Abundance
- Upper Trigram
- Thunder
- Lower Trigram
- Fire
The Judgment
Thunder and lightning arrive together, light and movement at once — Abundance is about fullness, greatness, the moment when an endeavour and its standing reach their peak. This is a rare high point: like the sun at midday, its brightness reaching to every quarter. Yet the wisdom of Abundance lies precisely in the saying that the sun at its zenith begins to decline, and the moon once full begins to wane. So Abundance does not ask you to rein in your gladness, but to carry a measure of clarity at the height: the brighter the light, the deeper the shadow; the more you hold, the more you must tend the details and the people the glare can eclipse. One who truly understands Abundance uses this light to see the needful work all the way through and to draw the right people close, rather than sinking into the glory and forgetting the hour. If fullness is upon you now, enjoy it well, and still ask: this light — how do I mean to put it to good use?
The Six Lines
First line
You meet a partner who matches you, and even a full spell of ten days together brings no blame; to go forward together is esteemed. This first line of Abundance is about meeting the right collaborator at the outset of greatness. Fullness is rarely built alone; when you meet an equal of like mind, do not miss them out of hesitation — joined together, you can hold up a far larger enterprise.
Second line
The screen is so thick that at high noon it is dark enough to see the Dipper; to go forward now draws suspicion, yet if you move the other by sincerity, it is still fortunate. This line is about the light being covered and being misread. The more you are misunderstood and shut off from the light, the less you should try to prove yourself by confrontation; bring out your good faith and move people slowly, and the curtain draws back of itself.
Third line
The cover is deeper still, so that at noon even the small stars appear; it is as if the right arm were broken, useless for a time — yet this is no fault of yours. This line is about a setback and a hobbling that strike at the height. When the light is thickly buried and your helper is lost, forcing your hand only wounds you; hold still first, restore your strength, and when this shadow passes the light returns of itself.
Fourth line
The screen is heavy as before, the Dipper seen at noon, but luckily you meet a partner who is your equal — this is fortunate. This line is about finding an ally at last in the gloom. To be in a covered, unclear stage is not to be alone; go out and seek, and join with the one who can stand beside you, and two lights together break the dark before you.
Fifth line
You draw out the inner brilliance and worth around you, bringing blessing and good repute — this is fortunate. This line is about Abundance ripening into its true fullness. The finest greatness is not shining alone but drawing out the talent and good in those near you; when you are willing to help others rise and to gather many strengths, fortune and a good name follow of themselves.
Top line
He builds his house grand but screens his own family in thick darkness; peering through the door, all is silent and not a soul is there, and for years no one is seen — this is ill. This line closes Abundance, about a peak that turns into self-enclosure and lonely aloofness. If fullness becomes shutting yourself away and cutting off contact, the grandest house stands empty; do not let your glory become a high wall — remember to open the door.
Reading the Change
Abundance is about fullness reaching its peak, and it reminds you that the sun at zenith begins to decline. From the first line to the top it runs from meeting the right partner at the outset and being misread when the light is covered, through a hobbling that strikes at the height and finding an ally at last in the gloom, to ripening by drawing out others' brilliance, and finally seeing through self-enclosed aloofness. It does not ask you to rein in gladness, only to carry clarity at the height. When a line changes, the emphasis — to join, to hold, or to open up — shifts at that stage. A change low down mostly asks you to dissolve the screen through sincerity and find those who walk with you; a change up top speaks of helping others rise and not letting glory become a high wall. Read where the changing line falls, then the resulting hexagram, and you know where this light is going.