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‘Since I am no Sinologue a foreword to the Book of Changes from my hand must be a testimonial of my individual experience with this great and singular book’ (Jung 1950) - thus wrote Jung in his foreword to the English translation of Richard Wilhelm's book on the I Ching. Peggy Jones, a Jungian analyst (SAP), has followed Wilhelm's path and provided us with a trenchant, accessible and modern commentary on the I Ching, using poetic metaphors drawn from T. S. Eliot, and others, to illuminate much that is alien to the western mind.
As Jung wrote in his foreword, the I Ching is not ‘a book for intellectuals and rationalists. It is appropriate only for thoughtful and reflective people who like to think about what they do and what happens to them’. Jung, in preparation for writing the foreword to Wilhelm's book, threw the ‘coins’ and obtained the hexagram ‘ting’ (the cauldron) - an auspicious hexagram indicating great progress and success (!) - which he then went on to interpret, describe and submit himself to its reading. I, in preparation to write this ‘foreword’, read my e-mails to find the announcement of the next IAAP conference at Fudan University in China. No need to throw the coins to demonstrate synchronicity - Jung's explanation for the functioning of the I Ching.
Peggy Jones may be unaware of how important her book is in reminding us, and bringing us up to date, with the relevance of the I Ching. The Olympics in China last year and the emergence of China as a world power echo Jung's prophetic words, ‘if we turn our eyes to the East we see an overwhelming destiny fulfilling itself. I know that our unconscious is full of Eastern symbolism’ (Jung , para 90).
Peggy Jones's commentaries are special for they offer the western mind a helping hand to link Eastern symbolism to Western patterns/ paradigms and experiences. She uses poetry sparingly and my one regret is that she does not develop this link more fully. Her book is primarily a psychological/spiritual approach to