There were "old" features in your gua (hexagram). It means that you have two hexagrams. The first one — is something that the Book tells you at the moment, the second is something it warns you about.

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24. Returning (fù). Return

Advise

Disasters come from outside, but adversity is the result of our own efforts, we must distinguish both. Often people themselves do their time good or bad.

The Judgement

Return. Success. Going out and coming in without error. Friends come without blame. To and fro goes the way. On the seventh day comes return. It furthers one to have somewhere to go.

The Image

Thunder within the earth:
The image of the Turning Point. Thus the kings of antiquity closed the passes at the time of solstice. Merchants and strangers did not go about, and the ruler did not travel through the provinces.

1. Return from a short distance. No need for remorse. Great good fortune.
2. Quiet return. Good fortune.
3. Repeated return. Danger. No blame.
4. Walking in the midst of others, One returns alone.
5. Noblehearted return. No remorse.
6. Missing the return. Misfortune. Misfortune from within and without. If armies are set marching in this way, one will in the end suffer a great defeat, disastrous for the ruler of the country. For ten years it will not be possible to attack again.
   

Everything returns to normal. But now it is just the beginning. The darkness recedes gradually, as day comes after the winter solstice. Events unfold in the months that number is a multiple of seven. Do not build too bold plans. Do not complain of delay: downtime is the best time for spiritual quests.

The idea of a turning point arises from the fact that after the dark lines have pushed all of the light lines upward and out of the hexagram, another light line enters the hexagram from below. The time of darkness is past. The winter solstice brings the victory of light. This hexagram is linked with the eleventh month, the month of the solstice (December-January).

THE JUDGMENT

After a time of decay comes the turning point. The powerful light that has been banished returns. There is movement, but it is not brought about by force. The upper trigram K'un is characterized by devotion; thus the movement is natural, arising spontaneously. For this reason the transformation of the old becomes easy. The old is discarded and the new is introduced. Both measures accord with the time; therefore no harm results. Societies of people sharing the same views are formed. But since these groups come together in full public knowledge and are in harmony with the time, all selfish separatist tendencies are excluded, and no mistake is made. The idea of RETURN is based on the course of nature. The movement is cyclic, and the course completes itself. Therefore it is not necessary to hasten anything artificially. Everything comes of itself at the appointed time. This is the meaning of heaven and earth.

All movements are accomplished in six stages, and the seventh brings return. Thus the winter solstice, with which the decline of the year begins, comes in the seventh month after the summer solstice; so too sunrise comes in the seventh double hour after sunset. Therefore seven is the number of the young light, and it arises when six, the number of the great darkness, is increased by one. In this way the state of rest gives place to movement.

THE IMAGE

The winter solstice has always been celebrated in China as the resting time of the year--a custom that survives in the time of rest observed at the new year. In winter the life energy, symbolized by thunder, the Arousing, is still underground. Movement is just at its beginning; therefore it must be strengthened by rest so that it will not be dissipated by being used prematurely. This principle, i.e., of allowing energy that is renewing itself to be reinforced by rest, applies to all similar situations. The return of health after illness, the return of understanding after an estrangement: everything must be treated tenderly and with care at the beginning, so that the return may lead to a flowering.

1

Slight digressions from the good cannot be avoided, but one must turn back in time, before going too far. This is especially important in the development of character; every faintly evil thought must be put aside immediately, before it goes too far and takes root in the mind. Then there is no cause for remorse, and all goes well.

2

Return always calls for a decision and is an act of self-mastery. It is made easier if a man is in good company. If he can bring himself to put aside pride and follow the example of good men, good fortune results.

3

There are people of a certain inner instability who feel a constant urge to reverse themselves. There is danger in continually deserting the good because of uncontrolled desires, then turning back to it again because of a better resolution. However, since this does not lead to habituation in evil, a general inclination to overcome the defect is not wholly excluded/

4

A man is in a society composed of inferior people, but is connected spiritually with a strong and good friend, and this makes him turn back alone. Although nothing is said of reward and punishment, this return is certainly favorable, for such a resolve to choose the good brings its own reward.

5

When the time for return has come, a man should not take shelter in trivial excuses, but should look within and examine himself. And if he has done something wrong he should make a noblehearted resolve to confess his fault. No one will regret having taken this road.

6

If a man misses the right time for return, he meets with misfortune. The misfortune has its inner cause in a wrong attitude toward the world. The misfortune coming upon him for without results from this wrong attitude. What is pictured here is blind obstinacy and the judgment that is visited upon it.

You are upset now because consider, that have absolutely got confused. But all this not so is difficult for overcoming, as it seems to you, show only patience. And solving there will be for you some quite certain term - seven days, either seven weeks, or seven months. You really are before main recesses in destiny. It is a little patience - and all is formed. Try to save also a few money. It is useful to you.

