Before asking what a chart says, ask whether the question should be cast at all.

The non-divination rules are not ceremonial. They are quality control. A broken question produces a chart that looks answer-like but cannot responsibly bear weight.

Use them before the coins, not after the chart makes you uncomfortable. The screen protects the reading from three common failures: casting on a vague feeling, casting again because the first answer was disliked, and casting for someone whose actual concern is not present.

Sincerity Does the question matter?

A test, joke, performance, or idle curiosity is not a serious cast.

Specificity Can a target be selected?

If the question is too broad, narrow it or split it into focused readings.

Timing Is the matter live?

Do not cast when the question has already been answered or no action remains.

Repetition Has this already been asked?

Recasting to get a different answer is not clarification.

Delegation Whose concern is present?

A third-party question needs care. The absent person's intention may not be present in the cast.

Actionability Can the answer be used?

A reading should serve decision, preparation, restraint, or understanding.

The intake workflow

First Restate the question

Make the subject, action, time horizon, and desired outcome explicit.

then
Second Screen it

Check sincerity, specificity, repetition, delegation, timing, and actionability.

then
Third Cast, redirect, or decline

A fixable question gets repaired. An unfit question is not cast.

Response types

Cast The question is ready

Specific, sincere, live, and answerable.

Redirect The question is fixable

Too broad, unclear, or bundled. Narrow it before casting.

Decline The question is not fit

Insincere, repeated, invasive, already settled, or not responsibly actionable.

Use the three responses exactly:

  1. Cast when the question is sincere, live, owned by the asker, specific enough to select a target, and actionable.
  2. Redirect when the question is sincere but malformed: too broad, bundled, vague, or missing a clear target.
  3. Decline when the question is not fit: repeated to chase a better answer, unserious, invasive, already settled, or outside responsible use.

The repeat-question rule is the modern failure point. If material facts changed, it may be a new question. If only the asker’s mood changed, it is answer-shopping. Do not cast again to overwrite a reading someone disliked.

Edge cases

Similar, not repeated Material facts changed

A new decision-maker, new deadline, new offer, or new diagnosis can make a related question genuinely new.

Repeated Only the mood changed

"I want another answer" is not new information. Treat it as answer-shopping and do not recast.

Too broad Split before casting

Life, career, marriage, health, and wealth cannot all be answered responsibly in one chart.

Recast guardrail

When someone asks the same question again, ask what changed. A new decision-maker, new offer, new diagnosis, new deadline, or changed object can make a new cast legitimate. “I want another answer” does not.

The practical guardrail is: no recast to chase outcome. A repeated cast is no longer asking the original question. It is asking whether the previous answer can be made to go away, and that is not a valid Wen Wang Gua question.

Trap

Refusal is not failure. A bad cast gives bad information with the appearance of authority. A clean refusal protects the reading.

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