Category:I Ching
From Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers
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The I Ching, or Book of Changes, is an ancient Chinese method of divination, widely considered to be a sacred text within the Taoist and Confucian traditions. Fortune telling with this ancient text results in powerful readings that can guide a client toward the best response to any given situation. The responses given by the I Ching are made up of a collection of aphorisms, historical examples or situations with known results, and theoretical outcomes based on moral values and ethical considerations.
The I Ching diviner uses yarrow stalks, coins, or marbles to determine which one of 64 hexagrams defines the situation, with an additional 256 "line" readings potentially offering deeper details. This is a powerful form of consultation when action is required. In fact, those who work with this system of divination often remark on the fact that The Book of Changes seems to have been originated and organized for practical use by readers who work with clients who are actively seeking to accomplish changes in their lives. In addition to its religious or scriptural value, this ancient sacred text has long found popular favour for use in bibliomancy, which is a form of divination or fortune telling conducted by means of a book.
Because the I Ching is written in a very old form of Chinese, it may seem to be an obscure form of fortune telling for Americans, Europeans, and Africans. However, like Chinese food, it has been popular among English speakers since the early 20th century. Those who like methods of sortilege and mathematical systems of telling the future naturally gravistate towrd the I Ching as one of the most sophisticated and most deeply thought-out forms of seeing one's way forward that has ever been devised. (The West African diloggun method of reading shells, which has 256 outcomes, can be compared to the 256 changing lines in I Ching -- but the I Ching is ultimately more intricate because its use of 6 independently variable changing lines per hexagram, actually results in 4,096 possible combinations.)
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The Ba Gua and the Trigams
The Ba Gua ("eight areas") is a diagram that arose from ancient Chinese Lo Shu Square numerology, whose numerical pattern was first observed by the Emperor Yu on the shell of a gigantic Tortoise who emerged from the Lo river. This pattern gave rise to the Ba Gua or Eight Trigram Diagram of the Universe, designed by the Emperor Fu Xi and completed by King Wen and the Duke of Zhou. When the trigrams were doubled they became the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching book of divination. The Ba Gua diagram consists of eight different three-line patterns: Heaven, Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, Thunder, Mountain, and Lake.
The trigrams are identified with the seasons of the year, and with elements of nature. The names of the eight trigrams translate into English as
- Ch'ien / Quian - Heaven
- K'un / Kun - Earth
- Li - Fire
- K'an / Kan - Water
- Sun / Xun - Wind
- Chen / Zhen -Thunder
- Tui / Dui - Lake / Marsh
- Ken / Gen - Mountain
The eight trigrams are often depicted surrounding the "Yin-Yang" symbol, and this pattern is called the Ba Gua or Eight Areas. In addition to its connection to the I Ching, the Ba Gua, as an amulet or talisman, is an important element in the folk magic of Chinese Taoism.
The Hexagrams and Changing Lines
When the reader casts the coins or yarrow stalks, or selects an object from an array of sixteen, a figure will result which is called a "line."
There are two types of lines:
- "firm," "straight," or "yang" (---)
- "yielding," "broken," or "yin" (- -)
Combining these two types of lines in groups of 3 gives an array of 8 trigrams.
Casting two trigrams of 3 lines each results in a figure consisting of 6 lines, called the hexagram. Since each line may be either yin or yang, this results in a total of 64 possible 6-lined patterns.
Each of the 64 possible hexagrams has a name and an oracular verse in the I Ching. Each suggests a particular way of dealing with the situation about which the question has been asked.
In addition to the 64 basic hexagrama, with their images and judgements, there are also a total of 256 "line" readings, one for each of the 6 lines that make up each hexagram. These line readings are only used if the casting turns up numerical combinations indicating that one hexagram or way of dealing with the situation is about to transform into another. When this occurs, the transformation is made by "changing lines" -- that is, some of the straight lines are replaced by broken lines, or vice versa.
The I Ching hexagrams are built up by the diviner in response to the seemingly random toss of yarrow stalks, coins, dice, or other inanimate objects. These are counted, and the result will either be a single, fixed hexagram, or one with "moving lines," that is a hexagram that transforms into another hexagram.
