28 Too Much - The I Ching
Chris Gabriel May 16, 2026
Judgement
Too much weight makes a beam bend.
Lines
1
A mat of white reeds.
2
A withered willow sprouts again. An old man takes a young wife.
3
A bending beam.
4
A bulging beam.
5
A withered willow blossoms again. An old woman takes a young husband.
6
In over your head.
Qabalah
Chesed weighing on its opposite Hod.
The expansive Jupiter and particular Mercury.
The Four of Wands and the Four of Swords.
We ate our fill in the last hexagram, and here we see the resultant weight. The lines form the image of a beam with both a weak foundation, and a weak top. Heavy water bending wood; a precarious position where the center cannot hold. The ideogram gives the picture of a man bending under the weight of what he carries.
Judgment: A simple and clear image of a beam bending under weight. As the I Ching is the Book of Changes, this is a situation that will quickly change if the weight is not removed.
1 When we place heavy things down, it is good for them sit on something. This is like the doily or placemat one puts a bowl of food on. This is also the castors one places under heavy furniture to prevent scratching the floor.
2 The withered willow is the elder man who takes the young wife. He feels rejuvenated, made young again by a youthful partner, but just like the lines, this is not a situation that can last. Just as the title says, this is “too much”. Consider Anna Nicole Smith’s infamous marriage to J Howard Marshall II, who died less than a year later. Burroughs says it well:
In order to feel something,
You’ve got to be there.
You have to be eighteen.
You’re not eighteen.
You are seventy-eight.
3 & 4 When a beam bends, it is due to external weight. When a beam bulges, is from internal pressure pushing it outward. Consider the differences between someone “cracking under pressure” vs someone “snapping” from built up problems. While there is often an inciting incident, a proverbial “straw that breaks the camels back”, it is the internal pressure that created it.
5 The same situation as line 2 repeats, but with a rearranged dynamic. Both are “too much”, not only in terms of emotional pressure within, but to the outside world too. Relationships with too wide of an age gap are often considered indecent, ulterior motives are suspected, both parties are criticized. Though the situation here is less positive, no shoots come forth (no potential for growth), only flowers.
6 The situation comes to a head, the load bearing beam breaks, the dam bursts, the stability is lost. Things fall apart. Now we are in too deep, as we shall see in the next hexagram.
Everything has a breaking point, a thing can only bear so much weight - humans are this way too. Seemingly invulnerable people can break from something seemingly mundane; the legend goes that Nietzsche fell into madness after seeing a horse being beaten in the street. When we put immense pressure on ourselves, we may go on for a time but sooner or later something gives and we can have a nervous breakdown or fall seriously ill.
If we ignore our own limits and boundaries, nature, and our bodies will do the job for us. It is a deeply uncomfortable feeling, to overextend oneself, and to recognize that our strength is not infinite, but if we wish to continue to grow, we must do it with wisdom.
