Kūn · The Receptive
Upper trigram: ☷ Earth · lower trigram: ☷ Earth
Perfect receptivity; let yourself be guided rather than lead. Success comes to the one who follows, not the one who runs ahead.
The ancient graph of this hexagram shows, on the left, the sign representing the soil; in its primitive form it depicted a standing stone, a kind of altar consecrated to the germinative faculty of the earth. On the right, two hands pull a rope in opposite directions, illustrating the combined action of two forces working in concert. The whole evokes the fecundating power of the earth, which operates through alternating cycles.
A phase of welcome and availability
This hexagram embodies the quintessence of the Yin dynamic. It describes a state of great receptivity where the point is not to initiate a movement, but to allow things to unfold. It is a situation that calls for a capacity to listen, a great openness of mind and an active patience. Here, strength does not come from imposing a will, but from the faculty of creating a favourable space in which projects can take root and develop.
The art of fruitful suppleness
Unlike the force of hexagram 1, the counsel here is to show great docility — not as a form of weakness, but as a strategy for success. The Accomplished Being is invited to become the receptacle that will allow energies to take shape. It is a matter of accompanying the natural movement of events without seeking to steer them brutally. True power lies in this aptitude for availability: it is by staying back, by listening to what the situation needs, that one brings undertakings to their full completion. Strength here is a quiet endurance, capable of materialising aspirations over time.
From a structural point of view, this hexagram is formed by the doubling of the trigram of Earth. The figure underlines a deep stability, an anchoring that makes everything achievable through perseverance. The warning, however, is clear: if this situation entirely lacks the Yang impulse (the trigger), it risks losing itself in permanent indecision. It can then become a "sponge" that no longer knows how to choose. The stake is therefore to remain available to others and to opportunities, while keeping enough discernment not to efface oneself to the point of losing the sense of one's own direction.
Each line is read only if it is changing in your cast. A changing line transforms the figure: the link under each text shows which hexagram it leads to.
Three-coin or yarrow-stalk cast, changing lines, outlook figure — computed on your device, no account.