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
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