I Ching for Beginners: A Modern Interpretation of the Ancient Oracle (For Beginners (Llewellyn's)) (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Offering guidance to emperors, generals, and kings for millennia, the I Ching remains a powerful oracle today. However, many seekers find its symbolism and outdated metaphors a challenge to interpret. Mark McElroy strips away obscure references and reverently recasts the I Ching's ancient ideas into everyday terms, making it fast and easy to apply its enduring wisdom to contemporary life.

Neither a translation nor a paraphrased interpretation, I Ching for Beginners helps readers consult this remarkable Chinese classic with confidence. For each of the I Ching's sixty-four passages, McElroy provides a summary, study questions, and keywords, and explains how the message relates to relationships, love, work, and projects. Also included are directions for creating and interpreting hexagrams.

About the Author

After purchasing his first Tarot deck in 1973, Mark McElroy began terrorizing other neighborhood nine-year-olds with dire and dramatic predictions.Today, he calls Tarot "the ultimate visual brainstorming tool," and shares techniques designed to help others ask better questions, see more options, and achieve their goals.

He is the author of Putting the Tarot to Work, Taking the Tarot to Heart, What's in the Cards for You?, and the new I Ching for Beginners (all Llewellyn). He is also the author of The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Tarot (Que).

Mark holds a B.A. and M.A. in creative writing and composition from the Center for Writers at the University of Southern Mississippi. He has more than two decades of experience as a public speaker and corporate trainer. He has written, produced, and hosted classroom, video, and online training for some of America's biggest companies, including SkyTel, MCI, Office Depot, Staples, and many others.

Mark lives and writes in Mississippi, where he shares a home with his partner, Clyde, and two cats, Tiger and Lilly.

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications; 1st. Ed edition (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738707449
• ISBN-13: 978-0738707440
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #186,178 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #26 in	Books > Religion & Spirituality > Bible & Other Sacred Texts > I Ching
  #42 in	Books > History > Ancient > China

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Accessible, Modern Interpretation of an Ancient Chinese Oracle, November 3, 2005

By	Janet Boyer "JanetBoyer.com" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"Enough tire-kicking! It's time to get under the hood of the Book of Changes and get a peek at its thirty-five hundred year-old Wisdom Engine: a ingenious problem-solving computer built back when the Silicon Valley was just the Silicon Gully." - From the book

The I Ching (pronounced eee ching or yee jing) is a profound Chinese oracle that speaks to the complex and changing nature of life. Centered on the Tao-the Truth or master pattern of the universe-the I Ching blends the Yin (feminine principle) and the yang (male principle) to address virtually every type of situation.

Originally consulted using yarrow sticks, this ancient oracle comprises 64 hexagrams consisting of six lines. Each hexagram is like a "chapter" of the Book of Changes (another name for the I Ching). Solid lines are yang and broken lines are yin; both are considered stable. Then there are changing lines that are yang turning yin or yin about to become yang. Although diviners generated these hexagrams with yarrow sticks in the past, modern methods have incorporated coins or even special I Ching cards.

In his new book I Ching for Beginners, Mark McElroy makes this often-ponderous oracle accessible to a new generation. He admits that this book is not a translation nor is it a traditional or scholarly exposition. Nevertheless, I Ching for Beginners provides everything you need to quickly consult-and apply-the wisdom found in the Book of Changes.

Even if you're not into divination, Mark makes the case that the I Ching provides opportunity for reflection, enhances our perception, encourages awareness of impact, and moderates our responses. Often leading individuals by the hand to the "middle way", the I Ching dispenses wise advice for those seeking insight.

Mark explains the nature of trigrams and hexagrams and shows readers how to prepare for a reading and easily generate a hexagram. In fact, he's come up with an ingenious way of generating lines using a handmade deck of sixteen "consultation cards" that are quick and easy to make. Of course, you can also generate hexagrams using three coins (which is what I do). If all the lines are stable, then you just consult the corresponding chapter in the book. (There's an easy-to-read Hexagram Chart in the Appendix). If the hexagram contains changing lines, then you need to create a Primary Hexagram and a Secondary Hexagram-reflecting how a situation is currently and how it's likely to evolve. Then, consult the chapters correlating with the Primary and Secondary Hexagrams.

