Consulting the Oracle

By Tara Faulkner, Ph.D.

Carefully formulate your question and write it down. The more focused and clear the question, the better. (Keep in mind it is best to avoid asking yes or no questions.) Now hold an image of your question in your mind as vividly as possible and ask for guidance for the greatest possible good as you toss three coins. The first toss of the coins represents the bottom line of the hexagram. Read the coins as follows:
•Two heads and a tail = an unbroken line
•Two tails and a head = a broken line
•Three heads = an unbroken line (changing)
•Three tails = a broken line (changing)

Record your first line on a piece of paper. Changing lines are usually marked with a dot next to them as shown here.

Toss the coins five more times and record each toss from bottom to top. If one or more lines are changing, a second hexagram will result. For example, if a changing line is broken in the first hexagram, it will change into its opposite in the second hexagram and vice versa. 

In order to identify the hexagrams you have received, you will need to consult a hexagram table which can be found in almost any book on the I Ching. Since the hexagram is read from bottom to top, the lower three lines make up the lower trigram, and the top three, the upper trigram. Look down the vertical column of the chart and locate the lower trigram. Now look across the horizontal column to locate the upper trigram. At the point where the vertical and horizontal columns intersect you will find the number for  the first hexagram. Now repeat the process in order to identify the second hexagram.

Once you have identified the first and second hexagrams, you can look them up in any book on the I Ching, or you can look through our list: Hexagram Table.pdf. Read the description of the first hexagram followed by the second. Now read the information provided for each of the changing lines. With all the above information in mind, try to intuit the message being offered by the I Ching. The more changing lines, the more potential for change.

Many find the above process time-consuming and cumbersome. For this reason, we have created the fully-automated iChing 2GO® and made it available to you.