The I Ching doesn't have to be impossibly complex or difficult--you can study the I Ching for a lifetime or consult it as you would do the Tarot or the Runes. You do not have to look at it like a Mayan Calendar. It's important to get a balance between books that 'tell you
what it means' in clear and unambiguous style, our main suggestion, would be to get the 'I Ching Workbook' by R.L. Wing and 'The I Ching Book of Changes' by R. Wilhelm.

'I have been using the I Ching for over 20 years now--and I am completely 'left brained' :) It has always been so 'right on' and precise as to my questions and situations--plus I love the ritual of throwing the coins.' I am never without them! -Lionheart-

I Ching Coins have been used for centuries as amulets to ward of evil and disease. They were often worn by children (one coin added each year until the age of 15) after being first placed on a deity for blessing. i.e. Laughing Buddha, Quan Yin. In Feng Shui, I Ching Coins represent the element metal and symbolise wealth. String together 3 I Ching Coins on red thread and place in the wealth sector, or place on accounts book or near cash register. Three I Ching Coins are used for reading the I Ching, by naming one side Yin and the other side Yang, and reading from the trigrams for ancientadvice on how to improve and harmonise one's life.

Coming Soon!

I Ching Coins and Handmade Bags

The I Ching or Book of Changes
by C.F. Baynes (Editor), R. Wilhelm (Translator), Cary F. Baynes
"More than just a translation, Richard Wilhelm's I Ching is a profound introduction to the Chinese world-view. The I Ching (Yi Jing) is recognized by both Confucians and Taoists as a foundational work, and Wilhelm shows why. He separates his work into three books. The first book is about the hexagrams--the meanings of the lines and Wilhelm's extensive comments. The second presents two early commentaries that interpret the wisdom of the divinatory text, also with Wilhelm's helpful notes. And the third book takes us back to the hexagrams for more detailed commentary from both ancient Chinese thinkers and Wilhelm. Wilhelm is able to offer such enormous assistance because he spent the better part of a decade in China studying under classically trained scholars. His love for the work is thus as broad as his understanding.
The I Ching was originally used for divination, kind of like palm reading or interpreting the stars. It differs from simple prognostication, however, in that it demands us, as diviners, to cultivate an understanding of the world and ourselves. Without this understanding, the text is useless, hence the value of the commentaries, particularly Wilhelm's. This version is not without its biases, of course--it is a European's understanding of the I Ching, through a late-Qing dynasty Confucian perspective, translated into English by a Jungian psychoanalyst. Nonetheless, it succeeds like no other." --Brian Bruya

I Ching Workbook
by R.L. WING

**I just ordered another copy of this today-mine was so ragged and torn from use --I will keep it forever though as it has 100's of hexagrams from 20 years ago--a journal--for sure..a remarkable tool I use with my Tarot and Runes."-Lionheart-**
"The 5,000-year-old Chinese book of wisdom, presented in a unique work-book format designed to help truth-seekers find new meaning and enlightenment in its ancient lore.
This book is indeed a Workbook for using the I Ching. There are so many books about the hexagrams, but not many go into enough detail as to how to really USE them from a practical perspective, and leave the reader to figure it out for him or herself. R.L. Wing's interpretations of each hexagram are more detailed than one usually finds. As the other reviews indicate, Wing keeps a impartial distance, however, and that requires the user to read between the lines to apply them to their own circumstances.
For each hexagram, he gives several paragraphs where one gives an interpretation if you're asking on a personal matter, another if the question has to do with career, another if your question is about family relationships, etc. For myself, I used it heavily when I found myself in a new job or with new acquaintances and found it to be extremely useful in navigating the political ups and downs and figuring out who to trust. I spent a while asking deeper and deeper questions into each area and it helped me to transform my professional relationships and find a more meaningful career.
"This book has a personality - I don't know of any other way to describe it. It has an astonishing ability to answer even the most direct and pointed questions with a relevant response and sound advice. If you have ever had the slightest curiosity about the I Ching or the Tao, you must have this book. I've replaced my copy of this book 3 times now, having worn out the previous ones. Be prepared - you don't read this book, you converse with it." (Amazon Reviewer)

Understanding the I Ching
by Hellmut Wilhelm, Richard Wilhelm, Cary F. Baynes (Translator), Irene Eber
"The West's foremost translator of the I Ching, Richard Wilhelm thought deeply about how contemporary readers could benefit from this ancient work and its perennially valid insights into change and chance. For him and for his son, Hellmut Wilhelm, the Book of Changes represented not just a mysterious book of oracles or a notable source of the Taoist and Confucian philosophies. In their hands, it emerges, as it did for C. G. Jung, as a vital key to humanity's age-old collective unconscious. Here the observations of the Wilhelms are combined in a volume that will reward specialists and aficionados with its treatment of historical context--and that will serve also as an introduction to the I Ching and the meaning of its famous hexagrams." (Amazon Reviewer)

