosing our path based on “spiritual guidance” instead of ego impulses. (Note: the human “ego” is the necessary-and sometimes loveable-village idiot of the psyche.)

The answer included: “Projects will thrive… Letting people know what you want will bring positive results,” so we went back to the store and let the owner know just what we wanted. Searching through his supplier catalogues together, we found a fabulous, two-wheel dolly that converts to a four-wheel cart! Being made of lighter-weight, rust-proof materials, it was better than we had hoped for. The hardware-store owner loved the new cart and began stocking them, to better serve his customers.

The new cart was a great solution we might never have found without I Ching encouragement. We ordered the “lucky” find on the spot. Except “luck” had nothing to do with it. We were not lucky. We were guided. It’s very different.

Finding the right cart is trivial, but being intuitively informed in advance is not. Knowing when not to settle for a convenient-but inferior–choice is huge. Avoiding needless relationship conflicts will upgrade your entire quality of life (and your partner’s). Knowing when to pursue a goal and when to retreat could literally save your life… which an I Ching reading did for me.

It’s success in magnifying the still small voice of intuition has kept the I Ching, or Book of Changes, in continuous use for 3,000 years. How to locate your best options in life, without giving up prematurely or pressing on pointlessly, is invaluable in any decision.

Some life choices have enormous consequences. To hear personalized, inner guidance is a life-changing advantage. Accessing intuition lets the “still small voice” come in “loud and clear.” Whether that comes from meditation, reflection, hypnosis, prayer, psychotherapy, retreat, visions, or the I Ching-however you find it, intuitive knowing is your best guide in an unpredictable world. We did not tell the store owner his brand-new cart had been pre-recommended by an very-ancient oracle.

If you could rely upon ancient Chinese wisdom to choose your next business office-instead of a realtor-would you? I did.

Years ago, in Boulder, Colorado, I was seeking an office space to set up my practice. A Jungian psychologist, I had a private practice in psychotherapy, dream-work, and the I Ching. I decided to consult the I Ching which is an ancient Chinese oracle that Carl Jung introduced to the West.

Like the Tarot or Runes, it is a “complete symbol system” that relies on synchronicity to comment on any specific situation. The I Ching allows one to ask any question and then target the parts of the text that “answer,” the question.

The answers mirror the questioner’s unconscious or intuitive knowledge and help bring it into awareness. It’s like getting a printout of what the “still, small voice” of inner knowing has been whispering. I reflect on the I Ching comments as a stepping stone to arriving at my own intuitive clarity which I rely upon.

There were interesting aspects to each of the first three offices. After viewing each, the I Ching reading was opposed, and so was I. My fourth visit took me to an unusual property on the north side of Boulder.

After a brief perusal, my ego (that “village idiot of the psyche”) dismissed the location because it lacked a view of the lovely Flatiron Mountains that tower over Boulder, Colorado. “How?!” I wondered, “could anyone be expected to do meaningful spiritual work without a decent view of the Flatiron Mountains?”

I had already dismissed this “vision-less” office, and only consulted the I Ching to disqualify it so I could move on. Quite to my surprise, the I Ching read: “Game is in the field and it furthers one to catch it.” One key to the I Ching is recognizing how a symbolic image or story relates to your question and your situation. Since the book is 3,000 years old, you can’t look up “retail office space” or “condo-swaps.”

The concept of “Game in the field” is drawn from an ancient image of the royal hunt. My first thought was, “What’s that got to do with me? I have never been hunting in my life!” (See: ego resistance.)

Although, after reflecting for a minute, I recalled telling several friends that I was, in fact, office hunting! The meaning suddenly clicked: this office must be the object of my hunt! Importantly, I felt a physical surge of energy at this recognition.

This “felt validity” of direct intuition is the best indicator of getting the message. I have learned to trust my own intuitive resonance to I Ching comments. Responses vary from subtle energy movements to the unmistakable “chill of truth” up the spine.

Staying with the I Ching’s metaphor, I asked myself, “How long should one expect game in the open to wait around for the hunter?” Probably not long, I guessed and I signed a lease on the spot.

While discussing details with my new landlord another tenant called to claim the space. It’s a good thing I acted while the game was still in the field. The landlord’s details included a (still amazing) promise never to raise the rent as long as I wanted to stay there! Then he invited me to park my RV in his adjacent lot and even provided free electricity (for years)!

I worked happily in that building for a decade with the very best landlord I have ever had. He became a trusted ally and friend. The building itself proved to be a remarkably ideal location for so many reasons that I could not have anticipated.

