The ancient Chinese method of consulting the I Ching involved the use of yarrow stalks and they are still used sometimes today. Nowadays, however, using three coins is the most common method.

I-Ching Coins

I Ching Coins

I Ching Gift Set


The I Ching Workbook Gift Set
The I Ching Workbook + 50 Yarrow Stalks

The I Ching Workbook includes the entire text of Wu Wei's newly-revised and updated edition of The I Ching: The Book of Answers, which includes a detailed explanation of how to use yarrow stalks and how to work with the I Ching. It provides the key for identifying the correct hexagram and 200 pages on which readers can record their answers. Included are 50 ten-inch yarrow stalks, hand-picked by farmers in Northeast China specifically for use in divination with the I Ching, and another step-by-step picture guide to using the stalks--the original and only favorable way to access this ancient wisdom. Also included are sandalwood incense, incense holder and a silk I Ching cloth.

Below are examples of the 64 I Ching hexagrams, hexagrams 5, 35 and 49.

      

Each of the six times the 3 coins are tossed to obtain a reading, they produce one of the following results ...

* 2 tails and 1 heads = a broken line
* 2 heads and 1 tails = a solid line
* 3 tails = a broken changing line
* 3 heads = a solid changing line

Draw the lines building the hexagram from the bottom line up. Where there are 3 tails, draw the line with a cross in the center ---x--- and when there are 3 heads, draw the line with a circle in the center ---o---

After 6 tosses of the coins you should end up with something like this for the first hexagram ...

--- ---
--- ---
-------
---x---
---o---
-------

In your I Ching book you will find a chart which gives you the number and name of the hexagram. Read the overall view of the hexagram and pay particular attention to the changing lines

In the second hexagram the changing lines are altered to their opposites and you need only read the overall view of the hexagram ...

--- ---
--- ---
-------
-------
--- ---
-------

Note that when there are no changing lines, only the first hexagram is read.

Having tried several versions of the I Ching over the years, my favorite, and the one I always turn to first, is Amy and Max Sorrell's " I Ching Made Easy: Be Your Own Psychic Advisor Using the World's Oldest Oracle". The subject is clearly explained and I like how the discussions of the lines are always positive even when they are saying something negative! The only downside is the description of how to use the I Ching, using 6 coins and only one hexagram, whereas the usual method is to toss 3 coins and construct 2 hexagrams which represent the present and the future.

The classic version is the Richard Wilhelm translation (rendered into English by Cary F Baynes) I Ching or Book of Changes (Arkana) which is the version that was used for more than thirty years by the eminent psychologist Carl G Jung and for which he wrote in the foreword ...

"The I Ching does not offer itself with proofs and results; it does not vaunt itself, nor is it easy to approach. Like a part of nature, it waits until it is discovered. It offers neither facts nor power, but for lovers of self-knowledge, of wisdom -- if there be such -- it seems to be the right book. To one person its spirit appears as clear as day; to another, shadowy as twilight; to a third, dark as night. He who is not pleased by it does not have to use it, and he who is against it is not obliged to find it true. Let it go forth into the world for the benefit of those who can discern its meaning." C J Jung