Self line (Shi)

The Self line is the line with (Self) written after it, and it stands for oneself in the event. The next step is to identify the Self line and its relation to the Target line.

What the Self line stands for

In a dispute, the Self line is oneself and the Response line is the Target line; in practice, if I am strong and the other is weak then I win, if I generate for the other it costs me, and if the other controls me I lose out. It is the same when reading a matter: if the Self line is Weak, I too go under; if the Self line is Prosperous then, even when the matter fails, I am still all right.

If the Self line controls the Target line, then I am going in the wrong direction, or it may be taken that I am not able to do that thing if I go on along the present road. One's own ability is shown by the Strength of the Self line. If it is controlled by the Target line, there will be pressure. To picture it easily, simply take the Target line as equivalent to other people: when others control me, it means others put me at a disadvantage and I will be worn out….

The Self line is very important, but always remember that the Self line in the hexagram being read stands for ourselves in the matter we are asking about, and does not stand for everything.

If the Self line is Weak or Rootless, one must understand at once that one will be in danger in this matter. The simplest way out of that danger is to change how one acts, or how one takes part in the matter, and to read a new hexagram to know whether the matter is then all right.

When the Self line is not read

But we shall not always use the Self line: in cases where one is not asking for oneself, we read only the Target line and not the Self line. Reading for someone else, we read the Target line to express the outcome of the matter. The inconvenience of not asking for oneself lies here: we know only whether the matter succeeds or fails, but we do not know how the person asked about is affected by it, and from that we cannot know whether the incidents arising for that person while the event unfolds are good or bad, so as to know how to avoid them.

At its simplest, apart from the case where the Self line controls the Target line, a Prosperous Target line means the matter succeeds, except for some special cases such as asking about examination papers or about housing, where both must be Prosperous at once.

The Self and Target relation

The Self line stands for oneself and the Target line for the matter asked about. How the Target line is chosen has been covered in earlier entries; this entry discusses the Target and Self relation in the hexagram: the Self line falling on the Opposing line, the Source line, the Draining line or the Hostile line.

The Self line falling on the Opposing line

The Self line falling on the Opposing line:

Self	Target
Prosperous	Weak	one has the ability but the time is not right
Weak	Prosperous	one is both without talent and on the wrong road for a matter that had potential
Prosperous	Prosperous	the ability is there and the potential is there, but the road is wrong
Weak	Weak	ramming one's head into a rock

Those are the ordinary cases; besides them there are some special situations, such as:

• The Self line falls on the Opposing line and enters the Tomb, the Target line is Prosperous, and the cycle of branches has not yet reached the branch that clashes the Tomb: the matter will succeed, but in the dark — plainly put, by luck.
• The Self line falls on the Opposing line and has Excessive strength: before the day that reaches the branch clashing the Tomb the matter also succeeds if the Target line is Prosperous, but one is overloaded and does not know which road to take, like a person lost in a forest who happens to get out before dying.
• Another situation is the Self line being Void: before the clash on its own branch the matter will also succeed if the Target line is Prosperous, but when reading a career this usually reports hearing the news of getting the post and then meeting disaster and dying, answering at the moment the Void is filled and clashed.

In all these particular cases the Target line must be Prosperous; only where the Self line changes into the Target line is that not needed, though there is a particular point here too for Parents and Officer. The Self line changing into Officer is a disaster, because it changes into the Officer line, yet the matter will still succeed first; and the Self line changing into Parents, if the matter comes out without loss, hints at something temporary — judge it according to the situation. Cases not listed do not exist, for example the Self line being Break or the Self line being Extinction.

Besides, one must notice that if the Target line moves and changes into generation, that is not being helped into success: one must know at that point that this is the Hostile line of the Self line moving, a misfortune and not a blessing. So how is this case to be put right?

Why the road is wrong: the nature of the Opposing line by element

First, to put a mistake right, we must understand why we are wrong.

