The I Ching (Book of Change) has long been a basis for divination in Asia. It also offers a powerful source of images for meditation. Converting the original lists of solid and broken lines to 1's and 0's allows a somewhat easier access to these ancient symbols. (This material originally appeared in David Farren's Sex and Magic. Used with permission.)

Read the digits from left to right in the same way as you would read the lines in a hexagram (or kua) from bottom to top. 1 is a solid line, 0 a broken line.

THE TRIGRAMS


111 - Father Heaven, cold but active. It is often represented by a white circle, which for Jung is an archetype of psychic wholeness. It suggests the dominance of the sky, strong and bright, as well as the idea of firmness.
000 - Mother Earth, warm and responsive. Its symbol is a black square, again an archetype representing physical integrity. In contrast to heaven it is weak and dark.
001 - the immovable mountain, the source of a distant thunder. It is often used to suggest either detachment or persistence.
010 - water, sometimes as it may be found in the clouds but often as the current flowing at the bottom of a deep ravine. It is also associated with winter and is regarded as something which surrounds and sometimes threatens us. The hexagrams in which it is found are often negative in their feeling.
011 - the wind, gentle yet penetrating. Sometimes it is the trees through which the wind blows and often the wood taken from these trees.
100 - thunder, which also suggests the idea of movement in general. Contrary to our Western expectations, the Chinese have tended to regard thunder as a favorable omen, the promise of a nourishing rain.
101 - fire, which is also seen sometimes as lightning and sometimes as the sun. It suggests the beauty of summer.
110 - a lake or marsh. It has the secondary connotations of a pleasant autumn rain. Often too it suggests the idea of joy.

THE HEXAGRAMS


000000 (#02) The passive principle
000001 (#23) Peeling off (a mountain sinking into the earth)
000010 (#08) Unity (water irrigating the land)
000011 (#20) Looking down (wind across the earth)
000100 (#16) Repose (movement and acceptance)
000101 (#35) Progress (fire from the earth)
000110 (#45) Gathering together (a lake arising above the earth)
000111(#12) Stagnation (the separation of heaven and earth)
001000 (#15) Modesty (a mountain upon the plain)
001001 (#52) Desisting (two mountains joined together)
001011 (#39) Trouble (water on the mountain)
001011 (#53) Gradual progress (a tree on the mountain)
001100 (#62) The small get by (thunder over the mountain)
001101 (#56) The traveler (fire on the mountain)
001110 (#31) Attraction (the stubborn and the joyous together)
001111 (#33) Yielding (mountains and sky)
010000 (#07) The army (channeled water)
010001 (#04) Immaturity (the pit below the mountains)
010010 (#29) The abyss
010011 (#59) Scattering (a wind across the water)
010100 (#40) Release (thunder and rain)
010101 (#64) Before completion (fire hanging over the water)
010110 (#47) Adversity (a dry lake)
010111 (#06) Conflict (firmness before danger)
011000 (#46) Ascending (trees growing upward)
011001 (#18) Decay (wind below the mountain)
011010 (#48) A well (water over wood)
011011 (#57) Willing submission (a gentle wind)
011100 (#32) The long enduring (thunder and wind)
011101 (#50) A sacrificial vessel (fire upon wood)
011110 (#28) Excess (a submerged forest)
011111 (#44) Contact (a wind below the sky)
100000 (#24) Return (thunder in the earth)
100001 (#27) Nourishment (thunder below the mountain)
100010 (#03) Difficulty (movement out of the pit)
100011 (#42) Gain (thunder and wind)
100100 (#51) Thunder
100101 (#21) Gnawing (lightning and thunder)
100110 (#17) Following (movement and joy)
100111 (#25) Integrity (thunder thriough the sky)
101000 (#36) Darkening of the light (light hidden in the earth)
101001 (#22) Elegance (fire below the mountain)
101010 (#63) After completion (a dampened fire)
101011 (#37) The family (wind from a fire)
101100 (#55) Abundance (thunder and lightning)
101101 (#30) Flaming beauty
101110 (#49) Revolution (fire in the lake)
101111 (#13) Lovers (sun and fire)
110000 (#19) Approach (joy and acceptance)
110001 (#41) Loss (a lake below the mountain)
110010 (#60) Restraint (water held back from a lake)
110011 (#61) Inward confidence and sincerity (joyfulness and gentleness)
110100 (#54) The marriageable maiden (thunder over a pond)
110101 (#38) The estranged (fire against water)
110110 (#58) Joy
110111 (#10) Treading (a lake open to the sky)
111000 (#11) Peace (the interaction of heaven and earth)
111001 (#26) The great nourisher (the sky seen through the mountains)
111010 (#05) Calculated inaction (clouds in the sky)
111011 (#09) The lesser nourisher (wind in the sky)
111100 (#34) The power of the great (thunder in the sky)
111101 (#14) Great possessions (splendor lighting the sky)
111110 (#43) Resolution (a lake drawn toward the sky)
111111 (#01) The creative principle

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