Hexagram 42 changing to 27: Increase to Nourishment

Where it starts: 42 Increase

The top gives to the base and everything grows: a time of increase, to be used well and used now. Thunder below, wind above: the two reinforcing each other, wind spreading the thunder's force. Increase is the mirror of Decrease: what is above gives to what is below, and the whole flourishes. The tradition's judgement is expansive: it furthers to undertake something, it furthers to cross the great water. The image describes the inner counterpart: seeing good, imitate it; seeing faults, correct them. The reading says the time is one of growth and generosity from above, that it favours large undertakings, and that it will not last; the lines warn at the end of increase that no one helps a person who has stopped giving.

Where it goes: 27 Nourishment

What you feed, and what feeds you: attention to nourishment, of the body, the mind and others. Thunder below, mountain above: the hexagram's shape is an open mouth, two firm lines enclosing four yielding ones. Nourishment asks a simple question that runs in both directions: what are you taking in, and what are you giving out? The tradition's judgement says to pay attention to what you nourish and to what you seek to fill your mouth with, and the image adds care in words and moderation in food. The reading is about sustenance in the widest sense: diet, information, company, the people you support and those who support you. Its favourability depends on the quality of what is being fed.

The lines that move

1. Line 5

   If in truth you have a kind heart, ask not. Supreme good fortune. Kindness will be recognised as your virtue.

   Kindness so genuine it does not need to ask how it is received. The line frees the giver from anxiety about the response: real goodness is recognised without being announced. Give from a kind heart and do not ask whether it was noticed.

What is changing. The situation of Increase is moving toward Nourishment. Use the season of increase for substantial undertakings, and keep giving as you receive. As the change completes: Attend to what you take in and what you give out; feed what is worth feeding.

love and relationships

Now: A time of growth and giving. Invest in the relationship generously; the conditions favour it and the giving comes back. The reading warns that increase is a season, and that taking without giving, at the end, leaves you alone. Then: Ask what each of you feeds the other: attention, kindness, honest speech, or the opposite. The reading asks you to look at the diet of the relationship, and to be careful with words, which nourish or poison more than anything.

career

Now: Expansion. The reading supports the ambitious project and the big crossing. Use the help coming from above, give it forward, and improve what can be improved while the wind is behind you. Then: What sustains you at work, and what you are sustaining. Feed your competence with real learning, not gossip; support the people who depend on you properly. The reading warns against seeking nourishment from the wrong source.

money

Now: Growth, and the moment to act on it: invest, undertake, build. Use the increase for lasting good rather than display. The reading is favourable and time-limited; use it while it lasts. Then: Money as sustenance, not display. Spend on what feeds you and yours, be moderate, and be wary of dependence on a source that does not deserve trust. Look at what your money is feeding.

decisions

Now: Take the expansive option. The conditions support undertaking something substantial. Decide now; the reading says increase is a moment, and moments pass. Then: Decide by asking what the option will nourish. The choice that feeds something worthwhile, in you or in others, is the right one; the one that only fills the mouth is not.