The Well (Hexagram 48)

What this is

Water raised from the depth by the wood of the bucket: the well that feeds all who come to it. Jing is the Well, the figure of the deep, inexhaustible source, of the unchanging human needs and the nourishment that is freely available to whoever lets down their vessel and draws. Hexagram 48, 井 (Jǐng): the upper trigram Kan (Water, ☵) over the lower trigram Xun (Wind, ☴); its six lines, read from the bottom upward, give the figure ䷯.

What it governs

It governs the common source, the structures that nourish all alike, and the duty to maintain them. In the Oracle it presides over the day to attend to your inner and shared resources, to draw from your true depths, and to ensure the sources others rely on are kept clean and reachable.

Its properties

Its image is water lifted by wood from the deep, the well that towns are built and rebuilt around though the well itself does not move; the wise comfort the people and urge them to help one another. The virtue is the dependable nourishment that serves all without partiality and the diligence that keeps the source clean and the rope long enough; its element water drawn up through wood. The shadow is the well left to silt up and go foul, the rope that breaks or the jar that shatters at the very lip, the source neglected so that those who need it cannot drink.

Where else it appears

The inexhaustible source is named wherever the water of life is held to nourish all. Jing is the well of living water that never runs dry, the spring in the wilderness struck from the rock, the deep source the mystics drink from, the alchemical fountain at the centre of the work. The well that feeds the town unchanged through all its rebuildings is the constant inner source, freely given to whoever takes the trouble to draw.

Where you meet it on the Oracle

It appears as the day's I Ching hexagram. Drawing the Well tells you the day asks you to attend to sources, your own and those shared: draw from your true depths, keep the well of your inner life clean and accessible, and maintain the structures others depend on. Read it as a reminder that the deepest nourishment is always there for whoever lowers their vessel. The Oracle's own note on this figure: “Water beneath Wind — the well; the village changes, the well does not.”

Why it matters

The Well matters because beneath all the changes of life there is a constant source that does not run dry, and the failure is never in the source but in the drawing. It asks you to keep your own well clean and your rope long enough, to draw faithfully from your depths, and to tend the common sources so that all who need them can drink.

Correspondences

element

Water

number

48