DennisMerrittJungianAnalyst.com
DLMerritt@cal.berkeley.edu

 

 

The first international conference on Jungian Psychology and Chinese Culture was held in Guangzhou, China  in December, 1998.  My paper was among the conference papers translated into Chinese and later published in English in Quadrant XXXI: 2 Summer 2001. An abridged version is presented  here.

Use of the I Ching in the Analytic Setting

Dennis L. Merritt, Ph.D.

 

For many Westerners an introduction to Chinese culture often comes through the use of the I Ching. This profound book, a compendium of wisdom extending back to the roots of one of the planet’s most ancient cultures, has become an important companion for many in the West, including myself. Use of the I Ching may challenge the reigning scientific paradigms in Western culture and bring a dimension to the Jungian psychoanalytic process which is sympathetic to the deepest and truest spirit of Jungian psychology.

In Jungian terms, one could say that the I Ching is a book originating from the archetypal depths of the human psyche and the psychoid dimensions of the Self. The origins of our dreams and the genesis of the hexagrams in response to questions addressed to the I Ching are grounded in the same source. The Chinese ideogram for the sage, “the ear listening to the Inner King”, can describe the process and goal of Jungian psychology.

Scientists are giving ecological perspectives more credibility, where patterns of relationships are central. Psychoneuroimmunology research and the statistical verifications of the power of prayer and belief blur the distinctions between mind and matter. Our outlook on life, the way we perceive the world, and our ability to reflect and see meaning in experience have been shown to affect our health and physical well being. Dreams, particular psychological approaches, certain spiritual practices and the I Ching address these issues at deep and subtle psychogenic levels where mind and matter meet (1).

Analysts are in a particularly good position to notice synchronistic events because we work with dreams at an archetypal level. Synchronistic events, related to archetypal constellations, often occur around births, deaths, strong love relationships and jealousy, for example. Circumstantial evidence that synchronicities occur prompted me to develop an experiment to statistically test for synchronicity. This was part of my thesis at the Jung Institute in Zurich entitled “Synchronicity Experiments with the I Ching and Their Relevance to the Theory of Evolution

To Jung, synchronicity proved that there was an element of the psyche outside time and space:  space and time are relative to the psyche (3). Incorporating the concept of synchronicity into his theoretical system late in his life led Jung to substantially reformulate his concepts of archetypes and the collective unconscious, putting them on a transcendental basis. Jung thought of archetypes as forms of existence without time and space, with the archetype per se being a "just so" ordering principle, an imperceptible structural element giving order to ideas and completely integrated with physical reality (4). Archetypes have a psychoid nature, meaning they have both a psychic and a physical dimension:  psychic and physical are two sides of the same coin (5). An analogy in physics would be light, which behaves as a particle and a wave; matter (particles) and field somehow being two sides of the same phenomena.

The Chinese philosopher Wang Fu Ch’i (l6l9-l692 hypothesized an imperceptible, all embracing, psychophysical continuum similar to Jung's concept of the psychoid archetype and the unus mundus of the alchemists (11). This is an essential element of an indigenous world view (12) and is integral to Chinese Taoism and Buddhist philosophy where “all things stand in immediate relationship with each other and with the whole” (13). Nuclear physicist David Bohm describes the world as unfolding “in a flowing stream of manifestation from a deeper holographic process, the implicate order...[which] itself is whole, and the cosmos as it unfolds is whole…in the sense that each part is connected with each other part, indeed each part enfolds, or implicitly contains each other part” (14)…

… let us examine the appropriateness and manner of using the I Ching in a psychoanalytic setting. It is said that Jung became so experienced and adept at using the I Ching personally and with analysands that he could predict what hexagrams he would get (15)... Given the criticism of the likes of Richard Noll and his dismissive association of the I Ching with “New Age fluff” (16), a careful examination of the topic is in order.

