Hexagram 27
The Corners of the Mouth
頤Yí
☶ Mountain above, ☳ Thunder below
Beneath the still mountain the thunder stirs, movement under rest like a lower jaw chewing against a still upper jaw: together they form the open mouth of nourishment.
The JudgmentThe corners of the mouth: perseverance brings good fortune. Pay heed to nourishment, and to that with which a person seeks to fill his own mouth. By what someone nourishes and what he takes in, you recognize who he is; those who feed what is right in themselves and feed on what is right stay on the straight path.
The ImageAt the foot of the mountain, thunder: the image of nourishment. Thus the noble one is careful with his words, and temperate in eating and drinking. What goes into the mouth and what comes out of the mouth: this whole hexagram rests on those two gates. Tend them both, for through the one you nourish yourself and through the other you nourish the world.
InterpretationLook at the shape of this sign: two strong jaws, open space between them, one great open mouth, and that mouth encompasses everything that is nourishment: food, impressions, media, company, thoughts, and the words with which you feed others. It appears when the quality of what you take in and what you hand out calls for attention: what do you actually live on, and what do you pass along? The test is simple and merciless: for one week look honestly at what you let in and ask of everything whether it nourishes or merely fills. And look at what you feed: those who tend the low in themselves become low; those who feed the high become high. Nourishment is fate unfolding slowly.
Place in the sequenceWhat was gathered and held in 26, The Taming Power of the Great, next wants to be nourished in order to stay alive; hence this sign of nourishment. It forms a pair with 28 · Preponderance of the Great.
Nuclear hexagram
The nuclear hexagram of The Corners of the Mouth is 2 · The Receptive: Strength that carries rather than pushes: those who follow and serve instead of going first find guidance and bring everything into bloom. It is formed from the inner lines and shows the hidden core of the situation.
The six lines
These texts belong to changing lines in a reading, from the bottom up.
Nine at the beginning
You let your magic turtle go and look at me with drooping corners of the mouth:
misfortune. You have a source of your own (talent, wisdom, the ability to feed yourself) and you leave it lying there to stare enviously at someone else's plate. Comparing makes you poor: every minute of envy is a minute not drawn from your own well. The turtle in the image could live on air; you are capable of more than you use. Back to your own source, today.
Six in the second place
Turning to the summit for nourishment, straying from the path to seek food on the hill:
continuing brings misfortune. If you can stand but keep leaning, you lose your resilience: seeking support belongs to emergencies, not to the daily menu. Structurally living off the care, money, or approval of others hollows you out and turns the giver into a prison. Accept help when you must, and meanwhile build the ability to feed yourself.
Six in the third place
Turning away from nourishment:
perseverance brings misfortune; for ten years do not act this way, nothing is favorable. Reaching for what stimulates but does not nourish: sensation, intoxication, empty entertainment, and it becomes so habitual that it can cost a decade. This line is the hardest of the hexagram: wrong nourishment as a way of life wastes not days but years. If you notice you keep growing emptier from what you consume, this is the moment: stop, do not just cut back.
Six in the fourth place
Turning to the summit for nourishment brings good fortune:
peering about like a tiger with insatiable craving: no blame. The same movement as the second line, but now justified: you seek help and helpers not for yourself, but for your task. Then the hunger may be great and the gaze eager: those who recruit for something good need not be ashamed of their desire. The measure is the goal: ambition in service of something larger than your own plate is pure.
Six in the fifth placeruling line
Straying from the path:
perseverance in staying brings good fortune; one should not cross the great water. You know that in this area you cannot yet feed yourself: you lack knowledge, maturity, or strength, and you need guidance. Acknowledging that and letting yourself be nourished by those who know more is the right path here, provided you stay with it. Only this: do not begin great undertakings in this dependent phase; first grow strong yourself, then the great water.
Nine at the topruling line
The source of nourishment:
acting in awareness of danger brings good fortune; it is worthwhile to cross the great water. You have become nourishment for others: people live on what you carry, share, and speak. That is a blessing with weight: those who feed many must guard their own source doubly and keep seeing the danger of that role. Bear it consciously, without making it a throne, and from there dare what is great: those who truly nourish may reach far.