Hexagram 2
The Receptive
Earth over Earth
The judgment
元亨。利牝马之贞。君子有攸往，先迷后得主。利西南得朋，东北丧朋。安贞，吉This hexagram carries what has been placed on it. Leading goes astray; following finds the road.
The image
The earth's surface takes each load without argument. Capacity is the skill here, not brilliance.
The six lines
Read from the bottom up. A line that moves is read here, and read again in the hexagram it becomes.
- 初六Line 1
履霜，坚冰至
You feel the first thin frost underfoot and it is the moment to look back; the cost of waiting is that once the ice hardens, the way back is sealed.
- 六二Line 2
直方大，不习无不利
Lay the ground flat, square and open, and it holds without rehearsal; the room here belongs to whoever stays centered and does not perform.
Marked in the textnothing works against it
- 六三Line 3
含章，可贞。或从王事，无成有终
Keep your gift folded inside the robe and do the work without signing it; caught between advance and retreat, the cost is no name on the record.
- 六四Line 4
括囊，无咎无誉
Tie the sack shut and hold back both words and moves while close to the seat of power; such caution buys no blame and no memory either.
Marked in the textno blame
- 六五Line 5
黄裳，元吉
Wear the plain robe at the center, neither flashy nor out of place; from the main seat, quiet bearing gets things done without needing to overawe.
Marked in the textauspicious
- 上六Line 6
龙战于野，其血玄黄
Two dragons fight in the open field until the blood darkens, still straining past the end of things; the cost now is that one more step only burns.
利永贞Holding this yielding steadiness for the long run is where the hexagram lands; no quick reversal, and the room lies with time on the side of the still.
Where each changing line leads
Flip one line and it is a different hexagram. These are the six it becomes.
This page is for reference. To get a hexagram from six throws, cast your own.
The classical text is the Zhouyi, public domain, checked against a Wikisource transcript. The readings are ours. Daily hexagram