I have a Ph.D. in the sciences (Insect Pathology, U.C. Berkeley) and I am a licensed mental health worker, yet I am completely comfortable with telling people that I use the I Ching in my analytic practice. It is not my belief, but my experience that it works, in a profound and helpful manner. I use it in two ways:  first in an intensive, three hour consultation process with someone who comes for one session with a particular problem. I spend an hour trying to decern what the issue is and attempt to get to the most basic, appropriate question to put to the I Ching. Just knowing what question to ask is an important part of the therapeutic process—it is half the battle, as some would say. As I do with analysands, if I feel that this person wants to use the I Ching to short circuit a thoughtful, soul-searching, wrestling with an issue, or has not gathered enough information, I discourage consulting the I Ching. This process of formulating the question reduces an issue to manageable size. Phrasing the question in eight words or less forces one to be clear and succinct about what one’s real issue is. And I always ask about dreams that may be relevant to the issue.

In order to help the person link the answer from the I Ching to particulars in his or her life, to know exactly how the I Ching is addressing a situation, I must get a sense of the issues and circumstances involved. This process is similar to linking dream images to waking life situations. Hopefully, the analyst has the advantage of some objectivity in the process.

I then show the person how to use the yarrow stalk method of consulting the I Ching, and he or she proceeds to cast a hexagram. This takes about an hour. The yarrow stalk method is therapeutic in and of itself:  it involves a sense of ritual and reassuring repetition, of participating in something very ancient. It is a hands-on process accompanied by the gentle sound of rustling sticks. The process requires just enough concentration to prevent one from too heavy a concentration on one’s question-- a little like focusing on breathing during meditation. Once one is familiar with the process, it takes about fifteen minutes to cast a hexagram. During this time, one should focus on the question or clear one's mind to be open to the answer. If you don’t have fifteen minutes to cast a hexagram, you shouldn’t be asking a question: either your question is too trivial, you haven’t wrestled with the question long enough, or you’re not centered enough to be receptive to the answer.

I spend the third hour going through the answer with the person. I use three translations that I have found to be a good working combination. I begin with the most difficult, the Wilhelm/Baynes translation. It uses many symbols and images (17), and as an analyst, one may appreciate that the message conveyed in this manner has great impact, but it takes some explaining to the uninitiated.  Wilhelm uses metaphors, symbols and analogies associated with weather, seasons, agricultural practices and other natural phenomena. This important ecopsychological dimension of the I Ching can help to cultivate a symbolic manner of relating to the natural environment (18).

As one becomes more familiar with the structural elements of the I Ching—how comments are based on a line’s position in the hexagram, within a trigram, its correspondences with other lines, etc.--one gets closer to describing interactions of the basic energies of life and the natural world. In certain situations, the only connection I can make between the person’s question and the answer from the I Ching are at the purely structural level as described in part III of Wilhelm. In such cases, every verbal description has a metaphoric base that cannot be related to the issue being addressed. Only by going close to the most basic level of the hexagram, like the numerical base of computers and not the words used to program computers, can one “feel” an individual’s situation adequately described. The connection of lines to the ‘real world’ may be hinted at by a dream I had. As I looked at different elements in the environment in my dream, particular combinations of yin and yang lines would form and meld into that element, hinting that there are given, "just so", or "obvious" metaphoric and symbolic connections between totally abstract yin and yang combinations and objects in the "real" world.

The second text I use is the I Ching Workbook by R. L. Wing (19). Most people find Wing easier to work with: he is more direct than Wilhelm and he uses few metaphoric and symbolic references. In a different description of the same material,  certain aspects may be brought to the fore that are only hinted at in other translations, aspects that make an answer come alive for the questioner.

The third translation I use is Carol Anthony’s A  Guide to the I Ching (20). This book is intended to compliment Wilhelm, though many use only her text. She is more psychological in her descriptions, talking about "anxieties" and "fears" instead of "inferior people" for example. But I sometimes feel she is trying to be too Eastern; too opposed to any type of action or attribution of a problem to anything outside of one’s own psyche.

Since I feel that only very important issues should be addressed to the I Ching, and then only after one has wrestled with the issue for some time, I treat an answer as if it were a Big Dream. I photocopy  answers from the three texts so that the person can re-read them and underline parts that are particularly relevant. I encourage the person to re-read the answer at various intervals of time, to journal with the answer, perhaps to meditate on it, to do an active imagination and see if dreams relate to it—both past and future dreams.

