Da Guo :: Excess

The roof beam sags: favorable to go forward :: Offering

大過

䷛

6 :: first

White mao grass¹ for offering mats. No harm.

You need to make humble preparations. The mao grass mats represent simplic-ity. In this case, simplicity avoids misfortune.

9 :: second

A withered willow² grows new shoots. An old man takes a young bride. Auspicious.

You experience new, unexpected growth and expansion. When the tired and established (willow, old man) make alliances with young innovators (shoots, young bride)-there are new outcomes. Though this is unusual (excess), it is, nevertheless, auspicious.

6 :: third

The roof beam sags. Inauspicious.

The situation is too much for you to handle. Do not take responsibility for things you cannot manage. Excess is threatening (sags) stability. Do not go forward.

9 :: fourth

The roof beam warps upward. Auspicious. Possible error.

The situation is full of tension. You have sufficient strength to manage the project (roof) but the connections and agreements (rafters and pillars) are too weak or tenuous for long-term or guaranteed support. Progress can be made but caution is required to avoid making a mistake.

9 :: fifth

A withered willow buds.³ An old lady takes a young husband.
No harm. No glory.

You experience new and unexpected attention. The new alliance or relationship is unusual but harmless. This is an alliance that has grace and sentiment but offers no lasting success or important outcomes (glory or offspring).

6 :: top

Wading in over your head.⁴ Dangerous, then fortunate.

You are in over your head, but the risk pays off. You are overextended but your willingness to take risks (danger) can, in this case, lead to success.

Image

A sagging roof beam means excess, reaching limits and not turning back. It may mean overexertion or crisis. Da Guo is about extraordinary situations and unusual relationships where eccentricity or strenuous efforts can lead to suc-cess. It is about unusual means.

Auspices

Excess, and the burden it brings, is generally inauspicious. Don't set your hopes too high. Expect setbacks. Things go well despite the odds.

Good for perseverance, the underdog, and the unorganized.

Bad for those habituated to excess, fantasies, travel, and marriage.

Comment

Group efforts and conventional behavior are often the advice of the Zhouyi. Though being excessive or habituated to the extraordinary is considered inaus-picious; there can be exceptional, if modest, outcomes from strange situations.

Da Guo contains instructions on how to avoid disaster in heavy, grave or weird and unconventional circumstances. When you get entangled in excess, going forward with caution may be the best thing to do. Excess and eccentricity have their place. Something greater than the usual mechanical sense of cause and effect is at work in Da Guo.

Other Correspondences

Business: Insurance problems, creating partnerships, and overstock inventory sale.

Disharmonies: Stress-related illnesses, venereal diseases, spinal injury, and yin and yang deficiency.

Prognosis: Fair. The patient may require risky, invasive or extraordinary treat-ments. Untested medical treatments or psychic healing may be useful.