1. What "Casting" Actually Produces
A hexagram is a stack of six lines, each solid (yang) or broken (yin). Casting is the process of generating those six lines one at a time, bottom to top, using a randomizing method. The result points you to one of the 64 hexagrams — and, if any lines are "changing," to a second relating hexagram as well.
Two methods are traditional: the quick three-coin method and the older, slower yarrow-stalk method. Both produce the same kind of result — six line values of 6, 7, 8 or 9 — but they differ in how often a line changes, which we'll cover below.
The four line values
Every line comes out as 6, 7, 8 or 9. Odd totals (7, 9) are solid lines; even totals (6, 8) are broken. The "old" values (6 and 9) are changing lines; the "young" values (7 and 8) are stable.
Casting doesn't predict an outcome — it selects a passage. The reflection you bring to that passage is the real work.
2. The Three-Coin Method, Step by Step
This is the most common modern method — fast, simple, and needing only three coins. Here is the full sequence:
1. Settle on one question
Phrase an open, reflective question — "How can I approach this decision?" works better than "Will X happen?" Hold it in mind before you start.
2. Assign the coin values
Decide which face is 2 and which is 3 (commonly tails = 2, heads = 3), and keep that convention for the whole reading. Any three similar coins work.
3. Toss three coins, six times
Each toss of all three coins makes one line. Add the three face values to get a total of 6, 7, 8 or 9.
4. Build from the bottom up
The first toss is line 1 at the bottom; the sixth toss is line 6 at the top. Record all six totals in casting order.
5. Draw the hexagram
Turn each total into a solid (7, 9) or broken (6, 8) line. Mark the 6s and 9s — those are your changing lines.
6. Find it in a hexagram table
Identify the six-line figure in a reliable reference, then read its text. If lines change, derive the relating hexagram too.
3. Reading the Coin Totals
With tails = 2 and heads = 3, each toss of three coins totals between 6 and 9. This table converts the total into a line:
| Coins thrown | Value | Line | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 tails (2+2+2) = 6 | 6 | Old yin — broken, changing | A broken line that will change to solid |
| 2 tails 1 head (2+2+3) = 7 | 7 | Young yang — solid, stable | A solid line that stays as it is |
| 1 tail 2 heads (2+3+3) = 8 | 8 | Young yin — broken, stable | A broken line that stays as it is |
| 3 heads (3+3+3) = 9 | 9 | Old yang — solid, changing | A solid line that will change to broken |
If you assign heads = 2 and tails = 3 instead, the probabilities are identical — just keep one convention for the whole casting. For how changing lines turn your primary hexagram into a relating one, see our dedicated guide linked at the end.
Each total encodes two things at once: whether the line is solid or broken, and whether it changes.
4. The Yarrow-Stalk Method (The Older Way)
Before coins, readings were cast with 50 yarrow stalks through a lengthy counting ritual repeated to build each line. It takes far longer — often 20–30 minutes for a full hexagram — which practitioners traditionally valued as a meditative, focusing process rather than a quick answer.
The key practical difference: probability
The two methods do not produce lines with the same odds. With three coins, each changing line (6 or 9) and each stable line (7 or 8) has its own fixed, fairly balanced chance.
The yarrow-stalk method is skewed differently — in particular, old yang (9) comes up more often than old yin (6), so the mix of changing lines is not the same as with coins. If the exact distribution of changing lines matters to your practice, that's the reason some readers prefer the stalks.
For everyday study, the three-coin method is perfectly valid and far more practical. The yarrow method is worth knowing as the historical root — and for the slower, more deliberate experience it creates.
Coins and stalks reach the same 64 hexagrams by different odds — the stalks are slower and weight the changing lines differently.
5. How to Record a Reading
Good notes turn a one-off toss into a practice you can learn from. For each reading, write down:
- 📝 The date and your exact question, worded before casting
- 🪙 Your coin convention (which face was 2, which was 3)
- 🔢 The six totals in casting order, bottom to top
- ☯️ The primary hexagram, the changing-line positions, and the relating hexagram
- 💭 Your first interpretation — kept separate from the translation's actual words
Revisiting old readings later — including the parts that didn't fit — is the fastest way to sharpen your judgment and avoid reading your hopes into the text.
6. Common Beginner Mistakes
❌ Building the hexagram top-down
The first toss is always the bottom line. Numbering a drawn figure from the top produces a different, wrong hexagram.
❌ Recasting until you like the answer
Ask once per question. Repeated casting in search of a better result turns reflection into reassurance-seeking.
❌ Treating a reading as a fixed forecast
The I Ching maps a present situation and its tendencies — it is not a dated prediction of events, and should never drive medical, legal, financial or safety decisions.
7. Use AI as a Reflection Partner
Once you've cast and recorded a reading, Prism's AI reader can be a useful partner for exploring the underlying life question in conversation.
A note on scope: this is an educational guide, not an English-site casting tool — do your casting by hand with coins or stalks. Treat AI conversation as discussion, not as an authoritative translation or a verified hexagram calculation, and always check your line numbers against a reliable source.