Okay, so today I decided to mess around with the I Ching, specifically hexagram 43. I’ve been feeling kinda stuck lately, like a breakthrough is needed, and I figured, why not give this ancient thing a shot?
First, I grabbed my three coins. I don’t have any fancy yarrow stalks or anything, just regular coins. Heads is 3, tails is 2 – that’s how I roll.
Then, I started flipping. Six times, man. Six times I flipped those coins, writing down the numbers each time. It felt kinda meditative, actually. Just focusing on the coins, the flips, the numbers…it cleared my head a bit.
- First flip: Heads, Heads, Tails (3+3+2=8)
- Second flip: Tails, Tails, Tails (2+2+2=6)
- Third flip: Heads, Heads, Heads (3+3+3=9)
- Fourth flip: Heads, Tails, Tails (3+2+2=7)
- Fifth flip: Heads, Heads, Tails (3+3+2=8)
- Sixth flip: Heads, Heads, Heads (3+3+3=9)
Okay, so now I had my numbers. I had to figure out which lines were changing. A 6 or a 9 means a changing line. I got a 6 on the second line, and 9s on lines three and six. Cool.
Then I looked up how to build the hexagram. Bottom line first, then up. So my first hexagram was, starting from the bottom:
- Yang
- Yin(Changing)
- Yang(Changing)
- Yang
- Yang
- Yang(Changing)
I looked this up – and got Hexagram 43! “Guai” or “Breakthrough/Resolution,” I think? Sounds promising, right?
Because I had changing lines, I also had to get the second resulting Hexagram. Changing lines flip, Yin to Yang, and Yang to Yin. So, that made my second hexagram :
- Yang
- Yang
- Yin
- Yang
- Yang
- Yin
Looking that sequence up gave me Hexagram 1. “Qian”, which seems to be “The Creative” or “Force”.
Honestly, reading the interpretations was…a lot. I went to a couple of different websites, trying to piece together what it all meant. 43 seems to be about making a decisive move, breaking through obstacles. And then the change to 1, “The Creative,” feels like it’s saying to embrace that new energy, that new beginning.
So, did I get some earth-shattering revelation? Not exactly. But it did get me thinking. Maybe I do need to be bolder, to push through whatever’s holding me back. And maybe, just maybe, this whole I Ching thing helped me realize that. I’m not sure if I’ll do it every day, but it was definitely an interesting experience. It felt like a little nudge in the right direction, a reminder to trust my gut and go for it.
