One catches one's breath before pleasing others. taoscopy.com
The Well48
Seek renewal and sustenance from shared resources and deep wells of knowledge. Nurture the source to ensure lasting abundance.
↓ Line 4
Efforts are being made to improve and maintain resources. This is a positive step and should be continued.
↓ Line 5
The resource is in excellent condition and provides benefit to all. It is a source of nourishment and refreshment.
↓ Duration32
Consistency brings endurance. Stay true to your path, create lasting habits, and cultivate patience for sustainable success.
48 The Well
Other titles: Welling, Potentialities Fulfilled, The Source, The Deep Psyche, "A resurrection or transformation. Generations coming and going and the continuance of life and development." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: Although a town site may be altered, The Well remains the same. Its water level neither disappears nor receives any great increase, and the people can draw from it freely. Misfortune ensues if the rope breaks or the bucket is broken before it reaches the water.
Wilhelm/Baynes:The Well. The town may be changed, but the well cannot be changed. It neither decreases nor increases. They come and go and draw from the well. If one gets down almost to the water and the rope does not go all the way, or the jug breaks, it brings misfortune.
Blofeld: A Well. A city may be moved, but not a well. [The building of a city depends upon ourselves; but wells cannot be moved to places where nature supplies no water. The implication is that our activities are limited by natural conditions.] A well suffers from no decrease and no increase; but often, when the people come to draw water there, the rope is too short or the pitcher gets broken before reaching the water -- misfortune! [What we desire is there for the taking, but we may not succeed in getting it.]
Liu: The Well. The city might be moved; but not the well. It neither overflows nor runs dry. People come and go, drawing from the well. The rope nearly reaches the water, but not quite; the jug breaks -- misfortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: The Well: amending the capital, not amending the Well. Without losing, without acquiring. Going, coming: Welling, Welling. Muddy culmination: truly not-yet the well- rope Well. Ruining one's pitcher: Pitfall. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of the life water coming from the depths that everyone may draw on. It emphasizes that maintaining access to this central source is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to go to the well!]
Shaughnessy: The Well: Changing the city but not changing the well; there is no loss, there is no gain. Going and coming so orderly; when the drying up arrives one also has not yet drawn from the well; burdening its formed earthenware jug; inauspicious.
Cleary (1):The Well: Changing the village, not changing the well; no loss, no gain. Those who come and go use the well as a well. If the rope does not reach all the way into the well, of if the bucket breaks, that is unfortunate.
Cleary (2): … People come and go, but the well remains a well. Lowering the bucket to the water, if you overturn the bucket before drawing it up from the well, this is unlucky.
Wu:The Well indicates that the planning of a district may be changed, but the location of the well may not. The water level of a well will neither increase nor decrease from use. There are wells here and there. When one is drawing water from a well, if he tangles the rope and damages the bucket just before it clears the well, it will be foreboding.
The Image
Legge: The image of water over wood forms The Well. The superior man comforts the people and stimulates their mutual cooperation.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Water over wood: the image of The Well. Thus the superior man encourages the people at their work and exhorts them to help one another.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes water over wood. The Superior Man encourages the people with advice and assistance.
Liu: Water on wood symbolizes The Well. The superior man inspires people to work diligently, and advises them to help each other.
Ritsema/Karcher: Above wood possessing stream. The Well. A chun tzu uses toiling commoners to encourage mutualizing.
Cleary (1): There is water above wood – A Well. Thus do superior people comfort the people and encourage reciprocity.
Wu: There is water above wood; this is The Well. Thus, the jun zi encourages people to work for the good of the public and to help one another for a better life.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Wood penetrates the water and raises it, giving the image ofThe Wellwhich gives nourishment yet is not exhausted. The dynamic central lines in the second and fifth places indicate that the town site may change, but the well does not. If the rope does not reach the water the well does not serve its purpose. A broken bucket brings about evil.
Legge: The upper trigram represents Water, and the lower symbolizes Wood, giving the image of a wooden bucket in the water of a well. What is said on this hexagram might be styled: "Lessons to be learned from a well for the proper government of a country." A well is to its users what a government is to its subjects, and if rulers would only apply the ancient precepts of government to the present circumstances, they and their people would benefit greatly.
