Transformation · lines 3, 4, and 5

Decrease becomes Activity

Starting hexagram
Resulting hexagram

What this change means

From the lake and the mountain to heaven doubled: three lines move and every line becomes strong. The two judgments stand in balance. Decrease asked you to moderate and save, to hold back excess and get ready for big projects. The resulting hexagram, 1 Activity, is the creative force itself: new beginnings, flourishing, and the qualities you need to carry an undertaking through to success. This is the moment the preparation was for. What you conserved, energy, resources, patience, now becomes momentum. Still, don't drop the discipline that brought you here. Creative strength works best when it's steady and tireless, not when it burns everything at once. Start what you've been planning, take the lead where it's yours to take, and keep growing stronger as you go. The habits of the lean time, curbing anger and restraining appetite, become the backbone of a strong one.

What to read, in order

Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.

  1. 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.

  2. The judgment of 1 Activity

    The creative principle. Activity. New beginnings, flourishing, and the qualities you need to carry any undertaking or project through to success.

    Great success. Constancy is favorable.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. Line 5 of 41 Decrease

    Lucky chances will come unexpectedly, like a gift from heaven, because you've earned them.

    Someone adds to it: a tortoise worth ten strings of shells cannot go against it. Great good fortune.

The trigrams

Below Lake Heaven
Above Mountain Heaven

The way back

1 Activity → 41 Decrease
lines 3, 4, and 5

Other transformations of Decrease

Make your own cast

The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.

Toss the coins