I Ching Lectures and Seminars

C.G. Jung once described the I Ching as “a formidable psychological system that endeavors to organize the play of archetypes, the ‘wondrous operations of nature’ into a certain pattern, so that a ‘reading’ becomes possible.”

archetype: (from Greek archetypos, ‘original pattern’), a primordial image, character or pattern of circumstances which recurs consistently in human thought and experience. Such patterns and figures constitute the backbone of mythic narratives and speak in clearly recognizable voices to all members of a culture – and often to all human beings across epochs and cultures. C.G. Jung, who introduced the term in modern usage, saw such patterns as quasi-autonomous forces in the collective unconscious, belonging to a ‘psychoid’ realm, a dimension intermediate between psyche and matter.

These lectures and seminars focus on the I Ching, the ancient Chinese oracle, as a tool for introspection. The lectures are an introduction to this extraordinary book, its history, its language, its cultural context and its divinatory use. The seminars are an in-depth exploration of this ‘formidable psychological system’ in a direct and personal way. Participants are encouraged to ask a question to the oracle and we collectively work on the oracular images received as if they were a dream dreamed about that particular issue.

Lectures are typically one or two hours long. Seminars can be one, two or three days long. No previous familiarity with the I Ching is required.

For upcoming lectures or seminars please see the Events page.

mirror of the present seminars

The definitive version of the Eranos I Ching, The Original I Ching Oracle: The Pure and Complete Texts with Concordance, translated by Rudolf Ritsema and Shantena Augusto Sabbadini, originally published by Watkins, London, in 2005, is now being re-issued in a revised edition with an entirely new Introduction. The new edition, still published by Watkins, will be available in May 2018.

This book is presented in the page The Original I Ching Oracle.

If you would like to organize a lecture or a seminar at your center or institute please write to me.