In the Judgment we see the well remaining substantially the same through many changes of society -- a dependable source of refreshment to its users. As the fashion of the well remains changeless, so do the principles of human nature and good government. The value of the well depends upon the water being drawn up and used -- and so must the principles of good government be implemented.
Anthony: This hexagram usually indicates that we have a hidden doubt or fear. We may secretly disbelieve our path.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Amid the changes of life the only constant is the psyche itself -- to be alive is to draw upon its energy. The ego’s challenge lies in the correct comprehension of its images.
The Superior Man promotes the harmonious interplay of his thoughts and feelings. (Works on the integration of his complexes.)
A well is a universal symbol of a source of inner truth, and is often associated with a place that is sacred to the gods:
There he built an altar and invoked the name of Yahweh. There he pitched his tent, and there Isaac's servants sank a well. Genesis 26: 25
From the first well, which is of animal nature and deep, the father drinks, together with his children and cattle; from the second, which is yet deeper and on the very margin of nature, there drink only the children of men, namely those whose reason has awakened and whom we call philosophers; from the third, the deepest of all drink the sons of the All-Highest, whom we call gods and true theologians. Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa
Psychologically interpreted, a well symbolizes the continuously flowing unconscious psyche, the fountain of all awareness. In this hexagram each line represents a level within the well -- by extension suggesting a hierarchy of value in the unconscious. It is important to remember that not all of our inner images, intuitions or impulses come from the Self. Note that lines one through four all show the water of the well not being utilized for one reason or another -- only in lines three, five and six is it actually available for use.
In some sensitive individuals there is an awakening of para-psychological perceptions. They have visions, which they believe to be of exalted beings; they may hear voices, or begin to write automatically, accepting the messages at their face value and obeying them unreservedly. The quality of such messages is very varied. Sometimes they contain fine teachings, but they should always be examined with much discrimination and sound judgment, and without being influenced by their uncommon origin or by any claim by their alleged transmitter. No validity should be attributed to messages containing definite orders and commanding blind obedience, and to those tending to exalt the personality of the recipient. Roberto Assagioli --Psychosynthesis
The ego's point of view in relation to The Well is from the outside looking in – the insights emerge from beneath the surface of awareness and can be held in the light of consciousness only if one’s comprehension is able to contain them. If "the bucket breaks," our understanding is unequal to our observation and the insights are lost. (One might plausibly find the image for a cancer cure within one's psyche, but without a conscious frame of reference to acknowledge it, it would be unrecognized and lost.) Those who closely monitor their dreams know that there is an endless outpouring of strange images within the psyche which might be of inestimable value if only we knew what they referred to.
Wilhelm emphasizes the idea of "nourishing the people," which psychologically means that the role of the ego is to facilitate the cooperation of intra-psychic forces.
The solution lies, rather, along the lines of a harmonious integration of all drives into the total personality, first through the proper subordination and coordination, and then through the transformation and sublimation of the excessive or unused quota of energy. Roberto Assagioli --Psychosynthesis
Line 4
Legge: The fourth line, magnetic, shows a well, the lining of which is well laid. There will be no error.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The well is being lined. No blame.
Blofeld: The well is being tiled -- no error!
Liu: The well is being rebuilt. No blame.
Ritsema/Karcher: The Well: lining, without fault.
Shaughnessy: The well is walled; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): The well is tiled, without fault.
Cleary (2): When the well is tiled, there is no fault.
Wu: There is no error in repairing the well.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The well has been put in good repair. Wilhelm/Baynes: The well is being put in working order. Blofeld: For it is under repair. [We are likely to suffer a necessary delay, but the situation is hopeful.]Ritsema/Karcher: Adjusting the well indeed. Cleary (2): This means fixing the well. Wu: Because it is functioning.
Legge: Line four is magnetic, but in its proper place. She is neither to be condemned nor praised. She takes care of herself, but does nothing for others. The cultivation of one's self, which is represented here, is fundamental to the government of others.
Wilhelm/Baynes: …In life also there are times when a man must put himself in order. During such a time he can do nothing for others, but his work is nonetheless valuable, because by enhancing his powers and abilities through inner development, he can accomplish all the more later on.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man begins to organize his life and develop his capacities. He is too occupied in this task to help others at the moment. For this he deserves no blame, since he will be able to contribute more later on.
