How to Consult the I Ching: The Three-Coin Method and Yarrow Stalk Method

Before You Begin: The Right Mindset

Consulting the I Ching is not like searching the internet. You do not type a query and receive an answer. The I Ching operates through what Carl Jung called synchronicity: the hexagram you cast reflects the quality of the present moment, including your psychological state, the nature of your question, and the situation you are asking about. This means the quality of your attention matters.

Traditional practice recommends finding a quiet space, free from distraction. Some practitioners wash their hands, light incense, or bow to the book before beginning. These gestures are not superstitious requirements; they function as attention anchors, signals to your own mind that you are shifting from ordinary thinking into a mode of receptive inquiry. The German sinologist Richard Wilhelm, whose translation remains the Western standard, described the process as "a conversation with an old and wise friend."

You will need either three identical coins or a set of 50 yarrow stalks, a copy of the I Ching text (the Wilhelm-Baynes translation is the most widely used in English), and something to write on. Record each line as you cast it. Do not try to hold the entire hexagram in your head.

How to Formulate Your Question

The question you bring to the I Ching shapes everything that follows. A vague question produces a vague reading. A question that asks the I Ching to make your decision for you will receive an answer that frustrates rather than clarifies.

Questions to avoid: "Will I get the promotion?" (asks for a prediction about an outcome you don't control), "Does she love me?" (asks about another person's inner state), "Should I move to Toronto or stay in Vancouver?" (asks the oracle to make a binary choice for you). The I Ching works best when you ask it to illuminate a situation, not to replace your own judgment.

Alfred Huang, in The Complete I Ching, emphasizes that the question should be held in mind throughout the casting process. You are not just thinking the question at the start and then mechanically tossing coins. The question is the thread that connects your attention to the emerging hexagram.

The Three-Coin Method Step by Step

The coin method was developed in China during the Tang dynasty (618-907 CE) as a faster alternative to the yarrow stalk method. It requires three coins of the same type. Any coins will work: pennies, quarters, toonies, or traditional Chinese coins with a square hole.

Step 1: Hold the three coins in your cupped hands. Focus on your question.

Step 2: Shake and release the coins. Add the three values together. You will get one of four totals:

Step 3: Record the line. This is your first line (line 1, the bottom of the hexagram).

Step 4: Repeat five more times, building upward. Your sixth toss becomes line 6 (the top).

Step 5: You now have a complete hexagram. If any lines are 6 or 9 (old yin or old yang), these are your changing lines. They will transform the primary hexagram into a resulting hexagram.

Building the Hexagram from Bottom to Top

This is the single most common mistake new practitioners make: building the hexagram from the top down instead of from the bottom up. The I Ching is emphatic on this point. The first line cast is the bottom line. The hexagram grows upward, like a plant from its root.

Record your lines on paper as you go, starting at the bottom of the page and working up. Many practitioners draw a simple grid of six horizontal spaces before they begin, filling them in from bottom to top. Mark changing lines clearly (with an X for old yin or an O for old yang) so you can identify them later.

The Yarrow Stalk Method Step by Step

The yarrow stalk method is the original casting technique, described in the Da Zhuan (Great Treatise), one of the Ten Wings commentaries. It uses 50 dried stalks of yarrow (Achillea millefolium), though bamboo sticks or even thin dowels will serve if yarrow is unavailable.

Preparation: Begin with 50 stalks. Set one aside immediately. It plays no further role in the casting. You now work with 49 stalks.

To determine each line, you perform three sorting operations:

Operation 1:

1. Divide the 49 stalks into two random heaps (left and right).
2. Take one stalk from the right heap and place it between the ring finger and little finger of your left hand.
3. Pick up the left heap and count off stalks in groups of four, setting each group aside, until you have 4 or fewer remaining.
4. Place the remainder between the ring finger and middle finger of your left hand.
5. Pick up the right heap and count off in groups of four until you have 4 or fewer remaining.
6. Place the remainder between the middle finger and index finger of your left hand.
7. The total between your fingers will be either 5 or 9. Set these stalks aside.

Operation 2:

1. Gather the remaining stalks (either 44 or 40).
2. Repeat the entire division and counting process.
3. The total between your fingers will be either 4 or 8. Set aside with the first group.

Operation 3:

1. Gather the remaining stalks (36, 32, or 28).
2. Repeat the division and counting process once more.
3. The total between your fingers will be either 4 or 8.

Determining the line: Count the stalks remaining in the main pile (not the ones set aside) and divide by 4:

Repeat this entire process (three sorting operations) five more times to build the remaining five lines. Total time: 20 to 40 minutes for a complete hexagram.

Why Yarrow Stalks Produce Different Results

The coin method and the yarrow stalk method produce identical line types (6, 7, 8, 9) but at different frequencies. With coins, each toss is independent and the probabilities are fixed: 6 appears 1/8 of the time, 7 appears 3/8, 8 appears 3/8, and 9 appears 1/8. Yang and yin lines are equally likely, and changing lines appear in 25% of all lines cast.

With yarrow stalks, the probabilities shift. The mathematics of the sorting process (first analysed rigorously by the sinologist Edward Shaughnessy) produce these frequencies: 6 appears approximately 1/16, 7 appears 5/16, 8 appears 7/16, and 9 appears 3/16. This means yin lines are somewhat more common than yang lines, and changing lines are less frequent overall (about 25% for yang changes via old yang, but only about 6% for yin changes via old yin).

