Steps

Many people learning to use the I Ching believe that by simply using intuition they will make a good interpretation of the book's response. But the I Ching has its own precise, mathematical structure. Learning this structure, which is almost another language, is essential because intuition, as understood by the common man, is prejudiced, flawed and able to be manipulated. True intuition transcends but does not invalidate logic. Many times we actually follow our own fantasies when we think we are using intuition. Intuition is a very important factor for making a good interpretation of the I Ching, so it should be refined, supporting itself with correct facts taken from the book's structure so that we do not make bad interpretations.To avoid these mistakes we need to use our intelligence in order to analyze, deconstruct and reconstruct the data found in a hexagram, making a step-by-step check for interference from our intuition. Our intelligence makes analogies between the I Ching's answer and the actual situation presented for consultation. Understanding soon comes, expanding this analysis with more data, revealing meanings, outlining an interpretation.A good interpretation of a response from the I Ching is only possible when we use reason, understanding, intuition and after receiving a revelation akin to grace, as if a wise person from the past were speaking with us. That is when we have no more doubts; in that moment we know that we have made a proper interpretation of the answer we received.To arrive at this level of interpretation we need to study the hexagrams and their transformation (if any).With the question we asked of the I Ching we can create an analogy between the question and each trigram's attributes. We also use analogy to find the meaning of each line taking into account its location, its relationships, its hierarchy and its character. Only from this point can we use intuition to bind all of this data and make a good interpretation. The nuclear trigrams of a hexagram express an interior synthesis of the situation, of the hexagram's "time". Often the nuclear trigrams show us a new way out of the situation shown by the hexagrams.We will follow every necessary step towards a good interpretation before using intuition to infer the interpretation.Let's follow the Unraveling Plot:

1. After the hexagram has been randomly selected and the transformation occurred (in case movable lines 6 or 9 manifest themselves), separate the trigrams in a key, and give them names.
2. Draw the movement of the trigrams with an arrow.
3. Find the hexagram on page 519 of the I Ching; you will find the lower trigram in the vertical column and the upper trigram in the horizontal column. Hold your fingers together and you will have the number of the hexagram in the little box where your fingers come together.
4. Find the number of the hexagram in the book's index, on page (V).
5. Keep in mind the question you asked of the I Ching. Read all the text of Book I and the changeable lines. Carefully read and live every written word. Regarding the second hexagram, read only the texts and not the lines of the second hexagram. Be careful not to invent words that are not found in the text you read.
6. Discover the significance of the texts' metaphors by comparing them to the question asked. Do not jump to a conclusion yet. Just continue collecting data.
7. Read all the text and the changeable lines in Book III.
8. Read whatever line cited in Book III that is related to the one you randomly selected. There will be a complementary or solidarity relationship. But only when Book III cites them in the text. Stop and meditate, try to perceive what they are indicating in their external reality, within the context of the question. Do not let your mind wander from the question. Everything written there speaks to the question's context--never look any further.
9. Return to the text as many times as are necessary to understand it.
10. Make analogies with all the situations present in the query. Try to identify the references made in the text with your immediate reality (that of the query). Always keep your mind focused on the question asked.
11. Study the trigrams drawn in the hexagram. Go back to its attributes in the text. Observe how the two trigrams' forces interact in nature. Try to identify what in your question is similar to these attributes. People? The situation itself? Internal states?
12. Study the position of the randomly selected lines. Check to see if they are correct or incorrect. Yin in the Yin position and Yang in the Yang position.
13. Ask yourself what about the situation brought to consultation corresponds to what the lines are describing.
14. Try to identify the action proposed by the I Ching in the Judgment text of the hexagram and in the Image text.
15. Check to see if the Judgment of the changeable line manifested (9 or 6) agrees or disagrees with the hexagram's Judgment or that of the Image. 16. Identify what must change in order to be in harmony with the situation described by the hexagram.
17. Immediately make the proposed change in attitude, emotions or action.
18. Do something concrete in your life, something that represents a commitment to the changes, a commitment to learning to follow them.
19. Take all the I Ching's advice and indications as a demonstration of love and consideration for you, and never as criticism or rejection.
20. Do not forget that the I Ching's intention is never to criticize you but rather to prepare you to be a wise person living in harmony with the laws of changes.