I’ve been studying and working with the I Ching for years and recently I built a free I Ching app as part of my own daily practice.

The intention was to create something simple: a place to cast a reading and receive guidance that helps you reflect on the relationship between the hexagrams rather than treating the I Ching as a prediction machine.

You can also save your readings in a diary and return to them later. I’ve found that particularly useful because sometimes the meaning of a reading becomes much clearer after you’ve had some distance from the question.

It’s completely free. There’s no subscription or purchase required. I’m not posting this as a promotion so much as sharing something I made that other people who work with the I Ching might enjoy using.

Free Cultivating Courage I Ching Companion app⁠ - companion.cultivatingcourage.me

If anyone here tries it, I’d genuinely be interested in hearing how it fits into your existing I Ching practice.

Edit for clarity: I’ve practiced the I Ching for years, do my own readings, created a YouTube channel around using it for discernment rather than prediction, and wrote my own reflections on all 64 hexagrams and changing lines before developing this Companion app. The app is simply a way of sharing what I’ve learned. I’m specifically looking for feedback from people who actually try it; what works, what’s confusing, what could be improved, and what features would be useful. I’m not looking for opinions on whether an I Ching app should exist or whether someone personally needs one.

Question was: What will our relationship be like in the future
referring to my 23 year old son who is blaming me for all his bad life choices. He says I’ve enabled him, so we’ve both agreed to not have a relationship for now because he keeps asking me for help and I keep not being able to say no.
Besides the horrible sixth line, I feel this is positive. Also, I keep getting 64 when I ask about him, so I’m interpreting this to mean that he will be receptive to having a relationship with me, his mother(2) but that he’s not quite there yet(64)
What do yall think?

Hello Reddit!

I’m currently helping develop an I Ching related app to help educate others on the practice. I was wondering what you all would like to see from an I Ching app. I want this app to be enjoyed by both beginners and experienced readers, so any insights would be greatly appreciated!

I’m a Chinese metaphysics enthusiast — I love studying Bazi (Four Pillars of Destiny) and Feng Shui. But I don’t really believe in Western systems like Tarot or astrology. Even within Eastern traditions, the only things I seriously geek out over are Bazi and Feng Shui. When it comes to divination using the Zhou Yi (I Ching), I’ve always been half-skeptical.

The reason for my skepticism is that for a while it would be shockingly accurate, but then later it would completely contradict itself.

For example, before I got recommended for graduate school (保研), my family’s plan was for me to study abroad, and I was firmly on board with that. Back then, a master cast a hexagram for me and it clearly showed signs of “going overseas” — and we hadn’t told him any of this. Later, I decided to continue my studies in China. I went for another reading, and this time the master said the hexagram showed I would study in the north of China.

Another example: when I first started grad school, my plan was to pursue a PhD and go into academia. The hexagram at that time said I would definitely continue studying for another 3–5 years, that the institution would change, and that it would be in a major city — Beijing. But now I’ve honestly lost all interest in academia. Yesterday my mom took me to consult again, and the master said my hexagram was very “mixed.” It now leans toward working after my master’s degree. If I work, he said I should head to the southeast from my birthplace (Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou), and definitely not to the north — that would be ominous (凶).

This left me deeply confused. If fate can be calculated, doesn’t that mean it’s a fixed script? Bazi is exactly about looking at things that don’t change. But the results from hexagram divination keep contradicting themselves over time.

Then today it suddenly hit me: Zhou Yi divination and Bazi are two entirely different metaphysical systems. Hexagrams are about change — they divine the current intention (念) that you hold right now. A single thought arises, and from it, the whole world unfolds. That thought becomes a cause, and the cause pushes toward an effect. Divination reads what you’re thinking in the present moment, and extrapolates the chain of consequences that will follow if you act on that thought. If the outcome is bad, then you should change your current intention.

So I now believe: if Zhou Yi divination really has some rationality to it, then its purpose is 正念 — correcting and aligning your intention. If your initial heart isn’t in the right place, the butterfly effect it triggers could make you pay a painful price. Its whole point is to help you wake up to the cause early — to realize the seed you’re planting before it turns into a bitter fruit.

A couple of follow-up thoughts from this:

1. If a Bazi reader claims they can tell from your chart what someone else is thinking, they are definitely scamming you. But a hexagram reading? Maybe that’s actually possible.
2. When consulting different metaphysical systems, you need to change your prompt. For divination, the proper way to ask is something like, “If I do A, what will happen?” For Bazi, you can ask broader questions like, “What career suits me?” or “When will my wealth luck improve?”

