Okay, so today I messed around with something totally new to me – the 51st hexagram from the I Ching, called “Zhen” or “The Arousing (Shock)”. I’ve been kinda curious about the I Ching for a while, but never really did anything with it, you know?
First, I had to figure out what the heck this hexagram even was. Turns out, it’s made of two trigrams that both represent thunder. Double thunder! Sounds intense, right? I looked it up, and the general meaning is about shock, excitement, and sudden change. It’s like a wake-up call.
My Little Experiment
I decided to do a simple coin toss. I have these old coins, and I use heads is yang (a solid line) and tails is yin (a broken line).
Then I grabbed a notebook and a pen. Nothing fancy, just something to scribble in. I cleared off a little space on my desk – usually it’s a disaster zone – and tried to get my head in a, like, contemplative space. Not sure I succeeded, but hey, I tried.
I flipped the coin six times, writing down the results each time, from bottom to top. This is important, apparently. So, my first toss was heads (yang), then tails (yin), and so on. I ended up with this:
- Heads (Yang)
- Tails (Yin)
- Tails (Yin)
- Heads (Yang)
- Tails (Yin)
- Tails (Yin)
And, Heads is a solid line,Tails is a broken line.
After I got my six lines, I realized I had constructed the hexagram. Two broken lines, then a solid, then two broken, then a solid… that’s the 51st hexagram, Zhen! Double thunder, exactly as it should be.
The I Ching books (and websites) talk about this hexagram as a time of upheaval, but also a time of opportunity. It’s saying, “Wake up! Pay attention! Something’s happening!” It also suggests staying calm and centered amidst the chaos, which, let’s be honest, is good advice for any situation.
I’m not sure if I “got” anything profound from this little experiment. I’m not suddenly enlightened or anything. But it did make me think. It made me pause and consider what “shocks” or changes might be happening in my own life, and how I’m reacting to them. Am I freaking out? Am I seizing the opportunity? Am I just… stuck?
I wrote down some thoughts in my notebook about this, some current situations, not sure if I had any insights. Maybe.
I might try this again sometime. It’s a pretty simple way to, I don’t know, tap into something a little different. And hey, who knows, maybe double thunder is what I need right now.
