Okay, so the other day I was messing around with this whole “I Ching” thing, and I thought, “Why not try to combine it with, like, love questions?” I mean, people have been using the I Ching for centuries to get advice, so it seemed like a fun experiment. Here’s how it went down:
First, I had to figure out how to actually do the I Ching. I’m not gonna lie, it seemed kinda complicated at first. There are all these hexagrams and lines and stuff. I watched a few YouTube videos and read some blog posts – some people use coins, others use yarrow sticks. I went with the coin method because, well, I had coins handy.
The Coin Toss
So, I grabbed three coins. I decided heads would be 3 and tails would be 2. (It really doesn’t matter as long as you’re consistent.) Each toss gives you a value for one line of the hexagram. You need to toss six times to get all six lines.
- First toss: Heads, Heads, Tails. That’s 3 + 3 + 2 = 8.
- Second toss: Tails, Tails, Tails. That’s 2 + 2 + 2 = 6.
- Third toss: Heads, Tails, Tails. That’s 3+ 2 + 2 =7
- Fourth toss: Heads, Heads, Heads That’s 3+3+3 = 9
- Fifth toss: Tails, Tails, Heads. That’s 2 + 2 +3= 7
- Sixth toss: Heads, Heads, Tails. That’s 3 + 3 + 2 = 8.
I quickly jotted them down.
Building the Hexagram
The tricky part is figuring out what these numbers mean. Basically, even numbers (6 and 8) are Yin lines, and odd numbers (7 and 9) are Yang lines. But there’s a catch! 6 is an “old Yin” line, which means it’s changing into a Yang line. And 9 is an “old Yang” line, which is changing into a Yin line. You build the hexagram from bottom to top.
So, based on my tosses, my first hexagram looked like this from bottom to top:
- 8: Yin line (solid line with a break in the middle)
- 6: Old Yin (Yin line with an “X” on it – because it’s changing)
- 7: Yang line(solid line)
- 9: Old Yang(Yang line with a circle on it-because it’s changing)
- 7: Yang line(solid line)
- 8: Yin line (solid line with a break in the middle)
Since I had changing lines (the 6 and the 9), I also had to create a second hexagram, showing the result of those changes. That second hexagram looked like this:
- 8: Yin line (solid line with a break in the middle)
- 6 Change to: Yang line(solid line)
- 7: Yang line(solid line)
- 9 Change to: Yin line (solid line with a break in the middle)
- 7: Yang line(solid line)
- 8: Yin line (solid line with a break in the middle)
I was like ‘what the…！’ and then keep moving.
The Interpretation (and the “Love” Part)
Okay, this is where things got really interesting… and also where I had to do some serious Googling. I found a few I Ching websites and books that helped me identify my hexagrams. Turns out, my first hexagram was number 51, “The Arousing (Shock, Thunder),” and my second (after the changes) was number 55, “Abundance (Fullness).”
The original question that I cast with the coin is related to my future love, so based on the result, here is my understanding.
Now, the interpretation is where it gets personal. I’m not going to share all the nitty-gritty details of my love life (or lack thereof!), but I will say that the descriptions of these hexagrams, especially in relation to my question about a specific situation, were surprisingly… relevant. “The Arousing” talks about sudden changes and shocks, and “Abundance” suggests a period of growth and potential. It definitely gave me some food for thought about how to approach things. It felt less like a prediction and more like a really insightful therapy session.
I am not sure that I’ll be doing this every day, but it was a pretty cool experience. It’s a way to tap into a different kind of wisdom, and it definitely made me think about my situation in a new light. I definitely wouldn’t rely on it to make major life decisions, but as a tool for self-reflection? Yeah, I’m into it. Maybe it could be my new hobby!
