Lost Secrets of Yarrow Stalks Divination in King Wen I Ching.
Dr Ong Hean Tatt, Ph.D.. 16 Octobery 2019.

Millennia old secrets finally broken!
If there is one ancient text many scholars would like to understand, it is the King Wen I Ching.

Mystery of the Yarrow Stalks

Our deep comprehensive research has finally broken the code of the King Wen I Ching! (see preview article) Here, we look at the mystery of the yarrow stalks technique associated with the King Wen I Ching. Like the great confusion over what is King Wen I Ching, there is also much confusion about the yarrow stalks method.

King Wen I Ching remains a mysterious secret which attracts countless minds.

• I stepped into the dark of the ramshackle hillside temple... The priest, however, was in a chatty mood. 'Where do you come from?' he asked me in Chinese. 'England,' I told him.
  He smiled. One of his front teeth was missing. 'What are you doing in China?' I told him I was writing a book.
  'A book about China?' he asked.
  I hesitated. I had heard the old joke several times now. When foreigners come to China for a month or two, they go home and write a book. When they have been there for several months more, they write an article. If they have lived in China for more than a year, they end up writing nothing. I was in China for only a couple of months. I hesitated about what to say, then I decided I might as well tell him. 'It is about the I Ching,' I said. 'I am writing a book about the I Ching.'
  (Aeon Media Group Ltd. 2019. The uncertainty machine. https://aeon.co/essays/forget-prophecy-the-i-ching-is-an-uncertainty-machine. emphasis mine)

In writing this article, I am amused at the many books on the I Ching on my bookshelf. There is a sense of desperation in these books, as writers gasped in trying to unveil the secrets of the I Ching. Alas, as some of my students would say, these books do not help to clear up the confusion. One student said, "It is the blind leading the blind".

The main reason why so many failed to penetrate the King Wen I Ching is that these many do not have good knowledge of the Chinese ancient history and culture. So, the trouble is that these people, having so little knowledge, can be pretentious in their views about the King Wen I Ching.

Almost all the so-called practical but misleading applications of the I Ching boiled down to casting the yarrow stalks or coins to obtain an hexagram which would magically reveal everything. This is an end result of the inability to understand the I Ching. One university Chinese professor told me, "Those who do not understand degraded the I Ching into a fortune telling thing."

Confucius referred to the yarrow stalks in his laborious commentaries on the King Wen I Ching. But Confucius did not elaborated there on how the yarrow stalks were used. So, every Tom Dick and Harry peddled their versions.

Yarrow Stalks Method Cannot be Used by Itself
but is part of a "Five Factors" Evaluation

The curious thing is that Confucius did left behind an ancient text which explains how the yarrow stalks were used. Many, not studying the Chinese ancient texts, would cook up all sorts of meaningless nonsense about the King Wen I Ching, including what is the yarrow stalks method.

The Shu King, as below, describes a high level imperial consultation to deal with any great matter.

• vii. 'Seventh, of the (means for the) examination of doubts ... 'When you have doubts about any great matter, consult with your own mind; consult with your high ministers and officers; consult with the common people; consult the tortoise-shell and divining stalks... (Confucius. circa 550 BC. Shû King, Part 5, Book 4: Great Plan, Hóng Fàn)

The yarrow stalks were used in conjunction with evaluation of four other factors. There were discussions among three groups of people and these discussions took into account the prognostication of the tortoise and the stalks. That is, the yarrow stalks divination was not meant to be made by itself but in conjunction with an evaluation using five factors.

We will not discuss here the matrix of these "Five Factors", which can be learn through our course.

Oracles Consulted Only During Sacred Periods

It is also ill-recognised that such a high level imperial consultation would be made only during certain sacred periods of the year. The King Wen I Ching refers many times to divination. Careful readings of the context would show that these divinations would be carried out during the sacred festivals!

The ancient cultures usually undertook the great oracles only during certain sacred periods of the year, like the Greek Delphi Oracle:

• Keeping an exact calendar was important to schedule Delphic festivals. The proper day for a prophecy involved a meticulous calculation, which was carried out by learned priests and ancient philosophers. The month of Bysios on average is February, but in reality it could be any 30-day interval between January and March. Bysios starts with a New Moon, but the beginning of the month is not easily pinpointed and thus Bysios and the 7th day for giving an oracle cannot be identified according to the Gregorian calendar. (Ioannis Liritzis and Belén Castro. Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 16(2), 184-206 (2013). DELPHI AND COSMOVISION: APOLLO'S ABSENCE AT THE LAND OF THE HYPERBOREANS AND THE TIME FOR CONSULTING THE ORACLE )

The Shu King also spells out certain prerequisites for undertaking the yarrow stalks divination.

