What exactly is Hon-Sho?
Hon-Sho is a modern divination method using 21st Century digital technology which enables individuals to quickly access the interaction between their inherited character and chance using their Digital-DNA. It uses the same techniques adopted by the ancient Chinese and is based on probability and coincidence.

What is my Digital-DNA?
Most Western languages use the Roman alphabet, which ranks letters with A first, B second and so on to Z at number 26. Your Digital-DNA is produced by converting all the letters in your name, as it appears on your birth certificate, into numbers using this order system. Your date of birth is already expressed in numbers. The combined outcome is your Digital-DNA; it is unique to you and never changes. Your resulting Lifenumbers determine your birth-profile and enable you to access the oracle each day.

What if I don't like my family name or first name? Can I use the one I'm known by?
The strict answer is that your profile is based on your Lifenumbers being the sum of each of the three lines of your Digital-DNA. You had no choice in this matter - it was decided by others on your behalf. However, if you really do not like to use this name then you are free to use the one you are known by. The outcome should still be prophetic.

What are oracle bones?
In ancient China, the scapula (shoulder-blades) of oxen or turtle shells were heated to very high temperatures until they cracked. The cracks were then interpreted in respect of a question scratched on the bone. Later, they were treated before heating to encourage certain patterns for oracle-reading and symbols were scratched on the bones to keep a record of the pronouncements. Later still, Yarrow stalks were used to access the readings. This eventually led to the body of knowledge known as the Yi Jing or "Book of Changes".

What are Hexagrams and what have they got to do with the Oracle?
A hexagram is a set of six full or broken lines. Your personal hexagram is derived from your Lifenumbers to produce your character profile. Then each day, coincidence produces a different hexagram reflecting a particular set of circumstances; this is the hexagram associated with your Daily Oracle Reading. If any of the lines of your daily hexagram are changing from a full line to a broken line or vice-versa then this produces a particular message for that day.

What is the Hon-Sho box and how are the daily scores calculated?
The Hon-Sho box contains the day, the month, a person's age and their Lifenumbers. The scores registered on any day by observing their frequency next to each other in the random number box complete the full set of numbers to produce the Daily Oracle Reading and deliver any messages.

Where do the readings and messages come from?
They come from the Yi Jing or Book of Changes. This is a set of recorded images, commentaries and judgements associated with the hexagrams inherited from the earliest Chinese divinations and later formalised and revised into a book of wisdom from around 1,000 BC onwards.

What are my Lifenumbers?
The three line-by-line totals resulting from your Digital-DNA, being your date of birth and your first and last names converted into numbers using the natural ordering of letters in the Roman alphabet. They produce your character profile and allow access to your Daily Oracle Reading.

What are my Daily Scores?
The scores which are inserted in the final column of the Hon-Sho box. This reflects the coincidence of your personal details and the date reflected in their appearance in a set of random numbers.

What are my messages and why are they important?
They are specific pieces of advice which relate to your Daily Oracle Reading. They arise from your particular circumstances which are changing on that day and are reflected in your hexagram for that day.

What is my personal question?
A question written down (preferably) when you use Hon-Sho which is personal to you and reflects your situation or a matter which is exercising you at the time of the consultation.

What is the random number box?
A set of 64 numbers produced at random each day and set out in eight rows and eight columns. This reflects the number of hexagrams adopted in the Book of Changes to reflect any current situation. It is used to identify a person's daily scores and to detect coincidence to produce a reading.

Why are there 64 numbers?
The ancient scribes and philosophers who devised the Yi Jing originally developed a binary system of counting, more than 2,000 years before we in the West, using a broken and a full line. A set of three full lines was used to depict a man and three broken lines a woman. These are known as trigrams and there can only be eight variations representing the father, mother and six children (three boys and three girls). All the possible combinations of world events were thought to be encompassed by multiplying eight by eight - 64.

What if I cannot print out properly?
Then you need to check your printer settings. The Hon-Sho system is flexible enough to be printed off in many formats. If it still doesn't do so, please contact your equipment provider.

How does Hon-Sho differ from a horoscope?
Horoscopes have a rich history and they produce an assessment or irreversible fate dictated by the stars. Hon-Sho uses your personal data to access patterns of coincidence which impact upon your immediate prospects and how your character interacts with them. It is an aid to making those decisions which profoundly affect your life and it is based on the method employed in ancient China.

What is it that actually produces the Daily Oracle Reading and Messages?
Every day, as the world turns, a new set of circumstances is generated. This is reflected in a new set of 64 random numbers every day. Your Daily Oracle Reading and Messages are produced by detecting resonance in the random numbers. These are your daily scores. This objective measure of coincidence allows Hon-Sho to retrieve your reading and delivers any messages for you that day.

What if I am French, Spanish or Italian? Can I still use Hon-Sho?
The answer is that Hon-Sho works in any language which uses the Roman alphabet. Just input your details in your own language and it will work. If you are from the Far East, then use your adopted English name. If you use a Slavonic alphabet then a version is under construction to enable you to access the oracle.

Can I do the daily score calculation myself to ensure that the reading is really mine and mine alone?
Yes, the random numbers are printed in those publications which carry Hon-Sho and the forthcoming Hon-Sho handbook enables you to do it all yourself and keep a record of your daily question and the results of consulting the oracle for reference. It also explains in more detail how the whole process works. It's obviously not as quick as using the digital software but the outcome is identical.