No changing lines – no change?

Claire writes:

“If a question is asked and there are no changing lines but the overall translation of the main Hexagram is favourable does this mean that the situation will never change? There are a couple websites which host free computer readings and although the answer to my questions may have been favourable in relation to the main Hexagram and, I may add, very relevant to my question, many of these website stipulate that the situation will not change if no changing lines are present. Could you clarify for me please?”

Which is a very good question – thank you, Claire.

No – the absence of changing lines doesn’t mean an absence of change. It means pretty much what you see on the page: that this first hexagram is the only source and kind of change in the situation. You’re not exerting a separate, personal influence to pull things in a new direction: maybe you haven’t made a choice; maybe this is a situation where your choice wouldn’t make a difference; maybe your will is already wholly aligned with the current direction of things.

The fine nuances of meaning around having an unchanging hexagram depend on the particular hexagram in question. I suggest keeping a diary of these so you can build up your own repertory of them, as I don’t know of any book that has adequate commentary. In very, very general terms, you might find that a hexagram that implies slowness or stasis has this meaning emphasised when it’s unchanging, whereas an unchanging hexagram that implies progress and creative energy would raise questions of where you’re going, or how its energy can find expression on a human scale.