• In China and with some practitioners in the West the traditional ritual of approaching the oracle is begun by facing the south, the Book of Changes in front of one, with a small incense tray and a receptacle nearby to hold the yarrow stalks. After prostrating himself to the ground the enquirer begins by burning some incense. Then he takes the fifty yarrow stalks and holds them horizontally in his right hand, passing them three times through the incense smoke, rotating them clockwise. During this ritual the questioner should be mentally repeating his question to himself. The greater and more perfect his concentration, the better he will be able to communicate with the oracle. (James Legge, tr. [1899]. The I Ching. Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16)

James Legge stated, "the I-Ching is not approached for an oracle frivolously," (James Legge, tr. [1899]. The I Ching. Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16). But that is what is happening today, that every Tom Dick Harry just try to cast the yarrow stalks or coins for the "magic" hexagrams.

Further Insights about Sacred Timing

Further insights may be obtained by studying the passage in The Great Appendix (Ta Chuan) reads like this:

• "The numbers of the Great Expansion make 50, of which only 49 are used in divination. The sticks are divided into two heaps to represent heaven and earth. One is then taken from the heap on the right and placed between the little finger of the left hand and the next, that there may thus be symbolized the three powers, heaven, earth and man. The heaps on both sides are manipulated by fours to represent the four seasons; and then the remainders are returned, and placed between the two middlefingers of the left hand, to represent the intercalary month. In five years there are two intercalations, and therefore there are two operations; and afterwards the whole process is repeated." (IX - 3) There are clues in this paragraph as to what "50" is fifty of. Notice the terms "heaven," "earth," "four seasons," and "intercalary month." The author of the Ta Chuan is thinking in terms of the cosmic process in the cycle of the year. (LiSe. 2000.I Ching, Yijing or Zhou Yi "Oracle of the moon": © 2000. https://www.yijing.nl/YiMagic/yarrow.html)

Yes, the commentator is right about "thinking in terms of the cosmic process in the cycle of the year". The Ta Chuan text indicates that the use of the yarrow stalks divination was related to the four seasons. They indicate that the time to perform the yarrow stalks divination was likely the seasonal festival. The reference to the "intercalation" indicates a seasonal timing regulated by the moon phases, either the new or full moon - the full moon being mentioned in the King Wen I Ching.

The Psychoactive Essential

There are also reasons, not explained in the Shu King, why the yarrow stalks were used. In trying to hasten the divination process, many have foolishly resorted to the three coins method to select the hexagram.

In ancient Europe, the druids would cast the rune sticks to forecast the future. Similar to the trigrams of the I Ching, three rune sticks would be cast. The left rune stick tells of the person, the second middle stick the problem and the right rune stick the solution. Well, the rune sticks had to be made of wood from certain plants. In the case of the druids, the rowan tree was a favorite.

Why the rowan?

The bark of rowan, also known as the "mountain ash, contains sorbic acid (2-4-hexadecenoic acid) which enhances substances which regulate hallucinogenic symptoms:

• A mountain ash branch, known as Thor's rod, was used as a fertility reedy for cows... This may be one explanation as to why mountain ash is considered as an aphrodisiac... In North America, the American ash or white ash ... which is related to the European ash, is also thought to be an aphrodisiac. Its seeds are eaten for sexual stimulation (Christian Rätsch, Claudia Müller-Ebeling. 2013. The Encyclopedia of Aphrodisiacs: Psychoactive Substances for Use in Sexual ... https://books.google.com.my/books? ... )

  Native Americans used a wide range of herbs to treat psychological ailments. Sorbus americana is used by the Alconquin Indians to treat depression, grief and loneliness. (from Dr. Stefanie Schwartz. 2005. Psychoactive Herbs in Veterinary Behavior Medicine. https://books.google.com.my/books? ...)

  Sorbic and benzoic acid and derivatives thereof enhance the activity of a neuropharmaceutical. Abstract Methods and compositions are provided for treating neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, attention deficit disorder, mild cognitive impairment, dementia, and bipolar disorder. The methods entail administering to a patient diagnosed as having a neuropsychiatric disorder (e.g., schizophrenia, depression, attention deficit disorder, mild cognitive impairment, dementia bipolar disorder, etc.) or as at risk for a neuropsychiatric disorder a benzoic acid, benzoic acid salt, and/or benzoic acid derivative, and/or a sorbic acid, sorbic acid salt, and/or sorbic acid derivative, in combination with a neuropharmacological agent (e.g., an antipsychotic, an antidepressant, medications for attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, cognitive impairment, or dementia, etc.) where the benzoic acid, benzoic acid salt, or benzoic acid derivative, and/or a sorbic acid, sorbic acid salt, and/or sorbic acid derivative, is in an amount sufficient to increase the efficacy of the neuropharmacological agent. (https://patents.google.com/patent/EP2389187A1)

The rowan plant material caused the druid to have psychedelic hallucination! The divination requires some boost from psychoactive plant compounds. This is why the yarrow stalks were used in the divination of the I Ching - for these plants are also psychoactive:

• I try to harvest premium yarrow blossoms in early morning before the hot summer sun cooks out their lighter volatiles. My favorite places are steep north and northwest-facing seaside slopes where onshore breezes provide plenty of soil trace elements for abundant secondary metabolite production in Yarrow.
  One particularly fine day whilst harvesting Yarrow on a steep talus slope above the sea, I felt suddenly quite giddy. The feeling resembled benign sunstroke; however, I had been harvesting in complete cliff shade for 3 hours. Involuntarily I sat down and happily laid back into several ancient Yarrow clumps with 3-foot stalks and huge flat umbels 8-10 inches across. Their delicious odors smothered me. As I looked up and all around, all I could see was Yarrow and blue sky. Paradise.

