Transformation · line 6
The Traveler becomes Success in Small Matters
What this change means
The top line moves alone, and Fire above becomes Thunder: thunder over the mountain. This line holds the sharpest warning of The Traveler. A bird burns its own nest; the traveler laughs at first and wails later. In practical terms, if you relax too much, forget you're only passing through, and stop tending to your real purpose, problems follow. The resulting hexagram, 62 Success in Small Matters, sets the right scale. This is a time for modest achievements, and reaching beyond your present means tends to waste effort. So remember where you are and why you came. Don't treat a temporary shelter as a permanent home or squander what you have on comfort. Stay humble in scale, attentive to your goal, and careful with what you've been given.
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 56 The Traveler
If you relax too much, forgetting that you're only passing through, and stop tending to your ultimate purpose, you'll run into problems.
The bird burns its nest. The traveler laughs first and wails aloud after. Loses the ox at Yi. Misfortune.
- The judgment of 56 The Traveler
It's a time of small achievements. Keep a light, flexible attitude. You may be facing a period of change, new places or situations that ask you to adapt while they settle: let go of attachments and be gracious as you make new connections and your situation takes hold.
Small success. For the traveler, constancy brings good fortune.
- 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 → 56 The Travelerline 6
Other transformations of The Traveler
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.