Yoga Anatomy and the Hexagrams 

Yoga anatomy explains the unifying effect of working with the Book of Change. It isn’t necessary to know about its details in depth to receive the benefits of using the I Ching. However, the basics are highly suggestive as to how the hexagrams work and why their healing effect often seems magical. The following image shows the energy centers which correlate with lines of the hexagram. The seventh center, being beyond physical time and space, is not represented.

Both Chinese and Hindu versions of yoga describe subtle energy centers located along the physical spine. They are associated with the flow of electrical energy currents through the nervous system, but at a deeper level, along subtle pathways called nadis or meridians.

Both traditions draw on this knowledge in the practice of their healing arts. Both prescribe meditative practices that balance these centers for the ultimate purpose of achieving spiritual enlightenment. 

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and related martial arts work with three centers called “tan tiens,” or cauldrons. These correspond roughly with the head, heart and solar plexus. In this tradition, the bottom two lines of the hexagram correlate with the lower dan tien. The middle two lines correspond with the middle dan tien. The upper two lines correspond with the upper dan tien. Tai Chi, practiced as moving meditation, unifies the three centers with holistic effect. 

The yoga practiced in India posits six energy centers described as spinning vortexes or wheels, called “chakras.” These subtle centers correlate roughly with the physical anatomy of the brain, throat, heart, solar plexus, genital and anal regions.  

The six lines of the hexagram each correspond with one of the chakras. The top line corresponds with the ajna center near the pituitary gland, called the third eye. The bottom line corresponds with the base chakra. Increasingly higher centers correlate with progressive stages of human development.  

The chakra system of energy transformers which traverse the spine is another knowledge matrix that affects how we process and transmit information. Each chakra filters perception. Each influences the way we interpret experience. . . . One proof of this process is the wide array of Western psychologies, each relevant to a specific chakra issue.  

Skinner’s is a first chakra psychology based on behavior. Freud focused on sex, a second chakra issue. Adler thought in terms of power, the third chakra. Fromm wrote about love, the fourth chakra focus. Jung was interested in literary symbols and self-actualization, which are fifth and sixth center interests. 

Asian sciences, however, have recognized the interactive relationships amongst these concerns. They provide practical methods for integrating the chakras to pave an optimally functioning highway of continuous energy and information. 

Similarly, psychologist Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs sums them up. His five stage model starts with basic physiological and safety needs. Once these are satisfied, the individual pursues issues of love and esteem. Only when these needs are met is one ready to focus on personal growth needs – ultimately “self-actualization.

Most of us function primarily at one or a combination of the chakra levels. Blind spots prevent fluid, integrated thinking, making it difficult to relate to other people’s perspectives. Working with the I Ching helps to open, coordinate and align the specific mental, emotional, and social issues associated with each of the six energy centers. This greatly improves the quality of personal relationships and professional effectiveness. 

Further, yoga anatomy has implications for human survival. In this world view, each individual is a miniature of all creation. Every unit, from atom to individual, mirrors the structure of the solar system and universe entire. So restoring order and balance to one’s own life does in effect save a world complete, one life at a time. 

Yoga Anatomy and the Caduceus 

The Greek caduceus, the familiar symbol of the Western medical profession, is a vestigial reminder of the origins (albeit forgotten) common to the Western and Asian healing arts, perhaps dating still further back to ancient Egypt’s Hermetic tradition. In Greek mythology, the caduceus is the healing staff of Mercury, messenger of the gods. It links heaven and earth. 

Far earlier than the Greeks, however, the caduceus is the model of yoga energy anatomy. It comes from a time-tested tradition thousands of years old. The axis represents the human spine. The pair of snakes winding around the axis represent alternating, cyclical patterns of negative and positive (yin and yang) energy currents. 

The six chakras are the intersecting points where the curving snake-like energy forces meet and cross at the axis. These are the major centers of transformation and evolution. The wings at the top of the axis represent the integrating seventh crown chakra. 

The Caduceus and DNA 

Just as the I Ching hexagram structure correlates with the chakras of yoga anatomy, the chakras in turn are associated with DNA.  

Further, the hexagrams have been directly correlated with DNA. In fact, the Chinese ideogram for the word I Ching looks remarkably like not only the caduceus but also the spiraling structure of the DNA double helix. This cannot be coincidental.

The I Ching Pictograph

The Double Helix of DNA

A shorthand rendition of the pictograph is featured on the Wilhelm/Baynes translation of the German version into English with its famous introduction by psychologist Carl Jung.

Many striking resemblances between the structure of DNA and I Ching hexagrams suggest at least one fascinating explanation for how/why this information source resonates with quantum inner knowing. It can’t be accidental that both the DNA helix and the I Ching matrix are based upon a binary-quaternary code that generates a system of 64 possibilities. 

The I Ching matrix with its 64 possible combinations of yin and yang lines along with their endless permutations lend themselves to medical diagnosis. For example, according to the Medical I Ching by Dr. Miki Shima: 

The practice of traditional Chinese medicine is based on the recognition of patterns of change within one’s patients. When these patterns of change are harmonious and foster life and well being, we say the patient is healthy or recuperating. . . Without going back to [the I Ching] . . . one cannot fully understand and appreciate the height and depth of the immense body of Chinese medical wisdom. 

Interestingly, Da Liu correlates a 64 form practice of tai chi with the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching, 32 of which are yin, inward and 32 outward.

Conclusion

These energetic correlations suggest the potential for a quantum approach to health and healing on all levels – mental, emotional and physical. It’s an approach from the inside out, a quantum solution to the medical madness currently plaguing our civilization.

PREFACE 

The 2000 millennial year title of the 64 Essays was The Ultimate Personal Survival Guide. It came from a brainstorming session with a business consultant for marketing The Common Sense Book of Change. She was unfamiliar with the I Ching. 

We went back and forth with questions and answers about its use and value. Finally, she sat back and blinked. “It sounds like the ultimate personal survival guide,” she concluded.  

She’d hit the nail right on the head. She got it! 

However, before she drew me out with her questions, I’d taken my answers to her valid concerns for granted. Others were likely to have similar doubts. 

So a further step was necessary. A follow-up book was required, one which would lead others to draw the same conclusion that she did. It had to dispel myths and misconceptions which prevent this gravely misunderstood and underrated treasure from getting the international acceptance it so richly deserves. 

I’d become certain that the worldwide leadership deficit (and related budget deficits) are explained by an underlying knowledge deficit. For lack of what The Book of Change has to offer, people everywhere remain perplexed as to how and why so much continues to go so horribly wrong, even despite the best of intentions. 