Wing: The time has come to pull back and reorganize your life or re-evaluate your goals. This means that you will not be taking an active part in the affairs of others. By putting your life in order, however, you will be able to contribute more fully later on.
Editor: Wilhelm, Blofeld and Liu all translate this line in terms of an incomplete process: the well is undergoing reconstruction. It isn't "well laid" it is "being well laid." That is, the well is undergoing repairs now and cannot be used until the repairs are completed. Psychologically, an inner transformation is taking place.
While the hidden life forces are performing their mysterious work of transformation, the rational and willed attitude of the conscious ego can only interfere. It can neither assist nor guide. The libido is withdrawn from it, and it is left high and dry. When this happens one can do nothing but await the re- emergence of the psychic energy, alert to profit by the creative work in which it has been taking part. M.E. Harding -- Psychic Energy
A. While inner forces are being transformed they are unavailable for conscious use.
B. The image suggests the idea of "putting one's house in order." Something is being transformed.
Line 5
Legge: The fifth line, dynamic, shows a clear, limpid well, the waters from whose cold spring are freely drunk.
Wilhelm/Baynes: In the well there is a clear, cold spring from which one can drink.
Blofeld: The well is cool; its water tastes like water from an icy spring. [All goes well with us.]
Liu: The water of the well is clear and cool. People drink from it. [People will succeed in their undertakings and profit from them.]
Ritsema/Karcher: The Well: limpid, cold spring water taken-in.
Shaughnessy: If the well is crisscrossed with cold springs, drink.
Cleary (1): The well is pure, the cold spring is used for drinking.
Cleary (2): The cold spring in the well is drunk from.
Wu: The well water is fresh and clean. It is like drinking from a cool spring.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: This is indicated by the central and correct position of the line. Wilhelm/Baynes: Drinking from the clear, cold spring depends on its central and correct position. Blofeld: This is indicated by the suitable position of the line, which is central to the upper trigram. Ritsema/Karcher: Centering correcting indeed. Cleary (2): Balance and correctness. Wu: Central and correct.
Legge: Line five is dynamic and in his correct place -- the seat of the ruler. As a well full of clear water is accessible to its users, so should a ruler be to his subjects.
Wilhelm/Baynes: A well that is fed by a spring of living water is a good well. A man who has virtues like a well of this sort is to be a leader and savior of men, for he has the water of life. Nevertheless, the character for “good fortune” is left out here. The all-important thing about a well is that its water be drawn. The best water is only a potentiality for refreshment as long as it is not brought up. So too with leaders of mankind: it is all-important that one should drink from the spring of their words and translate them into life.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The natural-born leader performs wide and useful services for the people.
Wing: You possess all the potential possible for insight and wisdom. This gift is the mark of an unparalleled leader. Such abilities and insights, however, must be applied to your daily life in order to continue growing and developing.
Anthony: It is not enough to have the water of the well; to be of use we must drink it. If we have doubts about our path, it cannot work for us. We can only make knowledge ours by putting it to experience, and accepting the hazard of depending on it.
Editor: When our conscious attitude is open to inner truth, that truth is reflected in the world. The image suggests that an outer attitude reflects an inner reality. See line six for the subtle difference between the two images.
For when the surface of those waters is disturbed by no slightest ripple of thought, Then shall the glory of my Self, Which is thy true Self, Be mirrored unto thee. P.F. Case -- The Book of Tokens
A. Integrated energy is at the surface of awareness.
B. You have what you need to succeed.
32 Duration
Other titles: Duration, The Symbol of Constancy, The Long Enduring, Constant, Persevering, Standing Fast, Continuity, Constancy in the Midst of Change, Holding Firm, "Get yourself into a fixed routine like the orbiting planets." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge:Consistency means successful progress without error through firm correctness. Movement in any direction is advantageous.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Duration. Success. No blame. Perseverance furthers. It furthers one to have somewhere to go.
Blofeld: The Long Enduring. Success and freedom from error! Righteous persistence brings reward. It is favorable to have in view some goal or destination.
