Hexagram 12: Standstill

否 (Pǐ)

Stagnation and blockage that prevents progress.

Overview

The full flowering of your strength is behind you, and the decline has begun.

Until recently you stood at the top of the mountain and felt joy and inspiration at what you had reached. Now your road goes downhill. Nobody stays at the same level of success forever. To reach another peak you first have to come down. There is simply no other way.

The creative energy that used to bubble inside you has dried up for now. It is not giving you a new burst of inspiration. Inertia is pulling you down. Do not be angry with fate for being unfair. Fate is hurrying you along so that you do not settle for what you already have. Later, when you climb the next mountain and reach even more, you will be truly grateful to that strict teacher for the help.

That is for the future. For now, keep your spirits up so that you do not lose faith in yourself. If one thing fails, take up the next one at once. In time you should see where luck is waiting for you and where you can succeed. Do not be afraid to try.

Whatever you do, do not look back at past successes and remember them with sadness. Better to watch your feet. When you walk down a mountain, that is what you have to do. Finish the descent, but do not turn it into pointless fuss.

People around you

When you talk with the people around you, try not to reveal the final aim of what you are doing. They are unlikely to judge your wishes and intentions fairly.

You do not need to hide away in your shell, and there is no need to be too guarded either. You do not have to turn down help that is offered. Just do not spend a lot of your time with friends.

Work

When you get down to business, remember that your work still has to be effective. Otherwise your strength and your mood will drop. You need to see results from your effort now, so that you reach the foot of the mountain safely.

Your wish

Whether your wish comes true does not depend on you at the moment. Even so, keep trying to reach what you want. Time will pass, and effort like yours usually pays off. Only the timing of your wish stays unknown.

This Overview is one traditional reading of the figure, offered as a prompt for reflection and perspective rather than a prediction of a fixed future. Where this material comes from.

New to the sequence? See how lines, trigrams and changing lines work, or cast your own reading with the three-coin method.

Structure

Read from the bottom upward, hexagram 12 is Heaven over Earth. Its two inner, or nuclear, trigrams are Wind/Wood over Mountain. What the eight trigrams mean.

Upper trigram (lines 4–6): Qián · Heaven Creative and strong
Lower trigram (lines 1–3): Kūn · Earth Receptive and devoted
Upper nuclear (lines 3–5): Xùn · Wind/Wood Gentle and penetrating
Lower nuclear (lines 2–4): Gèn · Mountain Still and stopping

Hexagrams this one is connected to by its structure rather than by its number.

Opposite and Reversed:: 11. Peace — Every one of the six lines flipped and the same figure turned upside down.
Nuclear:: 53. Development — The figure formed by the four inner lines.