The Legends

As legend has it, the wise Fu-Hsi taught Chinese soothsayers the art of I Ching interpretation around 3000 BC; however, there is no way to prove that claim. What we know, though, is that sometime before 1000 BC, King Wen and his son, Duke Tcheou, codified and wrote comments in a corpus known as the I Ching (translated as The Book of Changes), whose origin even in the past. Confucius himself, a few centuries later, wrote about an I Ching, not so dissimilar from the one we know today, commentaries which have survived to this day.
Although we cannot prove that the I Ching is the oldest book in the history of humanity, there is reasonable evidence that it antedates at least Homer and the Pentateuch. Respect for the I Ching has endured throughout its history: it was a pillar of Taoism; an inspiration for Chinese Ch'eng and Mahayana Buddhism; the I Ching is the ONLY book known to have been saved from the notorious "burning of the books" ordered by Emperor Shih Huang Ti some 2000 years ago; only the Bible, Koran, and Vedas can claim an influence on par with that of the I Ching.
In 1697, a French Jesuit missionary in China, Joachim Bouvet, introduced the I Ching to German mathematician and philosopher, Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz, who was amazed by the Book of Changes and its use of binary arithmetic, then unknown in Europe. Leibnitz spread the good word, and thus our civilization was first introduced to binary arithmetic, which is not only the cornerstone of the Book of Changes but also the language of all modern computers. Leibnitz was not the only great mind fascinated with the I Ching. Foremost among those who extolled its merit was no doubt psychologist Carl C. Jung, who saw in the Book of Changes the most perfect illustration of his own Theory of Archetypes and referred to the I Ching as "the most profound book ever to come from the East."

Brief History

There are two histories of the I Ching, the mythological and the academic, and they are both sort of muddled.
Historically the I Ching probably developed out of the earlier methods of tortoise shell and ox shoulder-bone divination, whereby a red-hot poker was applied to the bone or shell and the random pattern of cracks examined by priests who deduced the meaning.  In this there is little difference with similar forms of divination from the ancient mediterranean world.
In China however the the patterns of cracks inspired a more systematic approach in terms of geometric lines - i.e. the hexagrams.  Exactly how the jump from cracks to hexagrams was made is not explained.
After the hexagrams were deduced the trigrams were later formulated as a simplified and idealised theoretical underpinning (this aspect of the historical approach I believe to be correct)
Mythologically, the authorship of the I Ching, or at least of the eight trigrams, is attributed to China's first emperor, a mythological figure called Fu Hsi (or Fu Xi), also called Pao Hsi,  who was supposed to be half man half dragon, and lived about 5000 years ago.  One day he saw a dragon-horse rise from the Yellow River.  On it's side were markings, which were recorded as the Ho Tu, or Yellow River map. 

About 1000 years later, another mythical emperor, Yu (father of the first emperor of the Chia dynasty) saw a tortoise with similar markings on it's shell, rising from the Lo River. 
Yu interpreted the 4 directions and 4 diagonal directions of the Lo Shu in terms of the so-called Later Heaven (asymmetrical) arrangement of the 8 trigrams of the I Ching, and incorporating the four seasons and five elements.  It is said that the Earlier Heaven arrangement refers to the archetypal order of things before creation, whereas the Later Heaven arrangement refers to the order of change in the manifest world

Wen Wang (who flourished about 1150 BC) is traditionally thought to have been author of the present hexagrams.  He was a powerful feudal lord who incurred the enmity of the last Shang Emporer, Chou Hsin, and was sentenced to death.  While languishing in prison he meditated on the trigrams and combined them to form the 64  hexagrams, each of which he named and organised in their present arrangement.  He is also said to have written the basic text, thus adding moral counsel to the original divinatory function of the hexagrams.

After a year in prison Wen was released through the influence of his friends.  After his death the hexagrams were studied by his son, the Duke of Chou, who added his own commentaries.
Following Chou Hsin's overthrow, Duke of Chou, became ruler and founded the new Chou dynasty, giving his father the posthumous title King Wen.  The book they worked on became known as the Chou I - the "Changes of Chou"
In the 5th century Kung Fu-tze (Confucious) studied the Chou I.  It is probable that he and his followers added further philosophical commentary,and the work was incorporated into the Confucian cannon as the I Ching - the Book (or Classic) of Changes.

