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The I ChingDespite what some people may believe, the idea of New Age goes much further past a specific type of music. The movement is also concerned about holistic healing and a return to natural and traditional processes. As such, fortune telling can play a sizable role with some New Age groups. One tool that is commonly used by these groups is the I ching, a book that has been in existence for an extremely long time. The earliest records of the book, which is also known as the Book of Changes, are from the 4th century before Christ. However, many experts believe the Chinese text is actually much older.Some experts think that the I Ching came from a legendary Chinese persona known as Fu Xi. This man is thought to have lived sometime around 2800 B.C. and the legend has it that the 8 trigrams that power the Book of Changes were given to him by supernatural forces. The original state of the 8 trigrams was transformed over time and now the book is based on 64 hexagrams that have distinct meanings. These hexagrams are determined by a stack of six lines. When a person practices fortune telling with the I Ching, it is necessary to choose a primary and secondary hexagram to be read. This is done by casting from the person that will have their fortune told. Each of the 64 hexagrams in the Book of Changes has a decided meaning. A Unicode system has been used to give English names to the hexagrams. One example is the 14th hexagram. The English name of the Chinese text is 'Great Possession' and the common meaning of this hexagram is usually related to freedom or independence. The relationship between the primary and secondary hexagrams can give slight changes to the meaning of each as they work in conjunction with each other. |