I Ching Divination with Yarrow Stalks
One of the texts that makes up the I Ching is called the Ten Wings. In it, this description is given of how to build up the hexagram lines by using stalks of the yarrow plant:
- One takes fifty yarrow stalks, of which only forty-nine are used. These forty-nine are first divided into two heaps (at random), then a stalk from the right-hand heap is inserted between the ring finger and the little finger of the left hand. The left heap is counted through by fours, and the remainder (four or less) is inserted between the ring finger and the middle finger. The same thing is done with the right heap, and the remainder inserted between the forefinger and the middle finger. This constitutes one change.
- Now one is holding in one's hand either five or nine stalks in all. The two remaining heaps are put together, and the same process is repeated twice. These second and third times, one obtains either four or eight stalks. The five stalks of the first counting and the four of each of the succeeding countings are regarded as a unit having the numerical value three; the nine stalks of the first counting and the eight of the succeeding countings have the numerical value two.
- When three successive changes produce the sum 3 + 3 + 3 = 9, this makes the old yang, i.e., a firm line that moves from yang to yin.
- The sum 2 + 2 + 2 = 6 makes old yin, a yielding line that moves from yin to yang.
- Seven is the young yang, and eight the young yin; they are not taken into account as individual lines for the purpose of divination, only for the formation of the hexagram.
I Ching Divination with Coins
To read the I Ching with coins, the diviner selects three coins that can be distinguished heads from tails. Old-style Chinese cash coins are the favourite of many, but any coins will do. A value of 2 is assigned to one side (say, heads) and a value of 3 is assigned to the other side (say, tails). For each line of the I Ching Hexagram, starting at the bottom, the three coins are thrown one time, simultaneously, and the numbers are added up. In the above example, the results would be as follows:
- Three tails = 2 + 2 + 2 or 6
- This is called old yin, yin changing into yang, or moving yin.
- It is represented by a broken line that changes to a straight line.
- Two tails and 1 head = 3 + 2 + 2 or 7
- This is called young yang or unchanging yang.
- It is represented by a straight line.
- Two heads and 1 tail = 3 + 3 + 2 or 8
- This is called young yin or unchanging yin.
- It is represented by a broken line.
- Three heads = 3 + 3 + 3 or 9
- This is called old yang, yang changing into yin, or moving yang.
- It is represented by a straight line that changes to a broken line.
I Ching Divination with Marbles
More recently, the "16 marble method" and "16 bead method" have been taught as an alternative to the use of three coins, as it exactly replicates the probabilities resulting from use of the older yarrow stalk method.
To read the I Ching with stones, beads, marbles, or other small tokens, you will need 16 items of identical size, weight, and texture, and they must be divided into four different and identifiable colours as follows:
- Seven of the objects will represent a non-changing yielding line.
- This is also called young yin or unchanging yin, or number 8.
- It is represented by a broken line: - -
- Five of the objects will represent a non-changing firm line.
- This is also called young yang or unchanging yang or number 7.
- It is represented by a straight line: ---
- Three of the objects represent a changing firm line.
- This can be called old yang, yang changing into yin, or moving yang or number 9.
- It is shown using a straight line that changes to a broken line: -o-
- And the final object represents a changing yielding line.
- This is called old yin, yin changing into yang, or moving yin or number 6.
- It is represented by a broken line that changes to a straight line: -x-
If using marbles, the sixteen objects are placed in a small bag and shaken, then one is withdrawn blind from the bag. Its corresponding line is written down, and it is returned to the bag for the next pull.
If using beads, the sixteen of them may be strung on a bracelet. You close your eyes and select one at random, note its colour, close your eyes, and choose again -- until six beads have been chosen.
This methodology clearly shows the "bias" inherent in the oracle toward YIELDING or yin. Ten of the lines are either outright yielding or changing into yielding. Inaction is thus counseled a majority of the time.
Bibliomancy with the I Ching
For more information, plus a list of AIRR Certified Bibliomancers, see the page on Bibliomancy.
Although the I Ching is traditionally regarded as a repository of divinatory parables which are interpreted by a skilled reader, it can also be used as a volume of sacred lore and kept on or near an altar, where its advice may be consulted via bibliomancy, that is, by reading randomly selected passages in the book itself.
