I Ching and the 3 coins

I Ching is an ancient Chinese divination method. They use a series of coin tosses using 3 identical coins with identifiable heads and tails to determine an I Ching hexagram. I Ching book contains about 64 hexagrams, each is identified by a number and name. A hexagram is a figure composed of six horizontal lines, each line is either Yang (an unbroken line), or Yin (broken line with a gap in the center). The hexagram lines are counted from the bottom up, so the lowest line is line one while the top line is line six.

Ask open-ended questions:

The process simply is to ask open-ended question in your mind because it doesn’t return yes or no answers, then toss the three coins 6 times, assign the value, and record it to create a hexagram.

1. Ask your open-ended question, For example, “Will I become rich?” or “What will my finances look like this year?”

2. Hold the coins loosely ( any three coins of the same denomination, with heads and tails, will do fine), shake the coins briefly and toss them. Add up the values of the three coins, the total should be 6,7,8 or 9. Each head is 3 and each tail is 2, so if you get 2 tails and one head, then the total would be 2+2+3=7. Write down the result. This is the line 1 (the bottom line) of the hexagram.

3. Collect the coins and toss them another 5 times. And each time, write down the result above the previous result, from bottom up. After you finish tossing, you should have a column of 6 digits ranging from 6-9

4. Now, translate each number into a hexagram line, for example:

a) Number 6 is a moving Yang line, translated into unbroken line with an X in the middle.

b) Number 7 is a stationary Yang line, translated into a unbroken line.

c) Number 9 is a moving Yin line, translated into a broken line with a little circle in the middle.

d) Number 8 is a stationary Yin line, translated into a broken line.

5. Now, you have 6 vertical lines, which represent your primary hexagram.

6. To obtain your secondary hexagram, convert every moving Yang line (unbroken line with an X in the middle) to a stationary Yang line (unbroken line), and every moving Yin line (a broken line with a little circle in the middle) to a stationary Yin line (a broken line). Refer to the Hexagram Finder below to find the corresponding hexagram number and descriptions.

The Primary hexagram represents the current situation and the secondary hexagram represents the ending situation.

You can also refer to I Ching book, to understand the meaning of your hexagram, or you can go online and find a list of hexagram interpretations. Some websites allow you to enter the results of each of your tosses by selecting the line that showed up. Once you enter all six lines, it will locate your proper hexagram and receive the meaning.