I-ching or The Book of Changes, is the most ancient form of divination known to man, and is our first attempt as humankind to use a tool in order to understand our place in the world and gain insight and messages from the universal energy around us.

It has been described as a map or guidebook to life's points of change, and its philosophy is rooted in the acceptance that nothing is static in life, that we all move with the ebb and flow of the energy around us, and that in order to have a fulfilled life we must ride the waves of change rather than be consumed by them. The creation of i-ching was a way of managing the changes and becoming aware of them to give us a sense of control and influence over our own destinies.

It has been associated with the sage Confucious who lived around 6 th century BC, and there are many debates over whether Confucious himself actually wrote the meanings and lessons in the i-ching or book of changes, or whether they were added by his followers.

The essence of i-ching reflects the Taoist beliefs that we are all part of nature and the universe, and indeed this reflects Western beliefs around the energy systems and the relationship between our own energy forcefield and that of the world around us. It centres around the concept of yin and yang, where yang is the Sun force; heat, light, masculinity, assertiveness, logic and action and where yin is the Moon force, feminine, receptivity, darkness, acceptance and inaction.

The symbols of each yin and yang form the methods by which divination is made using the book of changes, where yang is depicted by a straight, unbroken horizontal line and yin is represented by a broken horizontal line, or two dashes.

These two symbols are then placed together as triagrams, three of each on top of each other. There are eight triagrams in all and these are the key to creating the 64 hexagrams which make up the i-ching. Each hexagram being two triagrams taken together.

To cast the i-ching the ancients originally used yarrow sticks, or coins, although today there are many systems of casting the hexagrams, one method is to paint a yin symbol on one side of a stone or crystal and the yang symbol on the reverse. Selecting six stones/crystals making up a hexagram from which meaning can be taken.

The i-ching can seem highly complex to the uninitiated however once the concept of the triagrams and hexagrams are grasped it is a relatively simple way to integrate a divination system which is deep rooted in history, into your daily life. If you are interested in i-ching then the first step you need to take is to obtain a book of changes for yourself and read more about this fascination subject. Trying to recreate the meanings of each triagram and hexagram would not do this system justice!