Hexagram 42 Increase — In love & relationships

The reading

Increase is the hexagram of the favorable hour. Wind above and thunder below move in the same direction, each strengthening the other: this is momentum you can ride. The old pattern reverses here; where Decrease gave upward, Increase pours downward, and benefits flow to those below. Undertakings begun now carry the wind at their back. The moment favors generosity, movement, and growth, and hesitation is the only real danger.

Give first, and give without calculating the return. The increase of this hexagram flows to the generous: share resources, credit, and encouragement, and they multiply. Move forward on the worthy undertaking; the conditions will not be better than this. But keep the increase honest: correct your own faults as you go, and let the growth be real rather than inflated. What is built in the generous hour, with open hands, endures.

The image

Wind and thunder join their strength, each increasing the other. The wise, seeing good, move toward it; seeing fault, they turn and correct it.

In the generous moment, the generous hand is rewarded.

When you cast this hexagram

• The generous hour: give freely and move forward boldly now.
• Starting the undertaking that has the wind at its back.
• The increase that must be shared onward to keep growing.
• Facing the real challenge of staying honest during rapid growth.

In love and relationships

In love, Increase is the generous season. Give affection, attention, and encouragement freely, without keeping a ledger; what you offer returns multiplied. Move the relationship forward: deepen the commitment, make the plans, take the trip. This is also the moment to correct your own faults within the bond, the impatience or inattention you know is there. Growth shared honestly becomes lasting. The couple that grows together in the generous hour builds something that endures.

In work and career

At work, Increase signals the favorable hour: invest, expand, hire, launch. The wind is at your back, so move on the worthy undertaking without delay. Be generous with resources, credit, and opportunity; shared increase multiplies. But keep the growth honest. Correct faults in the operation as you go, and do not inflate results or promises. Teams grow best when leaders give first. What you build generously now, with open hands and clear eyes, becomes the foundation that lasts.

When you have a decision to make

When a real decision is on the table, Increase favors the bold, generous option. Choose the path of growth and forward motion; this is not the moment for caution or holding back. Ask which option lets you give more and build more, then commit fully. But keep one honest check: correct your own faults in the plan before you launch. The right decision here moves with the wind at its back, generous in means and honest in measure.

The six changing lines

Read only the lines that came up moving in your own cast. If none did, stay with the hexagram as a whole. Each line below links to the hexagram that line turns into.

How it relates to the other hexagrams

These links are derived from the line structure, not from editorial opinion. Flip a line, reverse the stack, or read the inner lines, and you land on a specific neighbour.

If one line changes

Same upper or lower trigram

Scholar's details

Number	42 of 64
Binary (bottom → top)	100011  (1 = yang, 0 = yin)
Upper trigram	☴ 巽 Xùn — Wind, Wood, Eldest Daughter
Lower trigram	☳ 震 Zhèn — Thunder, Wood, Eldest Son
Key ideas	increase, generosity, momentum, growth, opportunity, gratitude