Deuteronomy 18:10–12 or Leviticus 19:26 can be interpreted as categorically forbidding divination. However, some would claim that divination is indeed practiced in the Bible, such as in Exodus 28, when the Urim and Thummim are mentioned. Some would also say that Gideon also practiced divination, though when he uses a piece of fleece or wool in Judges 6:36–40, he is not attempting to predict the outcome of an important battle; rather, he is communicating with God. For hexagram one, “The Creative,” Wilhelm translates the first line as “Hidden dragon. Do not act.” In contrast, Walker’s version is more pragmatic, “Darkness still. Do not act prematurely. The light of the Creative has yet to emerge. Remain patient until the time is clearly ripe.”

I was expecting something kinda Name of the Rose-like, for some reason. The book was smaller than I expected, and looked friendly, so that was a good sign. Amelia Wong Shaughnessy, Edward (1999). "Western Zhou History". In Loewe, Michael; Shaughnessy, Edward (eds.). The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 B.C.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 292–351. ISBN 0-521-47030-7. Francis, Edgar W. "Magic and Divination in the Medieval Islamic Middle East." History Compass 9, no. 8 (2011): 624 The I Ching has been used for centuries to help individuals with decision-making, conflict resolution, personal betterment, and relationship problems. At the beginning of the book, it is made clear that on the surface, the I Ching is “just a book.”a b Adler, Joseph A. (April 2017). "Zhu Xi's Commentary on the Xicizhuan 繫辭傳 (Treatise on the Appended Remarks) Appendix of the Yijing 易經 (Scripture of Change)" (PDF). Book cover of I Ching (Book of Changes, Yi Jing): Original Chinese Qing Dynasty Taoist Version, Chinese edition, published by Valley Spirit Arts Archaeological evidence shows that Zhou dynasty divination was grounded in cleromancy, the production of seemingly random numbers to determine divine intent. [24] The Zhou yi provided a guide to cleromancy that used the stalks of the yarrow plant, but it is not known how the yarrow stalks became numbers, or how specific lines were chosen from the line readings. [25] In the hexagrams, broken lines were used as shorthand for the numbers 6 ( 六) and 8 ( 八), and solid lines were shorthand for values of 7 ( 七) and 9 ( 九). The Great Commentary contains a late classic description of a process where various numerological operations are performed on a bundle of 50 stalks, leaving remainders of 6 to 9. [26] Like the Zhou yi itself, yarrow stalk divination dates to the Western Zhou period, although its modern form is a reconstruction. [27] Miller, Laura (1997). "People Types: Personality Classification in Japanese Women's Magazines". The Journal of Popular Culture. 31 (2): 143–159. doi: 10.1111/j.0022-3840.1997.00143.x– via Academia.edu. What was absolutely great about this ceremony was the metaphorical nature of the fortunes—very mysterious and ponderable, which is how it is in most of the divination systems I’ve ever learned about. People sometimes approach divination as if it is giving you information set in stone (if they believe in it) , or as if it is nonsense gobbledygook (if they don’t), but I see it as a way of creatively contemplating reality, which is, to steal some excellent words from David Brooks, “paradoxical, complementary, and unfolding.”

Knechtges, David R. (2014). "Yi jing" 易經[Classic of changes]. In Knechtges, David R.; Chang, Taiping (eds.). Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature: A Reference Guide. Vol.3. Leiden: Brill Academic Pub. pp.1877–1896. ISBN 978-90-04-27216-3.In one version of the practice from the Kaluga province, girls started by fetching water from a well, speaking the name of a man they wanted to marry as they did so. Once home, they poured the water into a bowl, sprinkled in some oats, added their rings, a cross, and charcoal, then covered the bowl and asked someone (usually a widow) to agitate the water with her pinkie finger. The group would then sing a song, and the widow would draw out a ring at the end of each verse. Ryan gives the example of a verse that foretells death: