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I Ching
The I Ching (Book, or Classic, of Change) is, like the Tao De Ching, one of the central texts of Taoism. The I Ching is simultaneously a mediation system, a divination system, and universe map (or cosmology). It has a lot in common with the Tarot in this sense because the Tarot can also function as a meditation device, a divination tool, and is also a map of the universe. But the structure and symbolism of the I Ching is very different to the Tarot.
The structure of the I Ching’s cosmology consists of broken and unbroken lines (representing yin and yang) arranged into Trigrams and Hexagrams. The eight basic energies of change (Heaven, Earth, Wind, Thunder, Fire, Water, Mountain, and Lake) are represented by the Eight Trigrams or Ba Gua. The Bagua are comparable to the Sephiroth of the Qabbalistic Tree of Life in many ways. The Bagua are doubled up to create the 64 Hexagrams.
Traditionally there were several methods of sortilege, including the yarrow stalk method and throwing coins, that was used to derive hexagrams for divination.
The I Ching Mediation methods were traditionally practiced in as movement art called ‘Bagua’ (named after the 8 energies of manifestation). This practice involved walking in a circle for long periods of time and changing direction frequently. For thousands of years, I Ching mediation and Bagua Circle Walking was only really practiced in Taoist monasteries. The practice of Bagua Circle Walking, as well as being a meditation method, was also a method of life energy cultivation (or Qigong).
In the 19th century a martial artist named Dong Haichuan started publically teaching a martial art that he called Ba Gua Zhang (or Eight Trigram Palm). This Internal Martial Art is similar in many ways to Tai Chi Chuan. In fact Tai Chi is sometimes referred to as Baguazhang’s sister art. Although it is much younger Baguazhang is based on the Monastic Tradition of Bagua that had been practiced in the Taoist monasteries for thousands of years. It contains much of the Chi development methods of the original monastic practice of Bagua and some of the meditation techniques but it is primarily a method for developing martial power and not so much a system of spiritual development.
The exact historical origins of the I Ching are, like the Tarot, very obscure and there is much debate about where and when the Trigrams and the Hexagrams actually originate form. Much of the actual text of the I Ching can be dated accurately but the Trigrams and Hexagrams themselves seem too ancient to properly date (although they do seem to have their origins in Shamanism).
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Originally Posted by Mrs. Peel
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