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

Linkers

Linkers?  What's that?  Let's see an example:

A man wanted to know when will he be happy again.  He got [Everlasting] and [Arrive]:

The man wants to know when can he become happy.  That's all he said to me.   So let's see the hexagram.  K star is the lucky star.  So if he wants happiness, he must receive blessing from a K star.  I can tell that he is extremely anxious at this moment because the J self line has a strong R star.  R represents someone who is freightened or is extremely anxious.  The 4th line K moves.  But the problem is that 4th line K moves to kill the self line R.  Having some other line killing the self line is not exactly a 'happy' sign.  But take a closer look!   The 4th line K moves and turns into G.  What a coincidence!  The J self line also moved and turned into G!  So now we have a link.  G is the link!

  Since G in the 2nd hexagram is linking the K star to the self line, I think soon he will become happy!  But right now, R yo is empty.  Even if there is a link which links the R to the K, an empty self line will not move until the empty element comes out!  So in the month of yo, it will no longer be empty.  He should become happy in the month of yo.

Result:  He was broke and was waiting for financial aid.  And in the month of yo, he has finally received a notification saying that he has been granted the money.

A man asked me when can he get his money back from his friend.  He got [Look] and [Difficulty].

Wow!  Another link! 

• The self line did not move but turns into B s. 

• On the 3rd line, B s is connected to G m, which is the money star.

• On the 6th line, G m turns into K which produces back at the G m.

• So we got P self line linking to B s, Bs linking to G m, and G m turns into K which produces back at the G m.

Look at the month and the date.  Both month and the date are metal, and they are killing the G money star (wood).  But luckily, the G money star moved and turned into a K which produces itself back.  This K that we have here is very strong because both the month and the date are producing this K.  Strong K produces the G money star.  No problem!  But both the 6th line and the 3rd line are empty.  (m is empty.)  We have to wait until month m or month yo.  Why  month yo?  Because yo strikes m, and m will no longer be empty if it is being struck.  

Result:  He really got the money in month sh.  The money was sent out in the month of yo, and he received the money in the mail on the 1st day of month sh. 

If you want a link, you have to look at the elements.  Don't look at the stars. 

G s   and    G s   are a link.

But  G  yo    and   G s   are not a link.

Just because both lines have the same star, that doesn't mean they are linking.  They must have the exact same element in order to establish a link.

Some guy asked can he earn at least half a million dollars from a certain stock that he bought.  He tossed the coins and got [Rot] and [Unsettled].

The 4th line's strong money star moved to produce the self line R.  That's a good sign.  But too bad that the self line R moved and turned into the powerful K star which kills back at the R.  The R star represents the winner, and K represents a loser.  K star killing the self line R means you will lose big time!  Don't even think about becoming a millionaire.   You will lose lots of money.  The 4th line money star sh moved producing the self line R.  This means you have earned some money in the month of sh.  Is that right?

"Right!  I bought this stock exactly in the month of sh of last year.   Right after I bought it, I earned almost $30,000.", the man replied.

• So that explains why the money star sh moved and produced the self line R.  You earned some money in the month of sh.  But the self line R moves and turns into a powerful K star.  You will lose big time later on!

Result:  One month later, his stocks dropped like a water fall.  In this case, the 4th line G star is actually pushing the self line's R star toward the K star.   So the 4th line is the one which introduced the R star to the K star.    Just because this man earned a little bit of money in month sh, he got hooked and invested almost all of his savings into the stock market.  Then he lost lots of money.  This is like feeding the meat to a lion.

Let's say the U line is P e.   And let's say the 5th line is P e turning into something else.  The 5th line is the U line.  They are actually the same line.

Let's look at this example:  A man asked when can he receive some money.  He got [Look] and [Difficulty].

The 3rd line has G m, and the 6th line also has G m.  So the 3rd line and the 6th line are actually the same line.  The 3rd line G m is dead.  But the 6th line G m is strong because it moved turning into a very powerful K t which produces back at itself.  So is G m a strong star or a weak star? 

I say G m is not strong and not weak.  So G m is still alive.  That means line G m still can move.

(a dead G m + a strong G m = not strong and not weak)

The 3rd line's B s functions as a link which links G m to the self line.  (Did you see that the 3rd line B s is linking to the self line?)  This man shall receive the money because G m is still healthy enough to move.  He will receive the money either in month sh or in month m because line G m can move in those 2 months.

Result:  He only received $25,000 in month sh.   His friend owed him $100,000.  But he only got back $25,000 in month sh.  He did not receive the full $100,000 because the 3rd line is dead.  If both the 6th line and the 3rd line are strong, he would have received the full amount.

Watch out!  Here comes a tricky sign!

I invited lots of people to my party.  Then I tossed the coins asking will lots of people come to my party, and God gave me [Hollow] and [Cover].