When my truck had no reverse gear for months, the building’s traffic circles solved that problem. When I needed physical therapy, a wonderful rehab instructor moved in just down the hall! By the way, she wanted to learn the I Ching, and we ended up trading rehab expertise for I Ching readings!

Several years later, I needed to rent a performance space so I could give larger poetry readings. You may have guessed: there was an ideal, rentable room in the front of this very same building. I am so glad I understood, and felt the correctness of, the I Ching’s image of the hunt. I still miss that office. When it was time to reluctantly leave, the I Ching guided my new partner and me to a home-and-office combination that better suited our changing needs; it was also a gem.

And, coincidentally, during those selected evenings that I rented the window-filled front room for poetry events… we all had a fantastic view of those Flatiron Mountains that tower over Boulder. I just knew they were involved somehow! Occasionally, my ego is (partly) correct! Mostly, I consult the I Ching.

 

The I Ching (pronounced E-Jing) is an ancient Chinese oracle popularized in the West by Carl Jung. It allows us to ask direct questions, and read the answers in print. When I teach I Ching classes I often tell students about the day it saved my life.

I had been in silent spiritual retreat in a cabin high in the Rocky Mountains, (ca. 1985). After 9 days without human contact, I felt refreshed and ready to return to “civilization.” It’s quite a transition and I wanted to ask the I Ching for guidance on the journey.

I cast the coins and got an answer I’ll never forget: line 4 in the Hexagram “Waiting.” It reads “Waiting in Blood, Get Out of the Pit”. The Wilhelm translation continues:

“The situation is extremely dangerous. It’s of the utmost gravity now, a matter of life and death. Bloodshed seems immanent. There’s no going forward or backward. We’re cut off as in a pit. Now we must simply stand fast and let fate take its course. This composure, which keeps us from aggravating the trouble by anything we might do is the only way of getting out of the dangerous pit.”

I was less than thrilled with the forecast but knew I had better pay attention to it. So, having no idea what to expect, I departed in my little yellow Toyota Starlet. An hour later I was cruising through the mountains ascending Kenosha Pass, when I found myself behind a VW Rabbit pouring diesel fumes.

For some reason, he was driving 15 mph under the speed limit. In these Colorado mountains there was no place to pass so I followed dutifully for miles and miles. Soon, dozens of cars were backed up behind me and this Rabbit… who would have lost to any turtle that day.

Having raced cars for a decade, I was very frustrated following this slow-poke up the mountain. After many miles I realized we were nearing the brief passing lane at the peak of Kenosha Pass. Approaching that turn I thought “I’m finally going to get free of this dawdler now!” Rounding the curve I can see the passing lane, my narrow window of opportunity.

I stepped on the gas and began to pull out around this car–when the thought hit me: “Wait! This is the pit! I can’t go forward or backwards. It’s like I’ve fallen in a pit in the ground. This is the situation I was warned about!”

With cars ahead and behind I am trapped in a moving pit. And what am I about to do? I am about to make an effort to resolve the situation through my own efforts: the one thing I was warned not to do!

Because of that awareness, I swerved back into line… just as the Rabbit driver “put his foot in it”! Why after all those miles, I don’t know: maybe his carburetor cleared, maybe he awoke from a trance. Whatever happened, he was suddenly accelerating right at the moment I would have been beside him! To my left was a wall of Rocky Mountain granite. And coming around the turn at 70 mph, heading right where I would have been was… a 16-wheel Mack truck.

His front bumper would have been my the last sight. There was nowhere to go to the left, the Volkswagon was on the right and I would certainly have died on that curve. I had been certain I knew enough about racing cars and passing safely… but I did not know all the relevant variables in the universe. My higher self, those coins I threw, the Sage of the I Ching, somehow knew what I did not. The I Ching stopped being a theory that day.

As I’m still behind the Rabbit who is accelerating wildly, though not as fast as my pounding heart, I realize: “Oh my God, I almost died. Without the I Ching’s guidance, I would be dead.” Within a mile or so, the Rabbit turned off onto a small dirt road. And, right in front of me, from that same road, pulled a pickup truck with the license plate: “SA-1144.” And now I burst out laughing, because 11:44 is the minute of my birth.

This birth, this new life, I owe to the I Ching because my best cleverness and life experience would have gotten me killed. I have paid much better attention to my daily I Ching readings ever since.

The I Ching talked me out of two jobs I really, really wanted to take. Saying yes or no to a job commitment has major life implications and this ancient Chinese method of conversing with the higher self lets one consult wiser guidance than our waking ego (“or village idiot of the psyche”).

