Hexagram 36
Darkening of the Light
明夷
Upper
Earth · 坤
the receptive, yielding
Lower
Fire · 離
the clinging, clarity
Contemporary judgment
Darkening of the light. The outer situation does not favor your truth. To express it openly now invites harm or misunderstanding. This is not a time to protest or to push your vision; it is a time to keep the inner light alive quietly, continue your real work, and trust the longer cycle.
Image
The sun sunk beneath the earth. The superior person, when dealing with the multitude, conceals their brightness and still remains luminous within.
Counsel
Protect your inner truth without advertising it. Do not engage with those determined to misunderstand or exploit you; do not cast pearls where they will only be trampled. Keep your real work moving, even in quiet. The darkness is not permanent, and your steadiness through it is itself an achievement.
The six lines
Numbered from the bottom upward; displayed here from first to sixth.
Line 1
A nine at the beginning means: Darkening of the Light in flight. He lowers his wings. The noble one on their wanderings eats nothing for three days. But they have somewhere to go. The host has something to say about them.
Line 2
A six in the second place means: The Darkening of the Light injures him in the left thigh. He effects rescue with the strength of a horse. Good fortune.
Line 3
A nine in the third place means: The Darkening of the Light on the hunt in the south. Their great head is caught. One must not expect perseverance too hastily.
Line 4
A six in the fourth place means: He penetrates into the left side of the belly. One obtains the heart of the Darkening of the Light and leaves gate and court.
Line 5
A six in the fifth place means: Darkening of the Light as with Prince Chi. Perseverance furthers.
Line 6
A six at the top means: Not light, but darkness. First he climbed up to heaven, then he plunged down into the depths of the earth.
Contemporary sections are original app interpretations. Line text comes from the CC0 translation in jesshewitt/i-ching.