I Ching, also known as the
Book of Changes, is thousands of years old, dating back to around 1000 BCE. It is one of the most ancient texts preserved and passed down over the centuries. I Ching allows the user to determine the
forces that are in flux around a given situation. Central to this theory is the idea of two opposing forces, Yin and Yang. Nearly everything within the world can be divided into these two categories. Yin represents darkness, night, receptive, feminine, and Yang the bright, light, active, creative, masculine.
For the purposes of reading the I Ching, these two forces create two different lines. Yin is the
broken line, and the Yang, the
unbroken line. These two
lines create hexagrams, diagrams that are constructed of six of these lines in any given combination, stacked together vertically. There are 64 different combinations possible, and the Book of Changes gives unique explanations for each of these 64 hexagrams. It is possible to read the Book of Changes simply as a book of wisom and philosphies on how to approach situations in life, without the purpose of divination.
To use I Ching for your own purposes of divination, take three pennies into your hand and close your eyes as you fomulate a
question in your mind. This question should be open ended, asking about direction or how to approach a certain problem. It will not work if it is a"yes" or "no" question. As you repeat this question to yourself, throw the three coins down. The combination that they land in determines what kind of
line you will write down. HHH = broken line TTT=unbroken HTT=broken HHT=unbroken. Throw the coins six times to get your hexagram. Write the lines starting from the bottom of the hexagram up. After you are completed, consult the Book of Changes to see what it says about your situation.
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