As part of an ongoing research study into synchronicity, you are invited to participate in experiments to test whether people can correctly identify their actual I Ching reading. To examine this, you will be shown TWO readings. One of these is your actual (Primary) reading. The other is an alternative (Reserve) reading. You have to guess which of the two readings is your actual reading (they are shown to you in random order). Your readings and other information you select (BUT NOT YOUR QUESTION) are then automatically submitted, before you are shown the actual reading.

Choose either the Coin Experiment or the Yarrow Experiment, then type in your question, select the area of inquiry, focus your mind and click GO as with the standard oracles. Then follow the instructions given on screen.

You can carry out either or both experiments as many times as you wish.

I advise that you gain experience of using the standard I Ching Oracles before you attempt these experiments.

As an alternative to the Coin and Yarrow Stick Oracles, you can also cast a reading based on the current date and time. This is known as the "Plum Blossom Divination". The reading changes every minute. You may prefer to use this method if it seems that the present moment is somehow significant to your inquiry. Using this method, only 384 (out of 4096) readings are possible because there will always be exactly one changing line.

You can also use this method to cast a reading for ANY date and time. This is useful should you wish to examine the influences operating at critical moments in the past (e.g., births, marriages, deaths, battles, discoveries, starts of years, centuries or millennia) or future (e.g., meetings, interviews, and other scheduled events). For precise readings, you will need a time accurate to within a minute. As an example of this method, the primary hexagram for the detonation of the Atomic Bomb over Hiroshima (6th August 1945 at 08:15) is 36: DARKENING.

For a whole day reading you can use midnight as the time. For example, using midnight on 14th October 1066 (date of the Battle of Hastings) gives 29: DANGER as the primary hexagram. Another interesting synchronicity comes from examining the dates of the assassinations of John F Kennedy (22nd November 1963) and Archduke Ferdinand (28th June 1914). These both give a primary hexagram of 51: SHOCK (the readings are, in fact, exact matches). The death of Princess Diana (31st August 1997) also gives 51: SHOCK as the primary hexagram and the three part reading is extraordinarily apt. It should be borne in mind, however, that when using this whole day procedure, only eight primary hexagrams are possible and only 48 (out of 4096) full readings.

If desired, you can use the whole day procedure to obtain a daily forecast.