4. The I Ching Oracle
You don’t need to be a medium to receive an otherworldly transmission. A handful of sticks or coins may be enough to receive life-changing guidance – that is, if you’re an adept of a certain ancient Chinese oracle. Join us for the fourth instalment of Fey’s Shadow Salon to learn from an I Ching expert on the intricacies of this divinatory art.
Venerated as the “foremost among the classics” of ancient China, the I Ching (Yijing; Book of Changes) has reached out to other regions of Asia and beyond over the centuries. Thanks to the influential English translation I Ching (1950) by Richard Wilhelm and Cary Baynes, the Chinese classic has transcended cultural borders, and transformed as a “world classic”, having made a lasting impact on Western society. The I Ching has been widely used as a book of oracle or divinatory manual. In this talk, Professor John Lai will illustrate the underlying principle and centuries-old practice of I Ching oracle in the face of our uncertain life and fast-changing world.
Bio
Professor John Lai received his DPhil. (Oriental Studies) from Oxford (2005), and is currently Professor in the Department of Cultural and Religious Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research interests focus on Chinese religion and literature, and Global Yijing (Book of Changes) studies. He has published more than ten books, including Literary Representations of Christianity in Late Qing and Republican China (2019); An Annotated Anthology of the Yijing Commentaries by the Early Qing Jesuit Joachim Bouvet (2020); Global Yijing: Intercultural Encounters with World Religions and Thoughts (2025).
Website: http://www2.crs.cuhk.edu.hk/faculty-staff/teaching-faculty/lai-tsz-pang-john
Hosted and Curated by:
Fey, a mediator between the otherworldly and the mundane. Outside of the salon (Ada Kałużna), a researcher with interest in philosophy of mind, psychedelic experience and the extraordinary Past scientific officer at the Beckley Foundation. Community-builder and traveler.
LINK: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ada_Kaluzna2
don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day
Fey’s Shadow Salon – a lecture series where we explore the elusive, chart the intangible, and investigate the invisible. Come around as we initiate the first season of the Salon, the Study of the Unseen, on the eclipse of 3rd March and stay for the ride through labyrinths of the human psyche, from the seven circles of the Jungian unconscious, to the psychedelic fountains of creativity, to the tall peaks of imagination where the ancient Spirits dwell.
1. “Books of Visions”: Jung, Dante, and the Making of the Red Book – 3 Mar 2026
2. The Reality of the Invisible – 2 April 2026
3. Psychedelics as Catalysts of Creativity – 30 April 2026
4. The I Ching Oracle – 28 May 2026
5. Spirit of Creativity – 28 July 2026
