What this change means
Thunder stirs inside the earth as the fifth and top lines move, and the wind above Increase falls quiet. The top line leads, and it's a warning: selfishness, hoarding and careless speech can bring growth to an end, and a heart without steadiness invites misfortune. The fifth line offers the remedy: a kind, generous heart is met with blessings, without needing to ask. The resulting hexagram, 24 Coming Back, speaks of return after a dark period. Help comes, undertakings are favored, but only if you remember the mistakes that led into the dark and don't repeat them. This movement holds both a fall and a recovery. If you've slipped into keeping too much for yourself, turn back to generosity. Be steady in it. Watch your words. Kindness that returns tends to bring support back 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 42 Increase
If you become selfish, hoard your achievements and gains for yourself alone, and don't watch your words, this time of growth won't last long.
No one adds to it; someone strikes it. The heart is set, but without steadiness. Misfortune.
- Line 5 of 42 Increase
A generous, kind heart is sure to receive help and blessings from heaven.
There is sincere trust and a kind heart: do not ask. Great good fortune. There is sincere trust: my virtue is met with kindness.
- The judgment of 42 Increase
You're in a time of gain and growth: your projects will grow and prosper. At times like this it's important to keep your inner integrity, follow the example of people who have the qualities you want to gain, and get rid of the traits that have caused you trouble before. Overall, it's a time of achievement and generosity.
It is favorable to have somewhere to go. It is favorable to cross the great river.
- The judgment of 24 Coming Back
After a period of adversity and darkness, the return comes. Still, be aware of the mistakes that led you into the dark, because if you repeat them you could fall again. People will come to help you, and your undertakings and projects will be favored.
Success. Going out and coming in without harm; friends arrive, no fault. Back and forth along its way: in seven days comes the return. It is favorable to have somewhere to go.
The trigrams
The way back
24 Coming Back → 42 Increaselines 5 and 6
Other transformations of Increase
- 59Release from Obstacleslines 1 and 2
- 53Gradual Progresslines 1 and 3
- 9Small Thingslines 2 and 3
- 12Declinelines 1 and 4
- 10Treading Carefullylines 2 and 4
- 13Gathering with Equalslines 3 and 4
- 23The Falllines 1 and 5
- 41Decreaselines 2 and 5
- 22Good Mannerslines 3 and 5
- 21Bitinglines 4 and 5
- 8Unionlines 1 and 6
- 60Thriftlines 2 and 6
- 63After the Endlines 3 and 6
- 17Adaptinglines 4 and 6
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.