Hexagram 17 changing to 51: Following to The Arousing

Where it starts: 17 Following

Following what is right, and being followed: influence that comes from adapting to the time. Thunder below, lake above: movement within joy, thunder resting in the lake in autumn. Following describes the art of adapting, of going with the time rather than against it, and of leading by being worth following. The tradition's judgement promises success with persistence, and the condition is that what is followed must be good. This is not passivity or drifting. It is the choice to serve something you believe in, to let others serve you only when you have earned it, and to rest when the season asks for rest.

Where it goes: 51 The Arousing

Thunder repeated: a shock that terrifies for a hundred miles, and the composure not to drop the ladle. Thunder below, thunder above: the arousing doubled, shock upon shock. The Arousing describes the sudden event that shakes everything: a crisis, a loss, an upheaval, a fright. The tradition's judgement is famous: the shock comes, oh, oh; laughter, ha, ha. The thunder terrifies for a hundred miles, and the person who does not let the sacrificial spoon and cup fall is the one the hexagram admires. The image adds the response: in fear and trembling, the wise person sets their life in order and examines themselves. The reading says a shock has come or is coming, that it will be frightening, and that the whole test is composure: to be shaken and not to drop what you are holding.

The lines that move

1. Line 5

   Sincere in what is good. Good fortune.

   The leader who follows the good, and is followed because of it. Everything is aligned: what is admired is admirable, and devotion to it brings fortune. The line is the hexagram's ideal. Commit sincerely to what is good and let that be what draws others.

What is changing. The situation of Following is moving toward The Arousing. Follow what is worth following, wholeheartedly, and adapt to the time. As the change completes: Hold your composure through the shock, and let the fear become the review that sets things in order.

love and relationships

Now: Go along with the other person's rhythm for now, and choose carefully whom you follow. Devotion to someone worth it is strength; devotion to anyone who asks is the error the lines describe. Then: A shock in the relationship: a revelation, a loss, a sudden fright. The reading does not minimise it. It asks you not to drop what you hold: keep your composure, do not act from the first terror, and let the fright become the examination that puts things in order.

career

Now: Adapt to the direction of the organisation or the leader, if the direction is sound. If you lead, you keep followers by being worth following, not by insisting. Rest when the day ends. Then: Sudden upheaval: a change of leadership, a crisis, a jolt. The people who come through are the ones who keep their heads while the thunder rolls. Do not make big decisions in the first shock; use it to review everything.

money

Now: Follow the trend that is real rather than fighting it, and follow advice that is proven. The reading favours flexibility and warns against clinging to a position out of pride. Then: A financial shock. The reading's counsel is composure: do not sell in terror, do not act in the roll of the thunder. Examine what the shock reveals about your arrangements and set them in order.

decisions

Now: Choose the option that adapts to the situation as it is. If it means following someone else's lead, do it wholeheartedly or not at all; half-following is the worst of both. Then: Do not decide inside the shock. Let the thunder pass, hold what you are holding, and decide once the fear has become examination. The reading's laughter comes after the fright, not during it.