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I Ching · Hexagram 55 Abundance

Hexagram 55 line 3: Abundance, yang in the third place

Line 3 of a hexagram

I Ching 55.3

The underbrush is so dense that the small stars can be seen at noon. One breaks his right arm. No blame.

The eclipse at its deepest: the capable person entirely blocked, as if their right arm were broken. Nothing can be done and the line attaches no blame; the darkness is not their fault and it is not permanent.

Advice. You are entirely blocked and it is not your fault; wait, and do not blame yourself.

What changes when line 3 moves

Line 3 of Hexagram 55 is yang, a solid line. When it is cast as old yang (a 9) it flips, and the hexagram becomes Hexagram 51, The Arousing: Thunder repeated: a shock that terrifies for a hundred miles, and the composure not to drop the ladle.

Read together, the reading moves from Abundance toward The Arousing. The sun at noon: abundance at its height, with the certainty that noon does not last and the instruction not to grieve about it. Thunder below, thunder above: the arousing doubled, shock upon shock. The Arousing describes the sudden event that shakes everything: a crisis, a loss, an upheaval, a fright. 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 55 changing to 51 →

Line 3 in context

Love & relationships
You are entirely blocked and it is not your fault; wait, and do not blame yourself. In love and relationships, Hexagram 55 reads: A high point: fullness of feeling, of shared life. Enjoy it without sadness that it will change. The lines warn about the curtain that can darken even noon: suspicion and misunderstanding at the height of things. Keep seeing each other clearly.
Career
You are entirely blocked and it is not your fault; wait, and do not blame yourself. In career, Hexagram 55 reads: Peak influence and success. Use it decisively; the image is of judgements made and carried out while the light is strongest. Do not waste the noon in anxiety about the afternoon, and do not let the abundance isolate you from clear sight.
Money
You are entirely blocked and it is not your fault; wait, and do not blame yourself. In money, Hexagram 55 reads: Prosperity at its height. Make the decisions that require it now. Do not grieve in advance for its passing, and do not let fullness breed the complacency that the lines describe as a darkening at noon.
A decision
You are entirely blocked and it is not your fault; wait, and do not blame yourself. In decisions, Hexagram 55 reads: Decide now, at the height of clarity and resources. The reading favours decisive action in abundance and warns against delay, because noon passes. Act like the sun at midday.

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