Understanding Changing Lines

Changing lines are the mechanism that makes the I Ching dynamic rather than static. A line with the value 6 (old yin) or 9 (old yang) is in a state of transformation. It has reached the extreme of its current state and is about to flip to its opposite.

When your hexagram contains one or more changing lines, you effectively receive two hexagrams: the primary hexagram (as you cast it) and the resulting hexagram (after the changing lines have transformed). The primary hexagram describes the current situation. The resulting hexagram describes what it is becoming.

For example, if you cast Hexagram 11 (Peace) with a changing line in the third position, that line changes from yin to yang, producing Hexagram 26 (Taming Power of the Great) as the resulting hexagram. The reading would address the current state of peace (Hexagram 11), the specific dynamic described by the third line text of Hexagram 11, and the emerging condition of accumulated restraint (Hexagram 26). For a complete treatment of changing lines, see our changing lines guide.

How to Read Your Results

When you have a single changing line, the reading is often remarkably precise. The changing line text functions like a spotlight on the exact point of tension or opportunity in your situation. The primary hexagram provides the background; the changing line provides the foreground; the resulting hexagram provides the trajectory.

Identify the upper and lower trigrams of both hexagrams. The lower trigram represents your inner situation; the upper trigram represents the external circumstances. Notice which trigram the changing line is in: a change in the lower trigram suggests an internal shift, while a change in the upper trigram suggests an external development.

What to Do with Multiple Changing Lines

Multiple changing lines complicate a reading. Different schools handle this differently:

The Wilhelm-Baynes approach: Read all changing line texts in order from bottom to top. Each line contributes a dimension to the reading. The resulting hexagram shows the overall direction. This approach can produce complex, layered readings.

The Alfred Huang approach: When multiple lines change, focus on the governing line (usually line 5, or the line that best represents the hexagram's central theme). Treat the other changing lines as secondary.

The "six lines changing" edge case: If all six lines change, some traditions read only the judgment of the primary and resulting hexagrams. Others consult the "all lines changing" text that appears in the Wilhelm-Baynes translation for Hexagrams 1 and 2 (and only those two). For hexagrams other than 1 and 2 with all lines changing, the resulting hexagram's judgment is primary.

As a general guideline: the more changing lines you have, the less weight you should give to individual line texts and the more weight you should give to the overall hexagram judgments. A reading with five or six changing lines describes a situation in total transformation, where the broad strokes matter more than the details.

Readings with No Changing Lines

A hexagram with no changing lines (all values 7 or 8) describes a stable state. The situation is settled in the pattern of that hexagram. There is no transformation in progress.

Read the judgment, the Image, and the Commentary on the Decision. Some practitioners also read all six individual line texts as a complete picture of the hexagram's energy at every level. Others read only the judgment and Image, treating the line texts as relevant only when a specific line is "activated" by a changing value.

A reading with no changing lines is not lesser than one with changes. It simply describes a different kind of situation: one where the current dynamic is stable and the appropriate response is to understand the hexagram's pattern rather than to prepare for a shift.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

• Building from top down: Always start from the bottom. Your first cast is line 1.
• Confusing head and tail assignments: Decide before you begin and stay consistent. Heads = 3, Tails = 2 is the most common convention.
• Recasting immediately when the answer is not what you wanted: The I Ching addresses this directly in Hexagram 4. Do not importune the oracle.
• Reading only the changing lines and ignoring the hexagram context: The line texts operate within the context of their hexagram. A line 3 text in Hexagram 1 means something different than line 3 in Hexagram 29.
• Treating the I Ching as a fortune-telling device: The I Ching describes the dynamics of your situation and your relationship to it. It does not predict lottery numbers.

Digital Methods and the Synchronicity Question

Many websites and apps offer digital I Ching consultations. These typically use a pseudo-random number generator to simulate coin tosses. The question is whether a computer-generated "random" number participates in synchronicity the same way a physical process does.

Jung's concept of synchronicity involves the total psychophysical situation of the moment. Some practitioners argue that your decision to click "cast" at a specific moment is itself a meaningful act, making the digital result just as synchronistically valid as a coin toss. Others maintain that physical engagement with the coins or stalks is an essential part of the process: the weight in your hands, the sound of the toss, the tactile feedback all contribute to the quality of attention that the I Ching requires.

There is no definitive answer to this question. Use the method that produces the deepest engagement with the process. If digital tools help you consult the I Ching regularly where you otherwise would not, they serve a purpose. If physical tools produce a more focused consultation, use those.

When (and When Not) to Consult the Oracle

The I Ching is best consulted when you face a genuine question, one where you are uncertain, where the situation is in motion, and where your own attitude or approach might make a real difference to the outcome. It works well for career transitions, relationship dynamics, creative decisions, and questions of personal development.

It works poorly when used as a crutch to avoid making decisions, when consulted obsessively about the same question, or when the question is trivial (what to have for lunch does not require the Book of Changes). The oracle tradition in China included a strong ethical dimension: you consult the oracle not because you are lazy but because you have done your own thinking and still find the situation opaque.

The Hermetic tradition of divination, rooted in the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus, shares this principle. The oracle is a mirror, not a crutch. It reflects back to you what you already know at some level but have not yet articulated. The act of consultation brings that knowledge to the surface. The Hermetic Synthesis Course examines the shared principles underlying Chinese and Western oracle traditions.