I Ching Reading for the First Insight

The First Insight from James Redfield's Celestine Prophecy says that people are increasingly feeling that there must be more to life, and that the signs that there is more come as synchronicities. A sense of meaning, direction and growth in life begins with the recognition of synchronicities as personal signposts.As a diviner, I couldn't agree more.

Wherever the synchronicities come from, the I Ching's answers undoubtedly come from the same place and bring the same messages. Something magical happens when people start to see their readings, their dreams, and their waking lives coming together in a single tapestry of imagery. I've seen people deeply moved by the realisation that there is always 'incoming communication'; I know how the experience of tuning in to that communication, even for a moment, can bring someone's world to life.

There are a couple of ways to use this awareness in readings, making the 'First Insight' a living experience rather than just a nice idea.First, when an event is obviously a sign, you can simply ask the I Ching what it means for you. 'What am I meant to be learning from this?' is a good one to ask, or 'Where is this sign pointing?'.

Of course, recognising such 'signs' is a purely personal matter. Take the last time my computer broke down. It wasn't - of course - the first time this has happened, and it had never 'meant' anything before.

But on this occasion I knew, without doubt, that it was significant. You know they say your body can become ill as a signal you need to slow down? Mine was doing its best, with a host of minor nuisances, but nothing bad enough for me to stop work. A computer that turns abruptly and unexpectedly into a nice silvery doorstop is a very effective way of enforcing a pause for thought.So now that the cosmic thumb had come down on the 'off' switch, and the voice of Change had my full attention, I asked the I Ching what I was meant to be learning from this.

The answer showed me with great precision what I'd been doing wrong:.'Not crossing over, she defends it.
Someone is following behind and may kill it.
Pitfall.

'.Investing all my energy into defending an old way of doing things, I had resisted the call to 'cross over' and do things differently. So my defences had been unexpectedly, and unmistakeably, splatted.Thanks to the oracle, I could take my exploration of the sign one step further.

I simply asked what 'crossing' I needed to make, so that I could understand more clearly how I needed to change. By the time the computer was back in working order, I'd got the message, and didn't just resume work in the same old way.The second way to connect the First Insight with I Ching readings is simply to ask what to look out for. To read the Celestine books, or to listen to some gifted people, you'd think the world was positively bristling with synchronistic encounters. But even if your expectations don't extend to mysterious Peruvian manuscripts, life can often seem altogether more dull, flat and ordinary than the world Redfield is talking about.But it's the flat, ordinary world that's the illusion.

Whether or not we can see beyond it depends solely on our depth of vision; if we are only looking at the next thing to do, the next obligation, and the next, and the next, then the synchronicities will be invisible. It's as if we were in the midst of the rush-hour crowds, focussed exclusively on finding the fastest way through, oblivious to the flock of pigeons that wheels overhead in perfect synchrony.Regularly talking with Yi can give us a new quality of vision.

It's so very simple to start opening up the flat world to the dimensions beyond it - just a matter of asking, 'What should I look out for?' or 'What's the next thing to learn?' If the oracle's answer is an enigma to you at first, that doesn't matter - it might even be a good thing, as it keeps you on the alert, looking for the connections.Sometimes the answer will refer to some inner quality that you'll need to call on in the next few days - not always a quality you knew you had. You might hear imagery from your reading in conversation, and be woken up to a way you can help someone.

Or suddenly recognise the significance of the moment as you find yourself in the middle of your reading's landscape of trigrams. Or your reading's words on the radio, or in something you read, may catch your attention just in time for you to see the solution to some long-term problem. These are just a few of the possibilities.Talking with the I Ching makes it possible to experience ordinary life as an ongoing conversation with spirit. (No journeys to Peru required.).

By: Hilary Barrett