What does I Ging mean?
The “I” means “changes in the flow of life energy (“Chi”) and “Ching” is the word for classic.  The I Ging is often referred to as the “Book of Changes”, and the philosophical backbone to Chinese medicine, astrology and architecture as well as physical education like T’ai Chi Chuan or Qi Gong and the principles of Feng Shui.

Where does the I Ging come from?
I Ging is the essence of 6000 years of ancient wisdom, which initially has been passed on verbally before it was eventually written down, still being polished, adjusted and refined over time.

It consists of 64 sacred hexagrams, each of them a different combination of six solid and broken lines.

Examples:

hexagram 30-fire

hexagram 47-affliction

hexagram 61-inner truth

What does it mean?

Each line has a symbolic meaning (from top to bottom):

1. Spirit (religion, tao, the end or ‘beyond’ things)
2. Structure (organising, leading, ideals)
3. Choice (decisions, finding solutions or the road)
4. Emotions (exploration and evaluation)
5. Connection (with people, finding a place in the world, environment)
6. Reality (action, matter, the way one stands on the earth, beginnings)

Using the I Ging
The I Ging can be used as an oracle, a suggestion or a guide, depending on your preferences. Working with the I Ging has become an art. In the beginning there was only a Yes or No answer, then the system has become more and more complex by broadening the possibilities for interpretation. Adding imagination again has lifted the interpretation process to another level.

Because of its complexity, it may take several attempts until the I Ging reveals the information you are looking for.

What can you  expect?
As always, what you put in is what you get out. The quality of the questions you are asking the I Ging will determine the answer you get. At the same time, a question/problem well stated is a problem half solved.

The I Ging can help find answers to questions that expect a complex answer, allow to balance two outcomes, focus on special times, ask for clarification, describe a state or situation or simply asks for a comment.

At least, the I Ging offers an opportunity for self reflection, which is always a good thing.

When I browsed through the book, I remembered how intrigued I was at that time about the Chinese, Japanese, Thai and especially the Ayurvedic Indian kitchen. Part of our studies for Nuad Thai was making our own Ghee (cleared butter), own herb bags for a certain type of massage and authentic Yogi tea (a combination of organic herbs and spices like black pepper, ginger, cinnamon…).

We also learned to cook with the five elements, which was fascinating. We had been given a sheet with the different food in the different element categories. We could start in any category we wanted, but we always had to go in a circle, a certain way and pick only one ingredient from that category, always finishing with the one category that would complete the circle. In the end we had sometimes seemingly strange combinations, but surprisingly they always tasted really good.

At home I tried it with my older boys and without exception they loved it, although it was “healthy stuff”.

I forgot about that when we came over here, but the book brought the memory back. Interestingly though, I just changed my diet again to eating more natural and less processed food and carbohydrates, which works really well for me to have more energy and also for loosing weight.

Although I should have known better, I was actually surprised to find a very similar suggestion for food intake in the book. So for today I will be going back to the roots of the old Chinese tradition and have a “5 elements meal” for dinner.

What is a root you could go back to today?
What could you do that you have not done for a while that would ground you?
Reading a very old book that you read as a child?
Walking a certain path? Visiting someone?

Whatever it is – enjoy it and remember to LIVE LARGE TODAY!