Keeping an I Ching reading journal

Record the cast before explaining it

Start with the date and your exact question. Add only the context needed to understand it later. Then record the primary hexagram, the six coin totals in bottom-to-top order, and any changing lines and changed hexagram.

Those details let you distinguish two readings that share a primary hexagram but have different moving lines. If no lines move, write “none” for changing lines and “none” for the changed hexagram. You do not need to create a second pattern to complete the entry.

Keep personal names or private details out when a short description will do.

Keep the text and your response separate

A reading may contain classical source material, a modern rendering, and an interpretation connected to your question. Label the passage you chose to note, including where it came from. Then write your own response in a separate sentence.

For a hypothetical example, you might note that an interpretation mentioned preparation. Your response could be: “I connected this with the conversation I have been postponing.” Keeping those apart makes it possible to see which connection you supplied.

Record a disagreement or an unclear point too. You do not need to settle every phrase before closing the notebook. A useful entry can be brief and unfinished.

A template you can copy

Copy these prompts into paper notes or a private document. Leave fields blank when they do not apply.

• Date and time:
• Exact question:
• Context and facts known at the time:
• What I hoped or expected to hear:
• Coin totals, line 1 at the bottom through line 6 at the top:
• Primary hexagram:
• Changing lines, or none:
• Changed hexagram, or none:
• Passage or interpretation noted, with its source:
• My initial understanding:
• What did not fit or remained unclear:
• One action I am considering:
• Information that could change my view:
• Review date or event:
• Later observations, added with a new date:

Choose a concrete point to revisit

A review can follow an event, such as the conversation you asked about, rather than an arbitrary daily schedule. In the preparation example, you might decide to return after the meeting and write down what was discussed.

Describe observable results before interpreting them. “We agreed to discuss the schedule on Friday” preserves more information than “The reading was right.” Include what surprised you, what did not happen, and what remains unknown.

Keep the original entry intact and add a dated note underneath. That preserves the difference between what you thought at the time and what became clear later. A match between a broad phrase and a later event does not, by itself, demonstrate prediction.

Read across entries without forcing a pattern

Occasionally look for repeated questions or actions you keep postponing. If several entries concern the same unresolved conversation, the useful observation may be that the conversation still needs to happen.

You can also notice interpretations you rejected and choices that worked differently than expected. The journal can hold uncertainty without requiring another cast. Start with one entry you can reread honestly, rather than a rule that you must write every day.