Hexagram 32 changing to 62: Duration to Small Excess

Where it starts: 32 Duration

What lasts: the marriage after the courtship, movement that renews itself, constancy with a direction. Wind below, thunder above: the two that always move together. Where Influence is the courtship, Duration is the marriage: the enduring union, the long practice, the thing that lasts because it keeps moving in a consistent direction. The tradition's judgement promises success, no blame, and the value of having somewhere to go. Duration is not standing still. Thunder and wind endure by moving; the seasons endure by changing. The reading says the situation asks for constancy of purpose, for not being distracted into novelty or worn into rigidity, and it promises that what keeps its direction keeps its life.

Where it goes: 62 Small Excess

The bird that should not fly too high: a time for small things, done with extra care, and for staying low. Mountain below, thunder above: thunder on the mountain, louder than in the sky and smaller in reach. Four yielding lines outweigh two strong ones. Small Excess describes a time when the small predominates and the correct response is to attend to small things with slightly more care than usual: more reverence in conduct, more grief in mourning, more thrift in spending. The tradition's judgement is that small things may be done and great things may not, and its image is the flying bird whose call should go downward, not up. The reading says this is not a time to attempt anything large or to fly high, and that success lies in modesty carried a little past the ordinary.

The lines that move

1. Line 2

   Remorse disappears.

   Strength held in a position that does not suit it, and made to work through self-restraint and balance. The person does not force their power beyond what the situation allows, and the regret that might have followed does not come. Restrain your strength to fit the place, and there is nothing to regret.

What is changing. The situation of Duration is moving toward Small Excess. Keep your direction and renew your movement; constancy is alive, not fixed. As the change completes: Do small things with extra care and stay low; this is not a time to fly high.

love and relationships

Now: The long relationship, and what keeps it alive: constancy with movement. Not the same every day, but the same direction every day. The reading favours commitment and warns against both restlessness and dead routine. Then: Small things, done with extra care: the gesture, the apology, the attention to detail. Not the grand declaration. The reading favours modesty and warns against flying high; the bird that climbs now is caught in the net.

career

Now: Persistence in a chosen path. The reading supports staying with the work and renewing it from inside, and warns against jumping to the new thing when the old one has simply reached a hard stretch. Then: Attend to the details and keep a low profile. Great initiatives are not favoured. Be a little more conscientious than usual in conduct and spending, and let the small, well-done things accumulate.

money

Now: Steady, long-term, consistent. Duration favours the plan you can maintain for years over the one that is exciting for a season. Keep the direction and let time compound it. Then: Thrift beyond the ordinary. Small, careful economies rather than large plays. The reading rules out the big move and rewards attention to the details of the accounts.

decisions

Now: Choose the option you can hold to for a long time, and then hold to it. The reading is against sudden changes of course and equally against a constancy that has become inertia. Then: Choose the small, careful option and decline the large one. The reading is explicit: small things may be done, great things may not. Decide accordingly.