28. Great Exceeding (dà guò). Great Preponderance

Advise

Excessive grandeur presses upon and prevents further development.

The Judgement

Preponderance of the Great. The ridgepole sags to the breaking point. It furthers one to have somewhere to go. Success.

The Image

The lake rises above the trees:
The image of Preponderance of the Great. Thus the superior man, when he stands alone, is unconcerned, and if he has to renounce the world, he is undaunted.

1. To spread white rushes underneath. No blame.
2. A dry poplar sprouts at the root. An older man takes a young wife. Everything furthers.
3. The ridgepole sags to the breaking point. Misfortune.
4. The ridgepole is braced. Good fortune. If there are ulterior motives, it is humiliating.
5. A withered poplar puts forth flowers. An older woman takes a husband. No blame. No praise.
6. One must go through the water. It goes over one's head. Misfortune. No blame.

The situation is unfavorable. The danger of stagnation in business, big mistake is great. You should not stay on one place. Reliance, which supports the situation, is about ready to crumble. We must see the whole problem from the roots to the top, from the beginning to the possible outcome. It may take a long time. Avoid excess in everything; do not aspire to capital growth - now it's detrimental for you.

This hexagram consists of four strong lines inside and two weak lines outside. When the strong are outside and the weak inside, all is well and there is nothing out of balance, nothing extraordinary in the situation. Here, however, the opposite is the case. The hexagram represents a beam that is thick and heavy in the middle but too weak at the ends. This is a condition that cannot last; it must be changed, must pass, or misfortune will result.

THE JUDGMENT

The weight of the great is excessive. The load is too heavy for the strength of the supports. The ridgepole on which the whole roof rests, sags to the breaking point, because its supporting ends are too weak for the load they bear. It is an exceptional time and situation; therefore extraordinary measures are demanded. It is necessary to find a way of transition as quickly as possible, and to take action. This promises success. For although the strong element is in excess, it is in the middle, that is, at the center of gravity, so that a revolution is not to be feared. Nothing is to be achieved by forcible measures. The problem must be solved by gently penetration to the meaning of the situation (as is suggested by the attribute of the inner trigram, Sun); then the change-over to other conditions will be successful. It demands real superiority; therefore the time when the great preponderates is a momentous time.

THE IMAGE

Extraordinary times when the great preponderates are like flood times when the lake rises over the treetops. But such conditions are temporary. The two trigrams indicate the attitude proper to such exceptional times: the symbol of the trigram Sun is the tree, which stands firm even though it stands alone, and the attribute of Tui is joyousness, which remains undaunted even if it must renounce the world.

1

When a man wishes to undertake an enterprise in extraordinary times, he must be extraordinarily cautious, just as when setting a heavy thing down on the floor, one takes care to put rushes under it, so that nothing will break. This caution, though it may seem exaggerated, is not a mistake. Exceptional enterprises cannot succeed unless utmost caution is observed in their beginnings and in the laying of their foundations.

2

Wood is near water; hence the image of an old poplar sprouting at the root. This means an extraordinary situation arises when an older man marries a young girl who suits him. Despite the unusualness of the situation, all goes well.

From the point of view of politics, the meaning is that in exceptional times one does well to join with the lowly, for this affords a possibility of renewal.

3

This indicates a type of man who in times of preponderance of the great insists on pushing ahead. He accepts no advice from others, and therefore they in turn are not willing to lend him support. Because of this the burden grows, until the structure of things bends or breaks. Plunging willfully ahead in times of danger only hastens the catastrophe.

4

Through friendly relations with people of lower rank, a responsible man succeeds in becoming master of the situation. But if, instead of working for the rescue of the whole, he were to misuse his connections to obtain personal power and success, it would lead to humiliation.

5

A withered poplar that flowers exhausts its energies thereby and only hastens its end. An older woman may marry once more, but no renewal takes place. Everything remains barren. Thus, though all the amenities are observed, the net result is only the anomaly of the situation.

Applied to politics, the metaphor means that if in times of insecurity we give up alliance with those below us and keep up only the relationships we have with people of higher rank, an unstable situation is created.

6

Here is a situation in which the unusual has reached a climax. One is courageous and wishes to accomplish one's task, no matter what happens. This leads into danger. The water rises over one's head. This is the misfortune. But one incurs no blame in giving up one's life that the good and the right may prevail. There are things that are more important than life.

You are happy, feel the happiness. But try to take itself in hands; your temperament can injure both another, and you most. Look at itself critically, and not be unduly self-confident; your judgements at present it is far not the most true. Do not try to become successful by means of force. Time will change all, it is necessary to constrain itself and to think over a state of affairs. Your desire cannot be executed quickly. Be correct, and do not offend the fervour of others.