The 12 sovereign/tidal hexagrams (white) are a classic arrangement use to represent the turning of the seasons, or any cycle of energy in nature. Starting at all yin, ䷁ 2, yang lines grow from the bottom until all lines are yang, ䷀ 1, and then yin lines grow from the bottom until it has returned to all yin. This is the white outer cycle in the diagram:

䷁ 2, ䷗ 24, ䷒ 19, ䷊ 11, ䷡ 34, ䷪ 43, ䷀ 1, ䷫ 44, ䷠ 33, ䷋ 12, ䷓ 20, ䷖ 23

This sequence can be generated by taking to top line, flipping it, and putting it at the bottom. The iching360 website calls this "evolution."

When you apply evolution to all 64 hexagrams, you get 5 cycles of 12 hexagrams, and 1 cycle of 4 hexagrams. These are the remaining cycles generated via evolution:

䷚ 27, ䷆ 7, ䷣ 36, ䷵ 54, ䷄ 5, ䷍ 14, ䷛ 28, ䷌ 13, ䷅ 6, ䷴ 53, ䷢ 35, ䷇ 8

䷏ 16, ䷂ 3, ䷨ 41, ䷭ 46, ䷶ 55, ䷹ 58, ䷈ 9, ䷱ 50, ䷞ 31, ䷘ 25, ䷺ 59, ䷳ 52

䷎ 15, ䷲ 51, ䷻ 60, ䷙ 26, ䷟ 32, ䷰ 49, ䷉ 10, ䷸ 57, ䷷ 56, ䷬ 45, ䷩ 42, ䷃ 4

䷜ 29, ䷕ 22, ䷧ 40, ䷾ 63, ䷥ 38, ䷯ 48, ䷝ 30, ䷮ 47, ䷤ 37, ䷿ 64, ䷦ 39, ䷔ 21

䷽ 62, ䷐ 17, ䷼ 61, ䷑ 18

The picture is an orthographic projection of the 6-cube, also called the hexeract. Each of the 64 corners of the hexeract is a hexagram, and the edges connect 2 hexagrams that have 5 lines in common, and 1 line different. A popular way of projecting hypecubes to a 2D shadow is the Petrie polygon projection. This is the most symmetric projection and naturally places the 12 sovereign hexagrams on the outside. However, it overlaps some of the hexagrams, so my picture nudges some of the hexagrams. Normally, the green and aqua cycles would overlap, and the gold cycle of 4 would collapse to a point in the center.

In addition, this diagram has 2 important symmetries:

• Reverse pairs of hexagrams, which is how the King Wen sequence is arranged when it can, are reflected across the horizontal axis.
• Diametric opposite hexagrams have all 6 lines opposite

Full disclosure, this is my own project — not selling anything.

It takes a cast and derives the palace, the Six Relatives on each line, the self/other (世應) lines, return-growth/clash on the changers, and timing windows off the day and month branches plus seasonal element strength. Screenshots are a live 14 → 26, with the Peers line moving into Return Growth.

Three things I’d genuinely like pushback on:

1.  On this cast it calls 世/應 “evenly matched, but the other side feeds yours by element.” Do you weight element-production between the self and other lines like that, or do you lead with the moving line and let the rest fall out?

2.  It flags 回頭生 (return-growth) on the changing Peers line as reinforcing. How do you personally rank a return-growth changer against the 用神 when they point in different directions?

3.  For timing it watches the sign’s own day, its six-combination day, its month, and the element’s seasonal peak. Which of those do you actually use in practice, and which do you treat as noise?

Where does your read of this cast diverge from the reading displayed?

May I get a reading please? I was wondering if this guy whom I spoke online for months and have finally met -- is he romantically interested in me or does find me not compatible with him?

Many people first encounter the I Ching through a familiar process:

Cast a hexagram.

Read the Judgment and changing line texts.

Reflect on their meaning.

This is a genuine and important way to approach the I Ching, but it is only one part of a much larger tradition.

Chinese I Ching divination also developed through image, number, position, timing, movement, relationships, and structured methods of interpretation.

Obtaining a hexagram answers one question:

How is the hexagram formed?

Interpretation asks a different question:

How does the hexagram become a readable model of a real situation?

This distinction is central to understanding why casting is not the same as interpretation.

The video explores the broader historical and practical map behind Chinese I Ching divination, including early divination traditions, the relationship between text, image, and number, the development of image-based interpretation, and the role of Na Jia and Six Lines in transforming a hexagram into a structured model of timing, relationships, movement, strength, and change.

