1. Choose one real question
Ask about a situation in which your own understanding or response matters. Include enough context to make the tension clear, but do not pack several unrelated decisions into one consultation.
Questions beginning with “How can I…?”, “What should I understand about…?”, or “What deserves attention as…?” usually create more useful readings than “Will this definitely happen?”
2. Assign values to the coins
A common three-coin convention assigns 3 to heads and 2 to tails. Toss all three coins and add the values. The total will be 6, 7, 8, or 9.
- 6: changing yin—a broken line that changes to solid
- 7: young yang—a stable solid line
- 8: young yin—a stable broken line
- 9: changing yang—a solid line that changes to broken
3. Draw six lines from bottom to top
The first toss creates line 1 at the bottom. The second sits above it, and so on until the sixth toss creates the top line. Reversing this order produces the wrong hexagram, so record each result as you go.
After six tosses, the solid and broken lines form your primary hexagram. A lookup table—or a deterministic calculation engine—identifies which of the 64 figures you cast.
4. Mark any changing lines
Totals of 6 and 9 are changing lines. Their original form belongs to the primary hexagram, and their transformed form creates the relating hexagram.
Read changing lines as the most active parts of the situation. Their position matters: lower lines often concern beginnings or foundations, middle lines participation and responsibility, and upper lines culmination or excess. These are interpretive tendencies, not rigid rules.
5. Read in a sensible order
Start with the primary hexagram as a whole before isolating individual lines. Then read only the lines that are actually changing. Finally, consider the relating hexagram as an emerging direction or additional context.
Return to your question and translate imagery into observable conditions. If the text suggests waiting, ask what evidence would show that conditions are ready. If it warns about force, identify where you may be pushing beyond your role or information.
6. End with one proportionate action
A reading is most useful when it changes how you pay attention. Write down one condition to watch, one risk to avoid, and one reversible next step.
Do not repeatedly recast simply because you dislike the answer. Give the first reading time, gather new evidence, and consult again only when the situation or question has genuinely changed.