It seemed urgent to clear the decks. Making this compendium of Natural Law — the premier leadership training and decision-making manual in China for thousands of years — widely accessible now to fill in this fatal knowledge gap. 

Mainstreaming this vitally important information is the first, necessary step towards the positive change which many call for, but remain unable to achieve. 

Fourteen years later [now 24], I find myself in the same predicament. How does one shake up the sleeping public? What will it take to make people worldwide aware of how important this information is, and how gravely we’re at risk due to its absence? 

As a possible solution, I returned to The UPSG. In the process of updating the Introduction, I had an “Aha” moment.  

In the text, I’d made the conscience connection: The I Ching is called The Ultimate Personal Survival Guide because it refers to ULTIMATE timeless wisdom. This wisdom is accessible on a PERSONAL level, facilitating inner and outer change, one person at a time. This change gives us the edge on SURVIVAL, influencing who will survive, how, on which levels of experience. And it’s a GUIDE that helps put us in resonance with the ultimate inner guide — conscience. 

Taken out of context, however, the title left The USPG open to misunderstandings. It could be misconstrued as suggesting that the benefits of working with the I Ching come from the book itself. However, no physical book, no matter how inspired or useful, is correctly called an ultimate survival guide. Books are just material things. 

Conscience alone is the ultimate survival guide. The value of using The Book of Change is that it leads the individual back to personal conscience. It serves to reconnect the user with the eternal center which resides at the hub of the quantum Life Wheel.  

Exactly what is meant here by “conscience?” As with each of the 64 Essay terms, definitions of “conscience” have devolved over time. Here, the word refers to the pristine meaning of the term, associating it with “inner light.” 

In I Ching context, Conscience is associated with the innermost center of the quantum Life Wheel. This yoga-compatible model, as detailed in Rethinking Survival and summarized below, layers the variables of Albert Einstein’s famous formula, e = mc². 

Einstein’s view of conscience was consistent with I Ching use. He regarded an enlightened person as one liberated from limiting selfish desires, who has turned instead to aspirations of transcendent value. Einstein described the experience of an “inner voice” that brought him closer to the “secrets of the Old One.” 

Essay 12 on Values gives a snapshot glimpse of the word’s appropriate use: 

Conscience not only puts us in touch with our own uniqueness; it also connects us with the universal true north principles that create quality of life. 

The extraordinary value of the I Ching is that it reveals the secrets of dynamic Natural Law. Working with its changes opens inner access to the middle level of the quantum Life Wheel, the “e” energy layer of Einstein’s Unified Field Theory.  

This middle level serves as mediating, two-directional gate-keeper between the ever-changing surface rim and the universal, timeless center. You can’t get from here to there, except through the middle layer which, in Western thinking, is effectively taboo, buried in the inaccessible “unconscious.” 

To the extent that Natural Law is a blind spot in the prevailing, linear and exclusively empirical paradigm, we are left powerless to move beyond the surface level of experience. The realm of light and conscience which rests beyond, on the far side of the dynamic energy level, remains functionally inaccessible. 

Moral codes promoted by religionists or politicians are sometimes equated with conscience. But they’re no substitute for direct experience. Only by becoming intelligently competent in managing the subtle energies of the middle level is it possible to travel further inwards for the immediate, personal experience of inner light. 

When the middle level becomes clogged with painful memories, negative emotions and socially taboo urges, it becomes a barrier to deeper knowing. The Book of Change is indispensable as a tool for restoring the unnecessarily “unconscious” to conscious awareness, so that the levels of human potential can be linked and unified. 

In Quantum Paradigm context, survivors who prevail in dangerous times aren’t those with the most material wealth, possessions or political power. They’re the ones who’ve successfully navigated the middle realm, reached the far shore of enlightenment and returned to the surface with their new information intact. 

Those who succeed in linking the levels of experience are genius leaders in whatever fields they choose to engage. They’re the fortunate ones who’ve acquired the inner wealth necessary to both hear the inner voice of conscience and act on the guidance they receive. 

Q. & A. 

As yet, an exclusively materialistic. linear paradigm continues to generate the dysfunctional results experienced in every aspect of personal and public life. The powerful benefits to be gained from shifting to the more inclusive Quantum Paradigm are blocked by so-called authorities and experts who are highly invested in the limited and limiting empirical science paradigm. 

The I Ching is misrepresented with numerous assumptions and prejudices which have effectively kept this critically important information in the shadows. Answers to some of the most familiar doubts are listed below: 

• Question: What does an ancient book from a foreign land have to do with me, here and now? 
• Answer: Everything. As the compendium of Natural Law, the I Ching is neither time nor place-bound. It speaks to the questions we all ask about the human condition. For over 8,000 years, with good reason, it has endured as the foundation of Chinese healing, governing and military arts alike. No equivalent exists in the West. It fills a fatal gap in the way we think. 

• Question: If it’s so important, why isn’t it taught in schools? 
• Answer: Good question! Probably because the objections raised here are taught as assumptions instead. 

• Question: Isn’t the Book of Change unscientific – just hocus pocus or New Age superstition? 
• Answer: Like any other wisdom tradition that has endured over time, the I Ching has inevitably been subject to misuse. This doesn’t, however, reflect on its inherent value. This compendium of Natural Law is so highly sophisticated, in fact, that Western science is just beginning to catch up with it. For example, in the 1800s, Leibniz acknowledged that its mathematical foundations long preceded his calculus. The single and broken lines of the hexagrams are analogous to binary-digital computer code. Further, as described elsewhere, its 64 hexagrams are analogous to DNA structure.

• Question: Is the I Ching a sacred book, like the Bible? Is it part of a religion? 
• Answer: Yes and no. Taoists, Buddhists, and Confucians, despite their differences, all hold the I Ching in highest regard. It is used to connect with deity, on the one hand, and consulted for practical advice regarding every aspect of daily life, on the other. Sacred is in the eye of the beholder.

• Question: Is The Book of Change pagan and therefore off-limits to Christians? Does it contradict or oppose the teachings of the Old and New Testaments? 
• Answer: There is no conflict. Natural and Divine law are two different but interdependent levels of the quantum Life Wheel. Pagans by-pass Divine law, choosing to worship nature instead. In contrast, sages observe and work with the laws of nature, the better to serve humanity by serving the divine. Both the Old and New Testaments show an understanding of nature which is compatible with the I Ching worldview. 

