What this change means
Fire glows below the mountain when the third and top lines move, and the figure becomes 22 Good Manners. The top line leads: a return that goes astray because opportunities were allowed to pass, leaving you to wait for new ones. The third shows how that can happen, through insecurity, going back and forth and repeating old mistakes. Both lines describe a return undone by hesitation. The resulting hexagram suggests a modest way forward. Attend to everyday matters with kindness and courtesy, and put off great undertakings for now. Good manners might seem minor, but they can rebuild trust where wavering eroded it. So stop circling, take care of the small, ordinary things well, and treat people graciously while you wait for the next real opening.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- Line 6 of 24 Coming Back
If you let opportunities slip by and don't act at the right moment, it will no longer be possible to put things back in order, and you'll have to wait for new options to appear, which may take some time.
A lost return. Misfortune; there is calamity and ruin. If armies are set marching, in the end there will be a great defeat that reaches the ruler of the country. Misfortune. Not for ten years can a campaign be undertaken.
- Line 3 of 24 Coming Back
If you act with insecurity, going forward and back and repeating past mistakes, you'll stray from the path and from right action.
Returning again and again. Danger; no fault.
- The judgment of 24 Coming Back
After a period of adversity and darkness, the return comes. Still, be aware of the mistakes that led you into the dark, because if you repeat them you could fall again. People will come to help you, and your undertakings and projects will be favored.
Success. Going out and coming in without harm; friends arrive, no fault. Back and forth along its way: in seven days comes the return. It is favorable to have somewhere to go.
- The judgment of 22 Good Manners
It's a time to be kind and courteous and to use good manners with others if you want good results in what you undertake. What might seem superficial at another time leads you to success now. It's a time to handle everyday matters, not great undertakings.
Success. In small things, it is favorable to have somewhere to go.
The trigrams
The way back
22 Good Manners → 24 Coming Backlines 3 and 6
Other transformations of Coming Back
- 7The Armylines 1 and 2
- 15Simplicitylines 1 and 3
- 11Well-Beinglines 2 and 3
- 16Passionlines 1 and 4
- 54A Subordinate Rolelines 2 and 4
- 55Abundancelines 3 and 4
- 8Unionlines 1 and 5
- 60Thriftlines 2 and 5
- 63After the Endlines 3 and 5
- 17Adaptinglines 4 and 5
- 23The Falllines 1 and 6
- 41Decreaselines 2 and 6
- 21Bitinglines 4 and 6
- 42Increaselines 5 and 6
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.