The U line represents the crowd which I expected to come to my party.  The U line P e is quite strong because it moves turning into R y which produces back at itself.   The U line P e also moves to produce the self line.  This means lots of people will show up.  The self line's advancing B star does not represent trouble this time.   The self line's advancing B star represents a big crowd because the B star represents friend(s).

• But wait.  The 5th line and the U line both got P e.  That means the 5th line also represents the crowd.  The 5th line P e moves turning into a strong G t which kills back at itself.  The 5th line tells me that not too many people will come.
• Right now, the U line R y has been struck loose by the date s.  The U line cannot move if it's loose.  But something will happen when R y regains its strength at hour y.  The 5th line will also move at hour y because the 5th line is linking to the U line.  If the U line cannot move, the 5th line also cannot move.  If the U line moves, the 5th line also moves.
• The bottom gua represents now, and the upper gua represents the future.  The 1st line represents now, and the 5th line represents the future.  The 1st line formed a trap, which is not good.  This means not too many people will show up in my party in the beginning.  But the 5th line means at least a nice girl will appear later because G t represents a girl.

Result:  At hour y, my friend (male) told me that he will come to my party.   At the same hour, a girl phoned me telling me that she will being a few female friends over.  So the 5th line's strong G t which kills back at P e actually represents girls.  The 5th line G t is not an enemy but a friend.  At the end, only 5 persons showed up.  One of them is a girl, and that girl showed up last.  I thought that at least 10 or 15 people will come. 

Is there such thing as an invisible link?

I tossed the coins asking on which day will the price of a certain stock drop again so I can buy in at a better price.  I got [Hollow] and [Break].

The U line P e and the 5th line P e are linking together.  So the 5th line is the U line.  If the U line's P e moves to produce the self line's advancing B star, I can never buy in at a lower price because the price simply won't drop down for me.   (Since I wish to buy at a lower, better price, the advancing B star means I cannot get a better price.)

• But luckily, the 5th line P e moved and got killed back by G t.  When P e got killed back, it can no longer produce the self line's advancing B star.  This means the self line can no longer advance.  So I still can get a better price.
• Right now, the self line B sh is bounding to the date sh.  That means P e also cannot move and cannot be killed back by G t yet.  (There is an invisible link between the self line and the 5th line P e because P e needs to produce the self line.   So if the self line cannot move, P e also cannot move.  So P e and the self line have form a kind of alliance already.  If one fails to move, the other also must stop.)
• But on day cn, the bondage between the self line and the date shall be broken allowing P e to be killed back by G t.  So on day cn, I will get a better price.

I tossed the coins again just to reconfirm.  I asked, "Should I buy on day cn?"   And I got [Rise] and [Extreme].

The self line's G c is the U line's G c.  And G c moves turning into a dead frustration star P t.  This means I won't be frustrated if I made this move.  I will be able to buy at a good price.

• But the self line's G c repels away the top line's G wa meaning I still will lose money in the future.

Result:  The price dropped from $25.50 to $24.60 on day cn.  I bought the stocks at $24.70 on that day.  Right after I bought it, the stock value rose.   but I lost money on the next trade.

Conclusion:  Just think of the U line P e as a parent who spoils her child.   And think of the advancing B star of the self line as a spoiled brat.  The more that the parent spoils her child, the more damage is being done to the child.   So if G t kills back at P e, it's actually good for the child.  If you ask for money, there will be money.  If you ask for luck, there will be luck.  But if you want to see your brother, your brother might not show up because your brother is being represented by the B star.  If P e cannot produce the self line's advancing B star, the self line's B star cannot advance.  This means your brother cannot come to you.  

From this lesson, we learned that invisible links do exist.  So if you feel that 2 or 3 lines have already formed an alliance, things still cannot happen when one of those lines is still empty or has been struck or is bounding to the date.

A man asked when can he sell his stocks and get his money back, and he received [Humble] and [Rise].

He said, "Alex.  This sign looks scary.  The R star represents 'I got something'.  So the R star means I sell.  But the 2nd line R w moves turning into K h which kills back at itself.  Does this mean I won't be able to sell?   Will the stock value drop even more?"  I laughed and said, "Don't you see that the R star is linked to the self line?  Right now, K h is bounding to the date.  So the 2nd line cannot move.  But in month e or in month s, the bondage shall be broken allowing the 2nd line to move, which allows R w to link to the self line.  So you will sell either in month e or in month s."

Result:  He sold in month s.

If a G star moves turning into a B star which bounds to the self line, the self line received a gain star.

For example:  It's Hapoel against Milan, battling for the UEFA cup.  Mr. Hapoel tossed the coins asking will Hapoel win the soccer game.  (He wants Hapoel to win.)  He got [Strip] and [Gen].