• Question: Can the I Ching be fully understood or appreciated without knowledge of the Chinese language? 
• Answer: Hindu’s have a similar attachment to the exclusive value of the Sanskrit language, Jews to ancient Hebrew, and Muslims to the original language of the Koran. However, the Source of truth is beyond language. Its cultural expression at a particular time and place varies, but the basic essentials are necessarily the same. As translations into English and other languages continue to improve, this will become increasingly apparent. 

What is the I Ching? 

The Book of Change is a text that consists of 64 interactive, six-lined graphs — hexagrams — placed within the matrix of a circle, a square, or both. In combination, they map of the Natural Laws of change. Each graph is assigned a name represented by a Chinese pictograph. Translations are comparable to Plato’s perfect Ideas. 

The 64 hexagrams represent the bare bones of the life process. They are to Natural Law what basic axioms are to geometry. The open and closed lines the hexagrams are a convenient shorthand used to represent alternating energy valances. A broken line stands for negative (yin) energy (chi). A solid line stands for positive (yang) energy. 

For example, the hexagram for Awareness, looks like this:  

Each hexagram is like the common denominator of a math equation. Each reduces expanded, complex relationships back to their most simple, recognizable form. No matter how complex or convoluted specific variations on the basic themes become, all experience can be reduced back to these fundamental dynamics. Over time, meanings have been associated with each of the hexagrams. These, in turn, have been elaborated upon by a succession of interpretations.

Because the hexagrams are universal, they can be applied to virtually any discipline. For example, one version of I Ching correlates the hexagrams with DNA discoveries. There’s a medical diagnostic version. Da Liu correlates his 64-form practice of healing tai chi with the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching. Another version applies the readings to Jungian psychology. A constitutional law professor at Yale University has published a commendable version. Yet another correlates the hexagrams with meditative Taoist practices. Other versions reflect on the order of family and social relationships, on successful business practices, and on the conduct of war. 

The basic readings are descriptive and informational only. There is no moralistic or prescriptive bent. The content is observational and practical: If this, then that. For example, if one squanders resources during times of prosperity, then times of adversity will follow. If one is respectful towards others, then they will be moved to behave respectfully in return. 

Using the interactive Book of Change is a powerful way to get in touch with the native common sense (conscience) we’re all born with, but too often forget under the pressures of hectic daily life. It is used first to increase self-understanding, then to create harmony between the inner world of self and outer world of others. 

There are many ways to select the relevant hexagram. All involve approaching the book with a quiet, open mind, analyzing the current situation, framing a question regarding that situation and then finding its answer. These methods are described in The Common Sense Book of Change. 

Whichever method is used, it yields a hexagram which represents the immediate moment. Each hexagram, however, has the potential to mutate. This is because any one or any combination of the six lines can change into its opposite. This produces one or more new hexagrams. 

The “direction of change” reading associated with the mutating line(s) indicate which level(s) are kinetically active and what the possible consequences could be. This information is regarded as a warning, which heeded, may influence future results. 

The correlation between actions and predictable consequences is called the Law of Karma. In biblical terms, this law is expressed as the familiar warning, “As ye sow, so shall ye reap.” It is the practical basis of ethics. It underscores the wisdom of the advice, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Because actions do, in fact, inevitably return in kind. 

Among other things, the I Ching works like a cosmic clock, telling us the time. In the Old Testament, King Solomon expressed the natural, rhythmic alternations of time in poetic form: 

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: 

A time to be born, and a time to die; 

a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted. 

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down and a time to build up; 

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; 

A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together; 

A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 

A time to get and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence and a time to speak; 

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. 

Working with the Book of Change puts its users in touch with these pulsating, alternating rhythms of life. It connects them with inner knowing – call it intuition or conscience – that anticipates approaching changes, the better to prepare for what is to come. It serves as a reminder that our lives change like nature’s seasons. Fall follows summer. Spring follows winter. It lends perspective to the current times and what is likely to come next. 

Historically, the I Ching has been held in the highest regard throughout Asia for over eight-thousand years. Its cultural influence has been roughly equivalent to that of the Bible in the West. Leaders in philosophy, religion, healing, government, business, martial arts and the military were all trained from this single, universal text. It is still widely accepted as the basic manual of relationship dynamics and effective decision-making. 

How to Approach the I Ching 

The I Ching offers a comprehensive understanding of how the world works. It doesn’t, however, fit neatly into the usual book categories. It can be approached as an historical document or philosophical tract, but is far more than that. It can be used as a self-help book, but is more than that too. 

Above all, it’s a practical decision-making tool based on a comprehensive science. It challenges us to jump outside the narrow boxes within which we’ve been taught to reason, to qualitatively change the way we think. 

The method of working with the I Ching requires stilling the mind and entering the receptive, meditative state in which inspirational thoughts become available. As such, it is an invaluable compliment to the practice of any religion. 

Why Use the I Ching? 

In an age of ever-accelerating, sometimes bewildering change, working with the I Ching helps its users remain focused on the basics. Ephemerals on the surface of the quantum Life Wheel inevitably pass away. Social customs continue to change. Old friends move on or prove fickle. Jobs disappear without warning. Fortunes are lost over night. Buildings are blown out of the skyline.  

Loved ones leave or pass away. If we neglect ourselves long enough, even health becomes precarious. 

The more chaotic the uncertain world becomes on the surface, the more personal balance depends upon the opposite and equal anchor of inner strength, accessed with the help of timeless wisdom. The I Ching serves to remind us of the constant within change. It grounds us in unchanging reality, the better to sustain the courage and confidence required to endure and prevail during tough times. 

Working with the I Ching gradually changes the way we think, intentionally linking the levels of experience. It disciplines us to ask better questions and to be receptive to answers which extend beyond the parameters of empirical science.  

The I Ching advises, “It is futile to hunt for deer in a forest where none dwell.” Issues which can’t be solved with rational logic, money, mechanical engineering or brute force, soften and open in the light of inner wisdom.  

As such, The Book of Change is an invaluable life companion for everyone facing ongoing personal changes in a rapidly changing world. Its premise is the assurance that even when social, economic and political chaos seems staggering, taken one instance at a time, there’s always hope.  

The world at large is an unmanageable unit. But by focusing on the smallest unit closest to home, oneself, one needn’t be overwhelmed or paralyzed. Whereas forcing change on others is a violation of free will, one can always — especially with the aid of wisdom tools like the I Ching — change oneself. 

