The only digital I Ching experience that faithfully recreates the authentic 18-step yarrow stalks ritual. Not a random number generator, but a meditative journey with accurate ancestral probabilities.
For over three thousand years, sages and scholars consulted the I Ching (Book of Changes) using the ancient Dayan method (大衍之数). Our application is a precise digital reenactment of this sacred process, using 50 yarrow stalks to build a hexagram line by line.
The Observer (Tai Chi): The ritual requires exactly 50 yarrow stalks. Before beginning, one stalk is set aside and never used. This represents the absolute beginning—the Tai Chi—meaning only 49 active yarrow stalks are manipulated in the reading.
Heaven, Earth, and Humanity: The remaining 49 yarrow stalks are randomly divided into two piles representing Heaven and Earth. One stalk is held between your fingers, representing Humanity bridging the gap between cosmos and matter.
18 Operations: Over the course of 18 distinct operations—sorting and counting the yarrow stalks by groups of four—you slowly generate the six lines of a hexagram from the ground up.
You might wonder why anyone uses yarrow stalks when tossing three coins is much faster. The answer lies in the deeply sophisticated mathematical probability of the yarrow stalks method.
The coin method is symmetrical: the odds of getting a moving Yin (Old Yin) and a moving Yang (Old Yang) are identical tools (12.5% each). But the universe of the yarrow stalks is asymmetrical.
When you cast manually online with our platform, the app runs a precise probabilistic simulation reflecting these exact historical odds—ensuring your Oracle reading remains authentic.
If you do not have 15 minutes for the meditative yarrow stalks ritual, you can use the quicker Three Coins divination method instead.
Try the Three Coins Method →
Connect with the ancient tradition using 50 physical yarrow stalks. The tactile experience of handling the stalks can deepen your meditative state.
Explore Authentic Yarrow Stalks→"Fifty stalks, one held aside, forty-nine to divide."
