Hexagram 26 changing to 14: Great Taming to Great Possession

Where it starts: 26 Great Taming

Great power held and stored: strength restrained by something firm, gathering for a large task. Heaven below, mountain above: heaven's force held within a mountain. Great Taming describes creative power accumulated and disciplined by something solid, and the tradition treats it as very favourable: it is worth crossing the great water, and it is worth not eating at home, which means taking one's talents into public service. The reading says you have, or are gathering, real strength, and that the restraint on it is not an obstacle but the thing that makes it usable. Study, character and stored knowledge are the mountain's contents. The time for the large undertaking is near.

Where it goes: 14 Great Possession

Great possession held with modesty: abundance that lasts because its owner does not cling to it. Heaven below, fire above: the sun at its height, illuminating everything. Great Possession is a hexagram of abundance, and its subject is not how to get wealth but how to hold it. One yielding line in the fifth place is the centre of the figure: a modest, receptive ruler whom the strong lines all support. The tradition's point is that possession in great measure is kept by humility and clarity, by seeing clearly what you have and giving evil no place in it. The reading is favourable, and it makes the good fortune conditional on how it is carried.

The lines that move

1. Line 4

   The headboard of a young bull. Great good fortune.

   Restraining wild strength before its horns have grown, so that it never becomes dangerous. Prevention at the earliest stage. The line is highly fortunate because the discipline costs almost nothing when applied early. Discipline the strength while it is young and easy to guide.

What is changing. The situation of Great Taming is moving toward Great Possession. Store your strength under discipline, prepare thoroughly, then undertake the large task. As the change completes: Hold what you have with clarity and modesty, and be generous with it.

love and relationships

Now: Strong feeling, held with discipline. The restraint is right for now and it is building something. The reading supports commitment to a substantial relationship and warns against wasting the accumulated strength on impulse. Then: You have something valuable. The reading is about keeping it: with modesty, openness and generosity rather than possessiveness. Do not cling; what is held lightly stays.

career

Now: Real capability stored and about to be used. The reading favours the large undertaking and public responsibility. Prepare thoroughly; the restraint you feel is the mountain doing its work. Then: Success and resources are at hand. Lead by clarity and by giving credit, not by dominance. The strong people around you support a modest centre; they leave a proud one.

money

Now: Accumulation: saving, building reserves, restraining spending so that a large investment becomes possible. The reading supports the big move once the store is sufficient, not before. Then: Real abundance, and the responsibility that goes with it. Manage it in the light: transparent accounts, sound stewardship, generosity where it is due. Wealth hoarded in the dark spoils.

decisions

Now: Decide for the substantial, well-prepared option. The reading supports crossing the great water. Ask whether the strength has been gathered; if it has, go. Then: Decide from a position of strength, and decide generously. The reading supports the option that shares the possession and clarifies things, and warns against the one that grasps.