The important first change is not image or behavior, but more fundamentally, one’s vision of life’s potentials and the way to transform from within. The rest follows. It is, after all, possible to change the hearts and minds of others through one’s example. Perfected, one individual’s life can have a ripple effect that emanates outwards in all directions across the boundaries of time and space. Buddha and Christ both demonstrated this. 

Who Benefits from working with the I Ching? 

Natural Law is written in our hearts, in our very DNA. It is equally available to everyone with open ears and a ready willingness to hear. Those able to think with uncluttered, childlike simplicity resonate most easily with the I Ching call to conscience. 

Often, individuals at a cross-roads in life, where they suddenly find themselves in unfamiliar territory or it seems as if they have nothing to loose, take new interest in a book that helps them navigate life’s passages with dignity and grace. 

Importantly, the Book of Change isn’t the exclusive property of highly-educated people, nor of a particular gender, age-group, culture, class, time or place. It’s an indispensable basic, a valuable teacher to everyone who chooses to make themselves whole. 

A caveat: it’s not those who understand, but those who also follow through who benefit most from the value The Book of Change has to offer. Its concepts may be relatively easy to comprehend. But they’re not always easy to put into practice. 

Working with the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching requires the time to pause and reflect. It’s not like fast food that can be taken in at one gulp and then forgotten. 

But it nourishes on many levels. Its benefits are cumulative and enduring. Returns on the investment of time and effort made are exponential. 

Over time, I’ve come to understand that the I Ching’s value is measured by the quality of focused attention, self-honesty and positive intention with which it’s used. Those who dismiss it, who “believe” it is superstitious nonsense, fulfill their expectations. As such, this vastly powerful book has its own fail safes.

Context 

In Rethinking Survival, discrimination, violence and sexual abuse are linked to an information deficit. The Natural Law codified in the Book of Change: 

. . . fills in an information gap. It’s the missing link in our knowledge banks. In a complete worldview, the dynamic law of change occupies the middle level. It links the outer material surface with the innermost center. You “can’t get from here to there” except through that middle layer. 

This explains why many leaders, even with the best of intentions, go terribly wrong. When authorities operate from an incomplete paradigm, they’re blind-sided. Lacking what has been mainstreamed as “emotional intelligence,” they can’t identify the place where things are messed up. When they take a left-hand turn, they don’t understand why. Worse, they don’t know how to return to the positive path. 

Here’s the context: Laws of nature emanate from the Divine. It’s a mistake to romanticize (or demonize) nature. It’s a worse mistake to worship nature in place of the Creator. But being competent at the practical, middle (energy) level of three-part experience is essential to the whole. Again, it’s a sorely missed link in our functional knowledge base. 

The “subtle” energy realm lies between the outer, surface level of matter and the deepest center of unchanging stillness. As the functional link between extremes, both on the out-going and the in-going paths, it serves as the unavoidable gatekeeper and mediator between the two. “You can’t get from here to there,” except through this middle level of experience. 

Without wisdom and skill at this middle level of experience, spiritual aspirations cannot be realized nor can political policies be effectively implemented. Ongoing sex scandals which plague high-level politicians and clergy give a hint of what’s missing from their training, causing them to fail miserably at great expense to those they claim to serve. 

Using a well-familiar example from American history, here’s how I expressed the place of Natural Law in the Introduction to The Common Sense Book of Change: 

THREE LEVELS OF LAW. The American Declaration of Independence names three kinds of law: the laws of man, of nature and nature’s God. The Book of Change is based on the laws of natural change. They emanate from and depend on divine law and serve as the rightful foundation of civil law. Clearly, laws legislated in ignorance of or in opposition to natural and divine law are not likely to work out well. Policy makers at all levels would do well to give this point careful thought. 

In Common Sense, Thomas Paine wrote about the relationship of divine, natural and human law in a way that inspired readers at the time of the American Revolution to fight for freedom from tyranny. Approaching natural law from the deeper understanding of the ancients could inspire a reinvention of democracy now.  

Sages say that freedom from tyranny begins with dispelling ignorance and overcoming negative emotions. True freedom starts with the self-awareness and self-mastery which can be gained by diligent use of the I Ching. 

I had this in mind when critiquing Affirmative Action, and in formulating Positive Action alternatives to achieve the valid goals of misguided legislation bound to trigger backlash. 

Overcoming Fear of Change 

Lacking the balancing anchor of that which is beyond change — that which puts short-term change in perspective — people stuck on the surface of the Life Wheel become fearfully addicted to the familiar. 

But resisting change doesn’t prevent it from occurring. It only leaves the fearful unprepared to meet change when it inevitably arrives. They’re perpetually behind the eight-ball, left out of “luck,” a day late and a dollar short. 

Addressing unnecessary fear was a large part of my incentive for bringing the Quantum Paradigm to the public. It speaks to those who struggle in dark, doing best they know how as they continue to live lives of “quiet desperation.” 

They intuitively know, as I did earlier, that somewhere somehow something is terribly wrong. But they too don’t know where to look, or what to fight. 

They feed insatiable appetite with all the wrong foods. They take vacations to escape from angst, but in the wrong directions, and wake up afterwards, hung over and broke. They hunger and thirst, but things of the world do not satisfy.  

27. GROWTH

People seek help according to what they need for their own growth.
Unless hunger is fed with the right food, no amount of input will satisfy.
To understand others, watch how they nourish themselves. Nature provides for all.
Leaders promote those who have the ability to serve many. Avoid greed.

Conclusion 

Although The Book of Change is held in highest esteem by philosophers of every nationality, as well as the followers of the world’s enduring religions, the I Ching is not a religion. It is a map, expressed in binary mathematical code, of Natural Law. It explains not only the observable patterns of natural events, but also repeating cycles of dynamic personal life, social systems and nations throughout history. 

In its essence, the perennial Book of Change is timeless. It continues to help thoughtful users tap into the source of universal wisdom which all enduring spiritual, religious and healing traditions share in common. It resonates with a fundamental inner core of experience which, despite apparent diversity, all truth traditions share in common. It therefore has the potential to link people of good will across the globe with a basis of shared understanding. 

Whether the context be therapy, spiritual practice, personal introspection, or practical decision-making, working with the Book of Change is the quintessential method for cultivating mindfulness and self-awareness. It enables users to move beyond the theory of their personal philosophy and into its practical applications in positive action. 

As such, this book which touches the heart of all religions, is the universal key sought by religious scholars. It embodies The Perennial Philosophy of Aldous Huxley, the common thread which links all human experience. 

In watching Watching JFK Jr. Birthday Celebration, it seemed clear that this noble soul is “here for a time such as this” to remind us all of our core values.

