Gate 17 Line 4: The Opportunist of Opinion — Influence Through Following
Keynote
The 4th line of the 6th hexagram — the objective position of the subjective harmonic. The 4th line is the line of externalization, networking, and influence; in Gate 17 ("Opinions / Following"), it is the line of the Influential Follower — one who reads the prevailing opinions in a network, aligns with the right ones, and through that alignment becomes a node of broadcast and influence. Its classical name is often given as "The Opportunist" or "Influence."
Theme within the Gate
Gate 17 is the gate of opinions, patterns, and the capacity to follow a direction. Its three 6th-harmonic lines (4, 5, 6) constitute the transpersonal or "yielding" trigram — the realm where subjective knowing is externalized into the world through relationship. Line 4 specifically transposes opinion into relational currency. It is not the originator of the opinion (the 1st line), nor the holder of the corpus (the 3rd line), nor the detached observer (the 6th). It is the transmitter — the one who recognizes which opinions are operative in a given field, who orients toward them, and through that orientation, shifts the field.
In the context of the channel 17-62 (Acceptance), Line 4 is the social face of opinion: it follows what the collective will accept, and in following, shapes what the collective accepts.
The Gift — Conscious and Healthy
In its maturity, the 17.4 carries the gift of synchronistic following. The person knows, almost kinesthetically, which opinions carry weight in a given network and which direction is correct for the moment. Through genuine alignment — not sycophancy but true resonance — they become a channel through which useful opinions move. Their influence is not imposed; it is recognized. People listen because this line has earned the right to speak by having listened first.
This is the gift of the trusted voice in a community: the curator of consensus, the one whose "yes" legitimizes a direction. The healthy 17.4 influences by following well.
The Shadow — The Not-Self
The shadow of the opportunist line is opportunism without integrity. The not-self 17.4 follows whichever opinion is convenient, fashionable, or personally advantageous — not from resonance but from calculation or fear. This can produce the opinion-chameleon who has no real stance, or the network-hopper who abandons every group the moment the wind shifts.
Because the 4th line is the line of influence, its shadow also includes the misuse of that influence: pushing opinions for status, leveraging belonging for control, or mistaking being followed for being right. Saturn's cold gravity can also freeze the line into rigidity — refusing to update an opinion long after its network has dissolved.
Planetary Tone
- Exalted: ♃ Jupiter — expansion, philosophical breadth, benevolent influence, the wisdom to see which opinion serves the larger whole.
- Detriment: ♄ Saturn — contraction, dogma, pessimism, the fear that holds one to outdated positions or prevents genuine following.
Jupiter exalts the line when following becomes a form of generosity; Saturn depresses it when following becomes a form of survival.
How It Shows Up When Activated
As a profile line, Gate 17 Line 4 forms the lower trigram of the 4/6 (Opportunist / Role Model) profile when paired with any upper 6th line, and the 4/1 (Opportunist / Investigator) when paired with a 1st line. In both, the 17.4 person is defined by the quality of networks they choose — every relationship is an invitation to be influenced and to influence. They are advised to choose their networks consciously, for the network chooses them back.
As a planetary activation — when a transit or birth-planet lands on this gate/line combination — the theme surfaces as an invitation to examine which opinions one is following, which communities one is speaking into, and whether the influence being wielded is authentic or expedient.