Avatar - Season 3, Episode 13

The Firebending Masters

Images credit - Avatar: The Last Airbender - Nickelodeon

The essence of this chapter/episode is summed up for me when Avatar Aang and Prince Zuko realize that fire is not only a destructive but also a creative force.

One of the turning point in Prince Zuko's life came when he shifted from fueling his fire-bending from rage and hate, the destructive, to powering it from the inner sun, the creative force.

The Avatar series revived my love for the 'I Ching,' and 'The Firebending Masters' episode re-ignited my  attraction to dragons. 

Following the prompting of the inner voice, I did a search on the keywords 'dragon I Ching.'

Lo and behold, it brought up something totally unexpected as illustrated below:
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The Celestial Dragon I Ching

The Celestial Dragon I Ching: A Unique New Version of the Chinese Oracle for Making Decisions and Discovering Your Destiny  
​by Neyma Jahan.

Publisher's Description

First The Sky Opened ... Then The Celestial Dragon Was Born

Each aspect of this wonderfully appealing new I Ching is characterized by a readily identifiable symbol. We encounter the Dragon, the Cave, the Mirror, the Path, the Stranger and the Piper... to name just a few of the definitive 64 Hexagrams, each with its own evocative narrative, signposting our destiny. 

This elegant I Ching evokes the mystery and majesty of ancient China while serving as an enjoyable and illuminating tool for practical self-discovery and decision-making in the modern world through its profound insights that have withstood the test of time. 

Though grounded in tradition, The Celestial Dragon I Ching departs from the original text in being thoroughly coherent and consistent in its imagery.

More than 5,000 years old, the I Ching is a collection of divinatory wisdom that encapsulates the whole of human experience. In China the system was used by Kings, Emperors and Sages who would throw yarrow sticks or read cracks in tortoise shells. These days it is more practical to throw coins and consult the I Ching to divine the outcome. 

As Neyma Jahan explains in an easy-to-follow introduction, you throw the coins six times, then convert the resulting six permutations of heads and/or tails into a Hexagram — a six-line symbol of broken and unbroken lines. It is the hexagram that points to our prospects and advises us in our decision-making process.

Designed to appeal to those intimidated or baffled by more literal, more scholarly editions of the ancient Chinese text, The Celestial Dragon I Ching offers a complete oracle by which you can read your destiny and make good choices whenever you face a dilemma--inspired by Chinese wisdom. 
 
The I Ching is a 5,000-year-old Chinese divination system for self-discovery and decision-making. This imaginative new version has all the mystique, poetry and wisdom of the original but none of the obscurity.

• Understand the I Ching, with this refreshingly readable new take on the classic text
• Learn how to benefit from its ancient wisdom - as a guide to modern-day living
• Discover your destiny, in evocative narrative commentaries on 64 hexagrams

About the Author

Neyma Jahan is an expert on process psychology and an angel investor for unique business opportunities. His focus ranges from spiritual to current technology innovations. He created his Celestial Dragon I Ching working in an isolated hut in Patagonia, with input from a team of linguists and scholars. Neyma is presently engaged in developing a community for people with forward-thinking vision in which mind, body and personal wealth can thrive. 

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Amazon Reviews
(Reviewers, please contact me with any changes)

Scholars will Frown, Diviners will Rejoice
by Long distance Runner

"Bites through tender meat,
So that his nose disappears.
No blame."

Ok, great. whatever that means. . .

Now the Celestial Dragon for the same Hexagram and Changing Line

Line #2 - Lost in the Law

"He becomes so engrossed in the details of the work that he fails to see the greater picture. Such negligence makes a difficult time for all."

So I guess it comes down to when casting the I Ching, do you want a passage that talks about biting in meat and disappearing noses or do you want a version that is correctly relayed into English so that it is clearly understood?

I know where my vote stands.

Another very cool thing about Jahan's translation is he actually gives names and imagery to the changing lines. Now I think this is a liberty taken by him beyond the original scope of the work, but it makes it very easy to get a real understanding of the nature of the lines....

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Best Yi Jing I have come across
by Archimedes

I have been through many different versions of the Yi Jing and this one pushes the boundaries and breaks through to a whole new understanding of the subject matter. In fact if I could recommend that you get one Yi Jing translation, then get The Celestial Dragon I Ching.

There are so many reasons why it is incredible including the names given to the Hexagrams and identifiers for the changing lines and to top it off this version has a reading for all 6 changing lines
which I have not found anywhere else.

Basically go get this. You will be making a great decision.

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An I Ching Guide for the Modern Mind
by Cindy

As long as I can remember, I have always felt an affinity for the magic of tarot, I Ching, karma, cosmic energies and the like. 

While my parents grew up in a culture steeped in tradition and deeply held Eastern spiritual beliefs in Taiwan, they emigrated from there to the USA to raise their family. Born in the Midwest, I have been living in a split world of Eastern and Western beliefs, and while my family is purely spiritual and not religious, my father has consulted the I Ching for many life decisions. He's been recommending different I Ching books to me for years, but I always found them to be dry and difficult to interpret practically. 

My father's books are great for scholarly work and study, but I wanted something easier to swallow and more applicable. Neyma Jahan's 'The Celestial Dragon I Ching' has been a true bedside companion book. I've been referring to it for a couple months now and at long last, with lessons from my father and from the explanatory introduction Jahan provides, I felt confident enough to toss coins for my first personal reading. I felt that the reading and the descriptions provided by Jahan for the hexagrams and the resolutions from any changing lines gave me a pretty clear result on what the universe was telling me about how to proceed with the particular enquiry I made.

If you're looking for a guide on how to start doing I Ching readings, I highly recommend this book. It's also a lovely addition to any bookshelf, with a lovely sleeve as well as beautiful gold lettering on the spine on the hardcover itself. It's practical, useful, and the descriptions of each hexagram and line are poetic yet relatable for the modern Westerner.

I look forward to starting my own I Ching logbook as my father has been suggesting to me for such a long time, as does the author. It'll be interesting to reference in the future when I can look back to see if they were accurate to what I interpreted at the time and to what had happened since. 

I know myself, and I know that I often pick up volumes on subjects I want to learn more about, but when they are too academic and dry, I lose interest and they are doomed to reside in a dusty corner of my shelf. I look forward to using this guide more and more and as I familiarize myself with the process so that it becomes second nature, I would love to cast coins for friends as well. 

This is the first I Ching book that I have really connected with, although my father swears by the Wilhelm version, but different books for different purposes. In my opinion, this is a must if you want to start doing your own I Ching readings. I have had the book for just under two months now and look forward to implementing it even more as we enter the post-Mayan era of love and light.

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