The Magician's I Ching Facebook Group now has Over 2000 Members!

The Facebook group created in honor of The Magician's I Ching, but which is a general discussion group for all I Ching related subjects, has now reached just over 2000 members!

So if you haven't already joined the Magician's I Ching Facebook Group, please consider joining!  It's free, and filled with interesting conversation and material related to the I Ching and I Ching studies.  It's open to people coming from western or eastern traditions.  It's very welcoming to newcomers to the I Ching, and you can get questions answered or useful advice. But it also has many very learned and highly experienced advanced students of the I Ching, and if you are one of those people you'll find some excellent higher level discussion about some of the finer points of I Ching study.

While you're at it, please consider joining the Yi Fa Society.  Members of the Yi Fa Society also have a (secret) discussion group, and benefit from a complete and detailed training program for studying Yi Fa Qi Gong and the I Ching.   Members of the Yi Fa Society are taught additional Qi Gong and I Ching secrets that are not available anywhere public.

At higher levels of membership, the advanced exercises of Yi Fa Qi Gong are taught, and students are provided large numbers of instructional materials (whole books, like "Secret Techniques of the I Ching", "Universal Yi Fa", "The Yi Dao", and "the Great Book of Yi Fa", among others) on how to deepen their work with Qi Gong and I Ching for self-transformation and the work of enlightenment.

Members of the Yi Fa Society can work personally with me to keep up their practice, to resolve problems in their practice, and to develop discipline and structure in their spiritual path.   Members also have the opportunity to have monthly Skype meetings with me for the same purpose.

Yi Fa Society membership is not free, but basic membership is on a monthly donation basis set by each student.


If you are interested in joining the Magician's I Ching Facebook group, just click on the link and join, and start reading and sharing with us!

If you are interested in joining the Yi Fa Society, please contact me, here or on Facebook.

Why Do People Naturally Cultivate Virtue?

(The following is an excerpt from a letter to a Yi Fa Society student)

The answer to the question "why do humans decide to cultivate Virtue naturally" is because Virtue is a part of nature, it's part of the fundamental structure of reality.

However, another thing I think you need to somewhat distance yourself from is the idea that Virtue is tied into our ideas of "good".
There's a lot of things a given culture (including ours) will think of as "good" which is not a part of Virtue in the sense of "De", of nature.

And it can be better to understand Virtue, if you are able, as a natural substance, which as such is actually "neutral" in comparison to our ideas of morality.
This is an inherent understanding of Eastern philosophy, and especially in both the I Ching and the Tao Te Ching.

Because it is natural, people do try inherently to cultivate Virtue; but because people are so often distanced from what is Real and what is Natural, it is often very difficult for them to go far.
In particular, a lot of people will only take partial measures to generate Virtue; some will try to work on Virtue only in their minds and ways of thinking, others will try to do so only in terms of acts, and most will fail to engage in the cultivation of their Consciousness (not even realizing that this is essential to understand and develop Virtue; they think they already "know" what Virtue is, so it's not necessary to actually expand their consciousness as a prerequisite to becoming Virtuous!).

On the other hand, some spiritual practitioners will think that meditation and spiritual exercises alone, without the actual application of Virtue in their lives, is enough. Like that thinking happy thoughts, or trying to calm the mind, is itself Virtue.
That's not the case either.

There's much further elaboration on these issues in the Yi Fa Curriculum at Level 2 and especially Level 3.

Why the Yi Fa, and not a Western System?

Someone recently asked me why am I focusing on the Yi Fa Curriculum; as I clearly know a lot about western magick, why didn't I make a better modern form of a western magical system instead?

There are a couple of reasons why.

In the first place, the magick/occult community is full of people who have ideas, assumptions and fantasies about what magick is and what it's for.

Second, it has been tread over many times, and with many people making false assumptions.

By creating a magical system (the Yi Fa Curriculum) that does not look like what people's assumptions tell them 'magick' looks like, it means only people who are capable of having the right priorities and thinking beyond their own projections will be drawn to it.

Nevertheless, the work of the Yi Fa Curriculum will be highly complementary to the studies and practices of anyone seriously pursuing western esoteric systems.

If you are interested in joining the Yi Fa Society, please feel free to contact me.

Four Virtues, Four Approaches to the I Ching

In the study of the I Ching through the Yi Fa Society, a great deal of emphasis is put on the cultivation of Virtue ("De").

