The I Ching ( known in the West as 'The Book Of Divination'), is perhaps the worlds oldest oracle ( means of prophecy) and the most important book in Chinese culture and philosophy. It's origins are said to date back between 3- 4,000 years.  Rooted in oral traditions it only gradually began to formulate itself in to a written reference. Over thousands of years people have added observations and interpretations explaining the meaning inherent in the patterns that they have discovered. The modern I Ching is a result of 4000 years of observation.

The foundation of the I Ching is the relationship between the questioner, the question and the answer. The consultation process begins by your formulation of a real-life question, a significant question involving a problem you are facing or a decision you must make.  Every answer the I Ching gives is completely individual and personal

The basic component of the I Ching is a three lined symbol called the Trigram. Each of the three lines in a trigram can either be straight or broken. A straight line symbolizes Yang: A broken line stands for Yin

Meaning much more than just female/male, Yin-Yang are the Chinese terms for the basic polarities of the Universe. Yang is time, light, strong. Yin is space, dark, weak. Yang is the direction upwards, Yin downwards. Yang is the closed circle, Yin is the open angle. Yang is clockwise, Yin counter-clockwise. Yang is hard, resistant and tense, Yin is soft, yielding and relaxed.

STRUCTURE	MOTIVATION	IMAGE	ESSENCE	NAME	SYMBOL
1. Sense	Soft	Wind	Yin Sensing	Sun
2. Think	Attaching	Fire	Yin Thinking	Li
3. Feel	Serene	Lake	Yin Feeling	Tui
4. Will	Receptive	Earth	Yin Willing	Kun
5. Body	Keeping Still	Mountain	Yang Feeling	Ken
6. Soul	Danger	River	Yang Thinking	Kan
7. Spirit	Exciting	Thunder / Lightening	Yang Sensing	Chen
8. Aware- ness	Creative	Heaven	Yang Willing	Chien

Study of the trigrams can help you to understand Awareness and your states of consciousness. The I Ching contains sixty-four hexagrams, each representing a particular quality of time, action or attitude, which is explored in the collection of texts associated with it. When someone asks the I Ching a question, it is answered by one of the hexagrams.

The first three lines of the Hexagram, starting from the bottom up, representing the lower trigram  symbolize the inner world. The fourth, fifth and sixth lines represent the upper trigram and symbolize the outer world. The lower trigram of the Hexagram represents the attitude towards motivation, the upper towards intention. There are sixty four possible combinations of six yin or yang lines.

The I Ching is more than a book to be understood. It is a book to be consulted over many years and in so doing gradually building up an understanding of each hexagram. No translation or theory could ever replace this experience. Nor, in fact, can a collection of other people's experiences - but it can be an invaluable way to develop your understanding.

Instead of foretelling the future, the essence of the I Ching is to tell people what they need to do to bring their lives into harmony with the forces at work in the Universe.  In so doing it provides the knowledge of actions we need to take as we face the future.