I Ching Oracle / Hexagrams / 62
The Judgement
Success. Perseverance furthers. Small things may be done; great things should not be done. The flying bird brings the message: it is not well to strive upward, it is well to remain below.
Do small things well; this is no season for large moves.
The Image
Thunder on the mountain; the noble one gives preponderance to reverence in conduct, to grief in bereavement, and to thrift in expenditure.
This hexagram on ten matters
- WorkCAREER
- Favour the small over the large; excess should go toward care. Small things may be done, great things should not — the hexagram says it plainly.
- LoveRELATIONSHIP
- Be quietly attentive. Give preponderance to reverence in conduct: a little extra courtesy will not be excessive now.
- MoneyFINANCE
- Small amounts only. The flying bird brings the message: it is well to remain below, not to strive upward.
- HealthBODY
- Give preponderance to thrift: simpler and lighter serves you now. Do not chase intensity.
- StudyLEARNING
- Make small, certain progress. Dense clouds, no rain — results not yet showing is normal. Keep accumulating.
- An examEXAM
- Watch the small details. Carelessness is where this hexagram loses marks; check your paper.
- PeopleSOCIAL
- Give preponderance to grief in bereavement: extra consideration is right. Err toward thoughtfulness.
- A choiceDECISION
- Only small decisions. If one is not extremely careful, someone may strike from behind — guard first, do not press.
- TravelJOURNEY
- Do not travel far. The bird meets with misfortune through flying: this hexagram states the danger of height.
- A lost itemLOST ITEM
- Low down, in a small place; do not look high. Small excess favours below, not above.
The Six Lines
The bird meets with misfortune through flying.
The bird meets with misfortune through flying. The hexagram's whole principle: to go high now is misfortune.
She passes by her ancestor and meets her ancestress. He does not reach his prince and meets the official. No blame.
She passes by her ancestor and meets her ancestress; he does not reach his prince and meets the official. No blame. The wisdom is accepting the second-best outcome.
If one is not extremely careful, somebody may come up from behind and strike him. Misfortune.
If one is not extremely careful, somebody may strike from behind; misfortune. The misfortune is negligence — a little more care and nothing would have happened.
No blame. He meets him without passing by. Going brings danger. One must be on guard.
No blame; he meets him without passing by. Going brings danger; one must be on guard. Safety here comes from keeping to proportion.
Dense clouds, no rain from our western territory. The prince shoots and hits him who is in the cave.
Dense clouds, no rain from our western territory; the prince shoots and hits him who is in the cave. What you gain must be sought low, not high.
He passes him by, not meeting him. The flying bird leaves him. Misfortune.
He passes him by, not meeting him; the flying bird leaves him. This is called calamity — the heaviest verdict in the hexagram.
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.