Virtue is here symbolized by the first four words of Hexagram #1 of the I Ching: Yuan Heng Li Zhen.  These words mean "Sublime Celestial Forces in Motion".  But they are also representative of the four facets of Virtue emphasized in Yi Fa cultivation: Union, Discipline, Harmony, and Truth.

These four concepts are also esoterically connected to the sixiang, the four bigrams of two lines which exist at a more primordial cosmological level to the eight trigrams. In esoteric symbolism these are represented by the icons of an Azure Dragon, a Black Turtle, a Vermillion Bird, and a White Tiger. These symbols are further explored in the higher levels of the Yi Fa Curriculum.

Reflected in the concept of these four cardinal facets of Virtue, you can also understand that there are four key approaches to understanding and interpreting the I Ching. These are Image, Number, Meaning, and Principle.

Historically, during the Han era there were two rival schools of I Ching study, the "Image and Number" school, and the "Meaning and Principle" school. Later schools under the inspiration of Yidao masters like Shao Yong and Zhu Xi reintegrated these into unified study.

"Image" involves studying the structure of the I Ching hexagrams and their component trigrams themselves, and the images these evoke. "Number" involves a study of the mathematical systems of the I Ching and their numerical structures. "Meaning" involves an interpretation of the textual descriptions of the Hexagrams and their lines. And "Principle" involves contemplation on the philosophical significance of the text in terms of it's significance for attaining to the Superior Individual.

With the four facets of Virtue, there can be times when emphasizing a certain facet can be important, but it is ultimately essential to cultivate all four facets if one is to achieve higher-level attainment.  Likewise, with the study of the I Ching, it can be useful at certain times to engage with in-depth specific study of one of the four approaches to the I Ching, it is ultimately necessary to engage in all four methods of study to gain a full and profound understanding of the I Ching's mysteries.

The Curriculum of the Yi Fa Society, Level 3

Each level of the Yi Fa Society has its own curriculum, with new material presented for the student's growth, practice and study.  Previous entries already detailed the Curriculum of Level 1, and Level 2.

The Curriculum of Level 3, in brief, consists of the following points:

1. The "Great Book of Yi Fa": a 95-page "secret text", this book elaborates on some of the mysteries already revealed about the philosophy of Yi Fa, the practices of Yi Fa Qi Gong, and the great work of Enlightenment (personal and universal).

2. The Guide to the Taijitu:  this short text consists of an explanation of the Taijitu, the I Ching cosmology's equivalent of the Qabalistic Tree of Life (though it is in fact older than the Tree of Life), and how the different dimensions of manifested reality unfold.

3.  The Level 3 Yi Fa Qi Gong exercise. This is a secret exercise taught only to members of level 3 of the Yi Fa Society program.

4.  The Zhong Yong: a 9-page text on cosmology, philosophy and virtue, revealing the nature of the Middle Pillar.

5. An exercise for understanding the Image of the Hexagrams.

6. The basic instruction on the techniques of Qi Extension.


These advanced teachings are only available to those students who are members of the Yi Fa Society and complete the Level 1 & 2 curriculum.

If you are interested in membership in the Yi Fa Society, please contact me!

The Process of Integrating Truth

The process of spiritual learning requires something more than the standard method by which we are taught to learn.  The Sufis have said that in spiritual training, first "you must learn how to learn".

This is because we are used to processing knowledge by simply attempting to absorb knowledge as abstract fact. For most forms of learning, this is adequate: we can memorize facts, learn formulas for things from mathematics to kitchen recipes, intellectually analyze stories and songs and art.

But for spiritual learning it is not enough to simply 'know' something in that intellectual sense. We have to integrate spiritual knowledge as Truth, and this can only be done when we unite to that knowledge in our own consciousness.

If you simply study a spiritual system, like the I Ching, through intellectual analysis, this learning will continue to remain superficial, second-hand.  But the power of symbols is that they do not operate solely on the level of intellect, but also on the level of consciousness. Any given set of spiritual symbols, like those of the I Ching, can certainly be studied and comprehended through the level of the intellect; but to actually use them in cultivation practice (and not just theoretical study), the symbol itself must be integrated into the individual's consciousness. Unity between object and subject must be achieved, through the vehicle of Symbol.

The standard process of study separates subject from object; in fact, standard academia tends to venerate the quality of 'objectivity' in some forms of study, of keeping a certain amount of clinical distance from the topic of study.

