Use of gaming dice

[marihc]

Here are a couple of ways I've found to replicate the probabilities for casting lines using dice. Dunno if this has been discussed before, but I've found it easy to do for both the coin & yarrow stalk methods, using an 8-sided gaming die. These can probably be found wherever role-playing games are sold.

I guess it might not seem as 'authentic' to some, but feel that comfort with whatever chosen method is the most useful practice.

Emulating the coin method:
Roll the die once for each line. An odd number is Yang, even is Yin. A roll of 1 or 8 indicates a changing line.

Emulating the yarrow stalk method:
Roll two 8-sided gaming dice (or one die twice) and add the two resulting numbers to get a total. An odd total gives a Yang line, even gives a Yin line. A total of 2,4,7 or 11 indicates a changing line.

the probabilities-
The chances of generating a Yin or Yang line are equal in each method. Using coins, the chance of getting old Yin and old Yang ('changing') are the same: 1/8, and each individual line, be it solid or broken, has a 1/4 chance of being in a changing state.

With stalks, the chances are:
Old Yin: 1/16
Old Yang: 3/16
Yang: 5/16
Yin: 7/16
Here, the chances of being 'changing' differ according to whether the line is Yin or Yang. If the possible totals from two 8-sided dice rolls (there are 64 of them) are diagrammed, the instances of 2,4,7 & 11 have the same ratio of appearances as the probabilities listed above, *and* the ratio of remaining even and odd numbers (stable Yin and Yang) are identical.

That is, if I didn't fudge the math, or the little drawing I did.

Cheers.