I Ching: Wednesday, September 23

One of the sixty-four hexagrams

This is an archived reading, kept as it was published.

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The Taming Power of the Small

Hexagram 9 is a single yin line holding five yang lines in check, and the Judgment gives its famous suspended image: dense clouds, no rain, out of our own western fields. Everything needed is present and no rain has fallen. Today something large is held back by something small, and the holding is real and temporary. The Image says what to do with the interval: wind moves across the face of heaven, so the noble person refines their outward form. Large action being unavailable, the effort goes inward, to manner and detail. Do not try to make it rain. Polish what you will be seen doing when it does.

For your star sign

The same reading, taken through each sign of the zodiac.

Aries

Five yang lines held by one yin is your day exactly: all the force, none of the release. Do not force the rain. Today refine the manner, which is the part you usually skip.

Taurus

Dense clouds and no rain suits you; you can wait. The hexagram adds that the wait is not idle. Today attend to the detail of how you present, since the large thing is not available.

Gemini

You will talk about the rain until it comes. It comes when it comes. Today the wind across heaven is your cue: refine the outward form, say less, and let the clouds hold.

Cancer

You feel the rain coming and it does not fall, and you will take that personally. It is the sky. Today the small thing holds the large one, and your job is the manner in between.

Leo

The stage is set and the curtain will not rise. Today refine the costume. The hexagram sends effort to outward form when the great action is held, and that is your instrument.

Virgo

This is your hexagram: the small thing that holds everything, and the detail refined while it holds. Today do exactly that and do not mistake the holding for failure.

Libra

You will try to negotiate the rain down. The clouds do not negotiate. Today accept the suspension and spend it on how you carry yourself inside it.

Scorpio

One small thing holding five large ones is a situation you understand from both sides. Today you are the yin line. Hold, and refine the manner, and the rain is a different day.

Sagittarius

You will leave the western fields to find rain elsewhere. It is here, held. Today stay under the clouds and work on the outward form, which for you means slowing down.

Capricorn

The rain is on the schedule and the schedule is wrong. Today the small thing holds the large. Use the interval on style and detail, which you treat as optional and which the Image does not.

Aquarius

You will explain why the clouds have not broken. Today the explanation is not the work. Refine the outward form of your character, which is the one thing the hexagram asks and the one you rate least.

Pisces

You feel the pressure of the unfallen rain and dissolve into it. Today keep your shape. The wind across heaven is refining form, and form is what you tend to let go of.

For your Chinese animal

The same reading, taken through each animal of the Chinese zodiac.

Rat

You will find a way to make the rain fall early. There is none. Today the small thing holds, and the interval is for the manner of your approach, not its speed.

Ox

Waiting under clouds is your nature. The hexagram adds refinement to it. Today, while you hold, attend to the detail of how you hold. It is seen.

Tiger

Five yang lines held by one yin is you being stopped by something small. Do not break it. Today the holding is real and brief, and the manner of enduring it is the work.

Rabbit

You are the yin line today: small, holding something much larger than yourself. It works. Refine the outward form and do not apologise for the holding.

Dragon

The rain you ordered has not arrived and the sky is not taking instructions. Today refine your outward character instead. The hexagram sends great force inward when it cannot go out.

Snake

You hold large things with small movements, which is this hexagram. Today the addition is style: the way you hold is visible, and the Image asks it to be refined.

Horse

You will gallop out from under the clouds. They are the whole sky. Today stay and work on the manner, which is the only action the hexagram leaves open.

Goat

You will ask someone whether the rain is coming. It is; it is held. Today do not ask. Refine how you present and let the clouds keep their own timetable.

Monkey

You will build a device to seed the clouds. Not today. The hexagram is a suspended moment, and the useful cleverness is in outward form, not in the weather.

Rooster

You will criticise the clouds for not raining. Today the small thing holding the large is correct. Spend the criticism on your own outward form, which is where the Image aims it.

Dog

You will stand guard under the clouds waiting for the rain to come to those you protect. Today the guard is the refinement. How you wait is what they see.

Pig

You will eat under the clouds and enjoy the shade. Do, and also refine something today. The hexagram lets the large thing be held and asks for detail in the meantime.

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