Six Doors · No. 64

第64卦未济 Wèi Jì · Before Completion

Essence: Not yet across; the ending is still yours to shape.

Judgment

Nothing is settled yet, but the turn is in sight—this is the hour before dawn. The little fox nearly makes the crossing, then wets its tail at the last stride: ventures fail most often for want of care at the very end. Sort out exactly where everything stands, then commit fully to the crossing.

Sixty-four hexagrams, six doors each

Trigrams

Upper

离 Fire

fire

Lower

坎 Water

water

III

The lines

Line 1Plunging in before the time is right wets your tail at the outset and earns only embarrassment.
Line 2Dragging the wheel to hold yourself back—restrained readiness—is precisely the right posture, and it bodes well.
Line 3Attacking before things are ready brings grief; yet the great crossing itself must be made—so make yourself ready for it first.
Line 4Throw yourself into the long hard campaign with thunderous resolve, and after three years the effort is rewarded on the grandest scale.
Line 5The light of the accomplished person—steady, sincere, trusted—shines calmest just as the victory comes into view.
Line 6With the goal at hand, sharing wine in confidence is no fault—but drink until your head goes under, and the measure of the moment is lost with it.

All the doors

Every single-step transition available from where you stand.

Inverse (綜) · Opposite (錯)

Inverse (綜)

Opposite (錯)

Written on this

Hexagram 64, Wèi Jì (Before Completion): The Fox at the Last Stride

Hexagram 64, Wèi Jì, closes the I Ching: fire over water, the little fox that wets its tail, all six lines out of place, and how to read Before Completion when cast.

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