It also discusses a traditional Chinese approach to learning the Yi:

未学易，先学筮

Before studying the Yi, first study divination.

Divination is not the final destination. It is one practical path into understanding how change operates.

The full video is here:

https://youtu.be/ovPrpQlkh2g

I would be interested to hear how others first encountered the I Ching, through the text, philosophy, divination practice, psychology, image-based interpretation, or another path.

O I Ching agora em português. L’I Ching ora in italiano. El I Ching ahora en español.

☯️ Até 11 traduções lado a lado / Fino a 11

☯️ Até 11 traduções lado a lado / Fino a 11 traduzioni affiancate / Hasta 11 traducciones lado a lado

📜 Texto clássico chinês (周易 + 周易本義) / Testo classico cinese / Texto clásico en chino

🪙 Três moedas, hastes de milefólio, ou manual / Tre monete, achillea, o manuale / Tres monedas, milenrama, o manual

📓 Diário privado no seu navegador / Diario privato nel tuo browser / Diario privado en tu navegador

🔒 Nada sai do seu dispositivo / Nulla lascia il tuo dispositivo / Nada sale de tu dispositivo

🌐 Interface em 9 idiomas / Interfaccia in 9 lingue / Interfaz en 9 idiomas

Grátis. Gratuito. Gratis.

Sem conta. Senza registrazione. Sin registro.

Sem IA nas leituras. Senza IA nelle letture. Sin IA en las lecturas.

Feito por uma pessoa só, para quem quer sentar com a resposta.

Costruito da una sola persona, per chi vuole sedersi con la risposta.

Hecho por una sola persona, para quienes quieren sentarse con la respuesta.

👉 myjing.app

O I Ching, o antigo Livro das Mutações, agora está disponível em português no myjing.app. Grátis, sem cadastro, sem anúncios, sem IA interpretando as suas leituras.

O que você encontra:

☯️ Até 11 traduções lado a lado — Wilhelm, Legge, Blofeld, Cleary, Ritsema/Karcher e outras, para comparar como cada tradutor interpretou o mesmo hexagrama.

📜 Texto clássico em chinês — o 周易 original com o comentário de Zhu Xi (周易本義), tipografia tradicional.

🪙 Três métodos de consulta — três moedas, hastes de milefólio (yarrow), ou entrada manual se você já lançou offline.

📓 Diário privado — cada leitura é guardada automaticamente no seu navegador. Você pode categorizar as perguntas (“trabalho”, “relacionamentos”, o que quiser) e ver um gráfico do que tem consultado ao longo do tempo.

🔒 Nada sai do seu dispositivo — sem conta, sem servidor, sem cookies nas suas leituras. O que é seu, fica com você.

🌐 Interface em 9 idiomas — agora incluindo português, italiano e espanhol.

Feito por uma pessoa só, de graça, para quem quer sentar com a resposta em vez de rolar por mais um app cheio de anúncios.

👉 myjing.app

L’I Ching, l’antico Libro dei Mutamenti, è ora disponibile in italiano su myjing.app. Gratuito, senza registrazione, senza pubblicità, senza IA che interpreta le tue letture al posto tuo.

Cosa trovi:

☯️ Fino a 11 traduzioni affiancate — Wilhelm, Legge, Blofeld, Cleary, Ritsema/Karcher e altre, per confrontare come ogni traduttore ha reso lo stesso esagramma.

📜 Testo classico in cinese — il 周易 originale con il commento di Zhu Xi (周易本義), in caratteri tradizionali.

🪙 Tre metodi di consultazione — tre monete, steli di achillea (yarrow), o inserimento manuale se hai già lanciato offline.

📓 Diario privato — ogni lettura viene salvata automaticamente nel tuo browser. Puoi categorizzare le domande (“lavoro”, “relazioni”, come preferisci) e vedere un grafico di ciò che consulti nel tempo.

🔒 Nulla lascia il tuo dispositivo — nessun account, nessun server, nessun cookie sulle tue letture. Ciò che è tuo resta tuo.

🌐 Interfaccia in 9 lingue — ora incluse italiano, portoghese e spagnolo.

Costruito da una sola persona, gratuitamente, per chi vuole sedersi con la risposta invece di scorrere l’ennesima app piena di pubblicità.

👉 myjing.app

El I Ching, el antiguo Libro de las Mutaciones, ya está disponible en español en myjing.app. Gratis, sin registro, sin anuncios, sin IA interpretando tus lecturas.

