Hexagram 45 changing to 17: Gathering Together to Following

Where it starts: 45 Gathering Together

The lake gathering on the earth: people assembling around a centre, with the resources to make the gathering matter. Earth below, lake above: water collecting on the land, a reservoir. Gathering Together describes assembly: people collecting around a leader or a cause, resources pooled, a community formed. The tradition's judgement is that the king approaches his temple, that it furthers to see the great person, that persistence and a great offering bring success. Gathering needs a centre worth gathering around, and it needs sacrifice, meaning that those who assemble must bring something. The image adds preparation: where people gather, unexpected things happen, and the wise person renews their weapons. The reading is favourable to assembly and asks who is at the centre and what is being brought.

Where it goes: 17 Following

Following what is right, and being followed: influence that comes from adapting to the time. Thunder below, lake above: movement within joy, thunder resting in the lake in autumn. Following describes the art of adapting, of going with the time rather than against it, and of leading by being worth following. The tradition's judgement promises success with persistence, and the condition is that what is followed must be good. This is not passivity or drifting. It is the choice to serve something you believe in, to let others serve you only when you have earned it, and to rest when the season asks for rest.

The lines that move

1. Line 1

   Sincere but not to the end; sometimes confusion, sometimes gathering. If you call out, after one grasp of the hand you can laugh again. Do not regret. Going is without blame.

   Wanting to join but wavering, pulled by the crowd's confusion. The remedy is to ask for help from the person at the centre; one honest appeal restores the resolve. The line is kind about the wavering. If you waver, call out to the centre; one clasp of the hand steadies you.

What is changing. The situation of Gathering Together is moving toward Following. Gather around a worthy centre, bring a real offering, and be ready for what a gathering stirs up. As the change completes: Follow what is worth following, wholeheartedly, and adapt to the time.

love and relationships

Now: Coming together, or bringing people together around the relationship: family, friends, community. The reading favours it, and asks each person to bring a real offering. It warns that gatherings produce the unexpected; be ready. Then: Go along with the other person's rhythm for now, and choose carefully whom you follow. Devotion to someone worth it is strength; devotion to anyone who asks is the error the lines describe.

career

Now: Building a team or a coalition around a sound centre. The reading supports it strongly and asks for two things: a leader worth following and a genuine contribution from everyone. Prepare for what a crowd stirs up. Then: Adapt to the direction of the organisation or the leader, if the direction is sound. If you lead, you keep followers by being worth following, not by insisting. Rest when the day ends.

money

Now: Pooled resources, a fund, a shared venture. Favourable when the centre is trustworthy and the contributions real. Keep reserves for the unforeseen; gatherings have surprises. Then: Follow the trend that is real rather than fighting it, and follow advice that is proven. The reading favours flexibility and warns against clinging to a position out of pride.

decisions

Now: Decide to join or to convene, around a centre you have examined. Bring something to it. The reading supports assembly and asks for preparation against what it stirs. Then: Choose the option that adapts to the situation as it is. If it means following someone else's lead, do it wholeheartedly or not at all; half-following is the worst of both.