I-Ching

FAQ and How to Read

What is Taoism?

Taoism is a philosophy that’s profound yet subtle, confusing yet simple. Rather than seeing contradictions, Taoists recognize the unity in all opposing forces that make up our everyday lives. They call this force the Tao.

The Tao, to explain it crudely, is a transcendent and fundamental force above even the perfect balance of yin and yang, dark and light. (Any attempt to describe it is inherently un-Taoist, i.e. The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao; The name that can be named is not the eternal name. — Tao Te Ching, Chapter 1, translated by Wing-tsit Chan ).

This ultimate force is inherent in all things and sits at the center of an ever-rotating wheel representing constant change.

What are yin and yang?

A well known symbol of Taoism is the combination of yin and yang (☯). The light, expansive energy of yang and heaven dances around the dark, grounded energy of yin and earth, with each side containing some of the other.

What are trigrams?

Yin and yang also have different representations: as a broken line (⚋) and as a solid line (⚊) respectively. There are eight combinations of of these two symbols when grouped in threes (2^3=8). These line combinations are called trigrams and represent the elements of the ancient Taoists: heaven, earth, fire, water, lake, mountain, thunder, and wind.

There are 64 distinct pairs of these 8 trigrams (8x8=64). These six-lined symbols are called hexagrams and their meanings are broken down line-by-line in the ancient Chinese text titled the I-Ching.

What is the I-Ching?

The I-Ching is an ancient text from China that is highly regarded among esoteric Taoists. It contains line-by-line divinatory explanations of trigram line symbols paired into 64 hexagrams.

Millenia ago, oracles interpreted these hexagrams in the patterns of scattered reeds. Later on a simpler method of divination became popular — one using 3 coins.

How to read the I-Ching

Flipping three coins to read the I-Ching is much more straightforward than the ancient way of discerning a hexagram in a pile of sticks. The method is as follows:

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