I Ching

November 26, 2008

I Ching is a person, a book and a philosophy. I Ching, the person, was a Buddhist monk associated with a book of symbols referred to as the book of changes. In this book are 64 symbols called hexagrams that follow Ying/Yang. In each of these hexagrams are 6 black lines arranged in a horizontal stack. A solid line represents Ying and broken lines represent Yang. The book of changes is used for divination in Chinese culture.

The philosophy behind I Ching is that an individual consult the book of changes to rearrange their lives in the best possible manner when great change occurs. It is not a divination to foretell the future. For example, a great flood destroyed an individuals home and along with it their belongings.

The Chinese culture believes in the power of opposites to create balance and that change is a constant. The individual would contemplate the results of an I Ching reading and direct their life accordingly.

An I Ching reading can be done with three different choices, yarrow sticks (oldest and most complicated), three coins and six wands. Before a reading is attempted, it is important to respect the I Ching (the person). Traditionally, an individual places the forehead three times on the ground, passes the instruments of divination; in this case it is the yarrow sticks, three coins or six wands through the smoke of incense. Then quietly formulate the question being asked. Once a place of spiritual calmness is achieved the individual my then begin their I Ching reading.

The yarrow method is done by manipulating fifty yarrow sticks in such a manner to divine the six horizontal lines of the hexagrams that are listed in the book of changes. The process of manipulating the yarrow sticks is calculated numerically. The sticks are divided and counted in a complicated process until a hexagram has been built.

The three-coin process is less detailed than the yarrow stick method, but it is easier to learn. Three coins are tossed on the ground and their placement is calculated by which side of the coin is shown. The three coins are tossed several times until a hexagram is divined from the numerical sum of the coins. For example, the first toss reveals a sum that equals Ying. The second toss equals a numerical toss of Ying. The third toss equals a numerical toss of Yang. This results in the first three layers of the hexagram being Ying, Ying, and Yang. Three more tosses are needed to arrive at the correct hexagram to consult from the book of changes.

The third method of I Ching divination is the easiest. Six wands (sticks) are painted black with one side painted with a white line across the center. The all black side represents Ying while the broken or white line side represents Yang. They are thrown down on the ground then it’s just a matter of tallying the Ying lines and yang lines to create a hexagram.

I Ching is the method of divination in Chinese culture using the knowledge from the book of changes to restore balance when inevitable change occurs.

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