When I was earning twin Ph.D.s at the University of Michigan, a friend offered me a rare job opportunity. Doctoral students could earn good money doing the same research we constantly did for free. With student loans mounting, I was eager to apply. The federal grant involved research on local law enforcement and did I mention, it paid really well? All I needed to do was check with the I Ching to get “permission” from my higher (wiser, bigger-picture viewing) self, then I would sign up.

Except–the I Ching advised strongly against the job! So I asked again, threw the coins and got more negative feedback. I had been convinced of the power of this method that I encountered in 1979, and did not want to dismiss what might be wise advice. Grumbling all the way, I recorded the I Ching’s objections to the job and turned it down.

This minor act of faith tormented me for months. My “interior inferiors” reminded me constantly of the salaries my friends were earning. Until, the day my friend called to say “Boy were you ever smart not to sign on to this bottomless pit of complications. You are so lucky!” Things were so bad that she was putting her doctoral studies on hold (for a year!) to fulfill the contract she had signed.

Her list of problems with the job matched the I Ching’s predictions perfectly. I felt so bad for her… and so embarrassed about my complaining up until that day. And she was wrong: I was not lucky at all. I was guided. And I was only smart enough to know I was not smart enough to trust my own judgment, when it differed from the I Ching’s.

Years later, it all happened again! I had boldly applied to teach at the Massage Institute, while working part time as staff psychologist for a Disability Program. This second, part-time job sounded so great I didn’t bother to consult the I Ching until the 100+ applicants had been narrowed to 8 and I was scheduled for interviews. To my shock the I Ching strongly advised against what looked fantastic to me.

So I asked again, (and again and again, etc); every time receiving strong adviceagainst proceeding. Well, how likely am I to be chosen anyway, I thought. Until they did choose me and I had to say, with tremendous embarrassment that I could not accept the job. But they had gone through such efforts to make the choice they would not take no for an answer called daily for a week, insisting I take the job! How distressing to fight so hard to refuse a job I longed to say Yes to–and should never have applied for.

Months later, I lead a staff revolt against the client-harming, oppressive leadership at the Disability Agency. I finally quit my job in protest and testified against agency authorities who were judged guilty in court. It was an exhausting stand on principle that took all my resources. Then is when I learned that an amazingly similar uprising was occurring at the Massage Institute; had I taken that job, I would have been caught in the middle of two all-out revolutions!

I obviously was drawn to, and needed, at least one such experience, but nottwo! I was deeply grateful for being advised against the job I wanted so very badly. Spiritual guidance often shows us where to go, but it is just as valuable when it shows us where not to go! And I can assure you I have never applied for another job or contract without first consulting the I Ching.

What is the I Ching? Half a century ago, Carl Jung introduced this amazing Chinese oracle to the West. It is a book that invites you to ask any question whatsoever and then applies the specific ancient wisdom that is a targeted answer to your question. You can ask anything you sincerely care about and test the answers to your heart’s content.

Many people ask for guidance about health concerns or relationship decisions, business choices, purchases, and more. It is especially valuable as a guide to growth and self awareness. If you want to learn more about what matters to your soul or how you can best approach a personal problem, the I Ching is a powerful and trustworthy guide. You can explore any aspect of life that you find difficult or wish to understand more deeply.

This unique book enables you to receive a wise and direct answer to any question, in writing. Dr. Jung believed the I Ching gave voice to the deep wisdom of the unconscious by expressing the archetypal situation relevant to our question. Some say the I Ching is a brilliant psychological tool for self-development; other see a spiritual method that gives our soul a voice so it can speak to us directly. Use whatever language makes sense to you.

The good news is that the answers we get from the I Ching are those we would eventually arrive at if we could spend enough time in reflection or meditation. We often return from a vacation with new insights about our lives and a refreshed perspective on what matters. Now you can access that same inner clarity and sense of perspective without spending weeks in retreat; this is ideal in our fast-paced society. Since the I Ching magnifies our own inner truth, each reading is a little like a computer printout from the soul.

The I Ching method originated in ancient China and has survived for nearly 3,000 years in active use by millions of people. The key to this form of guidance is that it mirrors our own inner wisdom. The thing that impressed Jung is how profoundly well it works. Millions of other users are also convinced.

In addition to helping us grow and solve problems, this book helps with real world decisions. In fact, this ancient book is more current than this morning’s weather report as it helps us anticipate the relevant forces that will influence our lives. Jung put it this way: “I am concerned only with the astonishing fact that the hidden qualities of the moment become legible in the hexagram.” This is a book that can actually help us to get what we want in life–while it challenges us to give our very best.

My decades of personal experience and professional use of the Book of Changes have convinced me that it absolutely does work. The best news is that you needn’t take my word for it. You can test this method in your own life and draw your own conclusions. If you find a fraction of the value I do as I use it each day, you will hang onto this book for a lifetime.

A powerful tool for personal growth and self discovery, the I Ching is used by many modern therapists, like psychiatrist Jean Shinoda Bolen who wrote the excellent books on gods and goddesses in men and women. I taught and employed the I Ching in my own psychotherapy practice for decades. My training and experience provided one kind of knowledge and the I Ching added to that a spiritual depth individualized for each person.

Jung wrote in the introduction to the Wilhelm translation of the I Ching: “This book embodies, as perhaps no other, the living spirit of Chinese civilization for the best minds of China have collaborated on it and contributed to it for thousands of years. Despite its fabulous age it has never grown old, but still lives and works, at least for those who seek to understand its meaning.”

The I Ching put me into one of the toughest crises of my career as a psychologist. This ancient Chinese oracle can mirror the wisdom of the higher self. It had helped me solve problems, make decisions, and had even literally saved my life (see article “The Day the I Ching Saved My Life”). But my doctorates in psychology and social work from the University of Michigan operated from very different professional premises.

After many years of relying on this spiritual guide, I began integrating the method into psychotherapy sessions. It’s a valuable tool that empowers clients (who can learn the method themselves) and it offered an objective point of view that often revealed the hidden issues of the unconscious. I was a Jungian psychotherapist and Jung, himself, had used the I Ching for decades. He even wrote the introduction for the Wilhelm and Baynes translation.

It all made logical sense and had worked perfectly for years, until one day, in a most difficult case I could see that the I Ching had arrived at the wrong answer; it was not slightly, but totally and horribly, wrong. The I Ching’s spiritual judgment directly conflicted with my professional judgment as a psychologist. It threw me into a spiritual crisis of faith and a professional conflict at the same time.

The client in question was trapped by her denial of the harmful nature of her father’s influence. He had been, as a father, somewhat less nurturing than Attila the Hun. She had created an adaptive illusion that helped her survive that phase. It’s similar to “Stockholm syndrome” wherein captives idolize their captors, but it eventually must be outgrown. All attempts at gently broaching the topic of her father’s damaging behaviors only activated her fierce defenses of him, which are best not confronted until the client is ready. Perhaps the I Ching can provide an impersonal, objective view of the father that would be more palatable, I reasoned.

The client was eager for the feedback and so was I–until I saw the answer it was my job to read to her. She had chosen the question: “How should I view my father?” She threw the coins and yielded the hexagram of “The Family,” which made sense, but had several moving lines praising the character and behavior of the head of the house!

Psychologically, this was dead wrong. Do I choose psychology over spirituality and cancel the reading which I had suggested in the first place because I didn’t like the outcome? Can I responsibly present this reading as part of a psychotherapy session when I fear it may further confirm her already debilitating delusions about dad? Should I be using this method in therapy at all when I don’t control the answers?

I chose to finish what I had begun and read–with great distress and upset– line 3 which mentioned that “Too great a severity toward one’s own flesh and blood leads to remorse” but that in doubtful instances it was better to err on the side of discipline. Her situation was far from doubtful, and this implied father may have been justified. Lines 5 and 6 were worse! I read aloud in agony:

“As a king he approaches his family… a king is the symbol of a fatherly man who is richly endowed in mind. He does nothing to make himself feared; on the contrary, the whole family can trust him, because love governs their intercourse. His character of itself exercises the right influence… His work commands respect” and more (Wilhelm & Baynes).

Just before I abandoned this gut-wrenching act of faith in the I Ching, the client burst into tears. “Oh my god!” she cried, “that’s the definition of a real father…my father never did any of those things!” And her life-long delusion began to melt before my eyes. The I Ching had reminded her of family violence and then proceeded to advocate her own position so strongly that she could no longer maintain it herself.

“Sometimes you need to take things further in the wrong direction in order to unlock resistance,” a wise mentor had once told me; what a brilliant use of this “reverse psychology” by the I Ching. I can assure you it reversed my owndoubts while helping the client.

The second hexagram was “The Turning Point,” which this session surely was… for both of us. I decided that, in fact, I should not be including the I Ching in psychotherapy sessions. Before long, I stopped doing “psychotherapy” altogether, and only worked with the I Ching and dreams exclusively. That “first ever mistake” the I Ching appeared to make changed two lives in one session.