Hexagram 55: Feng (丰)

One meets the matching host; even after ten days there is no blame, and to go forward is honoured. Changes into Hexagram 62 (Xiao Guo).

The first line is the hexagram's opening, and it is about the meeting that makes abundance possible. 配主 is the matching host, the person who is the right counterpart, and 虽旬无咎 is the claim that even a full cycle of ten days brings no blame - the meeting is not a fluke. 往有尚 is the verdict: going forward is honoured. If this is your line, the reading is that the right person or the right opportunity has appeared, and the instruction is to move toward it rather than to wait for a better one.

The abundance is covered by a screen; at high noon one sees the Dipper. To go forward brings suspicion and illness, but with sincerity one can be open and clear. Good. Changes into Hexagram 34 (Da Zhuang).

The second line is the hexagram's first eclipse. 丰其蔀 is the abundance covered by a screen, and 日中见斗 is the extraordinary image of the stars visible at noon - the light is there, but something is blocking it. 往得疑疾 is the honest warning: going forward in this state brings suspicion and illness. The turn is 有孚发若, with sincerity one can be open and clear, and 吉 is the verdict. If this is your line, the reading is that the abundance is real and the visibility is blocked, and the instruction is to be sincere rather than to push.

The abundance is covered by a great screen; at high noon one sees the small stars. The right arm is broken, but there is no blame. Changes into Hexagram 51 (Zhen).

The third line is the eclipse deepened. 丰其沛 is the abundance covered by a larger screen, and 日中见沫 is the image of the smallest stars visible at noon - the light is further blocked. 折其右肱 is the broken right arm, the loss of the capacity to act, and 无咎 is the verdict. The line is the hexagram's admission that sometimes the abundance is real and the capacity is gone, and the instruction is to accept the loss of the arm rather than to pretend it still works. If this is your line, the reading is that the blockage is severe and the correct response is to stop using the broken arm.

The abundance is covered by a screen; at high noon one sees the Dipper. One meets the equal host. Good. Changes into Hexagram 36 (Ming Yi).

The fourth line repeats the second line's eclipse - 丰其蔀, 日中见斗, the same screen, the same stars at noon - and then turns it. 遇其夷主 is the meeting with the equal host, the person who is on the same level, and 吉 is the verdict. The difference from line 2 is that the meeting has happened. If this is your line, the reading is that the blockage is the same but the counterpart has appeared, and the instruction is to work with the equal rather than to wait for the light to clear.

The brightness comes; there is celebration and praise. Good. Changes into Hexagram 49 (Ge).

The fifth line is the hexagram's clearing. 来章 is the brightness arriving, the light returning after the eclipses of lines 2, 3 and 4, and 有庆誉 is the celebration and praise that follow. 吉 is the verdict, and it is the cleanest in the hexagram. 六五 is the correct position for a yin line, so the brightness arrives through the right person being in the right place. If this is your line, the reading is that the blockage has cleared and the recognition is real, and the instruction is to receive it rather than to deflect it.

The abundance is in the house, and the household is screened; one peeks through the door and it is empty, and for three years no one is seen. Bad. Changes into Hexagram 30 (Li).

The final line is the hexagram's warning made literal. 丰其屋 is the abundance in the house, 蔀其家 is the household screened off, and 窥其户, 阒其无人 is the peek through the door that finds it empty. 三岁不觌 is three years of no one being seen, and 凶 is the verdict. The line is the image of abundance that has become isolation - the wealth is there and the people are gone. If this is your line, the reading is that the abundance has been turned inward, and the instruction is to open the door before the emptiness becomes permanent.