- Yi Jing for Skeptics: A Physicist’s Way to Use the “Book of Changes” in BaZi Advisor

I used to file the Yi Jing under “beautiful cultural artifact, not a decision tool.”

Then I met the kind of question that refuses to be solved by spreadsheets: the kind where you have enough facts to act, but not enough certainty to feel clean about it. That’s where the Yi Jing begins to behave less like “fortune-telling” and more like a structured interface between your conscious question and the patterns your mind is already tracking but not fully articulating.

If you’re allergic to mysticism, good. Keep that allergy. Use it as quality control.

What I’m going to describe is a way to use Yi Jing inside BaZi Advisor that respects both worlds:

• the traditional discipline (Master Wey covered the classical foundations brilliantly), and
• a scientifically literate mindset that insists on clarity, constraints, and reproducible habits.

What the Yi Jing is (in plain engineering terms)

The Yi Jing is a symbolic state machine: 64 archetypal “states” (hexagrams), each describing a configuration of forces and constraints. The moving lines are what make it useful: they encode transition.

You ask one question. You get:

1. a Current Situation (the present state),
2. one or more Transformations (the transition mechanics),
3. a Final Situation (the likely trajectory if you follow the line’s logic).

In BaZi Advisor, that structure is explicit: you can see the current, the changing line interpretation, and the after-transformation hexagram laid out step-by-step.

Why a scientist should even consider it

1) Jung’s “synchronicity” isn’t a physics claim — it’s a meaning claim

Jung’s practical point was not “coins control reality.” It was: when a random process is paired with a sincere question, the output can become a mirror that organizes unconscious material into something you can work with.

Not causality. Not magic. Pattern extraction.

2) Pauli’s fascination was about the boundary, not the dogma

Pauli (a brutally rigorous mind) didn’t “believe” in the Yi Jing the way people believe in a superstition. He was interested in the unresolved zone between psyche and measurement, the place where the observer’s internal configuration clearly changes the system’s interpretation.

Again: not proof. But it’s not nothing.

3) Leibniz saw the obvious: yin/yang is binary

Hexagrams are built from broken/unbroken lines: a clean binary alphabet. That doesn’t make the Yi Jing “computer science.” But it does explain why technical minds keep circling back to it: it’s compact, systematic, and expressive.

The BaZi Advisor approach: respectful, but operational

What I like about the tool is that it doesn’t treat Yi Jing like a carnival trick. It frames it as a decision guide with guardrails.

Step 0: Check timing first (this matters more than most people admit)

Inside the Yi Jing page, BaZi Advisor explicitly advises you to check your personal horoscope before you begin: day’s Heavenly Stem/Earthly Branch, the Officer and the Constellation of the Day, and even a caution about the days leading to the New Moon being energetically depleted for deep work.

If you’re skeptical, translate that into your own language:

• “My measurement conditions matter.”
• “My cognitive environment matters.”
• “My attention, health, and stress load bias interpretation.”

Call it Qi, call it noise. Either way, don’t ignore it.

Step 1: Sincerity is a technical requirement, not a moral one

The app recommends approaching with sincerity and asking only when you genuinely need guidance. I agree, but for a different reason:

Bad questions produce bad data.

“Should I be rich?” yields nonsense.
“What’s the smartest next step to resolve this conflict with minimal collateral damage?” gives the system something it can actually model.

Step 2: One question per day (yes, it’s rational)

The guideline “one question per day” is a defense against:

• confirmation shopping,
• anxious re-rolling,
• turning a reflective tool into a slot machine.

If you keep sampling until you like the answer, you’re not consulting anything. You’re just laundering your preference.

Step 3: Stillness before input

BaZi Advisor literally walks you through a short pause: breathe, quiet the noise, then type the question. This is not spiritual theater. It’s a cognitive reset.

In experimental terms: stabilize the instrument before you take a reading.

Step 4: Ask the question — and note the privacy promise

The interface explicitly says this is a safe space and that what you write isn’t stored or recorded. That matters: you can ask the real question, not the socially acceptable one.

Casting coins: randomness with structure

The app uses the coin method. You press “Toss Coins”, and the lines build into a hexagram, with changing lines marked.

Here’s an example straight from the interface:

• Current Hexagram: 32 – Consistency (Persevering)
• After Transformation: 40 – Relief (Deliverance)
• The result is labeled Transformative, with a marked changing line.

Even if you reject metaphysics entirely, this is already useful as a decision lens:

• 32 asks: “What is stable? What deserves endurance? What system am I maintaining?”
• 40 asks: “What can be released? What tension can be dissolved? What burden can be dropped without guilt?”

That’s not fortune-telling. That’s reframing — and reframing changes outcomes.

How to read the result without self-deception

BaZi Advisor’s interpretation layout is exactly what a skeptical mind needs:

1) Current Situation

Example headline:

“Success. No blame. Perseverance brings advantage. It is beneficial to have somewhere to go.”

Translation in Matthew-speak:

• You’re not being punished.
• The system rewards steady input.
• But you need direction — perseverance without trajectory is just stubbornness.

2) Transformations of the Situation (the changing line is the hinge)

In the example, the tool explains what Line 3 transforming implies: instability of endurance, humiliation that comes from inconsistency, being driven by external fear/hope, and the long-term cost of wobbling.

This is where you stop treating the Yi Jing like a “message” and start treating it like a diagnostic:

• Where am I inconsistent?
• What am I tolerating because I’m afraid to choose?
• What would a stable rule look like here?

3) Image After Transformation + Final Situation

The tool then presents Hexagram 40 – Relief (Deliverance), including a directive like:

“Forgive the mistakes and sins.”

Not theology. Mechanics:

• stop feeding the loop with resentment,
• clean up remnants quickly,
• return to normal conditions once release occurs.

In systems language: resolve tension, then stabilize the baseline. Don’t get intoxicated by the first sign of freedom and overextend.

Where BaZi matters (and why skeptics should care)

Your BaZi chart is not just “more mysticism.” It’s context: your default tendencies, blind spots, and timing sensitivity.

So yes — check the daily conditions (Officer/Constellation), but also check you:

• some charts “over-endure” and need Relief;
• some charts “run” and need Consistency.

The same hexagram can be the same “signal” and still land differently depending on the person reading it — not because reality bends, but because you bend the interpretation into action.

A practical protocol (if you want to do this like an adult)

If you want a method that won’t embarrass you later, do this:

1. Write the question precisely (one decision, one timeframe).
2. Write your current best plan before tossing coins.
3. Cast once.
4. Extract one actionable rule from the changing line.
5. Run it for 24–72 hours.
6. Journal what changed: behavior, conversations, outcomes.
7. Revisit — not to “ask again,” but to evaluate.

That’s not blind belief. That’s disciplined experimentation.

Try the Yi Jing Tool in BaZi Advisor

If you’re curious — especially if you’re skeptical — the best test is not debate. It’s usage with constraints.

Use the Yi Jing page in BaZi Advisor to:

• check timing (personal horoscope + day quality),
• enter a clear question,
• toss coins once,
• read the Current / Transformation / Final structure,
• and apply one practical change.

When you’re ready, consult your own Yi Jing reading here:
https://baziadvisor.com/yi-jing

Because in the end, the Yi Jing doesn’t replace your will — it sharpens it.