I Ching Oracle / Hexagrams / 63
The Judgement
Success in small matters. Perseverance furthers. At the beginning good fortune, at the end disorder.
Completion reached — now the risk is complacency.
The Image
Water over fire; the noble one takes thought of misfortune and arms himself against it in advance.
This hexagram on ten matters
- WorkCAREER
- Completion reached, and hidden trouble begins. At the beginning good fortune, at the end disorder — the dangerous moment is not the start but the point where it feels finished.
- LoveRELATIONSHIP
- Stable, and the risk now is slackening. Take thought of misfortune and arm against it in advance: maintaining takes more attention than pursuing.
- MoneyFINANCE
- Results are in; consolidate. He gets his head in the water, danger — relaxing at the last step undoes it all.
- HealthBODY
- This hexagram is about what follows completion. Stopping the treatment or the practice once things improve is exactly the risk.
- StudyLEARNING
- You have learned it, but he brakes his wheels and wets his tail: the finishing details are not fully handled.
- An examEXAM
- Preparation is complete; do not slacken now. Good at the start, disorder at the end — stay focused through the last questions.
- PeopleSOCIAL
- Stable but needing upkeep. The neighbour in the east who slaughters an ox gains less than the neighbour in the west with his small offering — sincerity over ceremony.
- A choiceDECISION
- Consolidate rather than open something new. The task is securing what is already done.
- TravelJOURNEY
- Feasible, but be careful all day long — stay alert to the last moment.
- A lost itemLOST ITEM
- Found — but check that it is complete, and whether anything else was lost with it.
The Six Lines
He brakes his wheels. He gets his tail in the water. No blame.
He brakes his wheels; he gets his tail in the water. No blame. Slowing down deliberately, and so unharmed: at the moment of completion, full speed is the worst move.
The woman loses the curtain of her carriage. Do not run after it; on the seventh day you will get it.
The woman loses the curtain of her carriage; do not run after it, on the seventh day you will get it. Composure from trusting that some things return.
The Illustrious Ancestor disciplines the Devil's Country. After three years he conquers it. Inferior people must not be employed.
The Illustrious Ancestor disciplines the Devil's Country; after three years he conquers it. Inferior people must not be employed: after victory, whom you appoint matters more than the war.
The finest clothes turn to rags. Be careful all day long.
The finest clothes turn to rags; be careful all day long. The most clear-eyed line here: the peak is followed by decline.
The neighbor in the east who slaughters an ox does not attain as much real happiness as the neighbor in the west with his small offering.
The neighbour in the east who slaughters an ox gains less than the neighbour in the west with his small offering. The hexagram's judgement of value: blessing goes to the sincere.
He gets his head in the water. Danger.
He gets his head in the water; danger. The ending: believing you had crossed, and capsizing at the last.
The governing line
Nuclear · Opposite · Reverse
The nuclear hexagram shows the middle stretch of the matter; the opposite is the same situation seen from the reverse position; the reverse is the view from the other party's side.