I use the same basic approach when I’m working with an analysand. Once the person knows how to consult the I Ching, I may suggest a question to ask individually. Usually the person will review the answer with me at the next session. Generally, if the analytic process is moving along well with dreams showing an evolution in the analysand’s psyche, there is no need to consult the I Ching. There are situations, however, where using the I Ching in the analytic situation is instructive and helpful to the work itself.

The I Ching can be useful in the important process of choosing an analyst with whom to work. When I was choosing an analyst in Zurich, I got names from several people and found out as much as I could about each. I then asked the I Ching about working with each analyst. The lower trigram was the same in all three answers, while the upper trigrams varied, hinting to me that the lower trigram stood for me and the upper trigram stood for the analyst in question. The particularly positive hexagram I got about one analyst and the positive dreams I had about her helped me decide to work with her, resulting in an analysis that pleased me. Now, when a person consults the I Ching about a relationship issue, I at least consider how the trigrams may represent each partner.

As an analyst, I have used the I Ching to help decide whether to take on an analysand I have some question about for whatever reason. On occasion, when I’m in a particularly difficult situation with an analysand, I have even suggested the analysand ask a question about our therapeutic relationship. The answer becomes good material to work with.  The I Ching should not replace analytic work, but rather supplement and augment it. 

Because Jungians work so intensively with symbolism and imagery, we may notice undeniable correlations between dream imagery connected with a particular problem and images in the answers from the I Ching. A clear example of this and of how the I Ching can facilitate a good start in the therapeutic process is shown in the example  of a male in his early 30s who was just beginning analysis. He smoked marijuana, getting stoned every two or three weeks, and felt that this facilitated psychological insight and personal development. Then he had a dream before his fourth session of a doctor, his age, and a nurse, involved with the delivery of a baby on the top floor of a high-rise hospital building. The baby was born dead. The doctor told the nurse that he suspected that the reason the baby was born dead was because he was stoned during the delivery of the baby.

The dream was easy to interpret and the message was clear. "Getting high" is a term used for smoking marijuana, which produces a soaring feeling. The high rise hospital building and the doctor’s confession represent the effects of marijuana. Symbolic of new beginnings, babies represent something full of potential.  People often dream of having babies or getting pregnant at the beginning of the analytic process, or when it really starts to move. The dream clearly indicated that smoking marijuana was counter-productive to this man's  process. Still, it was difficult for him to give up smoking because he enjoyed it immensely. I suggested that he consult the I Ching. He asked the I Ching about smoking marijuana and got hexagram l2. Standstill (Stagnation) with no changing lines. In this hexagram, three upper yang lines tend to move upward while three lower yin lines move downward. Wilhelm's commentary says "Heaven and earth are out of communion and all things are benumbed. What is above has no relation to what is below” (p. 52). In this case, "getting high" clearly relates to the upper trigram.  People "get high" to soar above depressive feelings, here represented by the lower "heavy" trigram.

The connection between hexagram and dream was clear to my patient. It gave him enough of a jolt that he began to believe that smoking marijuana was harmful to his analytic work. He decided to stop smoking for four months; saying "four months" rather than "forever" seemed more possible to accomplish. He succeeded in breaking the habit, which is more seductive and psychologically damaging than many realize. It is a powerful experience when such synchronistic events happen. One feels "seen" by something much bigger than oneself, an experience not to be overlooked by those interested in theories of object relations and self-psychology.

Often, time is spent in analytic hours discussing relationship issues at work, with a spouse, a close friend or a family member. These provide excellent questions to put to the I Ching, but only after they have been thoroughly discussed and analyzed. The I Ching can help provide information one needs to know. The analyst is disadvantaged in hearing only one side of a relationship story, so the I Ching can add reinforcing or contrary input. Since often one can formulate several different hypotheses about a particular issue, I like to defer to the I Ching to see which hypothesis it supports. This usually helps something gel and pulls together relevant elements so the I Ching’s position feels correct. I do not entirely abide by the I Ching’s counsel to regard its answers “to be accepted as a key for resolution of doubts and a basis for decision” (hexagram 4. Youthful Folly, p. 21), but I do consider the I Ching’s input to be important and valuable. It often has the effect just mentioned—of crystallizing disparate elements into a convincing position on an issue.

