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Cast the I Ching · Hexagram 5 of 64

Hexagram Five

Waiting

Clouds gathering over heaven: nourishment that arrives on its own schedule.

Kan: deep water
Upper trigram · Kan
Qian: open sky
Lower trigram · Qian

Strength below, water above: clouds rising that have not yet rained. Waiting is not passivity but readiness with patience — the rain is coming, and pacing matters more than pushing. The counsel is to keep strength intact while conditions mature: eat well, keep cheerful, prepare the ground. Anxious motion spends the very reserves the arriving moment requires. What is truly on its way is not summoned faster by pacing at the window.

On wealth

A material improvement is maturing on its own timetable: keep reserves ready and decline the urge to force it.

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This is one hexagram of sixty-four. Three coins, six throws — bring a question and see which lines answer you, changing lines and all.

Cast the I Ching

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