Hexagram 29 line 3: The Abysmal, yin in the third place

What changes when line 3 moves

Line 3 of Hexagram 29 is yin, a broken line. When it is cast as old yin (a 6) it flips, and the hexagram becomes Hexagram 48, The Well: The well that does not move while the town changes around it: the inexhaustible source, and the care it needs to reach.

Read together, the reading moves from The Abysmal toward The Well. Danger repeated, as water in a ravine: the way through is sincerity, and going through rather than around. Wind below, water above: wood reaching down into water, the pole and bucket drawing from the well. The Well is the hexagram of the source: what nourishes everyone, stays where it is, and can be neither increased nor diminished. The primary hexagram describes the situation; the changing line is the point of movement in it; the resulting hexagram is where that movement leads. Both hexagrams belong to the reading, and the changing line is the hinge between them.

Hexagram 29 changing to 48 →

Line 3 in context

Love & relationships

Every move deepens it; be still and wait. In love and relationships, Hexagram 29 reads: A hard stretch, and possibly a repeated one. The reading does not promise it ends soon. It says that sincerity, meaning saying what is true and staying, is what carries a relationship through the ravine. Avoiding the difficulty is what deepens it.

Career

Every move deepens it; be still and wait. In career, Hexagram 29 reads: Real difficulty, perhaps the same difficulty returning. Do not seek a way around it; work through it steadily and honestly, one hollow at a time. Consistency under pressure is what earns esteem here.

Money

Every move deepens it; be still and wait. In money, Hexagram 29 reads: Risk and constraint. Do not take on more; move through what is already there with discipline and truthfulness. The reading warns against clever escapes and rewards steady, honest handling.

A decision

Every move deepens it; be still and wait. In decisions, Hexagram 29 reads: Not a moment for the bold or the evasive option. Choose the one that goes straight through the difficulty with honesty and can be sustained. Expect to pass this way more than once.