Opposing line on
Metal	One is rigid and hard, too conservative
Water	One is soft, too easy-going on the surface
Wood	One is up in the clouds, too mild on the surface
Fire	One is hasty, too hot-tempered
Earth	One is too slow and does not grasp the story correctly

How to put it right when the Opposing line sits on the Self line

So, to put the road right, do not hope for a miracle to fall from the sky; one must change one's own nature, because we ourselves are the Self line in the story, and the way we behave corresponds to the Self line in the story. Therefore we turn ourselves into the Draining line, that is, we behave like the Draining line of the Self line, which is the Source line of the Target line — for example, from Metal we change to behaving like Water:

Behave like
Water	More skilful, more yielding
Metal	Firmer, more conservative
Fire	Quicker, more decisive
Earth	Slower, more thorough
Wood	Appearing harmless, more mild

That is the simplest remedy for the case of the Opposing line sitting on the Self line; please note it. To be more certain, after choosing to change one's attitude, we check once more with a new hexagram.

The Self line falling on the Source line

When the Self line falls on the Source line we again judge Strength. Target Prosperous and Self Weak: the matter comes out, but only at the cost of exhausting effort, and where papers are concerned, throw it away; if the Target line moves, there is trouble brought by the matter asked about — why? Simply because a moving Target line drains the Self line: money is already scarce and one still has to give it to others, so it is spoilt. If the Target line is Weak the matter fails, and however Prosperous the Self line is the effort is wasted. If the Self line is Weak as well, a beggar cannot ask for the best sticky rice.

In this case note Self Weak, Target Prosperous, with a moving line generating the Self line: that is not a moving line helping the Self line at all but a case of “the cormorant gropes, the stork eats” — remember that. Why? Because it then counts as the Opposing line moving, which is nothing good. Only where the Opposing line moves and changes into the Target line does the matter come out by yielding to others — why? Because a moving line does not control the changed line, and the Target line lies in the outer trigram, so it does not carry the character of present reality.

There is another special case: the Self line falls on the Target line and is Break, but another Target line moves; this is understood as the matter asked about failing, with the thread lying elsewhere, and where it lies is judged according to the situation. Changing into a Target line that is Weak counts as a disaster, “eating one bowl of porridge and running three fields for it”.

The Self line falling on the Draining line

The Self line falling on the Draining line: Target Prosperous and Self Weak, money falls on one's head; Target Prosperous and Self Prosperous, good and lucky besides; Target Weak, it only seems so but is to be thrown away. In this situation, however, a loss will appear in the matter asked about — why? Because the Draining line on the Self line drains the Target line: being too lucky, one takes everything lightly.

This situation has a special point at Wealth: if Wealth is the Target line then the Self line is Officer, and when the Self line moves and changes into Offspring one must look at how the person asking is. How they are in what sense? Whether they are clear-headed, whether they are worrying too much. If they are worrying, it counts as Offspring controlling the Officer beside oneself, and whether Wealth is Prosperous or not, at the time of Offspring they will be lucky and get through. If they are as usual, then disaster comes out of nothing: if they have a child, the child may be lost; if they are in business, the partner punches them in the face — so be on guard.

In all other cases, the Self line moving and changing into control always signals a dangerous matter, because the Yi reports the near and not the far: if I die tomorrow, what use is winning the lottery the day after?

Note here that reading the Yi is reading satellites around a host body. That is, in a single phenomenon the other lines turn around the Target line and do not carry meanings of their own, except in special cases. So when the question takes Parents as the Target line and Siblings is on the Self line, it does not mean losing money because Siblings is the Opposing line of Wealth — now and then money really is lost, because Siblings drains Parents, but that is not the general case; do not be careless about it.

The Self line falling on the Hostile line

The Self line falling on the Hostile line: the Target line controls the Self line, so one bears pressure from the matter asked about whatever happens. Target Prosperous and Self Prosperous, the matter succeeds but has no root, and on the way to success there are a billion troubles; it has no root because the Hostile line on the Self line controls the Source line, and moving or not it still controls the Source line. The Self line is one's own nature while a moving line is an acting factor — always remember that. Self Prosperous and Target Weak, one resists stubbornly but gets nowhere.

See also

• Target line — the line standing for the matter asked about
• Response line — the line standing for the other person or the other side
• Source line, Opposing line, Hostile line
• Void, Month Break, Tomb