Intro
Last updated
While cleaning my Dad's old apartment, I noticed many fortune-telling books lying around, all in Chinese, which I couldn't understand. He never talked to me about the I-Ching, but back when he had more energy, I would notice him studying I-Ching books.
After starting my own learning journey I found out that the I-Ching can be used for many things besides divination - as a way to reflect on uncertain situations, to talk to the dead, even as an eccentric companion. Taoism teaches us that everything is a cycle. We are born, we live, we die. The 4 seasons of nature are continuous and cyclical. Civilizations rise, prosper, and fall. Terence Mckenna thought that the King Wen sequence of the I-Ching hexagrams described a fractal sequence of events in time itself (lookup Timewave Zero and his Novelty Time Wave, it's a mind-bender).
In the West, it was popular in the early 1920s with Aleister Crowley and Carl Jung as proponents. 50 years later during the disco 70s, blended eastern and western philosophy, spirituality and culture were in vogue (yoga, Zen Buddhism, kung-fu movies, meditation). Alan Watts and Terence McKenna wrote and spoke about the I-Ching during this time. Philip K. Dick used the I-Ching to determine key plot decisions, character actions, and motivations in Man in the High Castle. And now 50 years later in 2024, maybe the I-Ching is due for its time in the sun again?
My goal with 8-Bit Oracle is to continue my Dad's journey of learning the I-Ching, and to help spread awareness of the I-Ching to the world. As R.L. Wing writes, the I-Ching is an eccentric Oracle. It speaks to us in cryptic hexagrams and poetic imagery, challenging us to unravel its mysteries and apply its wisdom to our lives. In the tradition of Alan Watts, the I-Ching can be used as a way to understand the thinking processes of man, and can serve as a companion on the path of self-discovery and personal growth.
So please, take your time. The I-Ching has been around for millennia. Sages spent lifetimes studying and writing on the I-Ching, debating old theories and developing new ones. As you use the oracle and familiarize yourself with the hexagrams, you will develop your own interpretation and understanding of energy flow and interactions between the trigrams. I hope the 8-Bit Oracle can be your companion as you come to your own personal understanding of the I-Ching.
