How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Aloud he said, "How should I approach Wyndam-Matson in order to come to decent terms with him?" He wrote the question down on the tablet, then began whipping the yarrow stalks from hand to hand until he had the first line, the beginning. An eight. Half the sixty-four hexagrams eliminated already. He divided the stalks and obtained the second line. Soon, being so expert, he had all six lines; the hexagram lay before him, and he did not need to identify it by the chart. He could recognize it as Hexagram Fifteen. Ch'ien. Modesty. Ah. The low will be raised up, the high brought down, powerful families humbled; he did not have to refer to the text—he knew it by heart. A good omen. The oracle was giving him favorable council. (1.67)
The Man in the High Castle starts off pretty clearly with the issue of Fate, with Frank Frink giving us a little lesson in how to use the I Ching: start with a question, get a randomized answer for each line (here, by using yarrow stalks), then find the hexagram. Dick may not provide diagrams, but this step-by-step introduction might be enough to tell us how Frink gets his answers. And note what it tells us about Frink: he's an "expert" in getting the lines and he can recognize the hexagrams. This is a guy very interested in his Fate.
Quote #2
"My question regarding Mr. Baynes produced through the occult workings of the Tao the Hexagram Sheng, Forty-six. A good judgment. And lines Six at the beginning and Nine in the second place." His question had been, Will I be able to deal with Mr. Baynes successfully? And the Nine in the second place had assured him that he would. It read:
If one is sincere,
It furthers one to bring even a small offering.
No blame. (2.36-7)
You could almost use this book as a textbook guide to using the I Ching. And yet note that people don't always interpret these messages correctly. For instance, Frank thinks they won't get money from Wyndam-Matson because of the hexagram he gets, but they do (6.250). So what does this fortune mean for Tagomi? What "small offering" should be brought? He might take that to mean he should bring a gift, like the Mickey Mouse watch. But that doesn't seem to impress Baynes (3.144). Does it help to know your fate if you don't know how to interpret it?
Quote #3
The jewelry business will bring good fortune; the judgment refers to that. But the line, the goddam line; it refers to something deeper, some future catastrophe probably not even connected with the jewelry business. Some evil fate that's in store for me anyhow. (4.61)
But not all of Frink's answers come out positively. When Ed asks him to go into business, Frank has to check the I Ching first, and it comes back with a mixed message: the jewelry business will be good, but there's some catastrophe in the future. Now that Frank knows about that catastrophe, can he stop it? (See our "Themes: Memory and the Past" for more.)