I Ching · 6 min
How to Ask the I Ching
A sound consultation fixes one real question before the cast and does not rewrite it after the lines appear.
One question before the cast
Frame the situation concretely and in the first person: what do I need to understand, what deserves attention, how might I act more wisely. In OmenHall the question is sealed before a digital cast, so later interpretation cannot fit the lines to a rewritten question.
Do not chase a different answer
If an answer is unwelcome, first reread the source text and the circumstances of the question. This OmenHall practice echoes the warning in hexagram Meng about repeated inquiry, but it is not turned into an invented calendar ban: a new fact or genuinely changed situation may justify a new consultation.
Short checklist
- • Fix one question before the cast.
- • Do not rewrite it after the lines appear.
- • Read the source first, then the modern application.
- • Before repeating, ask whether the situation really changed.