Hexagram 62 changing to 16: Small Excess to Enthusiasm

Where it starts: 62 Small Excess

The bird that should not fly too high: a time for small things, done with extra care, and for staying low. Mountain below, thunder above: thunder on the mountain, louder than in the sky and smaller in reach. Four yielding lines outweigh two strong ones. Small Excess describes a time when the small predominates and the correct response is to attend to small things with slightly more care than usual: more reverence in conduct, more grief in mourning, more thrift in spending. The tradition's judgement is that small things may be done and great things may not, and its image is the flying bird whose call should go downward, not up. The reading says this is not a time to attempt anything large or to fly high, and that success lies in modesty carried a little past the ordinary.

Where it goes: 16 Enthusiasm

Thunder rising from the earth: energy that moves people when it moves with the grain of things. Earth below, thunder above: movement breaking out of stillness, music and spring. Enthusiasm is the power to carry people along, and the tradition ties it to timing and to the natural order: it works when it moves with the way things already tend, as thunder follows the season. The judgement favours appointing helpers and setting armies in motion, meaning that this is a time to organise and to act with momentum. The reading also carries the hexagram's shadow: enthusiasm that becomes self-indulgence, or that continues after its moment, ends in delusion.

The lines that move

1. Line 3

   If one is not extremely careful, somebody may come up from behind and strike him. Misfortune.

   In a time of the small, neglecting the small precaution and being struck from behind. The line names the consequence of ordinary carelessness in an extraordinary time: what would usually be fine is now dangerous. Take the precaution you would normally skip; this is not a normal time.

What is changing. The situation of Small Excess is moving toward Enthusiasm. Do small things with extra care and stay low; this is not a time to fly high. As the change completes: Move with the momentum while it aligns with the real situation, and organise as you go.

love and relationships

Now: Small things, done with extra care: the gesture, the apology, the attention to detail. Not the grand declaration. The reading favours modesty and warns against flying high; the bird that climbs now is caught in the net. Then: Real energy and delight between you, and the pull to carry each other along. Enjoy it and keep it honest. The risk named is complacency: enthusiasm that stops noticing the other person and becomes a mood.

career

Now: Attend to the details and keep a low profile. Great initiatives are not favoured. Be a little more conscientious than usual in conduct and spending, and let the small, well-done things accumulate. Then: Momentum. People are ready to follow and the moment favours action. Organise, appoint helpers, and move while the energy is high. Do not let the mood substitute for the plan.

money

Now: Thrift beyond the ordinary. Small, careful economies rather than large plays. The reading rules out the big move and rewards attention to the details of the accounts. Then: Enthusiasm is where money is lost as often as made. The reading supports action that follows a real trend, and warns sharply against being carried away by excitement into commitments you have not examined.

decisions

Now: Choose the small, careful option and decline the large one. The reading is explicit: small things may be done, great things may not. Decide accordingly. Then: Act with the momentum, provided the direction is sound. Ask whether you are moving with the grain of the situation or merely with the feeling. If the former, go.