Increase

Wind and thunder reinforcing each other, benefit flowing generously from above to below rather than being withheld or hoarded at the top where it started. Increase is among the most favorable hexagrams in the sequence for new ventures, investment, or generous action — a period where giving and expanding both tend to be rewarded rather than punished for the risk involved in either one. Its trigrams, Wind above and Thunder below, correspond to the eldest daughter and eldest son working in the same direction rather than against each other, an image the tradition reads as two forces reinforcing one another's momentum instead of competing for it.

It appears around favorable conditions for growth: a good time to invest, expand, or act generously toward others, trusting that real benefit tends to return and multiply rather than simply disappear without a trace. Its counsel favors sincere action taken promptly, since this favorable window, like most conditions in the I Ching, doesn't last indefinitely and rewards moving while it's actually still open to you.

Say you're weighing whether to invest real time or money into a promising opportunity, and conditions currently seem to favor expansion more than caution right now. This is genuine encouragement to act rather than keep deliberating past the point of useful reflection, provided your motives are sincere rather than purely self-interested at their core. It's one of the more consistently favorable hexagrams for new undertakings, and its counsel is specifically about not letting the window close through excessive hesitation dressed up as caution or prudence.

Increase pairs with Decrease (41) as complementary opposites, and their sequence, loss before gain, is often read as a reminder that the two are part of one continuous exchange rather than opposite fortunes handed out separately. The line texts favor increase that flows generously in multiple directions rather than benefit hoarded for personal gain alone — the confidence in growth returning depends specifically on how it's shared while conditions remain favorable, not on how tightly it's held onto once it arrives.