But in spiritual learning, this is the process:

1. The object (of study) exists outside of the subject (the self).

2. On being examined experientially, the object has an effect on the subject.

3. The Symbol (that is, the concept/image/essence) of the object, is made present IN the subject's consciousness.


To "Learn", therefore, the student must repeat steps 1-3 over and over again.  This is an understanding by immersion, rather than deduction. Every time the process is repeated the integration has an effect on the student, as the symbol becomes more true in the consciousness of the student, and thus it not only becomes more understood, but also changes the student in the process.






Rather than separate subject and object, you must bring them together to attain understanding.

The ability to integrate symbol also depends on your level of attainment. As you proceed in meditation practice, in spiritual discipline, the development of Virtue, and also grow in knowledge and maturity through life experiences, you change as an Individual, and this allows you to change the extent to which you integrate symbol and the levels to which you can integrate (comprehend and be changed by) symbols. This is why spiritual teachings (including 'sacred' texts like the I Ching, as well as many others) can be read over and over again across different points in one's life, and seem very different from one reading to another, particularly if in the intervening period between one reading and the next you have grown through cultivation.

Trigram Notes: "Kun", The World

  
Kun is the trigram traditionally translated as “earth”, but its meaning is “The World” (the opposite of Chien, which is “Heaven”). 

Kun is pure Yin, broken lines. It is the worldly power, all the content of creation, weak, the hot force, the feminine, the yoni, darkness, the mother. It is the quality of spaciousness; as Heaven is the “force”, so is World the “field”. Its key spiritual concept is “Receptive”.

Kun is the great nourisher, spacious and vast.  Being passive in nature, its influence in hexagrams is always in relation to the other trigram it is combined with.  More understanding regarding The World trigram can be gleaned from examining Hexagram #2, which is The World doubled; as well as through studying the Confucian commentaries.  Additional information on these are presented in Level 2 of the Yi Fa Society curriculum.

If you are interested in undertaking the esoteric training program of the Yi Fa Society, please do not hesitate to contact me here, or on Facebook.

The Curriculum of the Yi Fa Society, Level 2

Each level of the Yi Fa Society has its own curriculum, with new material presented for the student's growth, practice and study.  A previous entry already detailed the Curriculum of Level 1.

The Curriculum of Level 2, in brief, consists of the following points:

1. The Level 2 Yi Fa Qi Gong exercise. This is a secret exercise taught only to members of level 2 of the Yi Fa Society program.

2. "Transforming the Inferior Person": a contemplative practice, used by a level 2 student to address those parts of their persona that act as barriers to the Superior Individual, to re-integrate them and remove them as barriers.

3. The Universal Yi Fa Qi Gong: a 50 page secret text that acts as a guide to the theory and study of Yi Fa Qi Gong.

4. "The Three Offerings": devotional practice/ritual to further the development of Union.

5. Secret Techniques of the I Ching: secret methods to determine further insights into I Ching castings, including understanding the origins and further developments of aspects of the present casting, alternate resulting hexagrams, and concepts of Timing to determine duration of casting effects.

6. The Yi Dao: a 22 page text of commentaries on the study of the I Ching.


These advanced teachings are only available to those students who are members of the Yi Fa Society and complete the Level 1 curriculum.

If you are interested in membership in the Yi Fa Society, please contact me!

Who Should Join the Yi Fa Society?

The Yi Fa Society is not for everyone.  It is not meant to be a vast worldwide movement, it is not a religion, and it is not a mass-market product.

The Yi Fa Society is a systematic training program in self-transformation through a series of esoteric practices.  It's core practices are Qi Gong, the I Ching, and meditation itself (in a form that integrates body, mind and will). 

You do NOT have to already know a great deal, or even anything at all, about the I Ching or Qi Gong before becoming a member of the Yi Fa Society.  You do not even need to be specifically interested in these two, as much as you need to be very interested in transforming your being and expanding your consciousness. 

You need to have some slight inkling that there is more to your existence than what you currently define as your 'self', and want to unite more strongly with that thing that is vaster than 'you'.  You do not need to know what that greater thing is; in fact, it probably helps if you understand that you are not completely sure what it is, yet.

You need to have a little bit of discipline, and want to develop more of this especially in your spirituality.  The Yi Fa Society's curriculum is not an easy one; even though none of the practices are very hard, it requires that you test yourself through being able to make the commitment of doing them consistently.

