I Ching · Hexagram 25 Innocence
Hexagram 25 line 6: Innocence, yang in the sixth place

I Ching 25.6
Innocent action brings misfortune. Nothing furthers.
At the end, when the time is against you, even honest action produces bad results. The line says to wait. Innocence includes knowing when not to act; sincerity is not the same as insistence.
Advice. The time is wrong; even a good act misfires now. Wait.
What changes when line 6 moves
Line 6 of Hexagram 25 is yang, a solid line. When it is cast as old yang (a 9) it flips, and the hexagram becomes Hexagram 17, Following: Following what is right, and being followed: influence that comes from adapting to the time.
Read together, the reading moves from Innocence toward Following. Acting without calculation: doing what is right because it is right, and accepting what comes. 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 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.
Line 6 in context
- Love & relationships
- The time is wrong; even a good act misfires now. Wait. In love and relationships, Hexagram 25 reads: Act from what you honestly feel, without strategy. The reading favours the natural gesture and warns against managing the other person. Unexpected events, good and bad, come to those who are sincere; take them as they are.
- Career
- The time is wrong; even a good act misfires now. Wait. In career, Hexagram 25 reads: Do the work honestly, without positioning. The reading supports straightforward action and is suspicious of clever plans. If something undeserved happens, do not let it make you cynical; that would be the real loss.
- Money
- The time is wrong; even a good act misfires now. Wait. In money, Hexagram 25 reads: Do not scheme. Honest dealing, straightforward work and acceptance of what comes. The reading warns against calculated moves and against reacting to a setback by abandoning your principles.
- A decision
- The time is wrong; even a good act misfires now. Wait. In decisions, Hexagram 25 reads: Choose the option you would choose if no one were watching and nothing could be gained. If a decision requires cunning to work, the reading says it will not.
Cast your own reading
The topic is pre-selected. The hexagram is not: the coins decide it.
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