Lyric discussion by MsManomen 

Cover art for Chapter 24 lyrics by Pink Floyd

these lyrics are not by syd barrett , they are literary taken from i-tjing, credits to the translater ! i-tjing is an oracle book ( ancient chinese) that predicts the future. chapter 24 is about ...well : read the lyrics, thats what it says and a informed reader / fortune teller can make an answer for a question from that , example : question: is my wife faithful and loving me, when the coins or sticks that fall point to chapter 24 then the meaning will be something like: you wife will RETURN to you always, this is a simple example it goes way deeper than that but thats the basics

@MsManomen Better to say 'ancient chinese that purports to predict the future. One cannot predict the future because there are too many variables, each being able to make a significant change. That is why astrology is the longest running con trick on earth.

@MsManomen No, 'it' does not predict the future. No-one can actually do that because there are too many variables along the way. What you mean is that it is supposed to predict the future. Many charlatans do that.