Shefu: The Ancient Secret to Mastering Your Divination Skills
What is Shefu, and Why is it the Ultimate Training for Diviners?
1. Shefu: A Game of Sages Spanning Millennia
She Fu is an ancient art form, masquerading as a game, with a history in China that spans thousands of years. From its inception, it was the preferred method among diviners and mystics to test their skills and sharpen their intuitive faculties. The name itself tells the story: She means "to aim at" or "to guess," and Fu means "that which is covered." Together, it is the art of perceiving what lies hidden from view.
While it has, at times, been adapted into niche occult arts for gambling, this is not its true nature. When you strip away the divinatory element, Shefu becomes a pure game of riddles, an ancestor to the lantern riddle games popular during Chinese festivals. It was also considered an elegant pastime among scholar-officials. The Tang dynasty poet Li Shangyin captured such a scene in his work: "Across the table, we pass hooks in warming spring wine; / In groups, we play Shefu by the red candlelight." It paints a picture of a sophisticated, joyful gathering, steeped in intellectual fun.
2. The Historical Masters of Shefu
Chinese history is filled with stories of masters whose Shefu skills bordered on the miraculous. You mentioned Dongfang Shuo of the Han Dynasty and Liu Bowen of the Ming Dynasty, and they were indeed legendary practitioners. A famous account in the Book of Han tells of a time Emperor Wu challenged his court sages to a game. He covered a gecko (known in ancient times as a "palace guardian") with a bowl, and none could guess what it was. Dongfang Shuo stepped forward, claiming he had studied the Yi Jing (I Ching) and would attempt it. After consulting his oracle, he didn't give a direct answer but replied in verse:
"I believe it's like a dragon, yet has no horns; you could call it a snake, yet it has feet. It scurries and clings skillfully to walls. If it is not a gecko, then it must be a lizard."
The Emperor was delighted, and rewarded him handsomely. Beyond Dongfang Shuo, other famed masters include Guan Lu of the Three Kingdoms period, Guo Pu of the Jin Dynasty, and the great Yi Jing scholar Shao Yong of the Song Dynasty. These were not fringe mystics but some of the most respected minds of their eras, proving that Shefu was seen as a profound skill requiring immense wisdom and perception.
3. The Principles and Methods of the Art
In China, diviners primarily use systems like Méihuā Yìshù (Plum Blossom Divination), Dà Liùrén, or Liùyáo to perform Shefu. But in truth, any system—or even your own raw intuition—can be used. At its heart, Shefu is a game of riddles; if you possess a particularly sharp intuitive sense, you can simply guess.
So how do these formal systems work? The foundational philosophy can be encapsulated by the famous axiom from the ancient Emerald Tablet: "As above, so below."
This phrase reveals a profound universal principle: a precise correspondence exists between the macrocosm ("the above"—the movements of stars, the laws of the cosmos) and the microcosm ("the below"—a single object on Earth, a specific small event). They are reflections of the same reality on different scales. When a diviner performs Shefu, the symbolic pattern they generate in that moment—whether from casting coins or noting the time—is considered a reflection cast from "the above." This symbolic image, or Xiàng (象), must contain the essential information of the hidden object "below." For example, in the Yi Jing, the Qián hexagram represents Heaven—roundness, metal, value, hardness. The Kūn hexagram represents Earth—squareness, softness, cloth, the masses. The diviner's art is to interpret these symbols to reconstruct the concrete details of the unknown object.
4. Why Shefu is the Ultimate Form of Practice
The reason Shefu is so incredibly effective for learning divination is one simple, crucial factor: it provides immediate feedback.
When you perform a reading for a client, the validation period can be long—months, or even years. During that time, it’s difficult to know for certain which parts of your interpretation were accurate and which were not. Shefu is different. The moment the cover is lifted, you know if you were right or wrong. And even when you are wrong, you can immediately debrief your entire thought process. You can analyze precisely where the connection you made between the symbol and the object went astray. This process is the very definition of deliberate practice. Every round of Shefu is a high-quality training session with instant feedback, allowing for exponential growth.
5. The Breadth and Depth of Shefu
Shefu is also immensely enjoyable and versatile. It doesn't have to be limited to physical objects like apples or teacups. You can "divine" stories. I, for instance, have used divination to follow the plot of a mystery show, trying to deduce the killer's identity and motive from a hexagram while the characters in the story are still completely lost. This is a wonderfully fun way to practice.
At the same time, Shefu can be incredibly deep, far more than just a symbol-matching exercise. As you practice, you realize its essence is about forging a connection between symbols and physical reality with almost no prior context. This is precisely the state a master diviner aims for. If your Shefu skills are strong, you may find yourself able to perform a reading for a client with no background information and still extract a wealth of accurate details about their situation, personality, and the core of their issue. This not only builds a client's trust instantly but also profoundly deepens your own confidence in your chosen divination system.
6. The Essence of Divination: The Art of Analogy
Ultimately, the greatest difficulty in Shefu is the same as the greatest difficulty in all of divination: How do you map a finite set of symbols (like the 64 hexagrams) onto the infinite array of people, events, and objects in the world?
The answer is Analogy.
As explored in the book Meditations on the Tarot, the Magician card is the perfect emblem of this art. The core of the Magician's role is to act as the conduit between "the above" and "the below." His task is to understand and apply the fundamental laws of the universe, to perceive the inherent, essential connections between seemingly disparate things, and to link them effectively.
This ability to discover and forge connections is analogy. It goes beyond finding superficial similarities; it's about truly perceiving the essence of things. This is the core of divination, of magic, and of all esoteric arts.
Therefore, Shefu is the most refined practice for this core art of analogy. It forces you to think, to connect, to build the bridge between symbol and reality. When you can look at a simple hexagram and see a teacup, a line of text, or even a person's mood, you are embodying the role of the Magician, truly practicing the wisdom of "As above, so below."
Having read this far, you might be eager to try this ancient art of Shefu for yourself. The union of theory and practice is the only true path to mastery. To help you on your journey, I've created the Shefu online AI tool. You can visit anytime to train your intuition and sharpen your analogical mind. Welcome to shefu.org to begin your practice.