An innovative and indispensible addition to the I Ching bookshelf

books:


	• Total I Ching: Myths for Change Stephen Karcher Little, Brown Book Group, 2004 - 451 pages average customer review:based on 7 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

An innovative and indispensible addition to the I Ching bookshelf

The I Ching has been an immensely important influence on my life. For well over three decades, I have sought its advice, judgment and solace. It has remained an unchanging spiritual lifeboat for me, like the shoals of dolphins that rescue and secure the shipwrecked to safety. I credit the Wilhem/Baynes/Jung edition for saving my life and, in particular, the editions by Carol K. Anthony, Sam Reifler, Brian Brown Walker, Sarah Dening, R. L. Wing, John Blofeld and Stephen Karcher for enriching it.

This latest of Karcher's books on the I Ching, Total I Ching: Myths for Change, is a masterpiece. Karcher successfully takes the original texts and jettisons almost all the moralistic moorings that are at times difficult to get around in other translations. He takes a shamanistic and pragmatic approach, eschewing doom-and-gloom predictions for succinct, somewhat dispassionate advice. For instance, rather than hearing hopelessly negative news from the 6th changing line of Hexagram 24 (Return), Karcher says "Trap!...You are returning to an old delusion, blinded by self-deception and infatuation. If you go on in this way, your hard-won growth will be destroyed. It will take at least ten years to deal with the repurcussions of this catastrophe. The Way is closed. Think about where this desire comes from. Whatever you do, don't act this out....Take things in. Be open and provide what is needed." I find this type of advice far more useful than the the stark proclamation of horrific bad luck given in some versions of the I Ching, which could almost cause the susceptible to contemplate jumping off the Golden Gate bridge.

His commentary on the 2nd line of Hexagram 49 (Skinning/Revolution) is: "There is excellence in moving now. This is your time. Move into the dance. You can change the world. Put everything into solution. Don't be shy. Be a hero. Vigorous action opens the Way. This is definitely not a mistake. Be resolute. You are connected to a creative force." This successfully communicates the positive energetic information without quite making one giddy. I enjoy and need a slightly sober reminder that my good fortune lies in remaining connected to the creative force, from which all blessings flow. Total I Ching provides this without the puritanical tone found in some other versions.

It is easy to bypass some of the more esoteric information on each hexagram and go directly to the sections most important for divination. The tone is helpful and grounding, yet invigorating. I personally am more interested in that than the scholarly details, but those who seek them won't be disappointed. My only criticisms are that it would have been far, far more helpful to have the Hexagram numbers placed on each page. You have to go through pages and pages to get your bearings in the text, rather than being able to flip easily to the hexgram you want. Also, I really wish this book was available in hardback. For those of us that actually use and refer to the I Ching on a regular basis, this is essential as well as aesthetically preferable. The text deserves to be preserved in a hardback edition. This is a wonderful, wonderful book.

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One of the best indepth books on I Ching.

This is the 2nd book I have bought written by the author Stephen Karcher.This book is very indepth and offers more guidance on all matters.The advice is easy to understand but beginners might want to find suitable learning books before adding this book to your collection.The number of pages for each hexagram can vary from about 4 pages and some are up to 6 pages long.Thats a bit too much for my liking,but,some people might like it.Consider that factor before you buy this book.

The print in this book is smaller compared to the authors "Symbols of love" book.Both books are very similar but "Total I Ching" is for all matters.

I also recommend these books:
1)"I Ching:a new interpretation for modern times."By Sam Reifler.
2)"Practical guide to the I Ching".By Kim-Anh Lim.

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One of the Best Translations

Fantasic for maximum information, insightful interpretations, and maintaining clear readings while encouraging intuition.
Better for people who already have experience with the I Ching and Chinese and Taoist philosophy.

Awesome Awesome Awesome

If I could give this book six I would.

If you love the I-Ching; If you read every single one you can find; this book is simply eons beyond all the rest.

The other I-Chings I used to really like were the one by Alfred Huang, and the one by Rudolph Ritsema. This is like taking the best aspects of both of those two and combining them and making them even better.

Check it out!

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Could give this one TEN STARS!!!

This is one of the BEST I-Ching Translations I've ever read. I had found several before, most notably the Legge Version and the Idiot's Guide. These are awesome versions for the basic Divination Student, but the depth and wealth of connections, syncronicities, and interrelationships between all the Hexagrams is best related in this text. I highly recommend this one, as well as the Karcher I-Ching with Concordance, and the simpler How to Use the I-Ching by Karcher as well.

reviews: page 1, 2

I Ching is the oldest, most respected divinatory system in the world. There are currently two kinds of translations available, which offer conflicting interpretations?the Confucian version and an earlier version called Zhouyi. Reconstructed by 20th-century scholars and archaeologists, Zhouyi presents the imaginative world of myth and ritual that is the basis of Eastern thought. Now, for the first time, Stephen Karcher fuses these two traditions using modern scholarship, archaeological and linguistic research, Eastern philosophy, and comparative religion, presenting them to the Western reader in a comprehensive, accessible, and vivid new form. Total I Ching is a complete oracle with instructions for use in all life situations. It is also the first translation to detail the mythology of the divinatory system, the Myths for Change.

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