IM-ing the Universe

This week, let’s talk about the subject of divination. A mere mention of divination would usually raise a few eyebrows, as immediately one may conjure up the image of a woman dressed in gypsy-like robes, complete with large earrings, gazing into her crystal ball, or some elderly Chinese man with a long white beard going into a trance and speaking in tongues! Is the concept of divination merely a fanciful aspect of an overactive (read: crazy) mind or...is there fact within the hazy cloud of smoke and incense?

What IS divination in the first place? Put simply, it’s asking a question to the universe at large and then deriving an answer. Period. Why is then such a process possible? This is because everything is related to something else. You affect a change into the cosmos and every single component of the universe moves. And because everything is related or connected to something else, we can actually study the result of such a change.

Divination is thus merely a probability study of an outcome of an intended action into the totality of the universe. If we know how every aspect of the universe is linked and how an action can affect another then by right, we can also study the *result* of such any action. Every action results in a reaction. As such, any methodical study of the relationships and links of the universe is scientific and thus bears no religious and superstitious connotations. So now, does DIVINATION sound.... less crazy?

The study and application of the ancient Chinese divination system named the Yi Jing stems from understanding the theory of "Yi". The theory of "Yi" relates to change. The concept of Yin and Yang is how a change moves and transforms from one polarity to another. Yin becomes Yang and Yang becomes Yin; the process is continuous and never ceases. As its very core, Yang relates to the active, moving and can connote the affirmative, whereas Yin relates to the passive and stagnant, hence able to connote the negative.

Fundamentally, under the right conditions and with a carefully worded question, we can derive the answer to a ‘Yes/No’ question with something as simple as a toss of a coin. But of course, a thorough application of the Yi Jing can reveal much, much more! This is because Yin and Yang transforms first to 4 forms from which the 8 trigrams arise. The 8 trigrams, in turn, are the building blocks of the 64 Hexagrams which form the backbone of any Yi Jing reading.

Through the analysis and further work of ancient Chinese sages, the Yi Jing subsequently developed into a treatise and philosophy of life, encompassing rules of "proper" conduct and the like. However, at its root and core, the Yi Jing is simply an ancient Chinese oracle developed thousands of years ago! Traditionally, deriving the full hexagrams of a standard, traditional Yi Jing reading was a rather laborious chore, involving the tossing, counting and isolating of stacks of yarrow stalks. Even the subsequent simplified version of coin tossing is slow in our instant gratification mode of the 21st century...The good news is that nowadays, an answer to any Yi Jing question can be derived simply by pulling a card or two! Furthermore, in the Plum Blossom method, the Hexagrams are derived from images perceived (by all the senses) from the environment so one doesn’t even need any other tools besides oneself!

Toh Kong Eu
MA Cosultant