This Chinese New Year,
We Celebrate the I Ching

by Paul O'Brien

As of January 26, 2009 (on our western calendar) we are entering the Chinese Year of the Earth Ox (or Cow, depending on whom you ask). The Chinese New Year starts on a different date every year. It doesn't sync up with our western (Gregorian) calendar because the Chinese calendar is lunar-solar, meaning that it is based on cycles of both the Moon and the Sun.

In the west, Chinese New Year is often associated with an animal, while the five elements of the Chinese spiritual system are often not mentioned. However, these five elements add an important distinction that makes this Ox year different from other Ox years. Factoring in the twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac with five elements makes for a total of 60 different variations, meaning we won't see another Earth Ox year until 2069. (Interestingly, the last Earth Ox year was my birth year!)

To celebrate this year of the Earth Ox, Tarot.com brings you a newly revised version of the Chinese Book of Changes, or I Ching, a revered oracle system almost as ancient as the Chinese calendar itself. This new version includes updated text that makes it easier than ever to understand and use – all for the sake of better decisions, better relationships and less stress in a stressful world.

This is an appropriate way for us to celebrate the new year, because the I Ching and the Chinese calendar both derive from the same five elements. Let's take a look at these elements, which form a basis for all Chinese culture and spirituality.

The five elements of classical Chinese cosmology are Fire, Metal, Wood, Earth and Water. They are associated with the eight trigrams, or ba gua, that are used in Feng Shui and form the foundation of the I Ching.

Richard Wilhelm, whose translation of the I Ching (or Book of Changes) into German is credited with bringing the I Ching to the West, describes how the trigrams came into being in his introduction:

"At the outset, the Book of Changes was a collection of linear signs to be used as oracles. In antiquity, oracles were everywhere in use; the oldest among them confined themselves to the answers yes and no…. 'Yes' was indicated by a simple unbroken line (___), and "No" by a broken line (_ _). However, the need for greater differentiation seems to have been felt at an early date, and the single lines were combined in pairs. To each of these combinations a third line was then added. In this way the eight trigrams came into being. These eight trigrams were conceived as images of all that happens in heaven and on earth... In order to achieve a still greater multiplicity, these eight images were combined with one another at a very early date, whereby a total of sixty-four signs was obtained."

The eight trigrams are named for a specific attribute and associated with other correspondences, such as direction, a nature symbol, personality and of course, one of the five sacred Chinese elements.

The I Ching Oracle and Chinese New Year | Tarot.com -- Continued »