I Ching Casting Methods

Today, an I Ching reading can easily be cast electronically, and is commonly done so. We offer this technique on the Ask the I Ching page, where you can cast the reading with links to the resultant hexagrams. Other versions are accessible by searching for “I Ching readings” online, or by downloading one of many available apps. There are also methods for manually casting the lines which form a hexagram and its accompanying line(s).

The most traditional method for casting by hand is one using fifty yarrow sticks. This is a cumbersome and outdated approach and will not be covered here. For more information, ample resources can be found in traditional texts or online.

Coin Method

The most popular way of hand casting is to use three coins, with varying combinations of heads and tails which are assigned specific types of lines. Below is a simplified set of instructions; again, if interested in this method, more information can be found in I Ching texts or online including video tutorials.

1. Gather three coins of equal size. “I Ching” coins can be easily purchased online, or regular coins will do, e.g. three copper pennies. If using Chinese coins, choose a consistent designation of “heads” and “tails” based on their graphics.
2. You will be tossing the three coins all at once, and repeating this action for a total of six times. Construct the hexagram by tossing the coins for the bottom line first which equals Line 1, then the next line up which equals Line 2, etc. successively upwards to get six lines.
3. Draw each line according to the calculation shown below. The x and o represent changing lines.

Coins Cast	Line to Draw
2 heads, 1 tails	Solid Line (Yang)
2 tails, 1 heads	Broken Line (Yin)
3 heads	Solid Changing Line (Changing Yang)
3 tails	Broken Changing Line (Changing Yin)

For example, if you cast, in this order:

• • • • 2 heads, one tail (bottom line)
      • 3 heads
      • 2 heads, one tail
      • 2 tails, one head
      • 3 heads
      • 2 heads, one tail (top line)

Your primary hexagram would be the one on the bottom-left below. The lower trigram consists of three yang lines, and the upper trigram consists of a yin line with two yang lines above it. This is Hexagram 9. Because it has two changing yang lines, Hexagram 9 then changes into Hexagram 22.

Casting	Changes To
Hexagram 9 with lines 2 & 5 changing	Hexagram 22

 

Dice Method

Another method for hand casting is to use one dice. This will yield one changing line every time.

1. Cast the dice seven times. As always, start from the bottom and draw your lines going upward to create your hexagram.
2. For each cast, an odd number signifies an unbroken (yang) line, and an even number signifies a broken (yin) line.
3. The seventh casting of the dice indicates which line is changing (counting from the bottom up).

For example, if you cast in this order: 2, 6, 5, 1, 3, 4 and then 6

Casting	Changes To
Hexagram 31 with Line 6 changing	Hexagram 33