Welcome. ☯️ The I Ching answers best when you bring it one clear question. What is on your mind? When you're ready, toss three coins six times (heads = 3, tails = 2) and send me the six totals, or just say "cast for me" and I'll cast them.
Free I Ching Reading Online
Ask the I Ching a question and get a reading in plain words. Toss three coins six times and type the totals, or let the chat cast for you. It builds your hexagram line by line, names it, explains what it suggests for your question, and reads any changing lines and the hexagram they lead to. It shows every step so you can check it, and it is free to use.
How to get an I Ching reading
- Write one clear question. Open questions work best, such as "How can I approach this move?"
- Toss three coins six times. Heads count 3 and tails count 2, so each toss gives 6, 7, 8 or 9.
- Send the six totals in order, or type "cast for me".
- Read your hexagram, its changing lines and the relating hexagram, then ask about any line you want to explore.
How the three-coin method works
Each toss of three coins makes one line, and the lines are stacked from the bottom up: the first toss is the bottom line and the sixth is the top. The total tells you what kind of line it is:
- 6 (three tails): a broken line that is changing.
- 7 (one head, two tails): a solid line.
- 8 (two heads, one tail): a broken line.
- 9 (three heads): a solid line that is changing.
Example I Ching reading
Question: "How should I approach starting my own business?" Totals 7, 7, 7, 8, 8, 6, from the bottom up. The lower three lines are solid (Heaven) and the upper three are broken (Earth), which makes hexagram 11, Peace: a time when things above and below meet and work together, good for a steady start. The top line is a 6, so it is changing. It warns that good conditions do not last forever and that force will not hold them. Flip it and the upper trigram becomes Mountain, giving hexagram 26, Taming Power of the Great: gather your strength, prepare and build reserves. The reading ends with a question back to you: what would you put aside now for a harder season?
Changing lines and the relating hexagram
A 6 or a 9 is a changing line. It gets its own short reading, because it shows where the situation is moving. Flip every changing line (a broken 6 becomes solid, a solid 9 becomes broken) and you get a second hexagram, the relating or transformed hexagram, which shows where things are heading. If none of your lines change, the reading is the first hexagram alone.
The eight trigrams
Every hexagram is two trigrams, a lower one (lines 1-3) and an upper one (lines 4-6):
- Heaven (Qian): three solid lines. Strength and creative force.
- Earth (Kun): three broken lines. Receptiveness and support.
- Thunder (Zhen): solid at the bottom. Arousing movement.
- Water (Kan): solid in the middle. Danger and depth.
- Mountain (Gen): solid at the top. Stillness.
- Wind (Xun): broken at the bottom. Gentle, steady influence.
- Fire (Li): broken in the middle. Clarity and attachment.
- Lake (Dui): broken at the top. Joy and openness.
Good questions to ask the I Ching
- What should I understand about this relationship right now?
- How can I best approach this decision at work?
- What attitude will help me with this change?
- What am I not seeing in this situation?
FAQ
Is this I Ching reading free?
Yes, it is free to use. Type your question and your coin totals, or ask the chat to cast for you, and you get a full reading with your hexagram, changing lines and relating hexagram.
Can the I Ching predict the future?
No. The I Ching is best used for reflection: it describes a situation and suggests how to meet it. Treat a reading as a prompt for your own thinking, not as a prediction or as advice on health, money or legal matters.
How many coins do I need, and what do heads and tails mean?
Three coins, tossed six times. Heads count 3 and tails count 2, so each toss adds up to 6, 7, 8 or 9. The first toss is the bottom line of your hexagram.
What if none of my lines are changing?
Then there is no relating hexagram. The reading is about your first hexagram alone, which usually means the situation is fairly settled.
Can I ask the I Ching a yes or no question?
You can, but the I Ching rarely answers yes or no. It works better with open questions such as "How should I approach this?"
Can I ask the same question again?
Traditionally you should not re-cast the same question straight away. Sit with the first answer, or ask the chat to look more closely at one of its lines.
How is the I Ching different from tarot?
Tarot uses a deck of 78 picture cards. The I Ching uses coins (or yarrow stalks) to build one of 64 six-line hexagrams from an ancient Chinese text, the Book of Changes.