I Ching Oracle / Hexagrams / 23
The Judgement
It does not further one to go anywhere.
Erosion from below; withdraw and wait for the turn.
The Image
The mountain rests on the earth; those above can ensure their position only by giving generously to those below.
This hexagram on ten matters
- WorkCAREER
- A season of erosion; it does not further to go anywhere. The stripping works upward from below — enduring achieves nothing. Withdraw and wait.
- LoveRELATIONSHIP
- The relationship is being eroded. The bed is split up to the skin: by the time it is personal it is late, though still better than continuing to pretend.
- MoneyFINANCE
- Do not commit. A large fruit still uneaten — keeping the seed matters more than saving the tree.
- HealthBODY
- A depleting pattern. Giving generously to those below: attend to the basics of rest and food; let the rest wait.
- StudyLEARNING
- Not a time to force study. The return on effort is very poor when your state is wrong.
- An examEXAM
- A weak phase; your base is eroding. Sit the exam conservatively — secure the basic marks and do not spend time on the hardest questions.
- PeopleSOCIAL
- The circle is dissolving. Let it. Holding on looks worse than letting go.
- A choiceDECISION
- Do not decide; withdraw. Decisions made in this phase are usually regretted.
- TravelJOURNEY
- Do not travel far. In a season of stripping away, journeys attract loss and unplanned expense. If you must go, shorten it and carry less.
- A lost itemLOST ITEM
- It may be damaged or hard to recover. Rather than searching at length, report it early or prepare a replacement.
The Six Lines
The leg of the bed is split. Those who persevere are destroyed. Misfortune.
The leg of the bed is split. Decay begins at the very bottom. The misfortune is invisibility: nobody takes it seriously while it is still at the foot.
The bed is split at the edge. Those who persevere are destroyed. Misfortune.
The bed is split at the edge. Same misfortune, same disregard — a repetition and deepening of the first line.
He splits with them. No blame.
He splits with them; no blame. Detaching from the general collapse. The only blameless line here: choosing not to go along.
The bed is split up to the skin. Misfortune.
The bed is split up to the skin. The worst line, because the damage has reached you directly with nothing left in between.
A shoal of fishes. Favor comes through the court ladies. Everything acts to further.
A shoal of fishes; favour through the court ladies. Order begins to return. The turn: from disorder toward governance.
There is a large fruit still uneaten. The superior man receives a carriage. The house of the inferior man is split apart.
A large fruit still uneaten. The superior man receives a carriage, the inferior man's house is split. Stripping taken to the end is where return begins.
The governing line
Nuclear · Opposite · Reverse
The nuclear hexagram shows the middle stretch of the matter; the opposite is the same situation seen from the reverse position; the reverse is the view from the other party's side.