Hexagram 53: Development風山漸 · Jiàn

• Upper trigram　Xùn, Wind: gentleness, penetration and steady influence.
• Lower trigram　Gèn, Mountain: stillness, steadiness and stopping at the right time.

The Judgment

The maiden is given in marriage: good fortune. Perseverance furthers.

女歸吉，利貞。

Our plain English rendering, with the Zhouyi original

Reading

A tree on the mountain grows taller little by little: gradual progress. Today suits going step by step and moving forward steadily, aiming not for speed but for solid ground.

Something to do today

• Break your goal into steps and finish only today's step.

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.