What this change means
Water spreads over Earth when the third and fourth lines move, a picture of people drawing together. The fourth line leads: hold steady, center yourself in your heart, and friends tend to follow your thoughts without anxious coming and going. The third line is the counterweight. It cautions that tying yourself quickly to people who don't suit you, or chasing a hope you haven't thought through, leads to distress. The resulting hexagram, 8 Union, says success now lies in joining with people aligned with your project, who can truly support you, and that you need the qualities to carry it out yourself. So the question is not whether to join others but whom. Let the right alliances form around what you genuinely think and value. Don't grab the first hand offered. Union grows from a steady center, not from fear of being left out.
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 31 Attraction
Centering yourself in your heart and your inner resources will let what is right for you find you naturally.
Constancy brings good fortune. Regret vanishes. Restless, coming and going; friends follow your thoughts.
- Line 3 of 31 Attraction
Don't act hastily, attaching yourself to the wrong people or chasing your dreams without thinking: this will take you off the path.
Contact at the thighs. Holding on to what follows. Going on: distress.
- The judgment of 31 Attraction
You'll get good results to the extent that you stay open and receptive, which lets people come close who will support you and help you get there, generously and without self-interest.
Success. Constancy is favorable. Taking a wife brings good fortune.
- The judgment of 8 Union
Right now success lies in joining with people who are aligned with your project and who are a support for you. But it's important that you, too, have the qualities needed to carry it out; that's why you can toss the coins once more to find out whether you have those qualities.
Good fortune. Consult the oracle again: great and lasting constancy. No fault. The restless come from every side. The one who comes late: misfortune.
The trigrams
The way back
8 Union → 31 Attractionlines 3 and 4
Other transformations of Attraction
- 43Overflowinglines 1 and 2
- 17Adaptinglines 1 and 3
- 47Overwhelmedlines 2 and 3
- 63After the Endlines 1 and 4
- 48Right Actionlines 2 and 4
- 55Abundancelines 1 and 5
- 32What Lastslines 2 and 5
- 16Passionlines 3 and 5
- 15Simplicitylines 4 and 5
- 13Gathering with Equalslines 1 and 6
- 44Lack of Firmnesslines 2 and 6
- 12Declinelines 3 and 6
- 53Gradual Progresslines 4 and 6
- 56The Travelerlines 5 and 6
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.