IncenseSilkGrainJadeYarrow stalksThe first fish of the season
Invocation Approach
Tone
Reverent measured
Address
FuxiTaihaoFirst SovereignLord of the Trigrams
Relationship
A student before the one who first drew the lines
Warning
He gave the pattern and the pattern does not flatter
Resonance
Diviners those beginning a discipline those who keep the i ching
Symbols
Eight trigramsCarpenters squareDragon horseHetu river chartNetSnake bodyKnotted cord
Mythology Summary
Fuxi is one of the Three Sovereigns, the culture hero credited in the Xici zhuan of the Yijing with drawing the eight trigrams from the patterns on the back of a dragon-horse that rose from the Yellow River, and with the nets, the marriage rite and the knotted cords that preceded writing. Han dynasty stone reliefs from the Wu Liang shrine show him with a human head and a serpent's tail, holding the carpenter's square, paired with Nuwa holding the compass. His cult belongs more to the divination tradition than to temple worship.
Modern Practice
He is invoked at the start of divination work and at the beginning of a course of study, with yarrow stalks and incense, and the request is for the pattern to be seen clearly. Practitioners of the Yijing treat him as the first reader rather than as a god to be petitioned.