Oracles

Bagua

Bagua means «eight trigrams»: eight figures made of three unbroken or broken lines, found in Chinese tradition.

How to approach it

The order of signs forms part of their meaning. Start with the structure and the names of its components, then compare interpretations without mixing different systems.

An important distinction

Their arrangements and correspondences depend on the system. A bagua diagram is not itself a hexagram or a birth chart.

An example to explore

Compare ☰, three unbroken lines, with ☷, three broken lines: two different figures within the set of eight.

Taking the idea further

In this website’s application: Each throw of three coins forms one line: ☀ counts as 3 and ☽ as 2. Repeat six times, starting at the bottom. Totals of 6 and 9 are changing lines; 7 and 8 are stable. The related hexagram changes only lines valued 6 or 9. The question is optional.

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