In rereading Essay 12 on Values, I’m reminded to be aware that whatever time left is precious, and to use it wisely.

12. VALUES

Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose. — Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, quoted by Sarah Ban Breathnach in Simple Abundance

Conscience not only puts us in touch with our own uniqueness; it also connects us with the universal true north principles that create quality of life. We can use conscience to align our values and strategies with principles, ensuring that both the ends and the means of our mission statement — both the contribution and the methods used in making the contribution — are principle-based. — Stephen R. Covey, First Things First

All this turning away from one another is terrible for our souls. When we live in a world in which ethical and spiritual goals have been excluded and ridiculed, we find the human spirit shrinking with disastrous consequences. Selfishness and cynicism are bad for our physical and psychological health. . . On the one end of the continuum, people approximate the extreme of caring only for themselves. On the other end, people begin to approach the biblical ideal; seeing every single human being as created in the image of God, and hence as infinitely precious and deserving of our care and respect. — Michael Lerner, The Politics of Meaning

THE FRONT
Value has the same root as valor, meaning strength.

Webster’s first definition pertains to money. It means a fair price for something sold or exchanged. It refers to the worth of a thing in money or goods at a certain time, the market price. It describes purchasing power.

Value means whether a thing or idea is regarded as more or less desirable, useful, or important. It points to that which is esteemed for its own sake, having intrinsic worth.

Value also pertains to social principles, goals or standards held or accepted by an individual, class or society.

In music, value is related to timing: the relative duration of a note, tone, or rest.

What a person holds in esteem defines his character. Whether a person consistently acts according to these values is the measure of her integrity. Living congruent with beliefs and promises affords peace of mind. Ignoring beliefs or violating commitments tears individuals, businesses and communities apart. We sicken and fail mentally, then physically, one at a time and then collectively.

Used divisively, “family values” is a polarizing slogan that stirs up political animosities. It places moral assumptions above the timeless values of wisdom and heart-felt compassion. In The Bible Code, Michael Drosnin observes that the family of man has fragmented into competing religions whose extremist leaders would rather destroy the planet than share the holy city of Jerusalem. According to him, placing the values of pride, ownership and sheer hatred over love of life signals the end of times.

In contrast, in I Ching context, moderation is esteemed as the greatest social value. For example, R.L. Wing’s version of Hexagram 15, “Moderation,” observes: “The enlightened person reduces the excessive and increases the insufficient. He weighs the outside world and bring about equality.”

Thus, to react with extremes of hatred towards those act hatefully endangers us all. Reacting with extreme fear to end-stage prognosis poisons the quality of whatever time remains. I Ching wisdom would call us to center and balance, moderating cultural conditioning with self-confidence and self-discipline. Where there is insufficient love and trust, they must be restored. Where there is excess fear, panic and resistance, they must be reduced. If the span of life, whether individual or collective, be short, then the value of each moment left is so much the greater.

Wisdom traditions regard survival in terms of soul, not body alone. We do our best when we focus not on the fact that we eventually die, but on how we use our allotted time on earth. Then, every day becomes a precious opportunity to earn what Elizabeth Kübler-Ross calls a “good death:” safe passage to the beyond with our life-work accomplished — lessons learned and commitments fulfilled.

Increasingly dangerous times heighten the sense of urgency and value placed on making the best of every day. Prophecies simultaneously warn of the end and promise a new beginning for those who live the law. The Bible Code can be read as yet another wake-up call, a reminder that the time to put our lives in order is NOW.

Mortality is a given. Experiencing immortality, however, is a choice. We can either follow the sleep-walker’s path to oblivion or value I Ching wisdom, heeding the DNA Bible code written in our hearts, remaining alert and awake to hear and do whatever it takes to ultimately survive.

THE BACK
Opposites of value include scorn, contempt, and rejection. Closing off awareness of connection results in failure to honor life. By denying creative potentials in ourselves and others, we underrate and debase our collective worth.

Overestimating the worth of money, status and physical beauty is a perversion of value. Unthinking acceptance of others’ opinions as more important than personal health, integrity, or self-esteem has a corrupting effect, resulting in puppet-like behavior. Portfolio value can vanish overnight; the soul’s worth is eternal.

From my heart to yours.

This will be a mosaic of puzzle pieces. I’ll place them here, one at a time. Trust me, they will come together in the end.

* * *

For starters, the reconciliation which philosophers (wisdom lovers) seek isn’t to be found in duality, on the surface of the Life Wheel, where illusory options alternate without cease. I Ching sages put it this way: It is futile to hunt for deer in a forest where none dwell.

To the point, why call the pending econ shift a Rawlsian moment if the collapse and reset is not what Rawles foresaw or which social justice Marxists intend? Extending an olive branch as if to appease them couldn’t possibly prevent the destructive civil war upon which communists are hell-bent.

Calling a donkey’s tail a leg doesn’t make it one. (Remember?) Not only does applying incorrect labels to band-aid over differences fool no one. But current problems are way deeper than labels. Solutions are deeper still.

But not to worry. The reconciliation you sense and strive for IS to be found, IF you know where and HOW to look.

What’s coming doesn’t fit within the box of old thinking – Rawles, Buffet or Munger. Only thinking outside the box, expanding the parameters of reality correctly can encompass what may come.

The synthesis must be more organic, more metaphysical than 3-D, linear thinking allows. It’s outside the narrow, tidy either/or paradigm familiar to logic-choppers. Genuine synthesis isn’t possible within the limited confines of rational thinking. It requires a shift to a broader, more inclusive reality map. One inclusive of not only the rational but also the super- and sub-rational.

Genuine synthesis requires linking the levels of the quantum Life Wheel, placing opposites face-to-face and then transcending them. Unifying them into something new and qualitatively different.

* * *

Shifting gears, let me tell you about a round table discussion held by OA associates a few years back. About six months before his passing, he put out a question. What would each of us most like to have? Before he left, each of our wishes was granted.

One asked for money to repair the house and paint the inside walls. Another wanted a greenhouse for her garden. Yet another asked for a new truck and trailer.

What I asked for was the software of The Bible Code. Though we didn’t purchase the computer version, I was provided with what I really needed. I’d already been given it, though at the time didn’t recognize it as such.

In Kabbalah, the 72 Names of God are encoded in three consecutive verses of Exodus. During the years working the overnight shift at the Relay Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, in order to become familiar with the 72 Names, I retaught myself the basic Hebrew to work with this code.

