Cast with a turtle shell and 3 coins by the classical Liu Yao 六爻 method, or cast by number in the manner of Plum Blossom Numerology 梅花易數 by Thiệu Khang Tiết 邵康節. Make the invocation in earnest, build 6 lines from the bottom up, and see the main, nuclear and resulting hexagrams with the full reading of all 64.
1. Choose somewhere quiet, sit upright, and settle the mind for a few minutes.
2. Hold clearly in mind one particular matter you wish to ask about; one hexagram asks one question.
3. Press the invocation button, say the invocation to yourself, then begin the 6 throws, one line at a time from the bottom up.
Thiệu Khang Tiết 邵康節 taught that everything in the world carries number, and that when the mind stirs, the number answers. Settle the mind on the matter you wish to ask about, then choose one of the ways of entering a number below. The number is drawn out by the thought behind it, and the system divides the trigrams and finds the moving line exactly by the method in the book.
The orthodox method in the book of Plum Blossom Numerology 梅花易數: the first number divided by 8 leaves the upper trigram, the second divided by 8 leaves the lower trigram, and the sum of the three divided by 6 leaves the moving line. Say your question to yourself, then write down any 3 numbers that come to mind.
Enter any string of numbers that comes to mind, of any length you like. The first half of the string builds the upper trigram, the second half the lower trigram, and the total of the whole string finds the moving line.
A phone number stays with a person for a long time, and so carries that person's numerology. Enter your phone number in full.
A national ID number identifies a person for life. Enter all 12 digits of the ID.
Enter only the numeric part at the bottom of the plate. For a plate reading 50H 302.92, enter 30292, leaving out the letters and the full stop.
Before there was a written I Ching, the ancients of the East divined with turtle shell and animal bone, a practice called quy bốc 龜卜. The diviner bored a hole in the shell, held it to the fire until it cracked, and read the omen in the cracks; the words of those readings were then carved as oracle bone script 甲骨文, the earliest written source in the East. Later came the yarrow stalk method of the Zhou Yi 周易 with its 50 stalks, and then the casting of 3 coins, which spread widely because it is quick yet keeps the whole principle of Yin and Yang in change. Later generations often placed the 3 coins in the hollow of a turtle shell, cupped both hands over it, shook it and cast, keeping the warmth of the questioner's hands and carrying on the thousand-year tradition of quy bốc 龜卜. That is the method recreated on this page.
Each throw of 3 coins builds one line. By convention a head is Yang and counts 3, a tail is Yin and counts 2, so three coins total between 6 and 9. Throw six times and build the 6 lines in order from the bottom up: the Bottom Line 初爻, the Second, the Third, the Fourth, the Fifth and the Top Line 上爻.
| The throw | Total | Name | Line | Moving or still |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 heads | 9 | Lão Dương 老陽 | A Yang line | A moving line, changing into Yin |
| 2 heads and 1 tail | 8 | Thiếu Âm 少陰, the Lesser Yin | A Yin line | A still line |
| 1 head and 2 tails | 7 | Thiếu Dương 少陽, the Lesser Yang | A Yang line | A still line |
| 3 tails | 6 | Lão Âm 老陰 | A Yin line | A moving line, changing into Yang |
A line that is purely Yang or purely Yin is called a moving line, because a thing at its extreme turns: Yang at its height gives rise to Yin, and Yin at its height gives rise to Yang. It is these moving lines that make the resulting hexagram, which shows where the matter will turn.
The main hexagram is the one built from the 6 lines just cast, and it reflects the present state of the matter. The nuclear hexagram lies hidden inside it: lines 2, 3 and 4 make the lower trigram and lines 3, 4 and 5 the upper, showing what happens in between and the hidden factors at work. The resulting hexagram comes from the moving lines changing Yin to Yang or Yang to Yin, and answers to the final outcome. Only by reading all three layers, together with the Judgement, the Image and the text of the moving line, does the reader see a matter whole, from beginning to end.
Plum Blossom Numerology 梅花易數 is the celebrated book of casting by Thiệu Khang Tiết 邵康節 of the Song dynasty, which holds that everything carries number and that when the mind stirs, the response follows. The orthodox method of casting by number runs thus: take the first number and divide by 8, and the remainder is the upper trigram; divide the second by 8, and the remainder is the lower trigram; add the numbers and divide by 6, and the remainder is the moving line. A remainder of 0 counts as 8 for a trigram and 6 for a line. The eight remainders answer to the eight trigrams in Early Heaven 先天 order: 1 Càn 乾, 2 Đoài 兌, 3 Ly 離, 4 Chấn 震, 5 Tốn 巽, 6 Khảm 坎, 7 Cấn 艮, 8 Khôn 坤. Besides entering three numbers, this page also lets you cast from any string of numbers, a phone number, a national ID number or a licence plate, all reduced to the same method of dividing the trigrams and finding the line.
The ancients taught: do not divine when nothing has stirred, and do not divine when there is nothing to ask. Where a matter shows no sign, do not cast; where there is no matter, do not cast; and one matter takes one hexagram, not cast again and again in search of a fairer answer. Before casting, settle the mind, hold the question single-mindedly in view, and make the invocation reverently. A hexagram is a mirror held up to the times, to show when to advance and when to withdraw. The result on this page is for reference; for anything weighty, consult someone qualified to read it deeply.