The I Ching in action: example readings

Getting to know the I Ching

The only way to get to know the I Ching is to use it. One real life question and answer is worth about a thousand commentaries! So here are just a few accounts of the I Ching in action. On this page you'll find some simplified I Ching 'anecdotes'; for more, and more in-depth examples you might be interested in:

Of course, browsing other people's readings will only ever be a pale reflection of receiving your own. Still, I hope they'll give you a sense of the possibilities. To make your own connection with the oracle, you might like to try the free online I Ching, or get in touch about my I Ching reading services.

Readings on this page

And an afterword about where these stories come from.

Should I go after him?

Joanne had met a wonderful man on her travels. Love at first sight, promises exchanged… and then she had to go home, and he - he said - had to stay for a while to raise some money before he could move to be with her. Stay, that is, with the woman he was currently involved with.

Back at home, without his reassuring presence, you can imagine how Joanne felt. The voices of doubt crept in, as you might expect, and she seriously considered travelling again to see him, and try to get him away from this woman. But first she asked the I Ching for advice.

The oracle gave her Hexagram 60, Limiting, changing to 29, Doubled Chasm. That second hexagram expressed how she felt - hurtling down a dark chasm, with nothing safe to hold onto and no way to see where she really stood. In such danger, the I Ching says, 'sincere and confident, holding fast your heart, success.'

Hexagram 60, meanwhile, is about the boundaries that define any relationship. And 'bitter limits cannot endure.' Could it really mean that she should not place this demand on him? On to the moving line:

'Not going out of the door of your rooms: not a mistake.'

How much clearer could it get? Staying at home certainly felt wrong, but it was not a mistake. She stayed put, preserved her dignity and showed some trust in him - and he kept his word to her.

Chu Hsi's Retirement

Chu Hsi lived under a hostile regime, but persisted in voicing opinions and publishing books that went against the prevailing orthodoxy. He wanted to bring out another book; his friends wanted him to play it safe. They persuaded him to consult the I Ching for advice.

Chu Hsi himself

The oracle answered with Hexagram 33, changing to Hexagram 37: literally, Retiring (33) to be with his family at home (37). 'Retiring' described how he could gain from adapting to the time and retreating from the situation. His opponents, it implied, were 'little people' whom he would do better to keep at a distance, rather than getting emotionally involved in antagonism. Line 1 described him as being late to retreat - like the tail of a fleeing animal. It would definitely not help him to pursue his purpose, but he could avoid harm provided he didn't try to advance. The fourth line showed what a wise man would do: retire with love and grace, frustrating his enemies and their pettiness.

Chu Hsi had always maintained that the I Ching's true purpose was found when people consulted it and incorporated its advice into their lives. He burnt the book that would have brought him into danger, and retired safely. He died in 1200AD.

Effects of the Millennium Bug

Remember the Millennium Bug? How the world was going to end in the year 2000 when all the world's computers failed? How long ago it seems…

Well, in late 1999, I was worried about the Millennium Bug. Not, I hasten to add, so worried as to sell the house and move to an armed stockade, but just worried enough to have bought a few bottles of drinking water and some tinned food. Was I doing enough? I asked the I Ching: 'What effects will the Millennium Bug have in the first months of 2000?'

Great Possession (Hexagram 14), it replied, moving to Hiding Brightness (Hexagram 36). Great Possession?? I was reading articles by 'experts' telling me that there would be shortages of everything imaginable, and the whole thing would be a major disaster. Hexagram 14 is possibly the most positive in the entire I Ching.

What about the moving lines? 'A great chariot for carrying. It has a direction to go. No mistake.' What, no air traffic control failures? And line 4, traditionally the place of the minister: 'He has no preponderance (or 'dominance'). No mistake. Intelligently getting things clear.' No government conspiracy to conceal the dangers? And finally: 'Protected by Heaven. Good fortune: nothing is not favourable.'

Utterly bemused by now, I looked to the Relating Hexagram, Hiding Brightness, which shows the light of intelligence hidden under the earth, not active in the outside world. The Relating Hexagram often represents the position of the questioner in relation to the situation of the Primary Hexagram, and I'm afraid that this was all too true here! I could hardly credit what I was reading. I stopped stocking up my box of supplies, but kept hold of them 'just in case'. It took me months to use up the last of my Great Possessions…

How should I promote the business?

I'd read marketing books, taken notes, written down lots of ideas about possible partnerships with others… and the result was complete confusion. How should I be promoting my fledgling new I Ching divination business? (Going back quite a few years here!) I was in urgent need of some practical guidelines, some sort of structure for this great mass of advice.

The reply: Hexagram 8, Grouping, moving to 15, Humility. One common experience in using the I Ching is that whereas we are quite capable of separating off practical problems from the deeper issues they might touch on, the I Ching does not observe these boundaries! Grouping is often a hexagram of moral choice - about making everything follow a central principle. It represents someone who stops moving for long enough to look at where they are, and think about where they belong. That told me at once that I needed to think about this carefully, and not just in terms of profitability - which, of course, was the only consideration in all of the books I had been reading about marketing.

