Hexagram 1: The Creative乾為天 · Qián

• Upper trigram　Qián, Heaven: strength, creation and the drive to move forward.
• Lower trigram　Qián, Heaven: strength, creation and the drive to move forward.

The Judgment

Supreme success; it furthers to persevere.

元亨利貞。

Our plain English rendering, with the Zhouyi original

Reading

Heaven moves with vigour: steady, powerful progress. Today suits taking the initiative and using your strengths with consistency, while remembering that even strength needs restraint; do not drive yourself too hard.

Something to do today

• Set one step to move an important matter forward today, and make sure you complete it.

How a hexagram is cast

The three-coin method: toss three coins together, counting heads as 3 and tails as 2. The total, 6, 7, 8 or 9, gives one line; six tosses, recorded from the bottom up, make a hexagram. A 6 (old yin) or 9 (old yang) is a changing line, which turns this hexagram into another and shows where things are heading.