I Ching Study Group

Emily said:

I was wondering about this too -
How many will be using yarrow sticks, or coins?

Click to expand...

I usually use the "Marbles" method, with 16 marbles
of four different colours:

1 Old Yin
3 Old Yang
5 Young Yang
7 Young Yin

All marbles are the same size so they feel alike,
and I swirl them in the special round box-bowl
that I keep them in. After each is picked, you
put it back and pick again from all 16 marbles.

It's all very nice and works with the same
percentages as Yarrow sticks:

1/16
3/16
5/16
7/16

Which if you figure, the odds with coins are different,
though I have a beautiful collection of authentic coins.

Hi Fulgour,

I knew I'd seen somewhere about different ways of casting.

Your marble method sounds interesting - but I do like my old Chinese coins.

What Method to Use to Consult the Oracle

I have used yarrow sticks (shish kibab skewers work great) and coins. Master Alfred Huang suggests that one may use yarrow sticks to help in achieving your meditative state in consulting the oracle. Because this can take a long time, he has shown abbreviated ways of using the yarrow sticks. Fulgour has used marbles, and you can also use colored cards, or other methods.

I have enjoyed using my skewer sticks, but now use three coins. I don't care how many moving lines I get, because I feel the more information I get the better.

Here's what Bradford Hatcher says about sticks and coins:

The January, 1974 issue of Scientific American featured an article by Martin
Gardner on the Mathematics of the “I Ching,” which discusses these probabilities. For the coin method, the odds are 1/8, 3/8, 3/8 and 1/8 for 6, 7, 8 and 9 respectively. For the bu shi method, these are 1/16, 5/16, 7/16 and 3/16. So, while the odds of a line being an old or young Yin are equal to those of it being an old or young Yang, one is three times as likely to draw an old Yang over an old Yin. In other words, the advice would tend to be: too vigorous, slow down.

from: http://www.hermetica.info/ Bradford Hatcher The Book of Changes, B - Introduction, pp 52-53

Thanks Brad!

I did my first reading today (still haven't finished interpreting it yet). I think I'm going to like Yi Jing.

I kept having to refer to my book of course (you aren't the only one Nevada).

What I would like to know is, for a beginner is it best to translate just the Primary Hexamgram or go further? I've done the Primary, Relating and Hidden for my question.

Oh and Emily, I used 50p coins, and I like that idea because of them being a heptagonal shape. I rarely have three of these coins in my purse and when I went to look they were the only coins I had! So other than 'having' to use them, I thought it was a nice coincidence.

Hi Moonbow,

I used to use 20p coins until I managed to get my hands on some really old chinese coins. The one's I'm using now are I Ching coins, brass and big - I think brass must be one of my metals because I work really well with it.

I did an I Ching reading earlier too, my first in at least 2 years. I'd forgotten how ruthless the readings can be - no messing around and straight to the point.

I think that once you've done the first hexagram then, if you have any moving lines then take it to the next one. You'll have the two hexagrams to study but it might give you a clearer answer or more insight to your question. I still use all my books too - I couldn't work out my hexagrams with out them.

One of the books I use is 'The Everyday I Ching' by Sarah Dening a very modern take on the I Ching, but it was the one book that helped me to understand what I was reading in my other translations - the Wilhelm translation.

Coins

I use penny's. I placed III on the head side, and II on the tail side. I throw them 6 times. It's pretty easy.

III + III + III = 9 = a changing yang line
II + II + II = 6 = a changing yin line

theoretically, you could have 6 changing lines. What does this mean? Just a reinforcement that the world isn't static, it is changing constantly. So is your state of being, thinking and doing.

To read the changing lines do this.

1 Consult the oracle for the appropriate gua (hexagram)
2 Read the information on the gua, its meanings, etc.
3 Then go to the new gua defined by the changing line (start at the bottom) and repeat the process.

So, moving lines, changing lines and transforming lines. They're all the same thing right?

If so, then I did that then I went on to do the Hidden or Nuclear hexagram. At this point I thought that was enough for me but I understand there are even further interpretations that can be made such as the Opposing, Steps of Change and Change Hexagrams.

Chinese

Hi guys-
There seems to be some confusion about spelling Chinese.
To clarify, "Peking, I Ching, Chou I, Ch'ien" are spelled in the Wade-Giles system of transliteration. This system was replaced several decades ago by the Pinyin (pron. Peenyeen) system in an effort to modernize and encourage literacy.
The above names are now "Beijing, Yijing, Zhouyi, Qian". Mass market publishing hasn't caught up with the change yet, but all the real scholars are using it. There are printable conversion tables in my Glossary (at Hermetica) and elsewhere on the net.
b

A hint for web searches and various Googling:

Using the "Pinyin" spellings will access the database
links of many of the more progressive sites and files.
Yijing, Zhouyi, Qian...etc, are very cool keywords.

Mind if I join in?

I Ching or Ijing, I don't care; I always pronounce it "eki-kyo" which is the sound for 易経　in Japanese. (by the way can you recognize two ideographs for I Ching between for and in? My Window XP Japansese edition shows them correctly, but I'm not sure if other OSs could do it)

I use six coins for reading I Ching. I'm good at classical Chinese so I don't use translations. I say without hesitation that some knowledges and skills about Chinese letters or "kanji" gives you much illumination on I Ching.