Hexagram 3: Difficulty at the Beginning水雷屯 · Zhūn

• Upper trigram　Kǎn, Water: danger, flow and keeping faith through difficulty.
• Lower trigram　Zhèn, Thunder: arousal, beginnings and sudden change.

The Judgment

Supreme success through perseverance. Do not rush to go somewhere; it helps to appoint helpers.

元亨利貞，勿用有攸往，利建侯。

Our plain English rendering, with the Zhouyi original

Reading

When things are first born, some confusion and obstruction is natural. Today suits laying foundations and finding people who can help, without rushing to go far all at once.

Something to do today

• For something just starting, name the one resource it needs most, and ask for 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.