  After about 20 minutes I was startled and alarmed to hear my aluminum skiff banging on the rocks far below from the rising tide; harvester's consciousness cancelled my wonderful Yarrow euphoria. I wondered what had happened. Was it TIA , dehydration, sunstroke (no sun), Alzheimer's? Lightheaded, I carefully assembled my harvest bags and slowly descended to my skiff and rowed back to the distal road end.
  I mentioned this experience to Brian Wiessbuch, acupuncturist and herbalist. He told me: "Ryan, mark those plants well and harvest them for me next year. The huge flower size indicates that these Yarrow plants are probably polyploids, probably 4X or even 8X. Such plants tend to produce much larger amounts of unusual and psychotropic substances than the usual diploid (2X) plants."
  Apparently, several hours of harvesting had resulted in significant percutaneous molecular movement of Yarrow-sourced mood and mind-altering substances into my hands and arms. Similar percutaneous molecular passage probably occurs during the prolonged handling of Yarrow flower stalks (harvested whilst green with half-ripe flowers on top) during the ritual Yarrow stalk sorting associated with the consultation of the I Ching, a Chinese book of divination. Accumulation is always followed by dispersal. Yarrow has cleistogamous flowers which are self pollinating and this may encourage polyploidy. (Ryan Drum. 2019. THREE HERBS: Yarrow, Queen Anne's Lace and Indian Pipe. http://www.ryandrum.com/threeherbs.htm)

That was the reason why the yarrow stalks had to be used, to produce the psychoactive stimulant for entering into a mental "Dream-world" state to be able to see the divination.

• The use of psychoactive plant materials in oracular visions is also found in the ancient cultures, ranging from marijuana to peyote cactus and the South American ayahuasca.

  Hallucination was also involved in the Greek Delphi Oracle. Investigations indicate that the Delphi temple was located above a faultline from which gases would seeped from underground. These gases produce hallucinogenic effects.

  Perhaps, one can consider the use of incense in temples. The joss-sticks used in the Chinese temples contain sandalwood extracts of Santalum and the sandalwood fragrance is hallucinogenic. Go and do your research - you will find that many of the incense used in temples have hallucinogenic effects. That is, one may consider that vast millions of devotees in the temples were actually on "trips to Dream-world"!

  Read the ancient scriptures again and truly, for you will find mounting evidence of the somber message - you cannot truly worship God unless you are on a "trip"!

There are many other secrets of the yarrow stalks divination, Sufficient here is to show that current users, especially those trying shortcuts by using coins, are pretty naive. They lack the in-depth knowledge of the ancient cultures and do not know what they are doing.

Time to Abandon the Masquerade

Too little the "masters" knew, and they fed their flocks tit bits of misleading information. For better in-depth understanding of King Wen I Ching, you can enroll in our unique breakthrough course. Then it can be understood that the yarrow stalks divination is not an ordinary divination but something uniquely associated with the supreme ancient ancestor worship of God.

You can see helpful articles as below.

• Insight Articles in the King Wen I Ching Series:

  *Finally, Statistical Insights into the Code and Sequence of King Wen I Ching. Dr Ong Hean Tatt, Ph.D.. uploaded: 25 July 2019, revised 12 October 2019.
  *Lost Secrets of Yarrow Stalks Divination in King Wen I Ching. Dr Ong Hean Tatt, Ph.D.. 15 October 2019
  *Deeper Meanings of the Word "I" in "I Ching". Dr Ong Hean Tatt, Ph.D. 16 October 2019
  *Breakthrough in Oriental Philosophy: ORIGINS OF SUN ZI'S ART OF WAR FROM I CHING Part 1: Beginnings of Sun Zi's Art of War Dr. Ong Hean-Tatt. 27th July 2001
  *Breakthrough in Oriental Philosophy: ORIGINS OF SUN ZI'S ART OF WAR FROM I CHING Part 2: Origins of Sun Zi's Art of War from Hexagrams 52 and 51 of King Wen I Ching Dr. Ong Hean-Tatt. 27th July 2001
  *Sun Zi As Earliest Systematic Strategic Planning Process Dr. Ong, Hean-Tatt. February 1999

The author had compiled parts of the research back in 1997 into the book "I Ching's Cyclic Strategies". Now, 20 years later, an updated version of this book, re-titled "Cyclic Strategies of King Wen I Ching". These form only a portion of the secrets unveiled in our research. Its major chapters are outlined below.

• Master Course: Form Landscape Luan Tuo Feng Shui online available
• Master Course: Zi Wei Dou Shu Astrology. Methodology and Scientific Basis online available
• New Special Master Course: Imperial Feng Shui of Yin Premises: Methodology and Scientific Basis.