The I Ching

Casting a Hexagram

The traditional process for casting a hexagram involved 58 yarrow sticks. Even if yarrow sticks were readily available, most people in the West today would consider the process overly long.

The Modern Method of Divination

Most people today use the three coins method of casting a hexagram. The probabilities this generates are not the same as the ancient method however they work well enough.

To cast your hexagram, take three coins in your hands and concentrate on your question. Shake the coins onto the table. Now, for each head showing count three, for each tail count two. Look the result up on this table:

Coins	Total	Line
Three tails	6	Changing broken line
Two tails, one head	7	Stable solid line
One tail, two heads	8	Stable broken line
Three heads	9	Changing solid line

That gives the first line - which is the lowest - of the hexagram. Repeat for each of the six lines.

So, let us say we first shook two tails and a head. That makes line one a stable solid line. Then we shake three heads - a changing broken line. Continuing this way might build up a hexagram such as:

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