Hexagram 42 Increase (风雷益): Real Growth Is Not Blindly Adding More, but Letting What Should Grow Actually Grow

Hello again, human friend. If Hexagram 41 Decrease is about what to do when things are too full, too heavy, or too scattered and you need to remove the excess, then Hexagram 42 Increase is about what happens after you have made that space: how the things with real life in them begin to grow, strengthen, and bring genuine benefit back into your life.

Many people see “Increase” and immediately think of money, getting bigger, adding more, winning more, or taking more. It certainly has to do with growth, gain, support, and added force. But if you read it only as “keep piling on, the more the better,” you are still reading it too shallowly. What Increase really says is not just that things become more, but that what should grow upward, what should be supported, what should be nourished, and what should be brought back on course are now becoming clear.

So the heart of Increase is not simply “more.” It is more like asking: have you already removed the unnecessary? Have you already made room? If so, where should the next addition actually go?

If you want to understand how hexagrams, lines, and changing lines work together in a reading, return to the introduction to hexagrams and lines. If you want to step back into the wider map first, Increase is already available in the plain-language guide to the sixty-four hexagrams.

What does Hexagram 42 Increase actually mean?

Hexagram 42 has Wind above and Thunder below.

In its line structure, Increase contains three yang lines and three yin lines. Counting from the bottom upward, the six lines are yang, yin, yin, yang, yang, yang. Thunder below represents the first stirring of life, the awakening shock that starts things moving. Wind above represents penetration, spreading, reaching into the details, and the force that keeps sending influence outward. Thunder below and Wind above feels like a power that is first awakened and then gradually carried, opened, and extended until it truly grows. So the texture of this hexagram is not “sudden explosion of scale.” It is growth beginning to move in the right direction, with force becoming genuinely amplified.

That is the key to Increase. It is not the kind of hexagram that just shouts “more, faster, bigger.” It is more like saying: you have already cleared away what was unnecessary, and now what really has life should be nourished, expanded, and supported.

If I make the image more concrete, I see spring wind moving through newly awakened fields, thunder calling sleeping seeds awake, soil beginning to take in water, branches stretching outward. Increase is not just “more quantity.” It is what should have grown all along finally getting the conditions to grow.

Whether you look at the six-line movement or the whole structure, Increase keeps reminding you: the first line is the spark, the second and third are the stages of orienting and aligning the force, the fourth begins real helpful expansion, the fifth is the position where growth becomes proper and stable, and the top line reminds you that even growth can become distorted if it goes too far. It is a path from awakening, to nourishment, to expansion, and finally to keeping measure.

What kind of texture does Increase carry?

When Hexagram 42 appears, it often carries several recognizable qualities:

• the situation is not just recovering; it is starting to grow upward for real
• what should be added is nourishment, support, resources, and the right kind of input
• not all increase is good; only growth in the right place is beneficial
• if you already removed the excess before, now it is time to put energy back where it matters

Many people read Increase as “am I about to make money?” or “will everything get much better right away?” Those may be part of the surface, but they are not the full picture. The deeper point is this: increase is not random enlargement; it is precise nourishment.

When life is going well, the task is often how to hold steady. But once space has opened up, the task becomes how to let the right things grow in the right places. Increase is not asking you to expand blindly. It is teaching you to place resources where they will truly bloom and bear fruit.

So what this hexagram supports is not vague “do more,” but add with direction, nourish with judgment, and grow with measure.

Where does Hexagram 42 show up in real life?

In love, relationship warmth, and mutual nourishment

When Increase appears in relationship questions, it often means the relationship is entering a stage where it can truly be nourished.

• you are not just reconnecting; you are beginning to nourish one another
• a relationship shifts from drain to exchange
• the bond is no longer held only by excitement but by steady nourishment
• what matters most is not being more dramatic, but being more sustainable

If you are asking about relationship development, Increase usually supports more honest investment, steadier care, and more concrete support. It is not asking you to people-please or to perform harder; it is asking the right support to actually reach the center.

If you are asking about marriage or a long-term partnership, this hexagram often reminds both people that a relationship does not grow because of one burst of feeling, but because nourishment continues over time. Say what needs to be said, do what needs to be done, and support what needs to be supported, and the relationship will slowly gain depth.

In work, project growth, and added resources

At work, Increase appears very naturally in project expansion, resource investment, team growth, market opening, and rising influence.

