ε₯ιιη² Β· qΓ mΓ©n dΓΉn jiΗ Β· the mysterious gates
Qi Men Dun Jia
Qi Men Dun Jia, the Mysterious Gates Hiding the Jia, is the most elaborate of the Three Cosmic Boards, the strategist's and the emperor's art once kept for timing a campaign, a journey, a decision. It is not a draw and not a shake. The exact moment sets the structure, a light-escaping board near the return of the winter sun or a dark-escaping board near the summer one, and yields a number from one to nine. That number lays the ten Earth Stems across the nine palaces of the Luo Shu square and hides the leader-stem Jia beneath Wu, which is the Dun Jia, the hiding of the Jia, the board is named for. Three plates then turn over the grid, the nine Stars of heaven, the eight Doors of the human world, the eight Spirits, until each palace holds a small stack of forces. You do not read all nine at once. You choose what your question concerns, the board finds the one palace it belongs to, and you read the star, stem, door and spirit standing there, and the single direction left open. Cast the same minute twice and the same board returns. Here the gates show the lay of the hour; they do not fix your fate, and the choosing stays in your hands.
What does the question concern
a venture, an income, a thing you hope will grow
An empty Luo Shu board. Pick what your question concerns, then cast the board for this exact moment.