There is a 6 strike, and nothing is bounding to the self line.  So the power of the 6 strike is permanent.   The self line is Hapoel, and the U line is Milan.  In this sign, it really looks like Milan will win because the U line has an advancing R star.  The 3rd line gain star is being killed back by the B star.   But the 3rd line's gain star G m moves turning into B s which bounds to the U line.   This means that the U line (Milan) receives the gain star.  So Milan will win.  

Result:  Milan, which is represented by the U line, won the game. 

What did the self line receive if this sign appears?

Sometimes, you see stuff like this:

4th line   P s   x                  B h -

Self line  K y  o J               K m --

The self line K y is actually being produced by B h.  So there will be joy.   But meanwhile, the self line also received a P frustration star through B h.   So this sign indicates that there will be mixed feelings of joy and frustration.

For example:  A man asked is it safe to wait a few more days before he sells his stocks.  He got [Fog] and [Duay].

He purchased the stocks at $25 a share.  Right now, he earned some money because the stock value rose to $26.90.  He is wondering will the price rise some more.   That's why he wants to wait a few more days.  The 4th line's P s moves producing B h, and B h moves to produce the self line's happiness star K y.  This indicates that it's safe to wait a few more days.

• But there is another side to this sign.  The self line received a P frustration star meaning that there will also be sadness.
• Right now, none of these lines can move because they are all bounding to the date h.   But on day e, the bondage shall be broken allowing them to move all at once. 
• Although the 4th line P s is empty, P s might not be empty after all since he tossed the coins on day h - II.  So I think something will happen on day e.

Result:  He held on to his stocks.  But on the next day, he began to lose money because the price dropped to $23.  Then on day e, the price went back up to $25.  (He purchased it at $25.)  So on day e, he broke even.  He didn't earn any money, nor did he lose money.  The sign was accurate; it's safe to hold on to his stocks, but there also will be sadness.

You will also see stuff like this:

U line       R sh x  U                   B h -


Self line   K y  -  J                     K y -

What happens is the self line is actually receiving the R winner star.  So if you got this kind of sign, you will earn money or your sports team will win.           

Remember this:  When ever you see a B star moving to produce the self line's K star, it usually means trouble will disappear.  If you are in deep trouble, a B star producing the self line's K star is a lucky sign. 

What about this one?

3rd line     K  w x                      R yo -
Self line    G cn --  J                 P h   --

This looks like that the self line has received a R winner star.  But actually, the self line has received a K w loser star through the connection of R yo.  If you ask for money, you will earn very little money or will even lose money.  But since R yo still bounds to the self line, you will get your money back even if you will lose a large portion of it.

What about this one?

U line        G h   x U                   B sh  --


Self line    R m  -- J                   R m  --

The self line has just received a Gh  money star that has already been damaged by a B star.  If you ask for money, you will get some of your money back.  But you will also lose some money.  If you ask for friendship, your friend will come help you because B sh bounds to the self line.

What about this one?

2nd line    B y o                       G c --
Self line   P  t  - J                    B m -

The self line has just received a B star.  But this time, the 2nd line B y gave the self line a G c money star.  I tossed the coins once asking when will my friend give me back the money that he owes me.  (My friend owed me $10,000.)  And I got this kind of sign.  The 2nd line G c was empty.  The result is that he only gave me back $1000 in month t.  So basically, this kind of sign indicates that you will only get back a small portion of the money that your friend owes you.

What about this one?

Self line   K s - J                     K s -


1st line     G  t o                       B c --

The 1st line's G money star moved and got killed back by B c.  Is this a good sign?  Actually, this sign means there will be great joy when the 1st line G t moves.  The 1st line's G t moves turning into B c which produces the self line's K star.   When you expect a good news, you shall hear the good news.  When you expect something to happen, it will happen.  So don't be scared when you see B c killing back at G t because B c is actually the helper of the self line's K star.

You also have seen this before:

U line       K yo x U                   R y -


Self line   B cn -  J                    B cn -

What happened is the self line has just received an R winner star.   The self line reached R y winner star through K yo.

What about this one?

U line      B sh x U                    K yo -


Self line  R m - J                      R m -

The self line has just received a loser star K yo through B sh.  But you must be careful when you see this kind of sign due to the following phenomena:

I asked can I earn money if I sell my stocks a few days later.  I got [Consolidate] and [Li].

Although the self line R m has received K yo through the U line B sh, the U line K yo moved to rescue the troubled 5th line money star G t.  So G t still can produce the self line.  Right now, B sh is bounding to the date.  But on day cn, the bondage shall be broken allowing K yo to rescue G t. 

• Actually, the self line R m has repelled K yo away although R m did receive K yo.   So the loser star cannot come to the self line at all!

Result:  I earned money sometime between day cn and day e.

What about this one?