It answered a long-standing question I’d had about the I Ching. The 72 Names filled in a gap left empty by the Laws of Nature codified in the 64 hexagrams of the Book of Change. Where the I Ching speaks to the fluctuations of energy that influence the material world, the 72 Names speaks to a higher dimension, one of values.

The I Ching is value-free, focusing primarily on the middle, e=energy level of the Life Wheel associated with Natural Law. In contrast, the 72 Names relates primarily to the deeper, c=light level associated with Divine Law.

For example, the I Ching speaks of Gain versus Decline, Promotion versus Adversity, etc. In contrast, the 72 Names speaks to the inner experience of Compassion, Gratitude, Humility, and Angelic Influence.

This isn’t the place to get more technical. And there are overlaps. But, in essence, these approaches to reality address qualitatively different facets of experience.

After my request, what I came across, “coincidentally,” was a whole new side of the 72 Names. The Relay Center work set the foundation that prepared me to now add on new levels of understanding. Each of the 72 Names is associated with specific archangels and angels, as well as their manifestations.

In retrospect, I was being prepared to survive after OA’s passing. Just as I was encompassed by his auric field and protections during his lifetime, I was being made aware that I was and would in the future continue to be supported and sustained not only by him but also the host of angels he referred to as his “drinking buddies.”

* * *

I mention this angelic support as introduction to a relevant experience with a recently purchased, extraordinarily powerful deck of Archangel Metatron messages. I know there are uses and abuses to working with such information sources. The same goes for working with the I Ching, or, for that matter, with various translations (sometimes printed in China) of the Bible. For the sake of this discussion, please give me the benefit of the doubt and stay with me.

I work with this particular deck as a way to make the unconscious conscious, to trigger inner knowing and expand awareness. When I’m really stuck and need help, I call on angelic input for answers. I find this spread particularly compatible. It uses the Star of David, placing messages at each of the six points and then a 7^th in the center. It looks like this:

The top point is read as the overall message. The bottom, 6^th point is read as action advice. The 2nd and 4th points are lower and higher octaves of overt experience. Their complimentary points in the 3rd and 5^th positions correlate with unconscious/subliminal experience and blocks/obstacles. The seventh message is read as the sum effect of the six outer points as they combine to influence the center.

What’s fascinating to me and important here is that the healing effect of working with combined messages requires that what’s hidden must be brought forward and brought into balance with the overt experience in order for resolution and reconciliation to occur. What’s in darkness must be brought into the light, lest it undermine and undo conscious intention.

It’s relevant to the dynamic of Greek tragedy, where the hero’s strength, unbalanced and in extreme, becomes the source of his undoing. Just as Carl Jung regarded the I Ching as a tool for making the unconscious conscious, similarly, to prevent tragedy we must balance and harmonize extremes. This isn’t a Hegelian synthesis so much as Unifying the quantum field, resulting in transformation and transcendence. Shifting to a higher octave, if you will.

That’s where the flat, linear empirical science paradigm which rules out the inner levels of the Life Wheel, allowing only what can be rationally measured and quantified into awareness, betrays us. It prevents the dynamics by which the influences of Natural and Divine Law color and direct decisions affecting the outer material plane of physical existence.

Einstein, the physicist, called this culturally imposed blind spot “the fateful fear of metaphysics.” I’ve called it the fateful fear of self-awareness. This is the rock and hard place between which civilization is stuck right now. And Steering planet humanity safely past the twin dangers of tyranny and anarchy requires full-spectrum, quantum awareness.

* * *

Now, I’ve also been following the work of Dr. Joe Dispenza for quite awhile. He says much the same things, but in rational, science-based language which healthcare professionals and spiritual seekers alike can relate to.

By profession he started as a chiropractor and martial arts/yoga/meditation instructor. This background prepared him perfectly to survive an accident that shattered his spine. Four experts agreed that what remained of his spine had to be surgically altered and fused with metal rods, with the prognosis that he might never walk again.

As a leap of faith, he said NO.

Using powerful mind-intent combined with an exact knowledge of how the spine works, he visualized and – within a relatively short time — repaired himself completely from the inside out. Paying this blessing forward, fulfilling a promise to help heal others as he’d been healed, he’s made it his lifework to teach others what’s possible with the right quantum reality map along with practical information on how to use it.

P.S. Dr. Joe admits that angelic beings show keen interest in his healing workshops. He and other participants repeatedly report their presence, observing and overseeing this work.

For lack of time, I am simply quoting relevant sections transcribed from A MIRACLE Could Happen To YOU! — How Your THOUGHTS Create Your Reality. Applications to the current deconstruction and reconstruction of world governments, economies, etc. abound. Here goes:

. . . the more you understand WHAT you’re doing and WHY you’re doing it, the HOW gets easier.

. . . If you give them the proper instruction and you set up the conditions in the environment where they feel safe enough to create, a certain number of people will get their behaviors to match their intentions and their actions equal to their thoughts. When they do, there’s going to be some type of transformation. All you have to do is understand the formula.

The miraculous of biblical proportions is beginning to happen. This is a time in history when it’s not enough to know. It’s a time to know HOW.

. . .We’re reaching a point of critical mass. We’re living in a time of extreme polarities. Things have to be pulled apart. Polarity . . . if you look at studies in chaos theory . . . there always have to be extreme polarities before there’s a reorganization. And everything that is not consistent with a new level of energy or a new level of consciousness is going to spiral apart.

. . . That greater level of energy and consciousness is causing old systems and old paradigms to begin to spiral out. Whether you’re looking at the environment, politics, economics, religion, education, journalism, medicine . . . all of those paradigms are beginning to unravel because they’re no longer consistent with a greater level of energy.

. . . So, now then, the next question is, how do you change the world? Because if you’re seeing those non-local changes, then those people who are feeling heart coherence . . . every person they’re in a relationship with, that they are networked with, to some measure or degree will have an affect on their autonomic nervous system. They’ll feel more coherent, more loving in that moment. . . . Heartmath Institute has done research in Project Coherence on the effect which can happen on opposite sides of the world.

. . . So the question becomes, How do you become supernatural? Well, you have to first start doing what feels unnatural. When everybody else is in fear, that’s when you show courage. When everybody else is hostile and angry, that’s the time to show love and compassion. When everyone else is in lack and poverty, that’s the time to be generous . . . to give. That gives other people permission to do the same. . .

. . . So when a person is able to sustain or maintain that modified state of mind and being, then the fun starts to happen. Because you start seeing those synchronicities, coincidences, opportunities, unknowns. Things start falling out of nowhere because you are connected to that field of information. Not only are you connected to it but also you’re beginning to influence it.

