Free I Ching Reading

It was the Bohemian fortune-tellers who introduced the divinatory art through cards into medieval Europe, having become acquainted with it during the journey of their Romani people through Eastern lands.

But ancient and enduring legends tell us that cartomancy may have been created several millennia ago within ancient China, back when it was the greatest kingdom in the world.

Included within the « Great Book of Changes », these cards could be the first divinatory tarot ever to appear, under the name of I Ching.

While we are not certain of the truth of these legends regarding the exact origin of the divinatory art through cards, we are at least sure that it was indeed the Chinese who invented playing cards several millennia BC.

And, as for clairvoyance, many civilisations such as the Egyptians, the Inca and Maya peoples, the Hindus and of course the Chinese practised it since the dawn of time in diverse and varied forms.

At its core, the I Ching is a thick history book that recounts numerous events that took place in China over more than 3,000 years. This work has been sacred ever since it was written; it is a true treasure as it addresses the religious, political and social themes experienced by ancestral China. It is in any case the very first book devoted to the profound Asian wisdom.

It is entirely based on the philosophy of the Taoist way of life of the supreme leader Lao Tzu, and it was the lord of the province of Chu, the aptly named Wen, who was its designer around the year 1200 before the Christian calendar. Over the years, it became a true Oracle, consulted before the carrying out of any action or the taking of a stance on any thought, by the people’s representatives within the kingdom. Even the physicians and other scholars used it before making any decision.

The main orientation of the I Ching is based on an entirely concept that is spiritual and Asian, known as the Yin & the Yang. They are what symbolise the two opposing parts, but complementary ones, of everything around us.

The Yin & the Yang therefore represent black and white, day and night, good and evil and countless others. The I Ching is made up of lines, whether solid or broken. The solid line is considered to represent the Yin, whereas the broken line relates to the Yang.

It is these lines which can transform at any moment, and which characterise this Oracle by indicating changes to come in a very specific situation. It is therefore filled with geometry and signs and always refers back to the famous Book of Changes, the I Ching to carry out the divinatory art.

The definition of the divinatory art through the I Ching is not so much to be able to predict the future for a querent, but rather to guide us toward the best decisions to make, and at the best moment. It is therefore a most wise word to answer the questions that may trouble us along the course of our lives.

For this, one must form one’s own hexagram.

It is the latter, which is characterised by Yin or Yang lines, that will give us the right intuition to follow on the path of our life, by answering our expectations regarding essential subjects such as love, work, health and finances.

To obtain one’s own hexagram, we find 2 ways to proceed: using coins, or else wooden sticks, which is far more complex to carry out.

In the first case, you will need 3 coins. The tails sides of each of the coins represent the number 3, whereas their heads sides equal the number 2. You will then need to ask the right question to which we await an answer. Then, you will toss the 3 coins and once they have landed, we will add up their results together to obtain our first line.

We will repeat this operation 6 times in a row, so as to have obtained 6 lines, which we will place from bottom to top, to form our own hexagram.

• With 3 heads sides, we obtain the number 6, which embodies the old Yin, a broken line ready to mutate.
• With 3 tails sides, we obtain the number 9, which embodies the old Yang, a solid line ready to mutate.
• With 2 tails sides and 1 heads side, we obtain the number 8, which embodies the young Yin, a broken line that will not transform.
• With 2 heads sides and 1 tails side, we obtain the number 7, which embodies the young Yang, a solid line that will not transform.

Once the shape of our hexagram has been obtained, which can equally well be made of 2 trigrams, we will need to refer to the table that is dedicated to them in the I Ching Book of Changes.

Since it is very different from the other tarots or divinatory Oracles used in the West, such as the Tarot of Marseille or the Oracle of Belline, the I Ching Oracle has always intrigued as much as it fascinates. Most certainly because of its substance so deeply rooted in ancestral Chinese culture and its most peculiar form filled with geometric hexagrams and numerology as its founding principle.

This is what makes it appeal to certain curious minds, and not the least of them. Indeed, the sinologist Cyrille Javary and the writer Richard Wilhelm are, among others, fervent enthusiasts of it and have championed it by devoting many works to it in recent years.

Far more than a horoscope, because far more concrete regarding the life path of the querent, the I Ching Book of Changes is complemented by 64 cards designed by Chao-Isiu Chen, which each represent the 64 hexagrams. There is no magic in the I Ching, also called Yi Jing by some, just an exemplary guidance based on intuitions, to set us on the best possible path.

Once you have found the hexagram that is yours, it will help you find yourself within the 64 distinct parts of the calendar year. It will therefore act just as your date of birth does within horoscopes. And so, whatever your sign, your hexagram will confront you with a character trait concerning you and will thus make you discover hidden facets of your personality.

Depending on the hexagrams, they make revelations about our humility, our ability to progress, our enthusiasm, our solidarity and many other character traits still, to allow us to get more fully acquainted with who we truly are and thus to approach in the best possible way the road that remains for us to travel to find wisdom.