Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

I-CHING (a.k.a Book of Changes)

Ancient Chinese sacred book, one of the classics of Confucianism and one of the earliest works of Chinese literature, traditionally used for divination and as a moral, philosophical, and cosmological text. It is based on 64 symbolic hexagrams.

Each hexagram consists of a pair of trigrams. There are eight basic trigrams, each named for a natural phenomenon. The symbolic significance of each hexagram is expressed in cryptic poetic passages and in philosophical commentary.

The book is consulted by casting lots six times to determine the appropriate hexagram. The hexagrams evolved as fortune-telling symbols. Wen Wang (flourished about 1150 BC) is traditionally thought to have added moral counsel to the original divinatory function of the hexagrams. It is probable that Confucius and his followers added further philosophical commentary.

Although rejected by the empiricist scholars of the Qing (Ch'ng) dynasty, the numerological aspects of the work have been reemphasized by Westerners interested in Eastern mysticism. The work was translated in the 19th century by James Legge and Richard Wilhelm.

Wilhelm's translation included a forward by the psychoanalyst Carl Jung who saw the text as a means to accessing the subconscious through meditation upon the symbols.

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc