When we put a question to the I Ching the response is, to a large degree, like shining a flashlight on the landscape of Change in which we are situated. The primary, or cast, hexagram represents our situation just as a map shows us the landscape around us. It is the changing line(s) which actually contain the advice, omen, or prognostication.
A changing line, if there is one, is like a pathway through the landscape described by the primary hexagram. It most often has an oracular charge such as, “the way is open” or “this is not a mistake”. The text of the changing lines advise on particular courses of action and their likely outcomes.
Some years ago Stephen Karcher noticed that if the transforming lines were combined with the tradition of fan yao then a circle of changes would be described that went beyond the relating hexagram. It effectively extended the oracular message.
Seeing that these paths were textually coherent he applied them to old readings where the changes and outcomes were known. He found that they gave astonishingly accurate detail, not just about where the changes were leading, but that they accurately mapped the steps through which the changes proceeded.
I have been using this method for some years now and it has consistently given accurate and detailed descriptions which far surpass the simple ‘changing line to relating hexagram’ technique.
For a fuller explanation of Crossline Omens click here.