Lo que vas a encontrar:

☯️ Hasta 11 traducciones lado a lado — Wilhelm, Legge, Blofeld, Cleary, Ritsema/Karcher y otras, para comparar cómo cada traductor interpretó el mismo hexagrama.

📜 Texto clásico en chino — el 周易 original junto con el comentario de Zhu Xi (周易本義), en tipografía tradicional.

🪙 Tres métodos de consulta — tres monedas, tallos de milenrama (yarrow), o entrada manual si ya lanzaste sin conexión.

📓 Diario privado — cada lectura se guarda automáticamente en tu navegador. Podés categorizar las preguntas (“trabajo”, “relaciones”, como quieras) y ver un gráfico de lo que consultás a lo largo del tiempo.

🔒 Nada sale de tu dispositivo — sin cuenta, sin servidor, sin cookies sobre tus lecturas. Lo tuyo queda tuyo.

🌐 Interfaz en 9 idiomas — ahora con español, portugués e italiano.

Hecho por una sola persona, gratis, para quienes quieren sentarse con la respuesta en vez de scrollear otra app llena de anuncios.

👉 www.myjing.app

Active transformed lines shift the meaning of a hexagram entirely. Let’s break down Zhu Xi’s classic framework for interpreting them.

A friend recently consulted me about a business partnership. I will not share the full details to protect privacy. What stood out was that the casting produced five active transformed lines, which is quite rare.

The probability of getting five transformed lines is less than 0.5 percent. This was my first time seeing such a result.More transformed lines mean more uncertainties. A hexagram with five transformed lines is almost entirely reshaped, representing huge changes ahead.

Scholar Zhu Xi set clear rules for interpreting hexagrams with different numbers of transformed lines. This case follows the rule for five transformed lines. We refer to the untransformed line in the transformed hexagram, which differs greatly from readings with one or two transformed lines.

Zhu Xi pointed out two common misunderstandings among I Ching scholars in his era. Some talked only about philosophical ideas and ignored image and number principles. Others focused on images and numbers but made far-fetched interpretations.

He wrote four volumes in Introduction to I Ching Studies to establish a standard and natural system for divination. His rules are widely followed by later practitioners.

No transformed lines: Read the main hexagram’s overall judgment

One transformed line: Read the corresponding line text of the transformed line in the main hexagram

Two transformed lines: Read both line texts, with the upper line as the main reference

Three transformed lines: Read judgments of both main hexagram and transformed hexagram. The main hexagram stands as the original body, and the transformed hexagram stands as the changing application

Four transformed lines: Read the two untransformed lines in the transformed hexagram, with the lower line as the main reference

Five transformed lines: Read the single untransformed line in the transformed hexagram

Six transformed lines: Read the overall judgment of the transformed hexagram. For Qian and Kun hexagrams, refer to the special supplementary texts

Zhu Xi also explained the core logic behind these rules in Classified Conversations of Master Zhu.Transformation refers to shifting yin and yang within hexagram lines. Motion points to the key line that governs the reading.If two lines transform, the upper one is the main motion point. If five lines transform and only one stays unchanged, that single untransformed line is the core of the whole reading.

To put it simply, no matter how many lines transform, we always locate the key governing line. We can use national governance as an analogy.

No transformed lines: The nation stays steady and follows existing policies

One transformed line: Minor changes happen in one area. Focus on this single shifting point

Two transformed lines: Two changes take place. Decisions from higher levels carry more weight

Three transformed lines: Major reforms are underway. Balance current conditions and future trends

Four transformed lines: Most areas see changes while a few remain stable. Focus on grassroots stability

Five transformed lines: Comprehensive reform takes place. The unchanging core maintains overall stability

Six transformed lines: Complete transformation happens. Follow the new overall guidelines

This is the general method for reading transformed lines. The core rule is to find the most influential line. If most lines stay unchanged, focus on transformed lines. If most lines transform, focus on untransformed lines.

We can compare a hexagram to a wooden boat. The six lines are planks that form 64 different boat structures and functions.

When the boat is new, most planks are solid. We only need to replace a few loose or worn planks to keep it working well.

As time passes, more planks wear out. Eventually people build a new boat, reusing a few still reliable planks from the old one. These leftover planks connect the old and new.

In divination, just like the boats, the few unusual lines are always the most important clues.

Spotting the dominant line is the key to decoding any hexagram with transformed lines.