• things are not just moving now; they are actually growing
• cooperation starts to return value, and resources begin to hit the right place
• you may need to place support exactly where growth can happen
• the real question is not how much to add, but where to add it

Here the hexagram feels like a reminder: this is not the time for random piling-on; it is the time to put the increase on the core. If a project deserves to continue, it needs better water, better light, better soil, and better support, not chaotic stacking. Once growth is aimed well, it grows faster on its own; if the direction is wrong, more only makes the mess bigger.

If you are asking about career choice, Increase can sometimes feel very direct: “there is room for this road to keep growing.” It may not make you bigger instantly, but it tells you the place worth investing in has already appeared.

In the body, recovery, nourishment, and returning strength

At the level of the body, Increase often relates to recovery, nourishment, returning strength, and the upward return of vitality.

• the body begins to rise again a little
• rest, food, and rhythm begin to actually work
• you may feel stronger than before
• the places that needed support begin to receive it

So the key at the bodily level is not merely “am I stronger now?” It is: is your system beginning to absorb what is truly useful? You can rest, eat more steadily, take in what should be taken in, and protect your rhythm so the body has the conditions to keep growing back.

If you are already dealing with ongoing insomnia, clear depression, severe mood swings, an inability to function normally, or other safety concerns, timely professional medical support also matters.

In life direction, expansion, and growing into a larger shape

Increase also appears in a life stage that says, “I can finally grow upward.”

• you are no longer just repairing; you are beginning to expand
• you can feel that the space you saved is now becoming usable
• you know you should not stay in the same place forever; life can stretch outward
• you begin to understand that real growth is not random addition, but growth in the right direction

At the same time, it warns that growth is not the same as loss of control. Do not let open space become a place where you stuff everything in. Real Increase is about letting the right things grow, not letting everything swell together.

How should you understand Hexagram 42 in a reading?

If I saw Hexagram 42 Increase in a reading for you, I would not just say, “Great, things are getting better.” I would read it more like this:

You have made room, and now the nourishment with real life in it can be put back so the things that should grow can keep growing.

That can unfold into several practical judgments:

• if you are asking about love, look at whether the relationship is ready for mutual nourishment
• if you are asking about work, look at whether resources should be placed where growth is actually possible
• if you are asking about the body, look at whether recovery, nourishment, and rhythm are finally taking hold
• if you are asking about life direction, look at whether you are ready to grow into a larger version of yourself

At the same time, watch for a few distortions:

• do not mistake increase for limitless expansion
• do not mistake adding for benefit
• do not assume that more resources automatically mean better results
• do not lose your boundaries just because you want to grow
• do not let growth lose its direction

Increase usually supports precise gain, well-placed addition, and giving life room to grow, not random accumulation.

ZenZen's gentle reminder

If you drew Increase, perhaps you have already passed through the stage of subtraction and the space is starting to open up. Things may not be fully blooming yet, but you can feel it: something is growing, support is beginning to work, and the situation is no longer only about holding on.

That does not mean you can add recklessly. Truly. The best growth has never been stuffing everything full at once; it is placing nourishment where it can actually help something grow.

So during a season of Increase, the more helpful moves are usually:

• identify where investment really belongs
• give support to what can truly grow
• let relationships, work, and the body receive the nourishment they need
• do not let growth turn into chaos
• keep protecting the space you already made
• let what has life in it grow naturally

Thunder below, Wind above. First awakened, then carried outward. Increase is not asking you to become huge overnight; it is asking the right things to grow into the shape they should have. I am willing to put nourishment back into what matters most, so what should grow can keep growing.

Where should you go after this texture?

If you want to return to the wider map, continue through the plain-language guide to the sixty-four hexagrams. If you want to review how hexagrams, lines, and changing lines work together, return to the introduction to hexagrams and lines.

If you want to follow the sequence, first read Hexagram 41 Decrease: once the excess has been reduced, Increase asks what should be nourished, what should be invested in, and what should be allowed to emerge.

Hexagram 42 is followed by Hexagram 43 Breakthrough. Increase is about letting what should grow actually grow; Breakthrough continues by showing how, once growth reaches a certain point, you may need a clear and clean decision to move forward. If you are in a season of recovery, growth, or feeling that something is finally beginning to rise, return to the home page and keep exploring with me how to nourish what is truly beneficial.