Methods of
psychic divination are as old as humanity
itself, and their purposes are as varied as the methods themselves. Often
the purpose of serious divination is spiritual advancement, enlightenment
and finding insight and guidance that apply to personal situations and
issues.  The I Ching gives advice on the underlying spiritual influences of
a given situation and on the best attitudes and actions to take towards that
situation to bring about the most morally favorable outcome.

The 64 hexagrams of the I Ching are composed of all the possible
combinations of six lines; either broken, yin lines or unbroken, yang lines.
These six lines can further be analyzed into their component trigrams, the 8
possible configurations of three lines. The 8 trigrams, composed of all the
possible combinations of 3 lines, each have elements of meanings of their
own and combine together to signify the meanings of the hexagrams. Moreover,
the position of each line has its own significance, so we can see that the
seemingly cryptic glyphs of the hexagrams are actually densely packed with
information for those who can read them. Using the diagram of the Tai
hexagram, you can see that each hexagram is made up of 4 trigrams, the main
and more dominant trigrams, (upper) K'un, (lower) Ch'ien, and two nuclear
trigrams Chen and Tui. Meanings and influences from these four trigrams give
Tai its meaning, peace.

The 8 trigrams, composed of all the possible combinations of 3 lines, have
meanings of their own and combine together to signify the meanings of the
hexagrams. In the beginning, before I Ching was compiled in a form like that
which we see today, the trigrams were used alone in divination, but
obviously 8 trigrams lack the subtlety and richness of 64 hexagrams. In
fact, the 64 hexagrams can be combined further to create 4096 total possible
readings.

I Ching readings are traditionally performed using a series of coin or
yarrow stick tosses, though it has now expanded to card decks and even
software programs. An I Ching reading usually consists of creating two
hexagrams that represent the current condition, most desirable course of
action and a possible outcome.

While the I Ching, as a method of divination is very complex and involved in
nature, it is a very beneficial way to find answers to questions, new
perspectives and guidance, and enrich our spiritual lives as we gain a
higher understanding of ourselves and our destiny. 

 

Author's Bio: 

Jackie Williams has worked for as a manager overlooking the talent department for a prominent new age communications company. Later as the internet developed, she diversified her recruitment specialty to server global clients for a internet based spiritual network.
She attained her Master of Arts in Anthropology from Northern Arizona University and her BA from Hunter College.