Translations of the I Ching vary in verbal accuracy, literary quality, cultural backgrounding, and practicality of use. The most popular English version -- the so-alled "Wilhelm-Baynes I Ching" translated by Richard Wilhelm and Cary F. Baynes -- was first published in English in 1951 and has never been out of print. bibliomantic I Ching is not found in China, but has been adopted by American psychic readers who are familiar with using the Bible for bibliomancy.
The I Ching became popular for bibliomancy in America during the 1960s, specifically with the Wilhelm-Baynes English translation, in part because this edition, contains the core text and all of the traditional commentaries on the hexagrams, as well as interpretive explanatory matter, and is about the size of a conventional King James Bible, to which Americans were already habituated as a source-book for Bibliomancy
However, at 750 pages and a weight of almost one-and-a-half pounds, The Wilhelm-Baynes I Ching is not practical to tote about. This has led to the production of pocket-sized I Ching books, of which the most popular is the Thomas Cleary I Ching Pocket Classic, which is widely employed by readers already familiar with the Wilhelm-Baynes translation to give readings in public spaces such as psychic fairs.
The small pocket book can be used for a conventional yarrow stalk, coin, or marble reading, of course, but it is also convenient for bibliomancy, which is accomplished by quickly riffling the pages and inserting a finger, twice -- once for the first hexagram and once for the second -- and then quickly assessing which lines would have to be changing lines in order to get from the first hexagram to the second. This is retracing of the steps is backward from the regular method of I Ching reading, in which the building up of the changing lines only gradually reveals the second hexagram. However, it actually works well in the context of a table-top reading in which tit is inadvisable to have the sitter distracted by a psychic who is endlessly thumbing through the ponderous Wilhelm-Baynes tome.
In the hands of an experienced bibliomantic I Ching reader, the brief Cleary changing lines are simply used as convenient mnemonics to stimulate previous knowledge of the Wilhelm-Baynes originals, which can then be spoken in part or in full, in much the same way that a good Bible scholar may be able to quote at least the first verse of any of the Bible Psalms by number.
I Ching Cards
Another form of I Ching reading is that which combines the Chinese material with cartomancy, resulting in I Ching card reading decks. These have been available since the 1970s in various forms.
The earliest I Ching card deck was the popular A.G. Muller release of 1971, a 64-card deck which came with a set of three casting coins. Most I Ching decks developed since then have consisted of 64 cards, one for each hexagram, with a simple interpretation affixed. In a way, they are more like flash cards for learning the I Ching than tools of divination by sortilege. Even when illustrated with nice art, they do not convey the shifting flexibility of an I Ching reading.
A much more satisfactory example is the I Ching Oracle Deck known as "The Pai ("cards") of Panda," by Z. Mann Zilla which came out in 2023. This deck consists of 32 trigram cards and a 100-page pocket-sized book outlining the meanings of the 64 numbered hexagrams. To use the cards, the deck is shuffled, then the first hexagrams is built by drawing two trigram cards. Then the second hexagram is selected in the same way and placed beside it, to the right. Next, a comparison is made between the two hexagrams clearly shows the changing lines, and, finally, a unique design of visual keys along the bottom cards allows you to find the numbers of both resultant hexagrams. These keys are cleverly built into each card, so the reader can quickly refer to the book for a short, one-page interpretation with keywords.
No specific judgements are provided on the 256 changing lines in the "Pai of Panda's" brief book, and so the reader is instructed and encouraged to use inspiration and narrative experience to develop a "path" between the two situations described by the two hexagrams. Although this works well for most intuitive readers, fans of the Wilhelm-Baynes complete translation may regret that the distinctively poetic and specifically evocative images of the lines themselves are lost -- but, through one of those delightful synchronicities that surround I Ching divination, the Thomas Cleary "Pocket I Ching" is almost exactly the same size as the "Pai of Panda" cards and book. This means that the "Pai" deck and both books can fit neatly into a single cloth carrying bag, and the lines can be read by consulting the Cleary book, if necessary. The result is an impressive visual layout for the sitter with the minimum of fussy look-ups for the diviner.
See Also
Divination
- Divination and Fortune Telling by the I Ching or Chinese Classic Book of Changes
AIRR Readers & Rootworkers Who Perform This Work for Clients
Pages in category "I Ching"
The following 5 pages are in this category, out of 5 total.
