I Ching with Clarity: Hilary Barrett's site
If you look something up about the I Ching online, sooner or later you end up at I Ching with Clarity. The site has been running since 2000 and is the work of one person: Hilary Barrett, diviner, author and teacher, based in Dorset, England. Over that quarter century a collection has grown that few other sites match: a free oracle, courses, essays on every hexagram, a blog, a podcast and a forum where thousands of readings have been talked through. Here is what is there, and who it suits.
Who is behind it
Barrett studied modern languages at Oxford and met the I Ching through a second-hand copy of the Legge translation. Around 1999 she started doing readings for others; a year later the site went online. On her own page she explains what convinced her: she noticed that her readings did not come out at random. Her approach is unselfish. She does not want you to become dependent on paid readings, but to build your own relationship with the oracle and learn to consult it yourself. She talks about holding conversations with the truth. You can see that starting point in how the site is laid out: almost everything you need to get going is there for free.
The free reading
The free online reading feels different from most oracles on the web. You build the hexagram line by line with a cast button, so that casting stays an act rather than a single click. If changing lines come up, you get the line texts that belong to them and a second hexagram. She calls that the relating hexagram: for her it stands above all for the personal context the reading lands in. The text of the I Ching is set in italics, with an excerpt from her own commentary below it. You do not need an account for a reading.
Learning to read
For people just starting out there is a free beginners' course on the site. If you want to go further after that, there is the paid Foundations Course. Easier to dip into are her essays on each hexagram, useful when you want to dig into one particular answer, and her book reviews, handy when you are deciding which translation to buy.
The forum
The biggest difference from other I Ching sites is the community. Joining is free, and its main section is called Shared Readings: you post your own reading and other people think along with you about what it means. According to the site there are over 21,000 threads with over 160,000 posts there, and the forum as a whole holds over 36,000 threads, over 356,000 posts and almost 29,000 registered members, as of September 2026. There are also sections on divination more broadly, on I Ching news, and an Open Space. If you find interpretation heavy going on your own, that is probably the most valuable thing here.
Blog and podcast
On the blog Barrett writes about hexagrams, lines and the practice of consulting, and in the podcast you can hear her talk about it. Both are free, and both are good to wander around in without a question in mind.
What costs money
Free are the beginners' course, the online reading, the blog, the podcast and the forum. Paid are the Foundations Course, the full version of Resonance Journal, software for keeping and searching back through your readings, and WikiWing, commentary on each hexagram and each line built up by members. Then there is Change Circle, a membership with private forums and extra courses, and personal readings by Barrett herself. The site is plain about its paid side, and the free part is not bait.
Looking further
Worth a look too is her collection of links: I Ching sites in eight categories, including one for sites that are not in English. That says something about the attitude behind Clarity: she sends you on to other people's work without fuss. She points you to other people's work without any fuss.
Who it suits
Clarity is most valuable once you want more than a single cast: when you want to learn to interpret, to keep a record of your readings, or to talk them over with other people. One thing to know: the whole site is in English: text, courses and forum. The two sites complement each other well. Here you will find Dutch and English, the yarrow stalk oracle and texts based on Wilhelm; there you will find the community, the courses, her own translation with commentary and the journal software. If you would rather cast first and read afterwards, start on our front page or browse the sixty-four hexagrams.
Frequently asked questions
- Is I Ching with Clarity free?
- Largely, yes. The online reading, the beginners' course, the blog, the podcast and the forum cost nothing. Paid are the Foundations Course, the full Resonance Journal, WikiWing, the Change Circle membership and personal readings.
- Is there a Dutch version of the site?
- No, I Ching with Clarity is entirely in English: the texts, the courses and the forum. It does keep a collection of links with a category for sites that are not in English.
- What is the relating hexagram?
- That is what Hilary Barrett calls the second hexagram that appears when your reading has changing lines. For her it stands above all for the personal context the reading lands in.
- Can you ask others to help interpret your reading?
- Yes, that is what the Shared Readings section of the forum is for. You join for free, post your own reading and others think along. According to the site it holds over 21,000 threads with over 160,000 posts, as of September 2026.