Fortune tellers in the old days were less educated people. It was impossible for them to understand the I Ching. Instead of referring to the original text of the I Ching a method using the five elements was invented and widely used by fortune tellers especially the blind men who made a living using three coins and the turtle shell. This method is used today by professional fortune tellers.

The procedure of obtaining the hexagrams is the same as in the scholarly method except that it is customary to use a turtle shell and put the coins inside before casting for a result. Instead of considering the picture suggested by the text of the I Ching, each yao of the hexagram is assigned one of the five elements. The method to assign the elements will not be dealt with here. Each yao is also assigned an aspect summarized as (1) Power (2) Parents (3) Children (4) Brothers (5) Wealth. One of the yaos is assigned to represent the person who asks the question and another one to represent his contender in the event. How these are assigned will also not be dealt with here. The former is called the "self yao" while the latter the "contender yao".

The relationship of the elements representing the self yao and contender yao is discussed. For example if the contender yao is earth and the self yao is metal, then it will be advantageous to the person. If the contender yao is wood instead then it will be to the person's disadvantage. How the other yaos are related to these two are also discussed and the whole situation will bring out a picture. If there are changing yaos then how each is changed will also be discussed and the result will give a clearer picture. The time when the oracle is consulted also plays an important role since the year, month, day and time are also assigned heavenly stems and earthly branches and each has a corresponding element. How these elements react with those in the hexagram will also give a clue to what the outcome should be.

The fortune teller's method is very complicated. We will not pursue any further in this course.

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