Hexagram 42 changing to 61: Increase to Inner Truth

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: 61 Inner Truth

Wind over the lake, an empty centre: sincerity so complete that it moves pigs and fishes, and crosses the great water. Lake below, wind above: wind moving the surface of the water, the influence of the invisible on the visible. The hexagram's shape has two yielding lines at its centre, an emptiness in the middle, which the tradition reads as a heart free of prejudice and open to truth. Inner Truth describes sincerity that reaches even the least receptive, pigs and fishes, and that makes large undertakings possible. The judgement promises good fortune and the crossing of the great water. The image is of the wise person discussing criminal cases in order to delay executions: truth that leans toward understanding. The reading says the situation is decided by inner sincerity, and that the empty centre is not weakness but the space through which truth passes.

The lines that move

1. Line 2

   Someone increases him; ten pairs of tortoises cannot oppose it. Constant persistence brings good fortune. The king presents him before God. Good fortune.

   Unopposable blessing, as in the fifth line of Decrease, for someone who has been faithful and receptive. Openness draws help that no oracle could deny. The line asks only for continued constancy. Stay open and constant; the blessing cannot be argued with.

What is changing. The situation of Increase is moving toward Inner Truth. Use the season of increase for substantial undertakings, and keep giving as you receive. As the change completes: Keep the centre open and sincere; truth held that way reaches everyone and carries the large undertaking.

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: The reading is about trust: complete sincerity, an open centre, and the influence that has on the other person. Say what is true, without agenda. The lines warn against sincerity that depends on the other's response, and against confidence in the wrong person.

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: Influence through honesty and openness rather than position. People are moved by someone whose centre they can see into. The reading supports large undertakings founded on trust and warns against the confidence that is only ambition.

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: Dealings founded on trust, transparently. The reading is favourable to ventures built on sincere agreement and warns against trusting the wrong party, which the fifth and sixth lines describe.

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 from your own inner truth, with an open mind and no prejudice. The reading supports the large decision when it rests on sincerity, and it asks you to examine whether your confidence is real or merely wishful.