Alex Chiu's Online I-Ching © 2001  Registered with the US Copyright Office.

Hiders

Every hexagram has all five elements.  If an element is missing on the hexagram, it is hiding behind one of the lines.  Take a look at [Big Storage] for an example:  (You can find 'Big Storage' in the hexagram chart under Chen Group.)

In this hexagram, only 3 elements appear on the surface, which are wood, water, and soil.  The fire and the metal are hiding behind line 2 and 3. 

So we call the hiding elements 'hiders'.  We call the lines that help hide the hiders 'bearers'.  So line 2 and 3 are bearers. 

If the bearer produces the hider, it's good for the hider.  If the bearer kills the hider, it damages the hider.  In the above hexagram, line 3 B star (soil) produces it's hider K star (metal).  So the hider in line 3 is healthy.  Line 2's R star (wood) also produces it's hider P star (fire).  So the hider in line 2 is also healthy. 

How do we use the hiders?  Here is an example:

A woman asked me when will she receive a letter from her family.  She got [consolidate].

To predict about a letter, we use the P star as the main character because P represents a letter.  P w (fire) is hidden behind line 2.  Line 2 B c (soil) is not killing the hider P w.  The month m is wood, and it is producing the hider P w.    But P w is now hiding.  That means she won't be able to receive the letter before P w comes out.  P w will come out on day w. 

Result:  She received the letter on day w.  You see?  The hider P w comes out on day w.  So the hider K s should come out on day s.  The hiders will come out if it's time to come out except:

1. if the hider is being killed by the bearer.  If a fire hider hides under a water line, it's hard for that fire hider to come out. 
2. if the month or the date is killing the hider. 
3. if other lines move killing or damaging the hider, the hider might not even show up at all.

Another example:  I threw the coins asking about the stock market.  I got [Querrel].

Since I am asking about stock market, it has to do with money.  Therefore, our main character has got to be the G star (money star).  In this hexagram, our main character G t (water) is hiding under the 5th line.  But the 5th line B wa (soil) is killing the hider G   t.  Although the hider G t (water) is still considered pretty healthy under the month h (water), based on my experience, being killed by the bearer is not a good sign especially when you are dealing with investing.  Therefore I did not invest.

Result:  The stock market went down after the 2001, September 11th World Trade Center's incident.  So our hider never had a chance to break free from the bearer.   Remember!  Bearers are quite powerful.  Especially when it comes to money, you must take the bearer very seriously.

If in your hexagram, you don't see a G star on any of the 6 lines, a G star therefore must be hiding behind one of the lines.

This is the hexagram [Queen].

             P   sh  -
             B   s   -
             R   w   -   U
             B   yo  -
       G y   K   h   -
             P   c   - - J

The above is the hexagram Queen. The G y wood does not appear on the hexagram. It is hiding behind the second line. Let's say that you are asking about money. The G star is your appointed. If the G wood star is not in the hexagram but the month or the date is a wood element, you can use the month or the date as your appointed. But if the month and the date both are not wood element, your appointed is hiding under the 2nd line. You then must wait for your appointed to come out in order to see an effect. Your appointed G y will appear in a y year, month, date, or hour. The hiding star functions like an empty character.

Look at the hexagram Queen again. The 2nd line is h water. h water bounds and produces the G y wood which hides behind the 2nd line. Therefore, we say that the appointed G y is strong. If the 2nd line is a metal element which kills our appointed G y wood, we have a weak appointed. The year, the month, and the date can also affect the strengh of a hiding star.

Someone was waiting for a letter to come. When will the letter come? He got [Consolidate].

             R   y   -
             G   t   - -
         Pw  B   sh  - - U
             G   h   -
             B   c   - -
             R   m   -   J

Consolidate is a 6 match hexagram. I think your letter will come for sure. If you get a 6 strike, it means that your letter will not come.  P  w represents the letter. It is hiding under the 4th line. P  w is also empty. The 4th line sh is burying P w.   But luckily, the month m is producing P w. Your appointed is strong, which means the letter will definitely come. Your letter shall arrive on day w.

Result: The letter was received on day w. If the month was a water element which kills the appointed w fire, the letter might not have come. If you see that the appointed is hiding under an element which kills it and that a moving line, the month or the date is also hurting it, your appointed is considered weak. If your appointed is weak, things might not turn out well. If you ask for money, you will earn nothing. If you ask for love, you will only be hated. If you ask for a job or a position, you will be unemployed for a long time.

If the hider is bounding to the date, you have to wait for a year, a month, or a day which strikes open the bondage.

I was asking when will my business partner pay me some money.  I got [Cover].

The money star hides behind the 4th line.  The bearer is producing the money star, and the date is also producing it.  The money is strong, so I will receive the money.   But will it come out in the month of yo?  No, because the date is bounding to it.  (yo and cn bound together.)  So I must wait for the month of sh to receive this money because sh would strike with cn.  And that can break the bondage.  Money will be released in month sh. 

• I am very nervous because my business partner owes me money for a long time already.   Everytime I asked him to pay, he kept saying "I will pay you next month!"   Then he would delay the payment month after month.  This explains why the self line K sh is empty.  An empty K star means I am nervous.  But K sh won't be empty anymore in month sh.  When the emptiness of K sh fulfills, I shall become happy because the K star is the happiness star. 

Result:  I got the money on the 1st day of month sh.

What if the bearer is bounding to the date?

Tom tossed the coins asking abou the stock market trend for the entire year.  God showed him [Separate].

The bearer K wa produces the hiding money star G yo.  And G yo will come out in month yo.  So the stock value should go up in month yo.  But G yo is pretty weak.  Even if it does go up in month yo, it won't go up too much. 

• The bearer K wa produces G yo.  But right now, K wa cannot produce G yo because it is bounding to the date w.  But in month t, the bondage shall be broken allowing K wa to produce G yo.  This means the stock will shoot straight up in month t.

Result:  The stock value rose in month yo but rose even higher in month t.

A woman tossed the coins asking when will her son's recent illness be gone.  She got [Rise].

The J and the U are both empty.  When that happens, nothing will happen.  No.   That doesn't mean the child will not recover.  It means that this kid's illness is no big deal.  This woman probably was very worried when she tossed the coins.  So if J and U are empty, nothing bad will happen.  The kid shall soon recover from his illness.  The child is represented by the K star.  The K star is hiding under the 4th line.  On day w, the kid shall recover!

Result:  The kid got out of bed on day w.

If a G star hides behind the R self line, the hider G star can produce the self line R star.

A man asked will his business increase if he puts out a new radio advertisement.   God showed him [Hide].

We have to use the hider G y because the G money star does not appear on the hexagram.   The healthy hider G y produces the self line R w.  This is a good sign.   Right now, the self line R w is empty.  So G y cannot produce the self line right now.  But on day w, business will increase as the self line R w fulfills its emptiness on day w.

Result:  God is tricky sometimes.  I said his business will increase on day w, but his new radio ad was released on the very next day.  And so many people phoned him at hour w.  So his business increased at hour w, not day w.

A man tossed the coins asking at what hour will his wife phone him.  He tossed the coins in New York at 11 PM.  [Step].

The hiding G t represents his wife's phone call.  The hider G t is quite strong because the self line K s produces G t.  The month is also the same element as G t.   The hider G t will come out at hour t.  That means his wife will phone him at hour t..

Result:  His wife phoned him at 10:05 AM.  (New York time)  If converted to Beijing's time, it's exactly hour t.

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