The spectral decomposition of the compliance fourth-rank tensor, representative of a trigonal crystalline or other anisotropic medium, is offered in this paper, and its characteristic values and idempotent fourth-rank tensors are established, with respect to the Cartesian tensor components. Consequently, it is proven that the idempotent tensors serve to analyse the second-rank symmetric tensor space into orthogonal subspaces, resolving the stress and strain tensors for the trigonal medium into their eigentensors, and, finally, decomposing the total elastic strain energy density into distinct, autonomous components. Finally, bounds on the values of the compliance tensor components for the trigonal system, dictated by the classical thermodynamical argument for the elastic potential to be positive definite, are estimated by imposing the characteristic values of the compliance tensor to be strictly positive.