Hexagram 29
Deep Water
kǎn
Reading it as a decision
Water repeating on itself — a pit inside a pit, one hazard opening onto the next rather than resolving cleanly. This is the most literally dangerous of the hexagrams: it doesn't dress the situation up as manageable or temporary, it names it as a genuine run of difficulty. The judgment's one piece of good news is that sincerity and a steady inner center carry real weight here — held integrity, not cleverness, is what gets you through repeated setbacks, and the text credits careful, honest action with earning respect.
None of the classical line texts here read as straightforwardly favorable, and the position itself is classified as one worth exiting rather than defending — staying put in a spot that keeps producing one difficulty after another usually costs more than the move to leave it does. If a decision keeps generating fresh obstacles no matter how carefully it's handled, that pattern is itself the answer.
The classical text
Judgment (卦辭)
坎，習坎，有孚，維心亨，行有尚。
Repeated peril of deep water; with sincerity the heart still finds its way through, and acting earns credit.
The six lines (爻辭)
初六：習坎，入于坎窞，凶。
Pit after pit, falling into a hollow deep within the pit — misfortune.
九二：坎有險，求小得。
Danger fills the pit; seeking only small gains still succeeds.
六三：來之坎坎，險且枕，入于坎窞，勿用。
Coming and going meets pit after pit, danger pressing close like a pillow; sinking into the hollow — do not act.
六四：樽酒簋貳，用缶，納約自牖，終無咎。
A jug of wine and two bowls of grain, served in plain earthenware, passed simply through the window — in the end, no blame.
九五：坎不盈，祇既平，無咎。
The pit is not yet filled, but the ground has leveled out — no blame.
上六：係用徽纆，置于叢棘，三歲不得，凶。
Bound with cords and rope, left among thorny brambles; three years pass with no way out — misfortune.
This is a general reference, not a live reading — it doesn't know your situation. iYarrow casts a fresh hexagram for the actual question you're weighing.
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