Transformation · lines 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6
Decrease becomes Success in Small Matters
What this change means
A small sound in a big place: thunder rumbles on the mountain as five lines change and only the fifth stays still. That still fifth line of the resulting hexagram, 62 Success in Small Matters, is the heart of the reading: your humility is what helps you find people willing to act for you. This isn't a time for great things. It favors small achievements, and seeing that clearly helps you live in step with the moment. Reaching beyond your present means and resources would lead you astray and waste your effort. Decrease has prepared you for exactly this modesty. Keep your ambitions sized to what you have. Ask for help simply, without pride, and let others carry what you can't. Small, careful steps, taken with respect and frugality, tend to add up to more than one oversized leap.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- Line 5 of 62 Success in Small Matters, which stays still
Your humility will help you find people who will act on your behalf.
Thick clouds, yet no rain, out of our western fields. The prince shoots a corded arrow and takes what is in the cave.
- The judgment of 41 Decrease
It's a time for moderation and saving: conserving your resources and energy matters a great deal now. A period of growth will follow, but for now you need to stay aware and avoid excess of every kind while you get ready to take on big projects.
There is sincere trust. Great good fortune. No fault. Constancy is possible. It is favorable to have somewhere to go. What to offer? Two bowls will do for the offering.
- Line 1 of 41 Decrease
Once your tasks are done, this is a time when you can use your time and energy to help others, as long as they ask for that help.
When the work is done, go quickly. No fault. Weigh how much to take away.
- Line 2 of 41 Decrease
Without having to give up any of what you have, it's a good moment to help others.
Constancy is favorable. Setting out brings misfortune. Without taking from it, it is added to.
- Line 3 of 41 Decrease
A good moment to team up with another person, just one. If you don't know whom to team up with, the ally will come on their own.
When three walk together, one is lost; when one walks alone, they find a companion.
- Line 4 of 41 Decrease
If you work on improving yourself, you'll raise your vibration and also draw people in tune with it.
Lessens the ailment; let joy come quickly. No fault.
- Line 6 of 41 Decrease
You're in a position to help others generously and selflessly. The more you do it, the more blessings from heaven will come.
Without taking from it, it is added to. No fault. Constancy brings good fortune. It is favorable to have somewhere to go. Gains servants who have no house of their own.
- The judgment of 62 Success in Small Matters
This isn't a time for great things; it's a time for small achievements. Recognizing that will help you live in step with the moment. Trying to go beyond your present means and resources will lead you astray and waste your efforts.
Success. Constancy is favorable. Small things can be done, not great ones. The flying bird leaves its call behind: it is not fitting to rise, it is fitting to descend. Great good fortune.
The trigrams
The way back
62 Success in Small Matters → 41 Decreaselines 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6
Other transformations of Decrease
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.