Gate 17 Line 6: The Objective Sage of Following
Keynote: The Detached Witness
Gate 17 speaks of opinions and the art of following correctly — the magnetic alignment with what is true, useful, and right for the collective. Line 6, sitting at the top of the upper trigram, brings objectivity to this energy. Where other lines of the 17 still wrestle with the content of opinion, Line 6 has graduated from the fray. It sees the entire pattern of "following" from above, with the eye of someone who has lived it, questioned it, and emerged into a clear view.
This is the Role Model line, the culmination of the hexagram's process. It is the position of the wise one who has returned to the mountain, carrying the whole journey inside the words "follow" and "opinion," and is now able to demonstrate rather than defend.
The Theme Within the Gate
In the hexagram Sui (Following), Line 6 corresponds to the place of mastery: the one who has cycled through the lower lines of being led, of choosing wisely, of releasing control, of building integrity in following. The sixth line of Gate 17 has detached from the need to convince. Their voice on opinion is no longer partisan; it has become catalytic.
The underlying frequency is: I no longer need my opinions to be right. I have followed, questioned, and integrated — and now I can simply point.
The Gift
The conscious, healthy expression is a generous objectivity about thought itself. Gate 17 Line 6 can hold multiple perspectives on a topic without needing to defend any of them. They give others permission to hold their own views by their very neutrality. Their "following" is no longer blind — it is informed, often humble, and aimed at what genuinely serves the moment rather than the ego.
In maturity they become a mirror: a person whose very presence invites the questioner to find their own right following. They are teachers without overt teaching — their lived example does the work. There is an unmistakable optimism here (a hallmark of the 6th line), not naive, but earned: "I have seen enough of human folly and human brilliance to trust the unfolding."
The Shadow
The not-self expression is a cold, withdrawn superiority disguised as objectivity. The 6th line can hide from the world on its mountain, using its detachment to avoid the vulnerability of having a real opinion, or worse, using its hard-won wisdom to subtly belittle those still wrestling with the process. The shadow is detachment without warmth — a following that becomes refusal to follow at all, dressed up as wisdom. Cynicism can also haunt this line, the shadow side of the optimist who has seen too much and forgotten the light.
Planetary Tone
The classical 6th-line tone is reflected in:
- Jupiter (♃) exalted — the sign of the optimist, the long view, the benefic vision that blesses the latter half of life with faith in what was gathered in the first.
- Saturn (♄) in detriment — the weight of time, the heaviness of being a role model, the fear of being seen, the loneliness of the mountain.
Three Life Phases
The 6th line lives through three approximately thirty-year arcs: the gathering of experience, the challenge and questioning of that material, and the objective, role-model expression that follows integration. For Gate 17, this means: in youth, absorbing all opinions, all "followings"; in mid-life, tearing them apart and rebuilding; in elderhood, offering the distilled, non-partisan perspective that others can follow with trust.
In Profile & Activation
As a Profile line, 17.6 is the line of the Subjective Role Model in the House of Self (when joined with line 1, 2, or 3 in the profile). When this line is activated by a transit or person, expect the theme of withdrawal into wisdom — a felt sense that something or someone is asking you to step back, observe, and only then offer what you have learned about right following.