You need to have a bit of a sense that your being has many different parts, and to want those parts to work together more harmoniously.

You need to have a sense that there is an experience that can be described as "Truth" or "Reality", and that you want to get that experience more often than you have thus far.

If this appeals to you, if you want to work in a system of spiritual discipline that will lead you to discover your true Will/Nature, and unlock the power in your own being, and challenge you in all levels of that being to grow more vast and whole; and if you are willing to place a high value on that and make the work of practicing it a priority, then the Yi Fa Society is definitely for you. 

Please contact me if you wish to apply.

The Curriculum of the Yi Fa Society, Level 1

In order to complete level 1 of the Yi Fa Society Work and move on to Level 2, the following conditions must be met:

1. The practitioner should be doing Qi Breathing every day.

2. The practitioner should be doing level 1 Yi Fa Qi Gong exercises every day; if they are practicing the exercise 4 times a day, they need to do so for at least 100 days.  If they are doing less than 4 practices a day, they need to do so for at least 200 days.  Before moving to level 2, they should have a strong technical understanding of the level 1 exercise, able to easily do its movements in a flowing fashion.  They should be regularly engaging in self-testing for posture and form.

3.The practitioner should engage in a study program of the I Ching.  As a minimum, they need to have studied one hexagram per day, reading its entry and contemplating its implications and meanings, for 64 days (in other words, studying all of the 64 hexagrams in this manner).  Before moving to level 2, the practitioner should be able to draw the 8 trigrams from memory.

4. The practitioner should practice the sitting meditation of Yi Fa Qi Gong on a regular basis.

5. The practitioner should have practiced the vibration of the YI FA mantra on multiple occasions as a minimum, and have practiced the repetition of the slogan "For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect" on multiple occasions, and studied the effects both of these version of mantra practice have on their psyche and consciousness.

6. The practitioner should be familiar with the ceremony and method of doing an I Ching casting, and have performed a minimum of one I Ching casting on a question relevant to them before moving on to level 2.

In addition to this, practitioners should spend time particularly contemplating hexagram #52, which governs this level of practice. They should be trying to actively develop the four virtues within them, particularly the virtue of Discipline (which is essential to the beginner) but also Union, Harmony and Truth.  They should also keep a regular diary or record of their practices and experiences.

Any student can feel free to contact me when they feel they have fulfilled the conditions for level 1 work and are ready to move on to level 2.

The Subjects of Level 1 Yi Fa

At its core, the Yi Fa Society training is based on two pillars:  Qi Gong and the I Ching.  The former includes a series of exercises involving motion and stillness that are meant to alter one's relationship to the body and to their surrounding for the express purpose of expanding perception and awareness.  Thus, it also includes the practice of meditation.  The meditation practices of Qi Breathing and silent meditation are the essential underpinnings of the entire system.

The I Ching is not just a divination system, although learning how to perform divination with the I Ching is part of the program.  The I Ching work also involves self-inquiry; the study of knowing one's own being.  It also includes the study of cosmology; of working with symbols that create a kind of ordering of the universe, through the sixty-four hexagrams (that detail the various phenomena of life), the eight elements/trigrams that form the building blocks of that order, and the underlying forces of Yin and Yang, of the Taiji (supreme oneness), and the emptiness (Wuji) that permeates it.  By understanding cosmology and understanding our own self, we comprehend inner and outer reality alike. Without being able to understand reality, we cannot achieve an awareness based on truth, nor could we be truly ethical people.

Yi Fa Qi Gong and the I Ching are based on the same foundational virtues, which are promoted and developed through the Yi Fa Society program.  These are Union (or "love"), Discipline, Harmony (or "balance") and Truth (or "wisdom").  The system is also based on connecting to one's true nature or true Will, which the I Ching refers to as the Superior Individual.  Those four practices of Virtue are essential to being able to uncover that true nature, to move away from associating with the 'conditioning' of our reactive ego and to move toward our real individuality.

There are other details of introductory Yi Fa Society practices, such as working with ritual, vibration and mantra, and mind-training; and later levels introduce other practices as well. But those core elements of Qi Gong inner alchemy, the insights of I Ching study, the cultivation of Virtue, and Meditation, are central to the Yi Fa Society work at all levels.

If you are interested in an esoteric training program to develop your connection to your true will and to work on progress toward transcendence, please feel free to contact us.