Retrace your consultation to its source, the I Ching advised. Why had I asked this question? I realised that I'd been trying to quash a deep-seated uneasiness about this mercenary sort of approach. And looking at this in another way - why did I, or anyone, ever consult the I Ching? To get answers, help and clarity. Trying to persuade people who didn't actually need the I Ching's help to use it anyway would be utterly pointless.

'No peace, coming on all sides', it said - which described my state of mind, as I read everything I could lay my hands on about marketing, remarkably well. 'Taking responsibility (or just - 'coming') too late: pitfall.' I needed to get a grip and get on with things in a much more directed way.

There was more specific help in the Daxiang section, which described how the ideal kings of ancient China had brought help to their outlying feudal lords by establishing a network of cities - by implication, alongside the rivers. This re-emphasised the point of going with the natural flow of things, not against it; it also gave me the idea that marketing was more about establishing a community than broadcasting a message. A few years on, with the business on the internet and a lively I Ching Community attracting visitors from all over the world, I can see what this means in practice!

But it was the changing lines that were most revealing. One (line 3) read simply: 'Grouping with the wrong people. How can it not be hurtful?'. In other words, be careful about the people you go into partnership with.

The other (line 5) was a little more complex. As an image of grouping, it shows how a king going hunting, instead of using beaters to drive the game towards him on all sides, left one side open so that those that did not 'want' to be caught could get away. Searching for customers is like a hunting expedition? In its quiet way, the I Ching was pulling my leg (again…). Anyway, the meaning was pretty clear: don't try to 'catch' people who don't actually want to use your services at present; don't try to write such marvellous advertisements that people are 'driven' to buy. If this seems obvious to you, you haven't read the marketing books I'd been reading! To be honest, it was a relief to have 'permission' not to use those 'hard sell' tactics.

As to the relating hexagram, that was an admonition to be modest and accurate if I wanted anyone to respond favourably. (Not the first or last time I received it on the subject of promoting the business.) And the Inner Pattern of Change showed that I would change and move on through Polarising - through understanding what I was different from, and moving away from it. I could feel myself doing exactly that. In the whole answer, the I Ching was quite uncompromisingly plain - and it left me with a beautiful sense of relief and clarity.

Lost wallet panic!

Rod and Amy were staying in Kathmandu, and during an unbelievably chaotic and hectic day, he lost his wallet - containing all his money, his credit cards, passport - everything. Panic… They asked the I Ching what to do: was there the remotest chance of getting it back, or should they be hurrying to cancel the credit cards and get a new passport?

The answer was Hexagram 63, Already Forded, changing to Hexagram 5, Waiting. Waiting for what they needed was exactly what they were doing; the hexagram said they should do this calmly and cheerfully - hmmm… Hexagram 63 says, in essence, that everything is already perfectly in place And the moving line - 'The wife loses her veil. Don't pursue it. In seven days, gain.' The answer to their question could hardly have been clearer, though they couldn't be sure how soon they would see the wallet again - 'seven days' generally means 'in due course'. In fact, their taxi driver brought the wallet to their hotel that evening, with its contents intact.

Can this relationship have a future?

Rod and Amy had been together for ten years, but they had very real doubts about how much longer this could last. He was going through a turbulent time personally, questioning his own values. Could they seriously be expected to create a relationship, when it was hard enough just to cope with themselves?

The answer was Hexagram 40, Release, changing to Hexagram 64, Not Yet Across. Yet again, the second hexagram describes the present atmosphere all too well: not quite sure about the commitment, like a little fox not quite confident about crossing the river. Everything should be perfect (shouldn't it?), but everything feels wrong. Release was what they needed: it speaks of dissolving tension and breaking bonds, turning back from paths with no goal, but pursuing your real goals with vigour.

Hm - what bonds were these they needed to break? The advice from the Daxiang speaks of forgiveness, letting go the rules with which we make nets to trap one another. Maybe this was about releasing the expectation that everything should be perfectly ordered, and allowing the confusion to work itself out?

The moving line shows a dramatic image of a prince who looks up at the bird of ill-omen looming on the walls above him, and shoots it down. Then there is 'nothing that does not bring harvest.' It's a picture of someone aiming directly at their problems and conquering them. They did - and that relationship is still going strong.

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Where do these stories come from?

One place they do not come from is Clarity's customers. All those readings are confidential. So to find these real-life examples, I've drawn on my own experience, on readings shared by subscribers to the newsletter, and on published sources.

Click a flag to purchase the I Ching Made EasyOne of the best books for example readings, and the source of the 'Rod and Amy' stories on this page, is The I Ching Made Easy by Rod and Amy Sorrell. For a 'simplified version' of the I Ching, it's unusually good.


It's available for purchase online:

This book at Amazon.com ~ This book at Amazon.co.uk ~ This book at Amazon.ca