Hexagram 42 line 5: Increase, yang in the fifth place

What changes when line 5 moves

Line 5 of Hexagram 42 is yang, a solid line. When it is cast as old yang (a 9) it flips, and the hexagram becomes Hexagram 27, Nourishment: What you feed, and what feeds you: attention to nourishment, of the body, the mind and others.

Read together, the reading moves from Increase toward Nourishment. The top gives to the base and everything grows: a time of increase, to be used well and used now. 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 primary hexagram describes the situation; the changing line is the point of movement in it; the resulting hexagram is where that movement leads. Both hexagrams belong to the reading, and the changing line is the hinge between them.

Hexagram 42 changing to 27 →

Line 5 in context

Love & relationships

Give from a kind heart and do not ask whether it was noticed. In love and relationships, Hexagram 42 reads: 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.

Career

Give from a kind heart and do not ask whether it was noticed. In career, Hexagram 42 reads: 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.

Money

Give from a kind heart and do not ask whether it was noticed. In money, Hexagram 42 reads: 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.

A decision

Give from a kind heart and do not ask whether it was noticed. In decisions, Hexagram 42 reads: Take the expansive option. The conditions support undertaking something substantial. Decide now; the reading says increase is a moment, and moments pass.