The Principle of The I Ching

   Since Man appeared on the surface of the Earth, he has always tried to gain prior knowledge of the future. And this is why divinatory practices have developed everywhere, in every corner of the globe. In China, this led to the writing of the "Book of Changes". The Chinese in fact saw the world as being in a state of perpetual change and transformation, just like the cycle of the seasons.

   So what is this remarkable divinatory Art based on?

   Essentially the I CHING is based on the idea of harmony between Man and the Environment around him. Through the question addressed to the Oracle, a link is established between the questioner (between the "inner reality" that exists inside him) and the outside world that surrounds him. This is a Cosmic link: the eternal link that connects the Earth to the Heavens, the body to the mind, Man to the Universe, Nature to its laws.

  In fact, the same Universal laws govern both Man and the Cosmos within which he is evolving. The Microcosm and the Macrocosm (the "Infinitely small" and the "Infinitely big") are subject to the same rules, as modern scientists all recognise today.

   This idea of harmony between Man and his environment is also present in Astrology. Astrology was born about 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, and travelled to the Orient due to migration, but it developed in a very original way in China.

   The Chinese had a rather "mathematical" view of the Universe: the Sages focused on the presence of two elementary energies, two equal and complementary forces: YANG (light) and YIN (dark) which were fundamental to everything.

   Both systems – Astrology and the I Ching – are based on strict mathematical observations, and arrive at the same conclusions regarding the occult nature of the Universe. The I Ching expresses thousand-year-old truths that are shared by all Sages and Initiates from both the East and the West.

   Traditionally, YANG is associated with the active male principle, with creativity, movement, the Heavens and the Sun. It represents "positive" energy.

   Yin, on the other hand, is associated with the female principle, passivity, receptivity, the Earth and the Moon. It represents "negative" energy.  

   These two principles therefore embody all the opposites: male and female, hot and cold, dry and wet, love and hate, order and chaos, etc. So human activities simply reflect the interaction between these occult Yin and Yang forces.