Hexagram 42: Increase

In the Wilhelm-Baynes translation of the I-Ching (易經 Yìjīng), Hexagram 42, Increase (益 Yì), is read through Wind (巽 Xùn) over Thunder (震 Zhèn). The classical sources describe its themes as increase, growth, generosity. This is pattern recognition, not prediction.

The Judgment reads: "Increase. It furthers one to undertake something. It furthers one to cross the great water.", the Judgment is the I-Ching's classical summary of the situation the hexagram describes, and what the present moment is asking of the reader.

The Image reads: "Wind and thunder: the image of Increase. Thus the superior person: if they see good, they imitate it; if they have faults, they rid themselves of them.", in the classical sources the Image is the elemental picture, the upper and lower trigrams in conversation, that the reader holds while sitting with the hexagram.

Green Aventurine is the traditional pairing for Increase. The classical Chinese gemology lineage associates this stone with the hexagram's central themes, hold it during meditation on the reading. This is reflective practice, not divination-as-prediction.

An I-Ching cast is one consultation. The fuller reading, Four Pillars (四柱 Sì Zhù), Kua personal feng shui, and Compass School sector mapping, reads the hexagram alongside the chart. Master Wei Lin's Master Reading section synthesizes the Book of Changes alongside BaZi and the other Chinese metaphysics traditions.