Many people prefer to use coins as that method is quicker, but the length of time the yarrow method takes to complete is its strength, I believe. It can last about twenty minutes and in that time you slip into quite a meditative state. And in a strange way, it shows willing on your part.
If this method sounds complicated, bear with it. I promise that when you actually come to try it for yourself, it is all very straightforward.
You can buy yarrow stalks online or you can pick your own. It grows abundantly in much of the world. So much so, you may not ever take any notice of it. Here's what it looks like.
Recognise it? I picked mine locally and they have yet to dry out, as you can see in the pictures below.
You can also use elephant grass or bamboo, or just about anything else that you feel comfortable with. It can be a bit fiddly, so take the time to settle on your favoured choice.
You should have fifty stalks. Take one and push it to the top of the surface you're working on. This single stalk is thought to represent oneness.
Ask a question and write it down. I keep a record of all my divinations, but this is just personal choice. Keeping your question in mind, divide, arbitrarily, the forty-nine remaining stalks into two piles.
Hold the left pile in your left hand.
Take one stalk from the right pile and place it between the little finger and ring finger of the left hand.
Then count from the left pile, which you are still holding, four stalks at a time, placing them on the table separately from the other pile, until you have four or fewer stalks left.
The remaining stalks (four or fewer) you place between your ring finger and your middle finger.
Pick the right pile up in your left hand and, as before, count off four at a time until you have four or fewer stalks left. Place the remaining stalks between your next fingers.
The first stalk you picked up and placed between your little finger and ring finger, you lay down to the left of the single stalk you placed on the table at the very beginning. The remaining stalks in your hand you bundle together and lay them on top of the single stalk. You will either have four or eight stalks in that bundle. If you have any other number, you have miscounted and you must go through the process again.
(At this point I should say that some people include the stalk they held between their little finger and ring finger with the main pile. This is fine. The reason I don't do that is that, apart from the fact it was not the first method I learnt, I find that, aside from remembering the value of four and eight stalks respectively, you have to remember, also, the values of five and nine stalks.)
You will now have two piles of stalks before you. Bundle them together, divide them as you did before and repeat the above process a further two times. However, this time, you do not place the 'spare' stalk on its own but bundle them all together in piles of either four or eight.
Once you have done that, you will have three bundles of either four or eight stalks. Eight stalks has a value of two and four stalks has a value of three. Add up the values and draw the correspnding line based on the table below.
Do this six times until you have six lines, with the first line you drew at the bottom.
| Number | Line | Drawn |
| 6 | Changing Broken | — — |
| 7 | Unchanging Solid | ——— |
| 8 | Unchanging Broken | — — |
| 9 | Changing Solid | ——— |
