Hexagram 4 changing to 64: Youthful Folly to Before Completion

Where it starts: 4 Youthful Folly

Inexperience seeking guidance: the learner must ask, and the teacher must not be asked twice for the same answer. A spring at the foot of a mountain: water that does not yet know where it is going. Youthful Folly is about not knowing, and about the proper relationship between the one who does not know and the one who does. The tradition's rule is famous: the student seeks the teacher, not the other way round, and a question asked over and over out of doubt is not answered. The reading is not an insult. It says the situation is one of inexperience, that guidance is available, and that the way to receive it is with sincerity and without pestering.

Where it goes: 64 Before Completion

The crossing almost made: every line out of place, the end in sight, and the last step the most dangerous. Water below, fire above: fire rising and water sinking, the two not yet meeting. Every line is in the wrong place, the exact reverse of After Completion, and the book ends here, on the threshold. Before Completion describes the moment just before a transition is achieved, when the way across is visible and the fox is nearly over the ice. The tradition's judgement is success, and then the warning: if the little fox, nearly across, gets its tail in the water, nothing furthers. The image asks for careful discrimination of things so that each finds its place. The reading says you are near the end of something, that the outcome is favourable, and that the last step needs more care than all the others together.

The lines that move

1. Line 4

   Entangled folly brings humiliation.

   Inexperience that has wrapped itself in fantasy. The person will not learn because they will not face what is real, and the tradition says the teacher should leave them to the consequences for a while. If this is you, the way out is contact with reality. Stop insulating yourself from facts; the humiliation is the cure.

What is changing. The situation of Youthful Folly is moving toward Before Completion. Admit what you do not know, seek one good teacher, and take the answer you are given. As the change completes: The end is near; take the last step with more care than all the others, and set each thing in its place.

love and relationships

Now: Someone in the situation is inexperienced, and pretending otherwise is the problem. Be honest about what you do not know. If you are the one being asked for the same reassurance repeatedly, the reading supports a kind, firm answer given once. Then: Almost there, and not yet. The reading is hopeful and it asks for care in the last stage: do not assume the crossing is made, do not let the tail in the water. Distinguish what belongs where, patiently, and the order comes.

career

Now: A learning position. Find the person who knows and ask properly; do not ask everyone, and do not keep asking the same thing. The reading rewards the humble learner and the teacher who sets clear limits. Then: The end is in sight and the situation is still unresolved. Success is possible and the final step is the risky one. Sort things carefully into their places, do not celebrate early, and keep your footing on the last stretch of ice.

money

Now: Do not act on money matters you do not understand. Take advice from someone qualified, once, and follow it. The folly the hexagram names is repeating a question because you dislike the answer. Then: A transition nearly complete. Do not release your caution before the last payment clears, the last document signs, the last step is taken. The reading is favourable and its whole emphasis is on finishing carefully.

decisions

Now: You do not yet know enough to decide well. Get guidance, sincerely, from one good source, and then act on it rather than shopping for a second opinion that agrees with you. Then: You are close to resolution. Choose the option that finishes carefully rather than the one that assumes it is already done. The reading favours discernment over speed at the threshold.