Transformation · lines 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6
Nourishment becomes Right Action
What this change means
Water rises over wood as five lines move, leaving only the fourth still: the jaws give way to a well. That still line of the resulting hexagram, 48 Right Action, carries the reading: rethink, look to the openings in front of you, and put your talents to work, and success becomes possible. The resulting hexagram adds a warning: being in the right place at the right time does no good if you keep postponing decisions. It's about using what you have, not hunting for something new. Nourishment and the well are close kin, both about drawing sustenance from what's already there. So stop waiting for a better supply. Look at the resources, skills and opportunities around you, choose, and act on them. Drawn and used, a well keeps giving; left alone, it stagnates.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- Line 4 of 48 Right Action, which stays still
It's time to rethink and focus on the opportunities. If you focus on action and use your talents, you'll succeed.
The well is lined with brick. No fault.
- The judgment of 27 Nourishment
Right now you need to take care of your physical and spiritual nourishment, so you have the resources you need in each area, and at the same time help others grow through what you do. Success lies in giving and receiving: take in what is good for you and share it with those around you.
Constancy brings good fortune. Watching the jaws; seeking for oneself what fills the mouth.
- Line 1 of 27 Nourishment
Being ungrateful for what you have and busying yourself envying what others have will hold back your achievements.
You let go of your sacred tortoise and watch my jaw working. Misfortune.
- Line 2 of 27 Nourishment
Expecting others to sort out your affairs and acting selfishly isn't favorable.
Jaws turned upside down: against the norm. Seeking sustenance from the hill. Setting out brings misfortune.
- Line 3 of 27 Nourishment
Watch the balance between your worldly food and your higher food closely: tending only to the first, and overindulging, brings misfortune.
Going against sustenance. Even with constancy, misfortune. For ten years, do not act. Nothing is favorable.
- Line 5 of 27 Nourishment
Being aware of your limits in helping others and asking advice on how to do it will bring you moderate achievements, not extraordinary ones, but it's something.
Against the norm. Abiding in constancy brings good fortune. The great river cannot be crossed.
- Line 6 of 27 Nourishment
You gain the resources to take care of your own affairs, and you help others get theirs. This brings a great responsibility, but also great success.
From here comes sustenance. Danger; good fortune. It is favorable to cross the great river.
- The judgment of 48 Right Action
You're at a moment when opportunities are on your side. But if you don't know how to use them because you keep putting off decisions and actions, being in the right place at the right time won't do you any good. It's not about looking for new things but about making use of what you have, or there will be loss.
The town is changed, the well is not. Nothing lost, nothing gained. They come and go, and draw from the well. Nearly there, the rope does not yet reach the well; if the jar breaks, misfortune.
The trigrams
The way back
48 Right Action → 27 Nourishmentlines 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6
Other transformations of Nourishment
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.