How to Read I Ching Trigrams
The I Ching (Yijing) trigrams represent points on the compass, forces of nature and seasons of the year. There are eight of them comprising the central compass points. You can use them as guides if you know how to read them.
- Difficulty:
- Moderate
Instructions
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1
Remember that the trigrams are built from bottom to top. At one time, you formed a trigram by throwing yarrow sticks, but today practitioners use three coins. The various combinations of heads or tails indicate whether you draw a broken line or a solid line.
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2
Throw two heads and write a solid line. Throw two tails, and you write a broken line. Throw three heads and you have a changing solid line. Throwing three tails gives you a changing broken line. I Ching means "The Book of Changes," so the thrust of this book is that life is made up of constant change. Consult it with that context.
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3
Become familiar with the basic, intuitive meanings of each of the eight trigrams. They include Ch'ien, the creative; K'un, the receptive; Chên, the arousing; Sun, the wind, or wood; K'an, the water or the abyss; Li, the fire; Kên, the mountain and T'ui, the marsh, or lake.
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4
Use yarrow stalks, coins or even your computer to create your trigrams, building from bottom to top, while holding a question in your mind. Create two trigrams, the second on top of the first. Once you've done this, you have the hexagram that can answer your question.
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5
Consult a book on the subject to help you interpret your results. An excellent resource is that written by Wu Wei, published by Power Press.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Be aware that the interpretation of the trigrams depends, in part, on the ancient writings, but also on your own intuitive understanding of your personal situation.
