This third volume of Researches On The Toltec I Ching is atavistic in that it reverts to the more primitive form of the original divinatory text, which consisted of mantic, or oracular, formulas with little or no commentary attached. In that vein, the oldest layers of the Book Of Changes furthered the oral tradition, making use of mnemonic aphorisms whose poetic-symbolic nature invoked the Oracle’s message within the mind of the diviner. The title of this volume, The Forest Of Fire Pearls Oracle, comes from the ancient Chinese name for the traditional coin oracle method of consulting the I Ching.
The present volume can be consulted as a standalone divinatory text. It is, however, designed to be used in conjunction with The Toltec I Ching—as an adjunct to the material in that book, the present mantic formulas expand the range of interpretations open to the diviner. There are, beyond that, other features of this volume that recommend its study alongside The Toltec I Ching.
First, it places The Toltec I Ching hexagrams within the context of the older King Wen version. This it does by comparing both the individual hexagrams from each version, as well as the overall sequence of hexagrams from each version. And second, it provides mantic formulas for the unchanging lines in each hexagram. This is especially useful in analyzing a divination closely, since it is seldom the case that all six lines change in a reading. The Line Changes for a reading can, of course, be found in The Toltec I Ching hexagram texts, while the present volume provides a glimpse into the inertial, or unchanging, issues of the situation represented by the hexagram.
Volume I of this series is “I Ching Mathematics: The Science of Change” Volume II of this series is “The Image and Number Treatise: The Oracle and the War on Fate.”
