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The I Ching,
or Book of Changes, is one of the oldest and most respected works
of Chinese philosophy, and influenced Eastern philosophy for millenia.
The I Ching was composed more than three thousand years ago, by a student
of Taoism, and has influenced a number of important philosophers of
the East, including Lao Tse, Sun Tzu and Confucius, who reorganized
it into its current form. Today, as in the past, it is often used as
a divination device, similar to the tarot in its complexity. Confucius
gives divination directions based on the following ideas:
Change
has a limit, which produces two polarities; yin and yang. (In this system,
yang is represented by a solid line: ;
yin is represented by an open line: )
These polarities
produce four forms, yin, yang, changing yin, and changing yang. A changing
form is one which has neared its limit and is expected to change into
its opposite. An illustration of this changing nature is seen in the
yin yang symbol, wherein opposing polarities are pictured continually
changing into one another:
These forms
in turn produce eight trigrams; these determine fortune. The eight trigrams
are as follows:
| Sky |
 |
| Lake |
 |
| Thunder |
 |
| Fire
|
 |
| Earth |
 |
| Mountain |
 |
| Water |
 |
| Wind |
 |
The 64
combinations of these basic symbols, and their respective interpretations,
form the body of the Book of Changes. It is traditional to
familiarize oneself with the entire book before using the oracle.
Each consultation
of the I Ching is accomplished by selecting a pair of trigrams, forming
a pair of hexagrams. Symbols are chosen by their relation to factors
in the reading, such as personalities or events. They can also be determined
via a random tossing of coins, or a slightly more complex divination
using a set of yarrow sticks. We will be using coins, because they are
the easiest system to utilize.
Consulting
the I Ching using coins:
Items needed:
Coins
Paper and pencil
Select
three identical coins with clear heads/tails markings, and have a paper
and pencil handy. Find a quiet space, and hold the coins while you meditate
on your query.
Next, toss
your coins six times and record the results for each toss. Heads are
valued as 2, tails as 3. Add together the numbers from each toss- as
an example, a toss yielding two heads and one tail will add up to a
value of seven. Throwing the coins six times will generate six numbers.
You will
now construct your first hexagram. Begin from the bottom with your first
toss, and build upward. Draw a yin line or a yang line using the following
guide for each toss:
| 6 |
changing
yin |
 (make
a small 'x' to denote a changing line) |
| 7 |
young
yang |
|
| 8 |
young
yin |
|
| 9 |
changing
yang |
 |
This gives
you your first hexagram, which is the current circumstances of your
query. To generate the second hexagram, the possible future outcome
of the situation, you must convert all of your changing lines- an 'old,'
or changing yin, for example, changes into a yang.
When you
have finished creating your hexagrams, consult the table below, and
click on the number for each one- a new window will open with the interpretation:
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