Hexagram 62 line 5: Small Excess, yin in the fifth place

What changes when line 5 moves

Line 5 of Hexagram 62 is yin, a broken line. When it is cast as old yin (a 6) it flips, and the hexagram becomes Hexagram 31, Influence: Mutual attraction: influence that works because it is felt, not forced, and the courtship that follows.

Read together, the reading moves from Small Excess toward Influence. The bird that should not fly too high: a time for small things, done with extra care, and for staying low. Mountain below, lake above: the still mountain with the lake resting on its summit, the strong below the gentle, the two drawn together. Influence is the hexagram of attraction between people, and its structure is the whole argument: the strong yields its place, the gentle is above, and the two are joined by feeling that neither commands. 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 62 changing to 31 →

Line 5 in context

Love & relationships

The help you need has withdrawn; seek it out where it is hiding. In love and relationships, Hexagram 62 reads: 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.

Career

The help you need has withdrawn; seek it out where it is hiding. In career, Hexagram 62 reads: 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.

Money

The help you need has withdrawn; seek it out where it is hiding. In money, Hexagram 62 reads: 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.

A decision

The help you need has withdrawn; seek it out where it is hiding. In decisions, Hexagram 62 reads: 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.