The three-coin method, from toss to hexagram
Three coins make one line. Six tosses make a hexagram. Keep the tosses in order and record the totals before looking up a meaning.
Set the values before you toss
Use three coins with two distinguishable faces, a flat surface, and somewhere to write. Decide which face is worth 2 and which is worth 3 before starting, then keep that assignment throughout the cast. Meow Ching uses text = 2 and paw = 3. With physical coins, you can assign those values to your own two faces.
Guides differ about which physical face receives which value. When comparing instructions, check the assignment instead of assuming that the word “heads” has one universal value. The arithmetic below uses Meow Ching's convention.
Write your question first. If you need help narrowing it down, use the question guide. The coin procedure stays the same whatever you ask.
Record each total from the bottom upward
Toss all three coins and add their values. The total determines both the line's shape and whether it changes.
| Total | Name | First shape | After change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Old yin | Broken | Solid |
| 7 | Young yang | Solid | Solid |
| 8 | Young yin | Broken | Broken |
| 9 | Old yang | Solid | Broken |
Record the first toss as line 1, at the bottom. Toss again for line 2, placing it above line 1. Continue until line 6 is at the top. Keep the numbers alongside the drawing: a solid line alone cannot tell you whether its total was 7 or 9.
Follow a complete example
This hypothetical cast includes all four possible totals. The rows show the order of tossing, so the first row belongs at the bottom of the finished figure.
| Toss and line | Coin values | Total | First shape | Changes? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1, bottom | 2 + 2 + 3 | 7 | Solid | No |
| 2 | 2 + 3 + 3 | 8 | Broken | No |
| 3 | 3 + 3 + 3 | 9 | Solid | Yes |
| 4 | 3 + 2 + 3 | 8 | Broken | No |
| 5 | 2 + 2 + 2 | 6 | Broken | Yes |
| 6, top | 3 + 2 + 2 | 7 | Solid | No |
The first pattern is hexagram 22, Bi, often translated as Grace. Its lower three lines form fire, and its upper three form mountain. The classical Image of hexagram 22 describes fire below the mountain.
Lines 3 and 5 move. Flip both: line 3 becomes broken, and line 5 becomes solid. Leave the other four alone. The resulting figure is hexagram 42, Yi, Increase, with wind above thunder. This gives one changed hexagram, not two successive readings.
Check your cast before interpreting it
If a lookup gives a different number, check line order first. Reading the toss list downward as though it were the drawing reverses the figure. Then check whether you flipped every 6 and 9 while leaving every 7 and 8 unchanged.
With six totals of 7 or 8, you have no changing lines. Otherwise, keep the primary figure, moving positions, and combined changed figure together in your notes. The changing-lines guide explains how to read those parts without treating the changed hexagram as a guaranteed future.