. . . The Unified Field governs the laws of nature that brings everything into order. As you connect it to more and more, then you experience more wholeness and more oneness, less separation. If you experience less separation, there’s less separation between you and your dreams as well. As you progress deeper into that field you can produce greater effects on the nature of reality because you’re moving closer to its origin.

We experience separation when we feel fear. We experience separation when we feel anger and aggression, pain and suffering. The very chemicals cause us to perceive reality with our senses. But as we get closer and closer to it and experience more of it, then we produce greater effect on the nature of reality because we’re more and more connected to the very field of information that organizes matter into form. We’re climbing upstream to be able to produce an effect downstream.

. . . Only when you are pure consciousness can you begin to change your body. Only when you’re beyond your body can you heal your body. The body can’t heal the body. You have to get beyond your body to heal your body. In order to to create a new experience, you have to get beyond the problems in your life. In order to create a future event in some future time, you’ve got to get beyond predictable linear time.

If you’re going to heal your body by thought alone, create a new experience or event in your life by thought alone, then you have to become thought alone. When you become pure consciousness, that is the moment you are nobody, no one, no thing, nowhere in no time – that is the moment when you are no longer constrained by those [natural] laws.

That is the moment your consciousness, free will, subjective human consciousness merges with the quantum field, the objective universal consciousness. When they come together and you come back to awareness, you take a piece of it with you and you become more like it:

• You become stronger willed. It is a powerful will.
• You become more mindful. It is an infinite mind.
• You more consciousness, more loving, a lover of life.
• You become more giving. It’s the giver of life.
• Its nature becomes your nature.

So teaching people how to do that is the art. There are ways to help people get there faster.

My first response to a video suggesting possible ways out of current madness was that it reminds me of an earlier post, The Highway to Heaven is a Two-Way Street.

I’ll first give you my response to the madness solution and afterwards, in case you’d like to take a look, supply a link to that post.

Premise: Today’s economic/political crisis is reaching critical mass. The war is being fought on several levels at once, not unlike the three-tiered chess game familiar to Kung Fu movie fans. Younger initiates defend the monastery gates, battling enemies in hand-to-hand mortal combat. Behind the scenes, senior monks seated in meditation, apparently immobile, direct subtle forces through mental intent. Higher still, passed-on elders oversee this war between good and evil, guiding the entire process.

Application: This video describes a way to reconcile polar world views. It’s described as a Hegelian synthesis of humanitarian versus totalitarian positions now necessary because an economic reset has become inevitable, triggering an egalitarian “Rawlsian moment.”

As an alternative to civil war followed by tyranny rising from the ashes of our republic, we can make a currency change, along with a transitional, dual currency regime. To prevent economic collapse and another great depression, it is proposed that the U.S. introduce a “newer, wiser taxation system”and social safety net in the context of that new currency.

A la Milton Friedman, we could introduce a flat tax counterbalanced by Universal Basic Income (UBI). This combo offers an olive branch to each political extreme, respecting the claims/priorities of each. The flat tax would satisfy fiscal conservatives. Touted as the greatest anti-poverty program you could hope to come up with, the Universal Basic Income satisfies “social justice” demands.

* * *

Next. Another synthesis with similar potential for reconciliation happens when you plug the antithetical visions described in Thomas Sowell’s A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles into the Life Wheel.

Here’s a summary graph of opposing views.

The two apparently conflicting visions correlate with the in- and outward-moving energies which link the Life Wheel.

Outward-traveling yang energies extend from center to surface. Converting to its complimentary opposite, yang changes to yin, reversing polarity to return from surface to center. In this overview, the two are linked in an infinite loop. No conflict.

The apparent conflict between complimentary yin and yang energies resolves when plugged into this larger picture. Each has a place. The two sides are necessary and, in rhythmic fashion, in their pure form, are mutually reinforcing.

Only in the flat, false (linear) model of empirical science do they clash. All kinds of foolishness regarding authority, natural rights, and freedom follow from failing to work from a complete and accurate reality map.

Further, the war we’re in is not truly a clash of visions. Rather, it’s a clash of intentions. Some honor life and seek to fulfill it. Other want to destroy it.

In other words, what’s not okay is separating complimentary valences, setting them in conflict, creating the illusion that they’re an either/or choice. (Not to mention that those with evil intentions can coopt either “vision” and turn it to destructive ends.)

* * *

So, unfortunately, here’s where the reconciliation proposal, IMHO, breaks down.

Should we harmonize yin and yang, the outward energies of manifestation with the inward energies of aspiration? Yes. Always.

But that’s not the same thing as attempting to reconcile parties motivated by good intentions with those driven by evil forces. Impossible. They’re antithetical.

In How Bad People Become Leaders, I described the importance of acknowledging the existence of evil, and gave a picture to recognize its dynamics.

Basically, evil operates by fragmenting the three levels law: human, natural and divine. They operate out of synch and in conflict.

Evil is antithetical to the very life process, tearing the fundamental life pattern apart. So, NB: Good and evil cannot (!) be equated with yin and yang. Good is inclusive of the harmonious whole, both yin and yang, attainable by males and females of every race without limitation.

Those who love life, who seek truth and understanding and do their best to help others as they can, have more in common with each other than with evildoers within their own groups.

Here’s the picture of the evil:

Hitler is a familiar example of evil, meaning anti-life: intentionally shattering and fragmenting the creative pattern. In Quantum Paradigm context, the intentions and actions of any person (or group) that destroys its own and/or threatens to annihilate enemy groups, devoid of respect for the inherent sanctity of life, are defined as evil.

* * *

Finally, here is the promised link to the supportive post, The Highway to Heaven Is a Two-Way Street. Its reference to the hope of RENAISSANCE underscores the proposed reconciliation’s potential.

* * *

P.S. I regret the hasty, imperfect presentation of this piece. Given limiting circumstances, it is suggestive only. I publish it in hopes that it’s sufficient to prevent fatal flaws in the “reconciliation” approach from undermining a viable, urgently needed interim compromise.

A recent round of comments opened up a Pandora’s box of messy issues. Since that site isn’t purposed to explore them, let’s do so here.

It started when, intending to give a site host a helpful heads up on the subject of timing, I commented:

FYI. From another point of view, the current astrological “weather report” shows all the outer planets in retrograde, auguring delays, setbacks and reversals. In rapid succession, they’ll all turn direct in the early weeks of October. That might be the best time to look for things to suddenly take off.

