䷯48 · The Well
Wood drawing water up through the earth — the village well; the inexhaustible source that depends on right-keeping.
The Hexagram
Hexagram 48, *Jǐng*, is one of the deepest hexagrams in the book — the image of the village well, the source that does not move and from which every life draws. The classical name is *The Well*. The hexagram counsels: *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*. The lesson: there is a *source* in your life — a practice, a tradition, a relationship, a place — that is the well. It does not change. The work is to *keep the well clean*, to *let down the rope all the way*, and to *not break the jug at the moment of drawing*. The well is communal — many will draw from it.
When you pull this hexagram
There is a source in your life that has been neglected. Clean the well. Repair the jug. Let down the rope all the way. The well is what feeds you and the community; the maintenance of it is the central spiritual work.
The changing lines
Line 5 is *the well is clear and cold; one drinks from the cool spring* — the well well-kept; everyone is fed. Line 6 is *one draws from the well without hindrance; it is dependable; supreme good fortune* — the well in its highest function: the inexhaustible source.
In love
The source of the relationship — the practice that has fed it — needs cleaning. The ritual that has slipped, the conversation that has been postponed, the well that has been neglected.
In work
The deep practice that fed the work has slipped. Clean the well. The visible work depends on a source that requires regular maintenance.
The gift
*The inexhaustible source.* The recognition that the well does not change — but it does require keeping. Many will drink from a well well-kept.
The shadow
Drawing without keeping. Drinking from the well and never cleaning it. The well dries.
3 questions to sit with
- What is the well in my life — the practice, the tradition, the source — that I have been drawing from without keeping?
- Where has the rope been failing to reach all the way? Where has the jug been breaking?
- Who else drinks from this well — and am I keeping it clean for them as well as for myself?
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