Hexagram 48The Well
Upper : Water (Kan) - ☵Lower : Wind (Xun) - ☴
"The Well. One may change cities, but one cannot change the well. It neither decreases nor increases. If one descends almost to the water and the rope is too short, or if the jug is broken, it is misfortune."
Wood penetrates the water: it is the bucket that descends into the well. Empires collapse, cities relocate, yet the well remains at the village's center, inexhaustible. It is the immutable foundation of life. However, the source serves you not if you are unable to draw from it (short rope = lack of depth, broken jug = negligence in action).
"Water over wood: the image of the well. Thus the noble man encourages the people to work and exhorts them to mutual aid."
The well is the quintessential common good. It demands social organization to be dug and maintained.
The Well is the ultimate metaphor for the Collective Unconscious according to Jung. It is the deep aquifer connecting all human beings. Archetypes, myths, artistic inspiration are inexhaustible there. You have access to this living water. But do you have the right "jug" (a sufficiently strong and structured ego) to bring it to consciousness without breaking yourself (psychosis)? Develop your psychological tools to harness your depths.
It is the Zero Point Energy or the Quantum Void. Even at absolute zero temperature, where all matter should be motionless, there remains an infinite "vacuum energy" linked to quantum fluctuations (creation/annihilation of virtual particles). The Well is this fundamental energetic substrate of the Universe, eternally present everywhere, inexhaustible and immutable.