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Issue with coin method

jellyphish

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I must admit i am a bit confused. I have always cast the coins according to the first book i used R.L.Wing's "I Ching Workbook." In this text he states that young yang consists of two heads and one tail, the rationale being that yang is dominant in it static form. Of course, then young yin is two tails and one head.
Now today i am reading Karcher's text, certainly the more authoratative and it states the exact opposite, that two tails and one head is actually young yang, this appears to be the more oft used method. Yet he does not state the rationale behind this, nor i have yet found anyone address this issue.
It would make sense to say that of the three coins whichever is the dominant should be the representation of the line, but then we see the "trigrams as a family" with fire, a typically yang element (with two solid lines) represented as the middle daughter and water/stream (with two broken lines) as middle son.
In all frankness, this does not make sense to me and is not how i have approached the I all these years, and yet i also want to be consistent and honor how the oracle has been divined in the past.
If anyone has information and hopefully historical texts that address this issue i would be most grateful.
 

Sparhawk

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Hi there,

Do yourself a favor and forget about the argument of tails and heads for coins. Just stick to what you've been doing. I would further add that is, IMHO, wrong to think in terms of tails and heads. The querent should think in numbers (2 & 3) and assign those, in the beginning of their studies, to the coin faces and stick to that choice for the duration of their studies (a lifetime, for many).

With numbers you only need to add them:

6 is Old Yin
7 is Young Yang
8 is Young Yin
9 is Old Yang
 

fkegan

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Hi Jellyfish and Luis,

The Yi Oracle is capable of dealing with any choice folks make. Some folks see the head of a coin as Yang. Others see the other side with the value of the coin as Yang. Some coins like the U.S. state commemorative quarters put all that on the head side to allow the other side for the state artwork.

You must choose which side of Your coins you declare Yang value 3 and which side Yin value 2. That choice will determine your result. The value of the line is a gestalt figure/ground matter. Two coins the same form the background, the third coin is the focus. If the unique or focus coin is different from the others it is a stable or young line of that focus kind. If all three are the same, it must be that kind of line, but unstable or moving.

You are free to either maintain your tradition or after serious consideration decide to take a new principled stand changing your protocol in whatever way you decide is suitable. The flexibility of the Oracle Spirit is remarkable.

Regards,
Frank
 

jellyphish

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Issue with coin method cont.

Thank you for your replies.
The issue is yes, which side is which and then how to apply the dominance.
It is that western mindset of the presumption of a "right" and a "wrong" method that is troubling.
For me however, the question arose because i was setting to introduce the text to my apprentices who are studying Chinese medicine with me, of course i want to offer them the text as it is generally practiced, and this was the route that i did decide on, though i explained that there are different manners of deciphering the fall of the coins.
As it happens we as a group will explore the different methods (including the two coin method, and marble method, both of which i have just been introduced to) including the yarrow stalk method which many feel is the only proper manner to approach the oracle (at least mathematically).
Cheers, Tymothy
 

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