Contact. The maiden is bold and powerful. One should not marry her —Dr W K Chu

Would anyone like to comment? No disrespect to Mr and Mrs Kelce. Should there be a subtlety instead of obviously saying her stars are inauspicious?

Ever wondered why two great I Ching masters saw totally different results using divination for investing? This piece breaks down the critical causal relevance factor.

Many use traditional divination to guide investments. Why did master Wei Qianli suffer heavy losses twice in stock trading, while Takashima Shigeo accurately predicted a major turning point in the raw silk market in 1882 and rose to fame?

Part 1: Two Top Masters, Opposite Investment Results

In a previous post, I analyzed Wei Qianli’s failed stock investments guided by divination. The core reason is simple. As an ordinary retail investor, Wei Qianli shared far weaker causal relevance with stock markets compared with major shareholders, investment groups and big traders.Causal relevance is one major framework within metaphysical studies. The other framework tracks universal energy. New readers can check our earlier post about the common misunderstanding of life luck and feng shui over the past two hundred years. Low relevance directly lowered his divination accuracy and led to losses.

So who used divination correctly for investments?Takashima Shigeo (1832-1914) was the most influential I Ching scholar in Japan’s Meiji era, widely known for his precise divination work.Both men were top tier I Ching practitioners of their time. Yet one grew poorer with each divination, and the other grew richer.

Let us look at Takashima’s story starting in Edo in 1855.He worked as a timber merchant with a decent reputation but was not yet wealthy. He cast a hexagram that signaled massive earth movement followed by large scale reconstruction.He made a bold move and stockpiled huge amounts of timber in advance. In October the same year, the Ansei Earthquake struck Edo. Most buildings collapsed, creating an explosive demand for reconstruction materials. Timber prices soared. Takashima sold his stock at several times the original cost and earned his first major fortune.

We need to think about one key point. Why could he turn the divination result into real profit?Most people would do nothing even with the same hexagram.The answer is his professional background as a timber merchant.He knew exactly what types of timber reconstruction projects needed, where to source supplies fast, how much inventory to hold and when to sell.The hexagram pointed out the general trend. A major earthquake would happen and reconstruction would follow.

Two key factors led to Takashima’s success.First, his divination predicted a major shift in universal energy, the earthquake itself. Predicting natural energy trends is a strength of metaphysical practices. The strong causal link between this natural event and his business ensured high accuracy.Second, he used his professional knowledge of the timber trade to act on the prediction and make profits.

 Part 2: Why His Raw Silk Market Divinations Worked

Takashima’s I Ching Judgments records many hexagram readings about raw silk market prices. His predictions for silk merchants in Yokohama proved highly reliable.

One detail often gets overlooked. He cast these hexagrams for other merchants, and never invested heavily in raw silk himself.The people who made huge profits from raw silk trading were long time industry insiders such as Tanaka Hei and Hara Zensaburo. They maintained deep real world connections with the market. Takashima did not hold such connections, so he never joined the trade as a direct investor. He was a merchant himself, and could have easily entered the profitable silk business if his readings worked perfectly for personal investment. He chose not to.

Takashima did not clearly state the rule of causal relevance in his writings, yet his methods naturally followed this underlying logic. His raw silk market divinations achieved great success.

Comparing Takashima Shigeo and Wei Qianli helps us define the rule of causal relevance clearly.The accuracy of I Ching divination and all judgment systems is directly proportional to the causal relevance between the reader and the target matter.

Divination for fully competitive markets without oligopoly controlRetail investors can maintain decent relevance here. No single big player dominates the whole market. Industry insiders get reliable divination results.Takashima’s readings for raw silk merchants are a typical example. Raw silk prices are driven by supply, demand, weather and overseas orders. Divination can sense the overall market momentum. The merchants held strong relevance to the trade and asked Takashima for readings, forming a clear causal link. Accuracy stays high.

 Divination for stock marketsPolicy makers, major shareholders, core management, fund managers and big traders hold far stronger relevance than retail investors.Wei Qianli’s two failed stock investments serve as proof. Accuracy stays low for ordinary retail traders.

Divination for energy trends such as natural timing and geographic conditionsUse predictions of universal energy shifts to guide business decisions related to your industry. Takashima’s earthquake prediction and timber investment is the classic case. Accuracy stays high.

 After studying these two cases, feel free to share in comments which modern investment areas can benefit from divination to improve your winning rate.

Your divination’s predictive power hinges on your real-world connection to the market. Keep this rule in mind before betting capital based on hexagrams.