14 Having Enough (Great Wealth) - The I Ching
Chris Gabriel February 7, 2026
Judgment
Having enough is the origin of prosperity.
Lines
1
Going unharmed.
2
A big wagon carries a load with far to go.
3
The Prince makes sacrifices to the Son of Heaven
4
Without a sound. Without fault.
5
His faith reaches out.
6
Heaven has blessed you.
Qabalah
Tiphereth on the Middle Pillar. The exalted Sun. The 6 of Cups and 6 of Disks, and the Prince of Cups and Prince of Disks.
High in the sky sits the radiant midday Sun. As it rises through the morning, it is satisfied at its zenith, and begins to set, having had enough for the day. While we saw the rising of the sun and of man in our previous hexagram, here we have the apex.
1 At the height of our strength, we will go unharmed. It is a cruel irony, but often it is the weakest who are harmed the most while those with power go unscathed.
2 When we have many things, as those in power tend to, the act of moving becomes a problem. It is easy for someone with nothing to start over somewhere else. This is also the journey of the Sun; we can think of Helios on his chariot who, having reached the height, now starts his journey into the night.
3 In his book The Accursed Share, writer Georges Bataille describes the titular concept as the excess energy in an organism which must be sacrificed:
“The living organism ordinarily receives more energy than is necessary for maintaining life; the excess energy (wealth) can be used for the growth of a system (e.g., an organism); if the system can no longer grow, or if the excess cannot be completely absorbed in it's growth, it must necessarily be lost without profit; it must be spent, willingly or not, gloriously or catastrophically.”
This is especially apt for the hexagram, as he is describing our relation to the “Solar Economy” itself.
“Solar radiation results in a superabundance of energy on the surface of the globe. But, first, living matter receives this energy and accumulates it within the limits given by the space that is available to it. It then radiates or squanders it, but before devoting an appreciable share to this radiation it makes maximum use of it for growth. Only the impossibility of continuing growth makes way for squander. Hence the real excess does not begin until the growth of the individual or group has reached its limits.”
4 Wealth and power do best when they do not flaunt themselves and make noise. It was the superfluous spending of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette that led the people to revolution, and the monarchy to the guillotine.
5 “He” in this case is the Sun, and as Bataille says “Solar energy is the source of life's exuberant development. The origin and essence of our wealth are given in the radiation of the sun, which dispenses energy - wealth - without any return.”
The sun reaches out to us.
6 As we have seen, it is the blessing of the Sun and the Heavens above that create our own power and wealth.
This hexagram is given to Tiphereth, the Solar center of the Tree of Life, the highest self and source of our higher nature. Though Hexagram 30 shows the direct nature of the Sun, we see here what the Sun does in relation to humanity.
Let us then know when we’ve accumulated enough wealth and power and give away our accursed share in magnanimity.
