Hexagram 59 changing to 4: Dispersion to Youthful Folly

Where it starts: 59 Dispersion

Wind over water dissolving what has frozen: egotism, rigidity and division scattered, and people gathered again around what is sacred. Water below, wind above: wind moving over water, breaking up the ice and scattering the mist. Dispersion describes the dissolving of what has hardened: selfishness that separates people, blockages in feeling, factions in a group. The tradition's judgement is that the king approaches his temple, that it furthers to cross the great water, and that persistence furthers. The dispersion of division is followed by a gathering around something shared and sacred. The reading says the time is for dissolving what divides, in yourself first, and that large undertakings become possible once the ice has broken.

Where it goes: 4 Youthful Folly

Inexperience seeking guidance: the learner must ask, and the teacher must not be asked twice for the same answer. A spring at the foot of a mountain: water that does not yet know where it is going. Youthful Folly is about not knowing, and about the proper relationship between the one who does not know and the one who does. The tradition's rule is famous: the student seeks the teacher, not the other way round, and a question asked over and over out of doubt is not answered. The reading is not an insult. It says the situation is one of inexperience, that guidance is available, and that the way to receive it is with sincerity and without pestering.

The lines that move

1. Line 5

   His loud cries are as dissolving as sweat. Dissolution. A king abides without blame.

   The leader whose great idea, proclaimed at the moment of crisis, dissolves the division as sweat breaks a fever. The centre that everyone can gather around. The line describes the word that reunites. Give people the idea they can gather around; say it clearly and at the right moment.

What is changing. The situation of Dispersion is moving toward Youthful Folly. Dissolve what divides, beginning with your own rigidity, and gather people again around what is shared. As the change completes: Admit what you do not know, seek one good teacher, and take the answer you are given.

love and relationships

Now: Something frozen between you is ready to thaw. Dissolve your own hardness first: the pride, the grievance, the position you have been holding. Then gather again around what you share. The reading is favourable to reconciliation and to the large step afterwards. Then: Someone in the situation is inexperienced, and pretending otherwise is the problem. Be honest about what you do not know. If you are the one being asked for the same reassurance repeatedly, the reading supports a kind, firm answer given once.

career

Now: Breaking up factions, thawing a frozen team, dissolving the egotism that has separated people. The reading favours the leader who does this by gathering people around a shared purpose rather than by force, and it supports a large undertaking once the division is gone. Then: A learning position. Find the person who knows and ask properly; do not ask everyone, and do not keep asking the same thing. The reading rewards the humble learner and the teacher who sets clear limits.

money

Now: Dispersing accumulated blockages: stuck capital, hoarded resources, rigid arrangements. The reading favours letting resources flow toward a shared purpose, and supports the big move once they do. Then: Do not act on money matters you do not understand. Take advice from someone qualified, once, and follow it. The folly the hexagram names is repeating a question because you dislike the answer.

decisions

Now: Choose the option that dissolves division and reunites people around something they hold in common. The reading supports crossing the great water after the ice breaks; decide in that order. Then: You do not yet know enough to decide well. Get guidance, sincerely, from one good source, and then act on it rather than shopping for a second opinion that agrees with you.