䷜The AbyssKǎn

The judgment

有孚，维心亨。行有尚

A pit opens inside a pit and there is no dry ground between them. The way through is to hold one depth and keep moving; stopping here costs more than going on.

The image

Water takes the shape of each hollow and leaves the rest dry. It runs on and does not lose itself to the drop.

The six lines

Read from the bottom up. A line that moves is read here, and read again in the hexagram it becomes.

1. 初六Line 1

   习坎，入于坎窞，凶

   Setting out by probing the pit's bottom, with nothing underfoot to push against, each step sinks deeper.

   Marked in the textominous

2. 九二Line 2

   坎有险，求小得

   Inside the danger, take only the small piece within reach, and stop at enough rather than filling the whole gap.

3. 六三Line 3

   来之坎坎，险且枕，入于坎窞，勿用

   Forward faces the pit, backward leans on it; stalled in between and resting on unease, moving now only sinks further.

4. 六四Line 4

   尊酒簋，贰用缶。内约自牖，终无咎

   Cut the proper fare down to the plainest, hand it through the window; lowering the posture leaves room to turn.

   Marked in the textno blame

5. 九五Line 5

   坎不盈，禔既平，无咎

   The water has not yet risen over the ledge; let the surface settle rather than forcing it higher.

   Marked in the textno blame

6. 上六Line 6

   系用徽𬙊，寘于丛棘，三岁不得，凶

   Bound with cord and cast into thorn thickets, held there a long while with no way to work loose.

   Marked in the textominous

Where each changing line leads

Flip one line and it is a different hexagram. These are the six it becomes.

• 初六→LimitationHexagram 60
• 九二→Holding TogetherHexagram 8
• 六三→The WellHexagram 48
• 六四→OppressionHexagram 47
• 九五→The ArmyHexagram 7
• 上六→DispersionHexagram 59