One might be indignant about perceived injuries suffered in a relationship and want to force a showdown. Then it would give one pause to get hexagram 34.  The Power of the Great, with a changing line in the third place:  “Making a boast of power leads to entanglements, just as a goat entangles its horns when it butts against a hedge…an inferior man revels in power when he comes in possession of it…the superior man…is conscious at all times of the danger of pushing ahead regardless of circumstances, and therefore renounces in good time the empty display of force” (p. 135).

It may seem clear that one is in the right, but getting hexagram 6: Conflict, informs one that being right may not be enough for resolution of a problem.  “Conflict develops when one feels himself to be in the right and runs into opposition…If a man is entangled in a conflict, his only salvation lies in being so clear-headed and inwardly strong that he is always ready to come to terms by meeting the opponent halfway. To carry on the conflict to the bitter end has evil effects even when one is right, because the enmity is then perpetuated. It is important to see the great man, that is, an impartial man whose authority is great enough to terminate the conflict amicably or assure a just decision” (pp. 28-29). 

The I Ching often tells one to engage in the process but not exactly what to do in  that process—a task for therapy. The I Ching often advises one to “see the great Man”, which in relationship issues can be interpreted to see a marriage counselor. The challenge to be "clear minded" is one to be taken up in therapy, and the therapist may also help bolster the analysand’s "inner strength" to deal with the situation. Two quite different approaches to relationship problems are suggested within hexagram 21: Biting Through. The fourth line says “There are great obstacles to overcome, powerful opponents are to be punished. Though this is arduous, the effort succeeds. But it is necessary to be hard as metal and straight as an arrow to surmount the difficulties. If one knows these difficulties and remains persevering, he attains good fortune” (p. 89).  Contrast this with a changing top line which refers “to a man who is incorrigible…he is deaf to warnings. This obstinacy leads to misfortune” (p. 89).

            The I Ching can help maintain a psychological perspective on relationships. Usually, one deeply wounded person marries another deeply wounded person; their ways of dealing with wounds and the resulting character formations compliment each other in the early stages of the relationship. But, as the years go on, for example, the complement of assertiveness from one partner may become dominance. When working with the dominated spouse, it can be made clear that his partner is just another example of being dominated: if he divorced this partner he would find another partner or life situation to be dominated by. However, making it seem that the spouse is not the main source of oppression may leave the analysand feeling abandoned. Not every analysis can help a person transform under what are potentially intense learning situations.  The analogy  I use is one from martial arts: proof that one is centered and grounded (translate: in connection with the Self) lies is how well one can battle an opponent that is trying to kill you.  The life-and-death nature of most struggles necessitates being focused and centered. Usually the I Ching counsels one to not disengage. Some analysands do not fully experience the depth of this alchemical message until they engage in intense retreat-like meditative processes, which verify a psychological interpretation. The I Ching functions in these situations as an aid to maintaining an alchemical container in which deep transformation can occur. It can help one persevere long after the ego is ready to jump ship and move on. 

The I Ching also can be helpful when working with someone who feels lost, confused, depressed, or disoriented.  Getting hexagrams like 47: Oppression (Exhaustion), 28: Preponderance of the Great, 36: Darkening of the Light or 51: The Arousing (Shock, Thunder) generates in a beleaguered analysand a reassuring sense that a situation is seen, acknowledged and understood by a transcendent source. With difficult situations, the guidance offered by the I Ching give one a strong sense that there are valuable life and spiritual lessons to be learned from every experience, which lends the courage to go into the darkness and seriously engage the analytic process. It is difficult to accept that certain situations cannot be changed, or that nothing can be done right now and one simply has to endure, persevere, survive, and wait for a better time. The basic philosophical element in the I Ching is related to the Biblical statement in Ecclesiastes   "For everything there is a season.”  The I Ching often describes a situation as being a valuable lesson in endurance and perseverance so one feels one is doing something worthwhile just to get through it!  Typical is a statement in hexagram 39: Obstruction:  “An obstruction that lasts only for a time is useful for self-development.  This is the value of adversity” (pp. 151-152). When unable to affect an outer situation, the I Ching often counsels to go into oneself, to examine and strengthen one’s character and abide one’s time, pointing to a period of inner refinement. 

