What inspired 'Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun' and which ancient text did Roger Waters use?

The song came out of Roger Waters’ obsession with the I Ching, the ancient Chinese divination text. He lifted the title and key imagery from hexagram 50, “The Cauldron” or “Ting,” which describes a bronze vessel used for offerings—and translated that into a sinister space voyage.

Beyond the cosmic sci-fi feel (Pink Floyd loved mixing psychedelia with space themes), Waters was also drawn to the darker side of exploration. The lyrics evoke a ritual sacrifice piloting a ship directly into the sun, a perfect metaphor for self-destructive ambition filtered through an Eastern philosophical lens.