He responded simply:

ok

Which in turn drew this reproach:

eastern philosophies must have a strong hold on you to believe in the astrological report. (That was me before I was saved…Thank you Jesus!✝) [she challenged the host]: What are your beliefs?

Excuse me? Let’s count a few of the false assumptions wrapped around this condescending attitude.

• I’m far superior to you.
• I’m saved; you aren’t.
• Astrology is a philosophy, and an eastern one at that.
• Astrology is a belief system [a religion] that’s antithetical to Christianity.
• My understandings back then were the same as those you hold now.
• Case closed.

In retrospect, I should have ignored it. But, mistakenly thinking the challenge was directed towards me, I owned my beliefs:

I am of the persuasion that Jeshua ha’Mashia came before and will endure long after puny planet earth. His essence pervades all peoples through all times, influencing all cultures east and west, without prejudice. No either/ors. Since his presence pervades the entire world, how could it be otherwise?

Also . . . there are many approaches to astrology. Some focus on lunar cycles, others on cycles of the sun. Chinese seers followed the stars. Literally astro-logy. Each view represents a fragmented piece of a larger mosaic puzzle. Christ encompasses and surpasses them all.

Also, and this is important, astrology pertains to the e=energy middle level of the Life Wheel. Technically, it is an energy science, not a philosophy defined as “love of wisdom.” It’s just another tool in the decision-maker’s toolbox. Its usefulness depends upon the wisdom and intent of the user.

To make the point, I included this image:

On a side note, another member commented:

I heard 9/6 was a positive day

To which I responded:

Yes. Traditionally, Labor Day is a day of rest, and [as was] pointed out, a time used by many to reconnect with loved ones. He advises using the time to rethink where we’re at and where we’re headed. That accords with the spirit of a New Moon, seen as a fresh start and a time to set positive intentions for the future.

This particular New Moon is in Virgo, sign of service and agricultural abundance. It’s well aspected to Uranus, said to be the visionary planet of innovation and change. So Yes. It’s a good day for reaffirming our positive True North intentions.

What I didn’t add, but will here, is beautifully expressed by Brian Colter. He titles his New Moon video “Batten Down the Hatches.” He compares this auspicious day to the calm before an onslaught of horrific storms. From now to the end of the year, each month is charted to become increasingly more chaotic. As the host also warned, NOW is the time to stock up the pantry and prepare for rough sailing ahead.

* * *

But here’s the kicker. Apparently before my responses were posted, the host took up the challenger’s glove and responded like this:I did not take saying “OK“ has [sic] committing me to any spiritual assertions. Someone was sharing her worldview, and I could not tell if she was really using astrology, or speaking metaphorically through astrological terms. So I noncommittally said, “OK“.

Hope that clears things up for you.

This noncommittal sidetrack probably appeased his critic. Though I appreciate the need to keep members calm, I felt a flash of pain. Self-doubt. “Why bother? Good Will misplaced.” I fired back:

Alas. Spirituality & astrology are, IMHO, non-sequitors.

Your ok was a dismissive “whatever” ? Thanks for clarifying.

* * *

Now none of this would be worth reporting if it were simply a matter of misunderstandings or hurt feelings. But important ideas with serious consequences are at stake.

On the macro scale, this conversation is proof of how desperately we need to shift to the quantum paradigm. Education must support conscious awareness of the full spectrum of human experience.

For example, earlier, the host of same site put out a post calling for members to comment on corruption in government:

“When once a republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.” — Thomas Jefferson

“Nope. Not taking that bait.” To successfully remove corruption, we would first have to pinpoint its driver. The cause of the corruption stems from educating generations of citizens into a fatally flawed (corrupted and corrupting) paradigm of empirical science which rules out both sub-rational and super-rational levels of experience. Garbage in. Garbage out.

To remedy political corruption, we must first prevent the mistakes which occur as a result of ruling out awareness of the inner levels the Life Wheel. Ignorance of their existence and operations put us at extreme disadvantage.

In particular, the e=energy level is where emotions reside. Intellectuals who operate exclusively from head, with closed heart and empty gut, are ineffectual in the world. The professors I worked with in University, for example, behaved like emotional four-year olds. “Emotional intelligence” wasn’t their speciality.

Second, sexual energy also resides in the inner e=energy level. When awareness of these energies is repressed and skillful harnessing of them is made taboo, they fester in the unconscious and manifest darkly. It’s no accident that behind the mask of celibacy, rape and pedophilia run rampant in monasteries, Catholic, Hindu and Buddhist alike.

Not to mention that foreign governments honey pot emotionally immature leaders in government and business to compromise them. Corruption in politics is often driven by fear of blackmail.

* * *

Now, as to astrology in particular. It’s also housed at the non-tangible but nevertheless very real e=energy level. Like any other science (defined as “with knowledge”), it has both uses and abuses. I’m reminded of being obliged to do a statistical study for my dissertation. The stats professor was amazed at the results I got. Most grad students got garbage. How did I explain 99% statistically significant findings?

“Easy,” I told him. I understood the limits of statistics and stayed within its parameters. I tracked demographics and behavior. I did NOT ask value questions.

It’s the same with astrology. Historically, shepherds in the fields and sailors on the high seas depended on their understandings of weather — the seasons, oceans and sky, for safety. Knowing and skillfully abiding by the laws of nature was a matter of survival. The operations of nature have no prejudice, no values. They simply are. Take it or leave it, the consequences are yours.

Although urban dwellers may be relatively disconnected from the elements of nature, the dynamics of human nature remain unchanged.

Now, a passionate, idealistic leader without the advantage of astrology is at serious disadvantage. Because, yes, “Timing is everything.” Promising followers that something will happen because you think it should, because you really really desperately want it to, because you know in your heart it is right, leads to mistakes. If the timing is off, there’s no way (no matter how “right”), you can deliver. So. Before making promises, check your astral watch. For best results, know what time it is and temper behavior accordingly.

As for abuses of astrology, while “good” guys sanctimoniously condemn and abstain, dark side folks take full advantage. For example, ups and downs of economic trends are easily calculated. Those well advised on financial matters can become fantastically rich, while others must depend on listening to gut and/or intuition for similar effect.

Also, astral charts for most public figures are easily obtained, even online. You can trust that leaders’ weaknesses are well known to dark side manipulators, who’ve chosen pawns accordingly and placed them in position in order to use them.

* * *

So. A few quick thoughts. Questions? Comments? You’re welcome to contact me at positiveactionpress@yahoo.com.