The I Ching can be used appropriately for most major life issues dealt with in analysis—job choices, career changes, moving, spiritual paths, etc.  For example, a woman wrestling with an extremely difficult divorce situation was shown how to use the I Ching. That night she dreamed: “I’m in some village and feeling disoriented. Someone gave me a roadmap”. The I Ching’s answers are like the first crystal to form in a supernatant solution— quickly everything crystallizes into place.  Even difficult, negative answers are useful as grist for the analytic mill, best illustrated by the title and content of hexagram l8: Work on What has Been Spoiled (Decay).

I find the use of the I Ching  particularly invaluable with regard to psychoanalytic training, a difficult and tricky process. A trainee has to plunge deeply into his or her unconscious, yet be exposed to and evaluated by others who assess the trainee’s psychological development, stability and suitability for being an analyst. When I trained in Zurich, a trainee could be asked to leave at any time without explanation.  Much is at stake, for a trainee invests much time, energy and self-image into training. Ugly, messy situations can develop in training programs, and hard feelings are generated on both sides. It may feel as if one’s very soul and sanity are at stake (21). I have helped several trainees  use the I Ching for dealing with these situations, and helped analysts who are at odds with Jungian "institutions". The I Ching can offer insight and moral rectitude which enables an individual to stand up to an unjust policy or an entire institution.

The I Ching is invaluable in helping us frame an issue, in suggesting how to view and know what is going on at a deep, holistic level. Such framing and guidance enables us to be fully in the moment—essential both in Eastern religions and in depth psychology.   Advice is given as if from a kindly, wise person who has your interests in mind.  This is in contrast with a divinatory system like the Tarot, whose powerful images and more subjective interpretation can be overwhelming.

One’s personal issue is presented in the I Ching in a metaphoric, symbolic and archetypal framework—a very Jungian process.  When one realizes that the I Ching has been used by millions of people for millennia for a multitude of situations, one begins to see how personal issues are unique and a personal experience of cosmic themes.  A powerful way of doing this is to link dream images to hexagram images, metaphors and structural descriptions of the hexagrams. A combination of dream work and hexagram work gives one a sense of how dream images and associations express archetypal themes. An archetype is like a crystal, each facet illustrating how the archetype would look were it presented here as a political situation, there as a piece of military strategy, elsewhere as a weather formation, etc. Wilhelm's translation in particular helps to cultivate an archetypal sense.  As I mentioned earlier, the I Ching’s agricultural, weather  and seasonal analogies can contribute towards developing a symbolic way of relating to our environment, an ecopsychological perspective, and the cultivation of a sense of place.

Are there reasons for not using the I Ching in the analytic setting? Naturally, if the analyst is not familiar with the book and does not have a personal connection with it. Then, I would hope that analyst would find some other symbolic oracular system. Also, for many analysands, use of the I Ching may seem too strange, thereby undermining their trust in the analyst. To others it may seem un-Christian. The most common danger is that it is used too soon, and not intelligently. Use of the I Ching is counterproductive if it short-circuits a process of self-exploration and the development of personally meaningful ways of relating to the unconscious. Jung himself used the I Ching less in later life, saying that he preferred to walk in the dark and see if the waters of the unconscious would support  him. We must keep in mind the advice given in hexagram 4: Youthful Folly,  “If mistrustful or unintelligent questioning is kept up, it serves only to annoy the teacher.  He does well to ignore it in silence, just as the oracle gives one answer only and refuses to be tempted by questions implying doubt” (p. 21).

The West has been given a precious gift by China in the form of the I Ching. I hope the Jungian community does not lose sight of the similarity between the world view and wisdom of the I Ching and essential elements of Jungian theory and practice.  A fruitful exchange between Jungians and Chinese scholars could serve as a synergistic cross-pollination between two cultures, using the I Ching as the bridge for a mutual consideration of some of the world's most profound questions.

Notes and References

1.   Dennis Merritt. 1988. “Jungian Psychology and Science: A Strained Relationship.” The Analytic Life. Sigo Press: Boston. pp. 11-31.

