34. The Power of the Great
Judgment
The Power of the Great — firm correctness is rewarded. Great strength must be guided by principles, not brute force.
Image
Thunder above heaven — the superior person avoids attitudes that violate propriety.
Changing Lines
Power in the toes — advance brings misfortune through certainty.
Perseverance brings good fortune — power with integrity sustains success.
The small person uses power — the noble person cuts ties with such behavior. Danger from reckless force.
Perseverance brings good fortune — regrets disappear. The barrier is broken, meeting in the horn.
Losing the goat in the field — no regret. Power that is acknowledged yields to natural resolution.
A goat butts against a hedge — it cannot step back or advance. No lasting advantage in brute force.
Reading The Power of the Great today
When The Power of the Great (大壯) appears in a modern casting, it's rarely about ancient kings or dragons in any literal sense. The hexagram speaks in metaphor about a shape your situation is taking right now. The lower creative heaven sits beneath the upper arousing thunder, pairing tireless force, initiative, the will to begin with shock, awakening, sudden movement. Read this as the inside meeting the outside: how you carry yourself underneath versus how the situation arrives on top.
The hexagram's recurring themes — great_power, strength, force — usually surface in real life around decisions where the question is less "what should I do" and more "what does this moment actually want from me." Read the Legge judgment above slowly, then sit with the changing lines if any showed up in your cast: the lines are where the hexagram's advice becomes specific to your question, not the situation in general.
Questions The Power of the Great answers well
- Should I act on this when I feel my own strength clearly?
- What does this hexagram say about my current situation?
- Should I act, wait, or step back from this?
- Where is the real change happening underneath the surface?
Curious how this would read against your own question? Cast The Power of the Great as a live reading in Hexora →