are a combination of Yin and Yang, some just have more of one and less of the other. Yet the essence of all things is change, so one can be more Yin while resting or painting and be more Yang while driving or skiing an hour later. Women are not necessarily more Yin then men, though by their nature they have better access to Yin and a deeper understanding of it. Still, if women were essentially Yin all the time, they would be comatose! If men were completely Yang, they would be rabidly insane whirlwinds of aggression!
Think of the left and right halves of the brain; this is probably the physiological origin of the entire concept of Yin and Yang. The right side is more open, artistic, free-form, holistic, embracing, nurturing. The left side is more logical, linear, structured, sequential, spatial ... and so on.
The Trigrams and Hexagrams
Each of us is a balance of two ever-changing forces manifested in varied and unique ways. The system works like this:
First, beyond/through/within & without all being and nonbeing is the Tao.
This manifests as the two cosmic forms: Yin and Yang, or:
and
Since every basic manifestation is a three-part combination of these forces—for example, Heaven + Earth = Man or Father + Mother = Child— they are each represented as three lines. These three-line figures, or trigrams, are the most basic elemental forces of nature and exist behind all other manifestations or reality. There are eight primal, or archetypal, trigrams because there are that many combinations of Yin/Yang lines in three-line combinations. To wit:
As we descend from pure Tao, we see that the forces of the universe become more and more manifest and more particular. As the eight trigrams form the archetypes, the primal forces that underlie all reality, they can also be combined in pairs (Yin and Yang) to create sixty-four six-line figures known as hexagrams. Here is one:
These sixty-four resulting hexagrams, then, are the images that symbolize all existing things, ideas, concepts, and, most important for this book, people—the “10,000 things” mentioned previously.
These sixty-four hexagrams form the core of the sixty-four chapters of the I Ching. When someone does divination or looks for advice from the I Ching, it is one of these sixty-four hexagrams that they end up with, as well as the ancient texts and comments that explain what each hexagram means.
Yet it is important to remember that every hexagram is rooted in the trigrams, the Yin/Yang, and the Tao. To really understand a hexagram, we can retrace these steps from pure Tao to manifest reality. For example, the hexagram above is #11, Prospering. Why? Let me show you.
This hexagram is formed of an equal balance of Yin and Yang lines, this is very good. The trigram in the “Heaven” place (i.e., the top) is Earth, the trigram in the “Earth” place (the bottom half) is Heaven. This is excellent because we have real balance. The Yin power is manifesting in the Yang arena and vice versa.
Interestingly enough, the opposite hexagram (with the two trigrams reversed) is negative. It is called Standstill.
Why Standstill? Because Yin pulls down and this is where the Yin trigram is, Yang pulls upward and this is where the Yang or Heaven trigram is. Thus, like goes to like and there is no union, no blending, no interaction; only a kind of separation and stasis. This is not good! Can you see in this how the I Ching is based on Taoism, with its emphasis on uniting opposites, on flowing, blending, moving, and changing? It is very different from most “fixed” Western ideas and philosophies.
Natal Hexagrams
If we see reality as an ever-shifting, ever-changing flow of forces, then it would follow that as each individual is born, he or she manifests a specific and unique blend of these forces and concepts. This is, in fact, true, and though our lives are what we make of them, it is the natal hexagram that indicates what specific attributes and forces were fixed “in flesh” the moment we came into the world. Thus a person’s natal hexagram can be seen much as a natal astrology chart is seen: a pattern set at the moment of birth that indicates the strengths, weaknesses, talents, and, most important, natural tendencies that a person is born with. This doesn’t mean anything, however, if that person does nothing with those tendencies or works hard at eliminating the negative ones. For example, if a person has the tendency to be a great artist but never does art, then it has no real meaning. Yet the natal hexagram is very useful in many ways. Let’s look first at the trigrams as they relate to natal hexagrams so that you can better understand how one is interpreted and understood.
As we mentioned, trigrams are the basic natural forces of our world, thus their names: Mountain, Wind, Rain, and so on. It is important to realize that these are but symbols for wider-reaching, more intensive forces that include personality traits and deep motivations. Here, then, is a list of the trigrams with some of the traditional attributes as well as some attributes that relate directly to understanding how these trigrams relate to people and how they can be seen in light of natal hexagrams.
When looking at the personal attributes that are connected with natal hexagrams, keep in mind that they are simply forces and indications, some basic feelings and ideas. Thus, a person with K’UN in his or her natal hexagram may not necessarily be weak or yielding; this is only one of many facets that go into an individual’s overall character, much as salt is only one ingredient in a complex soup!
With that in mind, here are some of the natal hexagram personality attributes assigned to the trigrams:
K'UN/Earth: Weak, yielding, nourishing, responsive, receptive, adaptive, frugal, supportive, farmer, village-oriented, loving rustic things
CHEN/Thunder: Arousing energy, active, exciting, growing, expanding, stimulating, traveling, quickness, communication, managerial, electric, shocking
TUI/Lake: Satisfied, kind, full, excessive, open, pleasure-loving, hedonistic, singer, erotic, adaptive, entertaining, art-loving, easygoing
CH'IEN/Heaven: Creative, strong, firm, light, ruler, cold, serious, organizing, powerful, intensely focused, centered, aggressive, assertive
SUN/Wind: Simple, gentle, penetrating, gradual, honest, lofty, loquacious, witty, advancing and receding, long-term, soft, ethereal
K'EN/ Mountain: Waiting, calm, immobile, still, stubborn, perverse, family-oriented, meditative, spiritual, questing
LI/Fire: Illuminating, intelligent, conscious, dependent, clarity, teacher, artistic, drawn to beauty, gourmet, dilettante, sharp
K'AN/Rain: Profound, difficult, danger-seeking, anxious, deep, mysterious, dreamer, thief, removes obstacles, intuitive
And what do these trigrams mean in relation to you and me? Well, as we saw, the eight trigrams are considered to be the basic building blocks of the universe, and at the moment of birth two particular trigrams come to the fore and combine to determine our key traits, our physical, mental, and spiritual selves lean toward a specific combination of trigrams. This, then, gives us our natal hexagram.
As mentioned, the Yin and Yang emerge from Tao and the eight trigrams are born from Yin/Yang. From the eight trigrams all the billions of things and people
