How to Consult the I Ching Using Marbles

The I Ching, a method of divination or fortune telling based on a classic Chinese Taoist text, involves casting coins or marbles and then reading them according to the meanings of certain symbols. Here's one way to consult the I Ching using marbles.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Cloth bag
• Marbles
• Paper
• "I Ching" text
• Pencil

1. Read the classic "Chinese I Ching" text. The "Book of Changes" concentrates on the attraction of opposites, and the persistence of change. Based on the Ying/Yang philosophy espoused in Taoist texts, find various interpretations of the I Ching at the Open Source Directory and in books about how to apply I Ching philosophy in everyday life.
2. Place 16 marbles of various colors in a velvet or cloth bag. Choose seven marbles of one color, five of another color, three of a third color and one of a fourth color. Keep the marbles at a 7,5,3,1 ratio.
3. Learn that each number represents a different yin or yang, either old or changeable, or young and secure. Shake the bag to mix up the marbles and concentrate on an important question about your life.
4. Pull a marble from the bag. Then mark the corresponding symbol on a piece of paper depending on the marble you've drawn. Young Ying consists of two dashes "--," Young Yang three dashes "---," draw Old Yin "-X-" and mark Old Yang "-0-."
5. Draw five marbles, then draw a symbol for each marble, placing symbols from bottom to top in a hexagram. Then mark a second version of the hexagram next to the first one by changing the "young" symbols to "old" ones, and vice versa, unless you have no "old" symbols.
6. Look at the "I Ching" text to interpret the results. Choose a translation that suits you before you draw the marbles.