Each chapter offers a sage observation about the Hexagram and what it encourages and cautions against, as well as keywords, thought questions, and a commentary. Comments on both love and relationships and work and projects are also provided, in addition to comments about the changing lines (stable or Primary Hexagrams only).

I've consulted the I Ching for Beginners three different times, and each of the readings have been incredibly spot on. One night, I was at my wits end as me and my 7 year old were butting heads. I tossed the coins and (surprise!) the situation was a changing one, so it reflected changing lines. The Primary Hexagram was (get this) 38 Resolving Tensions! It spoke of antagonism, conflict, and rebellion-as well as blending fire and water to make powerful steam (as opposed to extinguishing one another.) The Secondary Hexagram comforted me-what the situation was evolving into-because it was 54 Managing Relationships. It showed me the best way to deal with my son and provided me much clarity and comfort.

I consulted Mark's book two other times and found the results to be not only profoundly accurate and insightful, but also amazingly comforting and empowering. I just did a reading a short while ago about the next few days and I what I needed to focus on, and I got exactly the answer I needed-and one that was doable!

Out of curiosity, I compared Mark's "thought for thought" interpretations inspired by the ancient oracle to The Complete I Ching: The Definitive Translation by the Taoist Master Alfred Huang. I was surprised that I Ching for Beginners reflected the gist of the Hexagrams found in this scholarly book. Sure, a book like The Complete I Ching may give some added nuance and information, but for someone wanting a modern, accessible version of the I Ching, Mark's book does the trick.

If you want to learn about the I Ching-especially if you're looking for an easy-to-use oracle with depth and breadth-I Ching for Beginners is an excellent book to get you started. Written in his characteristic witty, engaging style, Mark takes a potentially cumbersome subject and makes it understandable-and more importantly, *doable*--for a new generation of seekers.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for practical uses! , July 7, 2008

By	Seven Kitties "7kitties" (Blue Point, NY USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

If you're looking for a book that discusses the I Ching as a philosophy or metaphysics or meditation tool, this book isn't what you're looking for. However, if you want an I Ching that can give insight and solutions into your life, this book is nothing short of spooky. I made a quick and cheap set of index cards as he describes (if I flipped coins around here, my cats'd make sure I spent all day looking for coins) and for the first month that I owned this book I did a reading every morning.

Unlike Tarot, where sometimes you and a deck have to take some time getting to know each other (tarot people know what I mean), this worked right off the page from day one. He offers wonderful blurbs on each of the trigrams, and I was so impressed at how spot on they were at predicting what I needed to look out for that day (my general question) that I started analyzing the book for 'cheats'. You know, generic stuff that could fit anybody "you have a friend named Joe? John?" "You feel as if no one understands you?" That sort of ultrageneric stuff that the Rube desperately clings onto. Nope. Not here. The trigrams are widely different in meaning, with very little overlap.

If you want a practical I Ching tool, and something that you will turn to day after day with confidence, THIS is the book to get.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Your own private mentor, March 8, 2006

By	Patrick Swinkels (Belgium) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

First of all, you should read the excellent review posted by Janet Boyer. I've got not much to add to this.

I consider this book (and Mark's Bright Idea Deck) as my private mentor/coach. It does not tell me what to do, but confronts me with a set of questions and options to consider. Over time I have learned the importance of asking the right question; sometimes an answer is not even needed, the question alone makes the problem disappear.

Why 4 stars and not 5? Well, we all got spoiled by Mark's use of examples on how to use for instance his bright idea deck.

Well, in this I Ching book, no "50 ways to use the I Ching", no "What would the trigrams do", no different "spreads".
I'm sure I have enough information to construct these on my own, but I would love some practical examples, some "spreads" using more than one or two hexagrams etc.

Anyway, I recommend this book to everyone!