Liu:Duration. Success. No blame. It benefits to continue. Going anywhere is advantageous.
Ritsema/Karcher:Persevering, Growing. Without fault. Harvesting Trial. Harvesting: possessing directed going. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of continuity and endurance. It emphasizes that continuing on and renewing the way you are following is the adequate way to handle the situation. To be in accord with the time, you are told to persevere!]
Shaughnessy: Constancy: Receipt; there is no trouble; beneficial to determine; beneficial to have someplace to go.
Cleary (1):Constancy is developmental. Impeccable. It is beneficial to be correct. It is beneficial to have a place to go.
Cleary (2):Constancy comes through without fault, beneficial insofar as it is correct. It is beneficial to have a place to go.
Wu: Constancy indicates pervasion. There will be no blame. It also indicates advantage of being persevering and having undertakings.
The Image
Legge: Thunder over wind -- the image of Consistency. The superior man stands firm and does not change his method of operation.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Thunder and wind: the image of Duration. Thus the superior man stands firm and does not change his direction.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes thunder accompanied by wind. The Superior Man stands so firmly that he cannot be uprooted.
Liu: Thunder and wind symbolize Duration. The superior man stands firm without changing direction.
Ritsema/Karcher: Thunder, wind, Persevering. A Chun tzu uses establishing, not versatility on-all-sides.
Cleary (1): Thunder and wind are perpetual. Thus does the superior person stand without changing places.
Cleary (2): Thunder and wind are constant; so do developed people stand without changing place.
Wu: A combination of thunder and wind forms Constancy. Thus the jun zi establishes himself by not changing his post.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Consistency means long continuance. The dynamic trigram of Thunder is above, and the magnetic trigram of Wind is below. Docility and Motive Force are in sympathetic communication because their dynamic and magnetic lines all correspond. When the motive power is spent it will begin again -- hence movement in any direction is advantageous. The sun and moon are consistent in their illumination, and the four sequential seasons are consistent in their cycles of growth. The sages are consistent in their work and all under heaven are transformed. When we examine this consistent perseverance the natural tendencies of heaven and earth are revealed.
Legge: The subject of the hexagram is perseverance in what is right, or in continuously acting out the law of one's being. It is seen as a sequel to the previous hexagram,Initiative. As that figure deals with the correct relations
between husband and wife, so this figure treats of the continuous observance of their respective duties. Initiativeconsists of the trigrams symbolizing the youngest son and youngest daughter and shows how the attraction and influence between the sexes is strongest in youth. Consistency on the other hand, consists of the trigrams symbolizing the oldest son and oldest daughter. This couple is more staid. The wife occupies the lower place, and their relationship is characterized by her submission. Given two parties, a magnetic and a dynamic in correlation, if both consistently observe what is correct and natural (i.e., the magnetic submissive and the dynamic firm), then good fortune and progress may be predicted for their course.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: The will to maintain the consistency of the Work assures progress in whatever direction it may take.
The Superior Man holds fast to the principles of the Work.
Wilhelm's title for this hexagram is Duration. I feel that the word Consistency best evokes the meaning of the figure. In an existence consisting of continuous change the only things that have duration are the principles upon which change is based. To adhere to these principles is to maintain consistency. Implicit here is a consistent balance of forces. Consistency in the Work means neither consistent action nor inaction, but an appropriate combination of the two principles as required by changing circumstances. The Confucian commentary alludes to this characteristic of the Work when it mentions the sun, moon and changing seasons as examples of forces which maintain their consistency within a context of continuous change.
Just as the moon at night reflects the light of the hidden sun, so in the Work the ego is always magnetic in relation to the dynamic Self. A moon that thought that it was the source of its light would be egregiously deluded, despite superficial appearances to the contrary; so too the ego that thinks that its powers come from anywhere but the Self.
Motives and standards of choice are not invented by the ego but are structured by the actualization of archetypal predispositions through personally acquired value standards. E. C. Whitmont -- The Symbolic Quest
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
Note that all of the lines in the hexagram are generally unfavorable except two and five, and that when they both change places the hexagram becomes number thirty-one, Initiative. There is a profound lesson here which is best appreciated by meditating on the associations implied. The fact that each hexagram is the inverse of the other should not be forgotten.