2.  Dennis Merritt (in preparation).  Synchronicity, the I Ching and the Evolution of  Life.

3.  Carl G. Jung. l955. "Synchronicity: An Acausal Connection Principle."The Collected Works of C. G. Jung (hereafter called CW). R. F. C. Hull trans. Bollingen Series XX. Pantheon Books. pp. 417-531.

4.  Liliane Frey-Rohn. 1974. From Freud to Jung. F. E. Engreen and E. K. Engreen trans.  Dell Publishing Co: New York. pp. 293-294.

5.     CW 8, par. 964

10.  von Franz, pp. 245-246.

11.  ibid.

12.  Ralph Metzner. 1993. “The Split Between Spirit and Nature in Western

       Consciousness." Noetic Sciences Review. Spring ed. pp. 5-9.

13.  Alan Combs. 1982. “Synchronicity: A Synthesis of Western Theories and Eastern Perspective.” Re-Vision--A Journal of Consciousness and Change. Spring l982 (5) 1. p. 20.

14.  ibid., p. 25.

15.  von Franz, p. ll7.

16.  Richard Noll. 1994. The Jung Cult—Origins of a Charismatic Movement. Princeton

       University Press: Princeton. 387 pp.

Noll on the Internet asked why Jungian analysts “don’t speak out in public about the activities of your colleagues that you find so repugnant? You certainly do so in private, and even to me. “Well, I don’t do astrology in my practice, it’s THOSE people”—that kind of thing...Are you so “tolerant” of your colleagues’ “individuality” that you allow explicit religious promises, New Age mysticism and divinatory practices (aura reading, I Ching, astrology) to be done in the name of “Jungian analysis”? And so where does it leave the rest of you—the so-called “serious analysts” with MDs and Ph.D.s in clinical psychology or MSW’s in psychiatric social work, etc.—who wish to maintain a professional identity SEPARATE from your New Age colleagues? It’s about time the public has a clear account of what you all believe, why you believe it, and why you are not a New Age religion”.  Matthew W. Clapp, 06:57 PM ll/23/97, JungNet: December.

17.  Richard Wilhelm. 1967. The I Ching or Book of Changes. 3rd ed. Cary F. Baynes trans. Bollingen Series XIX. Princeton University Press: Princeton. 740 pp.

All hexagram titles and references used in this article are from the Wilhelm/Baynes translation. Hereafter only page numbers from this book will be listed in the text.

 

An ostracized sage from the old school, Lau Nai Suan, introduced Wilhelm to Chinese yoga and philosophy and the psychology of the I Ching. He collaborated with Wilhelm in making his excellent translation (Memories, Dreams, Reflections, p. 375). Jung began using the I Ching in l9l9 and met Richard Wilhelm a few years later who subsequently became a friend. He recognized Wilhelm’s openness and “miracle of empathy...which enabled him to make the intellectual treasure of China accessible to Europe” (C. G. Jung. 1965. Memories, Dreams, Reflections.. Aniela Jaffe ed. Vintage Books: New York. p. 375)

Jung stated: “One must have a far-reaching psychological understanding in order to enjoy the I Ching to advantage “ (C. G. Jung Letters.. Vol. 1. 1906-l950. Gerhard A. Adler ed. Routledge and Kegen Paul. p.139).

 

18.  Dennis Merritt (in preparation). The Dairy Farmer’s  Guide to the Universe—Jung, Hermes and Ecopsychology.

19.  R. L. Wing. l979. The I Ching Workbook. Doubleday and Co: Garden City, NY.  180 pp.

20.  Carol K. Anthony. 1988. A Guide to the I Ching. 3rd ed. Anthony Publishing Co: Stow, MA. 314 pp.

21.  Robert Stein. I974. Incest and Human Love—the Betrayal of the Soul in Psychotherapy. Penguin Books: Baltimore. 200 pp.

 

e-mail:         DLMerritt@cal.berkeley.edu

Telephone:  (608) 255-9330 ext. 5

Fax:              (608) 255-7810

Website:      www.DennisMerrittJungianAnalyst.com