Casting Rules

The hour-based Qimen this site follows carries a fixed set of rules for casting. The six below are given as they stand, unaltered; each is followed by what it means in practice.

No casting 11 pm – 1 am and 11 am – 1 pm

Under this lineage’s casting rules those two periods are not used for a chart. If your question falls in either window, ask at another hour.

A calm, sincere, serious mind

This concerns the state of mind you bring to the question. Casting as a test, or in jest, falls outside the rules of this lineage.

One question, one chart

Handle one clear question at a time. Different decisions turn on different indicators, and combining them in a single chart lets them interfere with one another.

Hold your question in mind before casting

Settle what you are asking before the chart is cast. The more specific the question, the more closely the indicators taken from the chart match the structure of the analysis.

Re-cast only if the situation changes

This does not ask you to accept a result blindly. It means that for the same matter, until conditions, information or the situation itself have materially shifted, you do not cast again simply because the result was not what you hoped for. Once something has genuinely changed, a fresh judgement carries weight.

No charts for children under 12

Charts are not cast for anyone under twelve years of age.

These rules belong to the same body of method as the casting itself: Hour-based Qimen, split-supplement bureau, rotating-plate layout. For other questions about casting and readings, see the FAQ.