ABSTRACT
Kan is associated with danger because it represents moving water, deep water, and ground water, which is water so deep that it has passed out of sight. The danger is not so much something to be overcome as it is a condition or circumstance to be recognized. The repetition of the trigram Kan indicates that the danger we are facing is not one that will pass in the ordinary way, but one that is inseparable from life itself, if we intend to live courageously. As the high cliffs confine the waters of Kan in the imagery of this hexagram, forcing them to work through that channel and no other to 'feel' our way into the very heart of it – as an explorer and as a lover. The hexagram itself pictures an abyss or ravine, with a strong middle line lying between two yielding, and 'dark', lines representing the high banks or cliffs of a river or gorge.
