Email from John:
“I was wondering why someone such as the host of ‘Useless Tree’ would ask such large questions as he does. Isn’t it better to ask such questions so as to influence events to promote the general benevolence?”
It’s a reasonable question, and I’ll send Sam Crane a link so he can answer for himself. Personally, the readings that interest me most are always the ones people can do something about, or respond to creatively in some way. But simple, genuine curiosity about a situation you’re actively interested in also seems to me to be a good reason for divining.
It’s also an opportunity to watch the Yijing at work on a larger scale, and to learn from hindsight – with very little room for ambiguity or retrospective hedging. For instance, years ago there was a discussion at the I Ching Community about whether there would be war in Iraq. I remember Yi saying that what would happen was Hexagram 11, unchanging – surely enough to deter anyone from translating that hexagram as ‘Peace’.
A while back, I posted a comment on Sam’s reading about the likely outcome of the talks between the US and North Korea. Yi warned of the embarrassment of trying to negotiate an agreement without having much to offer (22, line 5), but held out the promise of ‘good fortune in the end’. It looks (we can but hope) as though this may be materialising now.
Another example –
Is Kerry going to win the election?
(Aside: I do wish people wouldn’t phrase their questions for yes/no answers!)
The answer was Hexagram 9, Small Taming, changing at line 2. Now that we know the outcome, we have another ‘lens’ through which to understand that hexagram and line.