27; corners of the mouth.
The image.
At the foot of the mountain, thunder:
The image of PROVIDING NOURISHMENT.
Thus the superior man is careful of his words.
And temperate in eating and drinking.

“God comes forth in the sign of the arousing” : when in the spring the life forces stir again, all things come into being anew. “ He brings to perfection in the sign of Keeping still”: thus in the early spring, when the seeds fall to earth, all things are made ready. This is an image of providing nourishment through movement and tranquility. The superior man takes it as a pattern for the nourishment and cultivation of his character. Words are a movement going form within outward, Eating and drinking are movements going from without inward.
Both kinds of movement can be modified by tranquility. For tranquility keeps the words that come out of the mouth from exceeding proper measure, and keeps the foo that goes into the mouth from exceeding its proper measure. Thus character is cultivated.

THE LINES
Nine at the beginning means:
You let your magic tortoise go,
And look at me with the corners of your mouth drooping.
Misfortune.

The magic tortoise is a creature possessed of such supernatural powers that it lives on air and needs no earthly nourishment. The image means that a man fitted by nature and position to live freely and independently renounces this self-reliance and instead looks with envy and discontent at others who are outwardly in better circumstances. But such base envy only arouses derision and contempt in those others. This has bad results.

Six in the second place means;
Turning to the summit for nourishment ,
Deviating from the path
To seek nourishment from the hill.
Continuing to do this brings misfortune.

Normally a person either provides his own means of nourishment or is supported in a proper way by those whose duty and privilege it is to provide for him. If , owning to weakness of spirit, a man cannot support himself, a feeling of uneasiness comes over him; this is because in shirking the proper way of obtaining a living, he accepts support as a favor from those in higher place. This is unworthy, for he is deviating form his true nature. Kept up indefinitely, this course leads to misfortune.

Six in the third place means:
Turning away from nourishment. Perseverance brings misfortune.
Do not act thus for ten years.
Nothing serves to further.

He who seeks nourishment that does not nourish reels from desire to gratification and in gratification craves desire. Mad pursuit of pleasure for the satisfaction of the senses never brings one to the goal.
One should never (not years is a complete cycle of time) follow this path, for nothing good can come of it.

Six in the fourth place means:
Turning to the summit
For provision of nourishment
Brings good fortune.
Spying about with sharp eyes
Like a tiger with insatiable craving.
No blame.

In contrast to the six in the second place, which refers to a man bent exclusively on his own advantage, this line refers to one occupying a high position and striving to let his light shine forth. To do this he needs helpers, because he cannot attain his lofty aim alone. With the greed of a hungry tiger he is on the lookout for the right people. Since he is not working for himself but for the good of all, there is no wrong in such zeal.

Six in the fifth place means:
Turing away form the path.
To remain persevering brings good fortune.
One should not cross the great water.

A man may be conscious of a deficiency in himself. He should be undertaking the nourishment of the people, but he has not the strength to do it. Thus he must turn form his accustomed path and beg counsel and help from a man who is spiritually his superior but undistinguished outwardly. If he maintains this attitude of mind perseveringly, success and good fortune are his . but he must remain aware of his dependence. He must not put his own person forward nor attempt great labors, such as crossing the great water.

Nine at the top means:
The source of nourishment.
Awareness of danger brings good fortune.
If furthers one to cross the great water.

This describes a sage of the highest order , from whom emanate all influences that provide nourishment for others. Such a position brings with it heavy responsibility. If he remains conscious of this fact, he has good fortune and may confidently undertake even great and difficult labors, such as crossing the great water. These undertakings bring general happiness for him and for all others.


I received this over a year ago when asking if "is it fortuitious for me to invite Jenni out on a date?"
Corners of the mouth seemed to tell me that - a dinner would be very nice, Thank you.-

I thought it was sort of comical that it would do it with this hexagram .
It was after I looked very carefully at the meaning that I realized that _Nourishment_ can be taken as a strong yes, or a strong -no-. It is actually advice to look at the situation and ask if you are -feeding- the right parts of yourself, and if you are feeding the important parts of others.
It is advice to look and see if you Nourish each other in the ways that are most important to each of you.

Interesting, to get a hexagram to tell me, "decide for yourself, to you mutually *suit* each other?" and I could have read it a totally different way.

Victor
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