Hexagram 40: Deliverance雷水解 · Xiè

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

The Judgment

The southwest furthers. If there is nowhere to go, returning brings good fortune. If there is somewhere to go, going early brings good fortune.

利西南。无所往，其來復吉。有攸往，夙吉。

Our plain English rendering, with the Zhouyi original

Reading

After the thunderstorm everything unfolds: tension eases. Today suits letting go of past tangles and dealing early with what needs dealing with.

Something to do today

• Deal early today with one small thing that has been on your mind.

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.