Crowley's I Ching analogies to Tarot, etc.
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Hello,
I'm trying to really understand the I Ching from a schematic point of view. I haven't seen where/how/why Crowley attributes the 4 elements plus lingam, yoni, sun, moon, to the 8 hexagrams. I'd be curious if there's any real explanation of it in print.
I'm most curious about how to interpret sun/moon here, and how they differ from lingam/yoni. I'm wondering if it's simply using their astrological themes or if there's more going on. I'd be grateful for any pointers.
My plan now is just to study the trigrams from Chinese authorities and use the Western correspondences as further associations.
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This is relatively obvious in AC's version of the Yi Ching. This has appeared in various editions at different times.
I have some private manuscripts where he elaborated this, more or less for each hexagram. I'm not sure how much of this has been published. Here are a few examples that may help demonstrate his path of development:
#5, Luna of Lingam, is interpreted as "Restriction of one's Creative Impulse," with the comment that this is "Making the rules of the game."
#6, Lingam of Luna, is interpreted as "The Creative Impulse attacking the Restricted Universe" or "beginning the Way back."
#7, Yoni of Luna, is interpreted as "Expansion to Infinity of the Restricted Universe."
#9, Air of Lingam, is interpreted as "The Mental Image of the Will."
#10, Lingam of Water, is "The Will controlling Pleasure."
#13, Lingam of Sun, is "The Creative Impulse acting on the Realized Self
In contrat, #14, Sun of Lingam, is "The Realization of the Creative Impulse."Does this help?
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Thanks Jim. Yes that does help, but I was hoping each concept would be spelled out or defined by Crowley. Of course, from my own knowledge, I'm able to figure out the key ideas.
I'm just wondering how "authoritative" Crowley's interpretations were. I have yet to see anyone really mention them outside of dealing with his own interpretations. They make sense to me, but I don't really see the logic behind how he mapped the different trigrams to the Tree of Life, etc. In other words, I can see correspondences but I don't see an obvious, direct relationship.
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I wouldn't call them authoritative. Useful, yes, - But in practical use of Yi Ching, the Chinese seems a completely self-contained system and quite elegant.