U line      B c x U                       P w   -


Self line  G t  -- J                      B wa --

The self line has just received the money killer B c.  The U line B c moved turning into P w, and P w bounds to the self line B wa.  Therefore, the self line received the U line B c.

What about this one?

5th line    R sh x                         B h -


Self line  B  h - J                        B h -

The self line received a R winner star.  This is a good sign especially when you ask about the stock market or about money.  When the self line receives the R star, the stock value will rise or you will earn money.  Some of my students think that the 5th line's B h will move to kill the money star.  That's not true.  The self line clearly is receiving the 5th line's R sh.  That means you will become a winner.

What about this one?   A woman asked will her X-boyfriend come back to her.   She received [Big profit] and [Wonderful].

One of my students said, "There is a B combo.  But the self line has received a R e husband star because the U line's R e moved turning into B yo which bounds to the self line.  So your X-boyfriend will return to you."  Is this student's prediction right?

Unfortunately, this prediction is wrong.  The U line and the 4th line have formed a B combo.  The U line's R e has already been incorporated by the B combo.  So R e does not exist anymore.  P c also does not exist anymore.  Only B yo survived because B yo has conquered his neighbors and formed an empire.  We must view the U line as a giant B star now.  So basically, the self line has received a giant B star, which represents loneliness.  This means the X-boyfriend won't return to her anymore.   The B combo can also represent friendship.  But I don't think that's what she is asking for.

Remember that a non-moving line which is bounding to the date will act like a moving line when the bondage is broken?  Check this example out!

A guy tossed the coins asking on which day can he sell his stocks and earn money.   God showed him [Fog] and [Hollow].

The self line K y moved and advanced killing and bounding to the U line's winner star R sh.  The self line made a big leap, but the U line has no action.  This means it's hard to earn that money.  You must persue after the money, and the money won't come to you by itself.  Maybe you are losing money at this moment and are trying to break even?

• "Yes, that's correct.  The price has dropped after I bought the stocks.   And every morning I have been keeping track of the stock market.", the man replied.
• The top line's K m links to the self line's K m.  So the top line is the self line.   The top line's K m also bounds and kills the U line's R sh.  The top line and the U line are neighbors.  So it's not hard for you to catch the R winner star.   This means you will soon break even.
• The U line's G e is now bounding to the date.  When the bondage is broken on day h, the U line will actually move!  This means the U line's R sh will move on day h and will bound to the self line's K m.  So you will become the ultimate winner on day h.

Result:  The stock value rose on day h, and he sold his stocks on that day.

If two lines move, their elements on the 2nd hexagram can bound to each other.

For example:  I tossed the coins asking can I meet Misty within 2 months.  I received [Joy] and [Trapped].  (Misty is a girl who I like.)

The 5th line's moving R star represents another man.  So I do have a competitor.  

• The self line's G woman star is in trouble because it got killed back by B y. 
• The 2nd line's K e cannot rescue the self line's G wa because K e is producing G cn.  
• The 2nd line K e is also bounding to the 5th line's R s.  My rescuer is totally gone.

Result:  I never saw her again.  I didn't even have a chance to ask for her phone number.

Another example:  Richard tossed the coins asking will the stock value go up in month wa so he can sell his stocks for a pretty good price.  God gave him [Bride] and [Extreme].

Richard asked can he sell his stocks in month wa.  The 5th line B yo moves bounding to the self line's moving P cn.  Right now, B yo cannot bound to P cn yet because the self line P c is bounding to the date t.  If the bondage between P c and the date t is not broken, the self line cannot move.  If the self line cannot move, the 5th line B yo cannot bound to the self line P cn. 

• But month wa can break the bondage between P c and the date t.  So the self line will move in month wa.
• Unfortunately, the self line moves in month wa bounding to a strong money killer B yo.   This means not only Richard cannot sell at a good price in month wa, the stock value will drop sharply in month wa.

Result:  The stock value started to drop in month wa.  The price reached the absolute bottom in month s because the 5th line B s moves and advances in month s.   When the 5th line B s advances, B yo bounds to the self line.

I tossed the coins asking can I sell my stocks at $25.50.  God gave me [Consolidate] and [Bite].

The 3rd line's G h money star got killed back by B cn.  The self line received a K yo loser star through the connection of the U line's B sh.  No, the price won't go up that high.

Result:  I was wrong.  The price went up to $25.60.  I failed to see that the 3rd line and the U line are linking together because K yo is bounding to B cn.   So B cn cannot kill back at G h anymore because K yo and B cn canceled each other out.  G h is linking to the U line, and the U line links to the self line.  This means the self line actually received the money star G h. 

Remember this:  If only one line is moving but the other line does not move, their elements in the 2nd hexagram cannot bound to each other.   Remember this well.

Linkers

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©2001  Registered with the US Copyright Office.   All rights reserved. Written by Alex Y.C. Chiu

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