What this change means
No light, only darkness: the top line describes something that first climbs to heaven and later falls into the earth. When it moves, the Earth above becomes Mountain, fire at the foot of a hill. The line's counsel is quiet perseverance. If you keep going without drawing attention, what's wrong around you, and those who sustain it, tends to give way on its own. You don't have to bring them down. The resulting hexagram, 22 Good Manners, adds how to carry yourself meanwhile: with kindness, courtesy and care in ordinary dealings, handling everyday matters rather than great undertakings. Read together, the movement says to let the dark run its course while you keep your manners and your steadiness. Watch for the urge to confront what's already falling; it can drag you down with it.
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 36 Darkness
If you keep persevering, quietly and without drawing attention, the bad situations and the people behind them will fall under their own weight.
No light, darkness. First it climbs to heaven; later it goes into the earth.
- 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.
- 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 → 36 Darknessline 6
Other transformations of Darkness
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.