The I Ching Pack

The I Ching Pack
Anthony Clark and Richard Gill, 1993

I hadn’t noticed this deck until recently, when I saw a reader’s copy firsthand at a local store. I had never even owned an I Ching deck before, but the illustrations convinced me that it was the perfect opportunity to get my feet wet. The I Ching Pack is a book and deck set published in 1993 by The Aquarian Press. It includes a 160-page book, the 64 cards of the deck itself, and 8 Trigram cards.

The illustrations are by Anthony Clark, The artist of The Magickal Tarot in 1986 and the minor arcana illustrations for The Servants of Light Tarot in 1991, both of which were published by The Aquarian Press. The artwork in his first deck looked stiff, but was much improved in his second deck. His illustrations for this latest deck are even more refined. The linework reminds me of the Alchemical Tarot by Robert Place, which I like very much. Clark’s drawings are painted in watercolor, and in the larger areas you can see the characteristic mottling and brushstrokes of the medium. The whole deck has a feeling of serenity to it.

An important part of this set is the book by Richard Gill titled I Ching, The Little Book that Tells the Truth. It is a new translation of The Book of Life Changing, attributed to Prince Wen in the year 1143 BC. This translation is Gill’s painstaking analysis of the original text and of several previous translations. The original text of The Book consist of the 64 verses given by Wen to each hexagram, and the images which his son Chou gave to describe each hexagram’s six lines. These descriptions are called the moving lines, and are used when a particular line is emphasized by the oracle. These core texts by Wen and Chou serve as the foundation on which later Chinese commentators have added volumes of text. This set is a wonderful introduction to I Ching because it dispenses with everything except the core verses by Wen and the moving lines by Chou.

One of my reasons for getting this deck was to look for parallels between the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching and the 78 cards of the Tarot. Though such correlations have previously been made, most notably by Crowley, I was determined to draw my own conclusions. So I have refused to let myself explore existing correlations until a later time. I don't suggest that an absolute one-to-one correspondence can be made between I Ching and Tarot. But after exploring this deck, and reading Gill’s beautiful translation, I find several parallels.

One immediate similarity is that every hexagram is actually described as an image. The following verse for the first hexagram, illustrated in this deck by a father and son with fire in the background (top row, right), is titled Creative Action: “Dragon over Dragon suggests: Two dragons playing; light, fire and joy.” The bottom moving line for this card reads “A dragon hiding. Do not reveal your great ideas yet. Do not act yet.”, while the sixth moving line reads “A reckless dragon. Too much energy has been released too fast. You will regret it if you do not moderate this reckless display of strength.” The keywords which Gill gives to this hexagram are creative joy, productive planning, fatherhood.

The second hexagram card (top row, left) is titled Fertility. It shows a woman with umbrella, standing before the two posts of an entrance gate. The text reads: “Earth over Earth suggests: The depths of the earth – dark, silent and warm.” The keywords which Gill gives are Receptivity, Growth in the Dark, Motherhood, Devoted Service.

The twenty-fifth card (above, left) shows a man who climbs the heights of a mountain, as high as the hawk which flies near him. This hexagram is called Remaining Blameless, and reads: “Dragon over Thunder suggests: A dragon should fly high – far above the thunder below.”

Card fifteen (below, right) is called Modesty. It illustrates a young woman riding on the waters of a flowing river. She uses a staff to navigate her boat past the reeds, the bridge, and the river’s bank. The text reads: “Earth over Mountain suggests: Earth carried from a mountain-top raises the plain and lowers the mountain.” I think this hexagram has definite parallels with the sixteenth trump of Temperance. The keywords given by Gill are Moderation, Seeking a Just Balance.

Another card whose meanings overlap with Tarot archetypes is seen in card 21 (above, center), titled Biting Through. I assume it depicts a judge or legal official sitting before two stone pillars. The hexagram verse says: “Fire over Thunder suggests: During thunder, lightning must strike.” Gill’s keywords are A Hard Solution, Judgement, Punishment. The verses of its moving lines are an interesting example of the imaginative descriptions given to six simple lines:

Sixth – A hard and bitter bite. When warnings go unheeded, punishment and misfortune must follow.

Fifth – A good chew. There will be danger right to the end, so you will make no mistake to be cautious and utterly correct. There will be no error of judgement and gold will come of it.

Fourth – Gnawing the bones. A lengthy and akward case. Arrows will be fired at you and you may even be offered bribes. If you show fortitude and utter honesty, good fortune will be yours in the end.

Third – Chewed and spat out. A case too tough to be decided. Regret, but no error of judgement.

Second – A sharp bite. An over-harsh punishment but no error of judgement.

Bottom – A nip in time. A mild preventative punishment will be no error of judgement

It is said that the broken/unbroken nature of the line and its position in the overall hexagram suggested the imagery of the moving lines to its original author. Each hexagram verse was also inspired by the meanings of the two trigram symbols which compose it. These trigrams are named Dragon, Earth, Thunder, Water, Mountain, Wind, Fire, Lake. It is the pairing of these 8 trigrams, one on top of another, that makes up the 64 hexagrams.

The visual nature of the entire system is emphasized by Richard Gill. He says “I stress again: the I Ching is not verbal. Words are mental tools, limited and limiting, while a symbol can contain a universe and provide a focus for a lifetime’s contemplation. Words are needed to indicate what treasure lies within an image, but the fewer words used, the better. That is why Wen and Chou wrote a little book.”

I do see the presence of Tarot archetypes within this deck. Many of the hexagram titles and keywords are surprisingly similar to those we find for Tarot cards. Another reason for these parallels may be because Clark’s illustrations already have a hint of Tarot imagery in them. It is very subtle, but there are several cards here which seem to be inspired by the 78 Waite-Smith designs. This certainly doesn’t take anything away from the deck.

The I Ching Pack is currently easy to find, either at a well-stocked bookstore or from online sources.

Review by Mark Filipas, 10/27/00