Hexagram 17 line 5: Following, yang in the fifth place

What changes when line 5 moves

Line 5 of Hexagram 17 is yang, a solid line. When it is cast as old yang (a 9) it flips, and the hexagram becomes Hexagram 51, The Arousing: Thunder repeated: a shock that terrifies for a hundred miles, and the composure not to drop the ladle.

Read together, the reading moves from Following toward The Arousing. Following what is right, and being followed: influence that comes from adapting to the time. 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 primary hexagram describes the situation; the changing line is the point of movement in it; the resulting hexagram is where that movement leads. Both hexagrams belong to the reading, and the changing line is the hinge between them.

Hexagram 17 changing to 51 →

Line 5 in context

Love & relationships

Commit sincerely to what is good and let that be what draws others. In love and relationships, Hexagram 17 reads: 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.

Career

Commit sincerely to what is good and let that be what draws others. In career, Hexagram 17 reads: 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.

Money

Commit sincerely to what is good and let that be what draws others. In money, Hexagram 17 reads: 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.

A decision

Commit sincerely to what is good and let that be what draws others. In decisions, Hexagram 17 reads: 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.