Your current situation can be depicted as "Deliverance" transforming into "The Abysmal (Water)".
In front of you lies "Thunder" which transforms into "Water". That means that movement, initiative, and action are being transformed into danger and the unknown. Behind you lies "Water", representing danger and the unknown.
The Situation
40. Hsieh - Deliverance Above (in front): Chên - The Arousing (Thunder) Below (behind): K'an - The Abysmal (Water)
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
Here the movement goes out of the sphere of danger. The obstacle has been removed, the difficulties are being resolved. Deliverance is not yet achieved; it is just in its beginning, and the hexagram represents its various stages.
The Judgement for the Current Situation
Deliverance. The southwest furthers. If there is no longer anything where one has to go, Return brings good fortune. If there is still something where one has to go, Hastening brings good fortune.
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
This refers to a time in which tensions and complications begin to be eased. At such times we ought to make our way back to ordinary conditions as soon as possible; this is the meaning of "the southwest. " These periods of sudden change have great importance. Just as rain relieves atmospheric tension, making all the buds burst open, so a time of deliverance from burdensome pressure has a liberating and stimulating effect on life. One thing is important, however: in such times we must not overdo our triumph. The point is not to push on farther than is necessary. Returning to the regular order of life as soon as deliverance is achieved brings good fortune. If there are any residual matters that ought to be attended to, it should be done as quickly as possible, so that a clean sweep is made and no retardations occur.
The Image for the Current Situation
Thunder and rain set in: The image of Deliverance. Thus the superior man pardons mistakes And forgives misdeeds.
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
A thunderstorm has the effect of clearing the air; the superior man produces a similar effect when dealing with mistakes and sins of men that induce a condition of tension. Through clarity he brings deliverance. However, when failings come to light, he does not dwell on them; he simply passes over mistakes, the unintentional transgressions, just as thunder dies away. He forgives misdeeds, the intentional transgressions, just as water washes everything clean.
Interpretation of the Changing Line(s)
Line 4: Deliver yourself from your great toe. Then the companion comes, And him you can trust.
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
In times of standstill it will happen that inferior people attach themselves to a superior man, and through force of daily habit they may grow very close to him and become indispensable, just as the big toe is indispensable to the foot because it makes walking easier. But when the time of deliverance draws near, with its call to deeds, a man must free himself from such chance acquaintances with whom he has no inner connection. For otherwise the friends who share his views, on whom he could really rely and together with whom he could accomplish something, mistrust him and stay away.
Line 5: If only the superior man can deliver himself, It brings good fortune. Thus he proves to inferior men that he is in earnest.
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
Times of deliverance demand inner resolve. Inferior people cannot be driven off by prohibitions or any external means. If one desires to be rid of them, he must first break completely with them in his own mind; they will see for themselves that he is in earnest and will withdraw.
The Future
29. K'an - The Abysmal (Water) Above (in front): K'an - The Abysmal (Water) Below (behind): K'an - The Abysmal (Water)
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
This hexagram consists of a doubling of the trigram K'an. It is one of the eight hexagrams in which doubling occurs. The trigram K'an means a plunging in. A yang line has plunged in between two yin lines and is closed in by them like water in a ravine. The trigram K'an is also the middle son. The Receptive has obtained the middle line of the Creative, and thus K'an develops. As an image it represents water, the water that comes from above and is in motion on earth in streams and rivers, giving rise to all life on earth. In man's world K'an represents the heart, the soul locked up within the body, the principle of light inclosed in the dark–that is, reason. The name of the hexagram, because the trigram is doubled, has the additional meaning, "repetition of danger. " Thus the hexagram is intended to designate an objective situation to which one must become accustomed, not a subjective attitude. For danger due to a subjective attitude means either foolhardiness or guile. Hence too a ravine is used to symbolize danger; it is a situation in which a man is in the same pass as the water in a ravine, and, like the water, he can escape if he behaves correctly.
The Judgement for the Future
The Abysmal repeated. If you are sincere, you have success in your heart, And whatever you do succeeds.
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
Through repetition of danger we grow accustomed to it. Water sets the example for the right conduct under such circumstances. It flows on and on, and merely fills up all the places through which it flows; it does not shrink from any dangerous spot nor from any plunge, and nothing can make it lose its own essential nature. It remains true to itself under all conditions. Thus likewise, if one is sincere when confronted with difficulties, the heart can penetrate the meaning of the situation. And once we have gained inner mastery of a problem, it will come about naturally that the action we take will succeed. In danger all that counts is really carrying out all that has to be done–thoroughness–and going forward, in order not to perish through tarrying in the danger. Properly used, danger can have an important meaning as a protective measure. Thus heaven has its perilous height protecting it against every attempt at invasion, and earth has its mountains and bodies of water, separating countries by their dangers. Thus also rulers make use of danger to protect themselves against attacks from without and against turmoil within.
The Image for the Future
Water flows on uninterruptedly and reaches it goal: The image of the Abysmal repeated. Thus the superior man walks in lasting virtue And carries on the business of teaching.
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
Water reaches its goal by flowing continually. It fills up every depression before it flows on. The superior man follows its example; he is concerned that goodness should be an established attribute of character rather than an accidental and isolated occurrence. So likewise in teaching others everything depends on consistency, for it is only through repetition that the pupil makes the material his own.
40. Hsieh - Deliverance
29. K'an - The Abysmal (Water)