The Gaian Dragon I Ching : The Circle of Friends

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The Gaian Dragon I Ching

The Circle of Friends

by James Clair Lewis

The Hexagrams of the I Ching are like a small community with sixty-four members, and like people in a small town, each has its own closest Circle of Friends. With the I Ching a Hexagram's Circle of Friends is determined by 12 basic structural relationships implicit in its combination of Yin or Yang lines, and as it is with people, these Friends will tell you more about a person, than they will.

Using this principle, I have used each Hexagram's Circle of Friends to help define the process of Change that that Hexagram represents. This is shown in the sections entitled, the Inside, and the Outside. Additionally, I've linked in each Hexagram's Circle of Friends towards the bottom of each Hexagram's page with the Outside on the left, and the Inside on the right.

There are six Outside relationships for each Hexagram. These show how that Hexagram's type of Change relates to things in the external world. The first one is at the bottom. When you change only the bottom line of a Hexagram, you look at the bottom line of the Hexagram that it changes into, to see how that Hexagram deals with a change at the very beginning in the external world.

Now if you only change the second line of a Hexagram, then the corresponding Hexagram, will tell you about dealing with external changes at the second phase of its unfoldment. You can repeat this process of only changing one line at a time for the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and top lines, to see how changes in the material world should be dealt with at each step of the Hexagram's process for dealing with Change.

The Inside Hexagram relationships are a bit more complex, because they deal with the internal changes you should make within yourself, while dealing with that Hexagram's process of Change. Understanding the means of making internal changes of character, and perspective within yourself, is one of the most important things that you can realize in Life.

At the bottom on the right is linked in, the Nuclear Hexagram. The Nuclear Hexagram is derived by taking lines 3, 4, & 5, and placing them at the top, and then taking lines 2, 3, &4, and placing them at the bottom. The Nuclear Hexagram's theme, is like an underlying presence in every Hexagram. If you find the Nuclear Hexagram of each of the 64 Hexagrams, you will end up with 16 Hexagrams. If you find the Nuclear Hexagram of each of those Hexagrams, only four will remain. These are #0, The Receptive Winter, #21, Spring, #63, The Creative Summer, and #42, Autumn. The Four Seasons are at the core of the I Ching.

The second of the Inside Hexagrams, is placed next to the right side of the Hexagram at the second place. This is the Complementary Hexagram. It is formed by taking the lower three lines of the Hexagram you are studying, and placing them at the top, and by taking the top three lines of the Hexagram you are studying, and placing them at the bottom. The Complementary Hexagram relationship tells you where to look for assistance during a process of Change.

The third of the Inside Hexagrams is the Inverse relationship. You derive it by simply turning the Hexagram upside down. We always understand our own point of view, and how we see ourselves. The Inverse relationship, will tell you how you are percieved by others. It is a good thing to know.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth Inside Hexagrams represent the Seasonal relationships. At the fouth place on the right, is the Hexagram you get as a Key Hexagram, when you compare the Hexagram you are studying with the Hexagram of Spring. In the fifth place on the right is the Hexagram you get as a Key Hexagram, when you compare the Hexagram you are studying with the Hexagram of Summer. This is also known as the Opposite Hexagram, because all six lines change. On the top on the right is the Hexagram you get as a Key Hexagram, when comparing the Hexagram you are studying with the Hexagram of Autumn. The Winter relationship is implicit, because no lines change, and that is the Hexagram itself.

Each of the 64 Hexagrams has its own properties as a pattern of Change. There are common patterns to be found in Hexagrams linked together by their Seasonal Hexagram relationships. Understanding these relationships of Change, and the patterns implicit in Change, will show you how & when to adapt to, and implement Changes, both within yourself, and in the world around you. Is that not the Key to the Mystery of Living in the Universe?

These animated Moving Mandalas are very large files. Please click on the pic, and wait for it to load. The Contemplation will be very enabling, carrying your Mind beyond the mundane world

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