What this change means
Light goes down into the earth as the second, fifth and top lines move, and the soft clouds of the start give way to a darker sky. Three changing lines give the two judgments the same weight. Small Things describes a promised success not yet ripe, with obstacles to resolve and small actions to take. The resulting hexagram, 36 Darkness, describes a hard time in which circumstances force you to live alongside the wrong people. If you protect yourself, keep your integrity and stay out of view, not displaying your gifts openly, you can stay safe until better times come. Together they suggest that the waiting will be harder than hoped. Keep a low profile, don't expose your plans, and guard your values in private. Difficult periods pass too. Your work now is to come through it whole.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- The judgment of 9 Small Things
You're facing a situation that promises success, but it isn't time yet. There are still obstacles on the way that you need to resolve. For now you can take small actions and wait for the right moment to act on a large scale.
Success. Dense clouds and no rain, from my western outskirts.
- The judgment of 36 Darkness
It's a dark time: circumstances force you to live alongside the wrong people. If you know how to protect yourself, hold on to your integrity, and go unnoticed, without openly showing your light and your talents, you'll stay safe until better times come. However hard they seem, hard times pass too.
Constancy in hardship is favorable.
- Line 2 of 9 Small Things
Even though circumstances push you to advance, for now it's time to go back and prepare to act at a better moment.
Led back. Good fortune.
- Line 5 of 9 Small Things
Allying with others and being loyal in that alliance will bring success.
There is sincere trust, bound together as by a cord. Growing rich alongside the neighbor.
- Line 6 of 9 Small Things
You get what you want thanks to step-by-step work. Still, don't rest on your laurels: you have to stay constant and keep working little by little.
The rain has come, the rest has come. Virtue has piled up like a load. The wife's constancy is in danger. The moon is nearly full. For the noble person, setting out brings misfortune.
The trigrams
The way back
36 Darkness → 9 Small Thingslines 2, 5, and 6
Other transformations of Small Things
- 20Observinglines 1, 2, and 3
- 33Leaving Behindlines 1, 2, and 4
- 6Conflictlines 1, 3, and 4
- 25Innocencelines 2, 3, and 4
- 52Abidinglines 1, 2, and 5
- 4Immaturitylines 1, 3, and 5
- 27Nourishmentlines 2, 3, and 5
- 50The Vessel of Nourishmentlines 1, 4, and 5
- 30The Flamelines 2, 4, and 5
- 38Oppositeslines 3, 4, and 5
- 39Held Backlines 1, 2, and 6
- 29Waterlines 1, 3, and 6
- 3Initial Obstacleslines 2, 3, and 6
- 28Excesseslines 1, 4, and 6
- 49Renewallines 2, 4, and 6
- 58Inner Peacelines 3, 4, and 6
- 46Going Uplines 1, 5, and 6
- 19Fleeting Successlines 3, 5, and 6
- 34Great Manifestationlines 4, 5, and 6
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.