[PaulHoule]

Personally I am attracted to the simplicity of the I Ching in that I can do a reading for someone very quickly in the field without a lot of explaining (off brand as-a-fox) so I pack an assortment of coins in my tail (ahem… backpack) though I am still looking for a second pocket I Ching so I have something other than Wilhelm.

[jackzhuo]

Love the coin approach for field readings!

regarding a 'second pocket' version: You absolutely have to check out Bradford Hatcher (https://hermetica.info/).

He is actually the biggest inspiration behind my development process. His work is incredibly deep, pragmatic, and distinct from the 'Christianized' tone you sometimes get with Wilhelm. He offers his massive 2-volume translation for free on his site.

I am actually considering digitizing his text as an alternative option on my site because his word-by-word matrix is just mind-blowing. Let me know if you find his style fits your 'field reading' vibe.

[PaulHoule]

That PDF is amazing but I would need some way to cook it down to get interpretations quickly. I'd like to be able to function electronics-free but I do pack a phone and tablet most of the time and probably the tablet is going to be part of another kind of field demonstration I do.

I find it interesting the directions that popular works and I Ching scholarship are going: on one hand there is the market demand for a system of fortunetelling that is more positive and on the other hand that desire to unearth the real text behind that interpretation -- and notably the Chinese language has changed so much in that time that a literate Chinese reader is going to struggle with it.

The important thing for me is something that is easy to run but still has a good symbolic and mythic quality to it. I don't really know how to run tarot for instance and don't really want to learn.

[gsf_emergency_6]

(Most literate readers will have access to a plethora of modern annotations)

http://www.issplc.com/upload/pdf/2025/06/13A%20Textual%20Stu...

>颐六三. This line means “Opposing the principles of nourishment; steadfastness brings misfortune.

As implied by

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46588660

So I Ching works well even for playing against the universe??

(When divination succeeds, credit the universe; when it fails, forgive the interpreter)

(Found that pdf while cursorily looking for a link between Tarocchi & Mongolian sheep bone divination, via either Mamluk or Marco Polo XD https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shagai#:~:text=is%20as%20part%...

Italian Romanis had no need for the 3rd use ;)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vowel_harmony

https://old.reddit.com/r/linguistics/comments/nrg00d/vowel_h... )

[jackzhuo]

That quote—'When divination succeeds, credit the universe; when it fails, forgive the interpreter'—is absolute gold. I might have to put that on the website footer!

[jackzhuo]

That 'hybrid' workflow (Physical Coins + Digital Lookup) is exactly what I had in mind for my 'Direct Interpret' mode.

I actually already have this live at: https://castiching.com/interpret

You can skip the digital casting entirely. Just throw your coins in the field, note the numbers, and plug them in there. It instantly pulls up the interpretation without the clicking.