Additional Reading

The Complete I Ching: The Definitive Translation by the Taoist Master Alfred Huang
by Alfred Huang
The first translation to honor the authentic Chinese spirit of the Book of Change
For more than 3000 years the I Ching has been the most important book of divination in the world. Yet it has always been translated by Westerners who brought their own cultural biases to the work. Now, for the first time, an eminent Chinese scholar has translated the original ideograms of the I Ching into English. Imprisoned and sentenced to death during the Cultural Revolution in 1966, Master Alfred Huang studied the I Ching in secret with some of China's greatest minds. Released in 1979, he emigrated to the United States, where he discovered that no I Ching existed in English that truly understood the Chinese mind. This book is the product of his desire to right that situation.
To the Chinese, the I Ching is nothing without the Confucian commentaries known as the Ten Wings. Previous editions have given them only a minor place in the book, or have left them out altogether. In this new translation, they are restored to their central importance by Master Huang.
This book also emphasizes the intricate connections between the 64 possible hexagrams, and introduces several new methods for doing readings.

Tao Te Ching : 25th-Anniversary Edition
by Lao Tsu, Gia-Fu Feng (Translator), Jane English (Translator)
Scholars say that the original Tao Te Ching is a poem. Like a poem, this version of the Tao Te Ching is not meant to be read in one breath from front to back, but is to be at intervals internalized and contemplated. Jane English's haunting black-and-white photos that undulate in and out on every page act as glycerin elixirs, helping the words slide into our souls for patient digestion. The photographs--of a glistening spider web, cloud-enveloped mountain tops, reflections on water, leaves in the sunlight--are as serenely lyrical as the ancient text, itself.

Confucius: The Analects
by Confucius
Confucius is the one thinker most influential and instrumental in informing the Chinese tradition. The Analects, which is a record of the words and teachings of Confucius, is considered the most reliable source of Confucius' teachings. However, as he was looked upon as the founder of the Confucius school, his thought tended to be approached through the eyes of the Confucianists of a later age, particularly the Neo-Confucianists of the Song dynasty. This inevitably results in distortion of the original meaning. In this monumental translation by Professor D. C. Lau, an attempt has been made to interpret the sayings as they stand. The corpus of the sayings is taken as an organic whole and the final test of the interpretation rests on the internal consistency it exhibits. In other words, The Analects is read in the light of The Analects. It is hoped that this gives a truer understanding of Confucius' thought than the traditional interpretation and paves the way for a re-assessment of its importance in the history of Chinese thought and its relevance to the present day world. This volume also contains an introduction to the life and teachings of Confucius, and three appendices on the events in the life of Confucius, on his disciples, and on the composition of The Analects. Complete with both Chinese and English texts, this classic translation is an authoritative interpretation of Confucius' thought.

Tarot Decks

The Osho Zen Tarot Deck

The illustration in each card of this tarot deck is so expressive and well made that for the most of the time, all I need to do is to pick a card and pay close attention to its drawings. The stories are from different paths (Sufism, Islam, Hinduism, Christiantity, etc.), and each corresponds to one of the 60 cards ... except when the cards double up on a story to impress an opposite meaning. Not enough, the book that comes with it has great words of wisdom, and it gave me the most experience in interpretating each card. The set comes in a plastic box with the correct place for the cards and book. It looks pretty much like a VHS case with the cards and book organized inside. Also, the cards were made out of good material that make them last.
A must have for those who want to get in touch with your 'real or Higher self'. (Amazon Reviewer)

Osho Transformation Tarot

'Insights and Parables for Renewal in Everday Life'

The stories are from different paths (Sufism, Islam, Hinduism, Christiantity, etc.), and each corresponds to one of the 60 cards ... except when the cards double up on a story to impress an opposite meaning. This deck, as is the Osho Zen Tarot, is named for a man who loved to tell such parables to his followers, the Bagwaan Shri Ragneesh , a favored Tantric teacher of ours..(Pre-Oregon daze-of course!)
The cards measure 5.25" x 3.25", and are bordered with a grey pattern on the picture side. The backs feature an orange circle painting that is also shown on the box. The artwork is amazingly colorful and, while I've seen decks that are visually more appealing to me I will say that the drawings are very skillfully rendered and fairly often get across the point of the story. The cards are covered with a semi-glossy and not terribly slick coating.
This deck is probably one of the best divinatory systems I've ever had. The book is gripping, so as to not force memorization of the cards as much as to make reading them intuitive. (Amazon Reviewer)

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