Transformation · lines 1 and 6
Overwhelmed becomes Treading Carefully
What this change means
The top line leads and the first follows, so this change runs from one end of the hardship to the other. The top line says the pressure is nearly over and the obstacles are easier to clear; fearing regret can keep you tangled, but moving anyway brings good fortune. The first line asks you to keep your inner strength, the support that held you when you felt stuck out of sight. Below, Water becomes Lake; above, Lake becomes Heaven. The resulting hexagram, 10 Treading Carefully, describes a difficult situation that you handle well by moving with awareness and gentleness, so that even possible rivals give ground. So leave the tangle, but step lightly. Your inner steadiness is what lets you be gentle without being weak. Know what's high and what's low in the situation, conduct yourself well, and the path tends to open.
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 47 Overwhelmed
The pressure is nearing its end, and the obstacles will be easy to overcome. If your inner strength is with you as well, success will come much more easily.
Hard pressed among creeping vines, on what totters. It is said: moving brings regret. If there is regret, setting out brings good fortune.
- Line 1 of 47 Overwhelmed
In these hard times, above all, keep your inner strength: it will be your support.
Buttocks caught on a tree stump. Goes into a dark valley; for three years, not seen.
- The judgment of 47 Overwhelmed
Things are very much against you: the wrong people surround you, no one believes what you say, and obstacles hem you in. All you can do is accept it and wait for better conditions to come. Your only resource is the inner light that lives in you; turn to that strength to hold you up right now.
Success. For the great person, constancy brings good fortune. No fault. They speak and are not believed.
- The judgment of 10 Treading Carefully
You're facing a difficult situation. If you know how to conduct yourself properly, moving with awareness and gentleness, even people who could be rivals and stand in your way will give ground, and may even become your allies.
Stepping on the tiger's tail; it does not bite. Success.
The trigrams
The way back
10 Treading Carefully → 47 Overwhelmedlines 1 and 6
Other transformations of Overwhelmed
- 17Adaptinglines 1 and 2
- 43Overflowinglines 1 and 3
- 31Attractionlines 2 and 3
- 60Thriftlines 1 and 4
- 8Unionlines 2 and 4
- 48Right Actionlines 3 and 4
- 54A Subordinate Rolelines 1 and 5
- 16Passionlines 2 and 5
- 32What Lastslines 3 and 5
- 7The Armylines 4 and 5
- 12Declinelines 2 and 6
- 44Lack of Firmnesslines 3 and 6
- 59Release from Obstacleslines 4 and 6
- 64Transitionlines 5 and 6
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.