Images from the I Ching: Visual Meditations on the Book of Change [Paperback]

Ann Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1987

This unique and beautiful book is the first work on from the first hexagram the Creative: Heaven Over Heaven to the last Before Completion: Fire Over Water. Stunning!

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Prism Pr Ltd (October 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1853270032
• ISBN-13: 978-1853270031
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 9 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,061,694 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Hexagrams Illuminated by Tarot Card Quality Pictures, February 4, 2009

By 

William Bagley (Ashland, Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Images from the I Ching: Visual Meditations on the Book of Change (Paperback)

This book is an art book with 64 images, one for each of the hexagrams which comprise the I CHING or Book of Changes. They are meant to be used for meditation or contemplation, a way of entering into the hexagrams through a path other than words and commentary. The images are of a good quality and have an art style very similar to those found on Tarot Cards and probably serve a similar purpose. The book has an 8 page introduction by Ralph Metzner which is worth reading and gives a good general summary of the underlying principles of the I CHING and an even shorter commentary by Ann Williams on how to consult the I CHING as an oracle.

While the pictures are evocative and work well for those who find art a deeper entry into the divinatory meanings of the hexagrams, there are two limitations I see to this book. One is that it is not a good book to start with for learning the I CHING. There are many better books to get an understanding of the I CHING. This book is definitely a supplemental book, something to study, read, and contemplate after you have a firmer grounding in the I CHING. My favorite version of the I CHING is the Wilhelm and Baynes version. The version by John Blofeld is also very good. Two is that the present book has too little commentary to serve as an oracle by itself and has no commentary on the changing lines or nuclear hexagrams. The artist/author does not pretend that this book can serve this purpose and recommends other I CHING books herself. Having named its limitations, the book functions well as a kind of I CHING version of a Tarot Deck and is worthwhile to read in this context.