I Ching: The Book of Changes

I Ching: The Book of Changes

When you contact me and my team for psychic email readings, we may use a variety of methods to offer you guidance on your path. Although I am a natural psychic clairvoyant, many of my team use divination tools to access their talents, including tarot cards, runes and more.

I Ging, Chinese divination with coins

Originating in China, the I Ching, or ‘Book of Changes’, is a very ancient form of divination, which can offer great insight to those experienced in its use.

The basis of the I Ching is a set of 64 hexagrams, each composed of six lines, either broken or unbroken. Unbroken lines represent yang, whilst the broken lines represent yin. Three of these hexagrams are shown below: qián or “Force”, k?n or “Field”, and zh?n, or “Sprouting”.

i ching hexagramsEach hexagram relates to a passage in the Book of Changes; by casting a hexagram and consulting the appropriate text, an experienced reader can offer answers and guidance.

The most popular way to divine using the I Ching is with three coins.  Throw the three coins; count each coin that lands on the heads side as 3, and each coin landing on its tails side as 2. The sum of your three coins will then be 6, 7, 8 or 9.

  • 6 is old or changing yin; it is written as a broken line with an X in the centre.
  • 7 is young or unchanging yang; a solid line.
  • 8 is old or changing yang; it is written as a solid line with a circle over the centre.
  • 9 is young or unchanging yin; a broken line.

Your first throw of the coins gives you the first line of the hexagram. This is always the line at the bottom; it grows like a plant. Throw the coins five times more to assemble your primary hexagram, and then consult the text of the I Ching to divine its meaning.

If you have a hexagram with changing lines, then you will also be able to divine meaning from an associated hexagram; each changing yin line changes to a yang line, and each changing yang line to a yin line, to create a second hexagram. For example, if the first and fifth lines of the k?n or “Field” hexagram are changing, your related hexagram will be zh?n, or “Sprouting”, as shown below.

changing hexagrams

When you have a changing reading, your question will be answered in the text of the primary and related hexagrams; if you have a primary hexagram which is entirely composed of young or unchanging lines, then your answer will be solely answered by your primary hexagram. However, the text is often complex; inexperienced readers often have difficulty in seeing the true meaning straight away.

Throughout the world, in all cultures and throughout the centuries, different methods of divination have been used to try to find answers to questions, and to provide guidance. If you are in search of answers, but struggle to find the answer through your own divination, you can call me and my team for psychic readings on one of the numbers at the top of this page.

Tony Hyland
tony@tonyhyland.com