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Hexagram 43: Breakthrough

䷪ 夬 (Guài) · Breakthrough. Resolve firmly, yet speak openly.

resolve, truth, openness, decision

Lower trigram: Heaven ☰ · Upper trigram: Lake ☱

The judgment

Pressure has built up and a breakthrough is due, like water about to burst its banks. Name the problem openly and honestly, in the right place, even if speaking up feels risky. Resolve matters, but it should come from clarity and fairness, not from force or a fight.

The image

Lake above Heaven: water risen up to the sky, ready to pour down. Share what you have freely, and don't rest on the good you've already done.

The six lines

Read only the lines that changed in your casting, counting from the bottom.

• Line 1 (bottom): All your strength has gone into your toes, itching to stride ahead. Rushing into something you aren't yet equal to is a mistake.
• Line 2: A cry of alarm rings out in the night, and you are already prepared. Ready and watchful, you have nothing to fear.
• Line 3: Wearing your determination on your face invites trouble. Hold your resolve inwardly, even if it means walking alone through the rain, splashed and misunderstood; that is not wrong.
• Line 4: Rubbed raw where you sit, you can neither stay put nor walk easily. Letting yourself be led like a sheep would ease the regret, though you may not believe this advice when you hear it.
• Line 5: Clearing weeds that keep growing back takes firm, steady resolve. Stay in the middle and you keep yourself clear.
• Line 6 (top): No warning cry, no one calling out: the matter slips by unnoticed. What you leave unaddressed tends to return in the end.

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