Chinese Almanac Astrology December 25 - 29, 2018

In honor of Liu Ming

my teacher

To support grace and ease / For the resolution of all beings

CHINESE ALMANAC ASTROLOGY

Commentary and compilations by Jamie Shulander

All notes from class notes/works by Liu Ming

Scroll down to find daily indicators...
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INDICATORS - The pattern components that continuously rotate per year, month, daily, lunar or solar phase. The indicators below articulate the current alignment.

LUNAR YEAR: YANG EARTH DOG 4716 - Faithful Vigilance

“Charged: loyal, caring, protective, direct, helpful, intuitive, insightful, private, calm under

fire, just, expansive, congenial and quiet.

Deplete: stubborn, argumentative, spiteful, vain, rigid, frozen with anxiety, stingy and

excessively critical.

Image: The Dog talked about in Chinese Astrology is the Chow. This dog has been domesticated for more than 5000 years, both as an aggressive house guard and a battlefield companion. The battlefield Chow was ferocious at crippling the horses of the enemy chariots while never losing sight of its trainer (whose corpse it would protect even with its own life). The Dog epitomizes loyalty."

YANG EARTH DOG (1898, 1958, 2018, 2078) ‘Mountain Dog’

EARTH is the native element of the Dog Earthly Branch. Earth Dogs are modest, funny

and independent characters. They are light-hearted and generous, often quitting difficult

situations and avoiding confrontations. A short temper is hidden behind their joking. Strong

idealistic aspirations fill their youth and soften as the hardships of life close in. They do not

express their feelings or thoughts easily. They are prone to qi stagnation and poor circulation."

LUNAR MONTH: YANG WOOD RAT (1804, 1924, 1984, 2044) ‘Rat on the Roof’

Wood Rat is the first of 60 configurations of the Stem/Branch system. It is therefore very precarious. Wood Rats are particularly studious, industrious and naive characters. They are extraordinarily clever but also insecure. This may be the result of clinging to trauma (being orphaned or abandoned in childhood). Their rat-like resourcefulness is therefore held back by a lack of depth. Their cleverness and impatience often turns to frivolity, trendiness, deception and cunning. The fortune of wood rat is average and their wealth modest. Endless worrying weakens their constitution and they are prone to injury, skin problems, bowel disorders and arthritis.

QI NODE: 22 Winter Solstice

Yin Rules

“The Winter Solstice qi node has the shortest day and the longest night of the year. It is one of four annual pivots that rectify the annual qi. During this qi node qi is at its height at midnight! At the end of this qi node, the new calendar year begins. In the Chinese official calendar it is the mid-point of winter. The astrological year is still months away.

Yin peaks but in this same qi node it begins its inevitable decline - supreme yin gives birth to the flux of yang. Tigers mate. Christmas lights twinkle. Birth and death commingle, but life is cold and apparently dead now begins to move toward life.

Everywhere in Chinese cosmology black (dark) produces ‘yellow’ or light of the sun. ‘The darkest hour is just before dawn’.”

LM The Way of Three Treasures

LUNAR HEXAGRAM 27 Yi: Jaws

“Raw impulse is strong but dangerous. Excessive ambitions can bring about personal disaster. There will be setbacks in progress. Acting properly when the time is right goes well. In the acquisition of what you want (money or property) it is important to be strong but modest."

LM Changing: Zhouyi

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TUESDAY December 25, Yin Metal Rabbit 19

Hexagram 20 Guan: Observance

Lunar Mansion: The Tail / Tiger

Solar Indicator: Level

Intelligent, quick witted and humble, today's character is well suited to the need for family oriented projects, intuition and smarts... 

"The situation is delicate and one in which the observance of details and tradition is of great importance. Progress is based on concentration."

LM Changing: Zhouyi 20 Guan

“It is auspicious to start a building (brings prosperity), get married (brings fertility), bury the dead (resolves karma) and educate the young (secure longevity) on this day. It is a good time to move house (into a city). These actions today cause a person or family and all their projects to flourish. On this day investments increase in value. It is ideal to give or receive (spend) inheritances. Enjoying the arts is appropriate. Lost treasures can be found on this day. It is ideal for self-cultivation, meditation and enjoyment. It is a time of recognizing and acknowledging achievement with rewards. Evening is less auspicious.”

LM Notes: The Tail

“This is a day when stable readiness and the qi of confidence blooms into activity. Youthful anxiety and ambition are replaced by personal strength and confidence. From this position all things look and are possible. Educated choices are easily acted upon. Others join you to enlarge the success of activity. The prince (yang) is mature, if inexperienced, but ready to act independently of his mother (yin). Pleasure is the outcome of disciplined practice. Yang qi’s previously renegade quality is matured, integrated and dominant.”

LM Notes: Level

WEDNESDAY December 26, Yang Water Dragon 20

Hexagram Consult the Oracle

Lunar Mansion: The Basket / Leopard

Solar Indicator: Settle

Restless and hard working, the Water Dragon is, again, well suited to the day as inspiration and action are key. When in doubt consult the oracle and keep calm.

"It is auspicious to marry, work hard, purchase, build and remodel (new door =  new resources) on this day. It is auspicious to continue your routine work, review and reinvest. Acquiring wealth (work, invest and collecting debts) is highlighted. Good for burials, memorials and funerals (rain of blessings from the ancestors). Contraindicated activity: Laziness, gossip and slander."

LM Notes: The Basket

“Preparedness makes action timely and successful. Tradition, convention, training, education - all forms of readiness, inspire action. Forces join together and new alliances produce unexpected results. Action taken with such thorough preparation is bound to succeed. The qi of the day is stable, progressive and functional. Clarity and calm (yin) are not unseated by action (yang). Focus and repetition succeed. Procrastination and equivocation is contraindicated.”

LM Notes: Settle

THURSDAY December 27, Yin Water Snake 21

Hexagram 16 Yu: Comfort
Lunar Mansion: The Ladle / Griffon
Solar Indicator: Maintain

Today moves with an insightful tone. Cunning, gifted and restless, the Water Snake aligns well with the auspices. It's not about any of us individually, it's about everyone winning together.

"Pleasure, in its many forms, though powerful, is not long-lived. The auspice is good for enjoyment but self-indulgence can ruin it. Enjoy and share the results of the success, but do not make pleasure a goal in itself."

LM Changing: Zhouyi  16 Yu

"It is a most auspicious day for Daoist religious rites, initiations and transmission of (esoteric) teachings. It is an auspicious day to start up a business and build a new building (home, temple). It is a safe day to dig foundations (wells, trenches) and get married. New opportunities (news) abound - taking exams and routine work bring great success/reward on this day. It is an auspicious day to bury the dead - they will rest peacefully and benefit the surviving relatives.”

"Contraindicated activity: Hypocrisy, irreverence, breaking taboos and sloth."

LM Notes: The Ladle

“Spontaneous action and inspiration (yang) become the new tradition (yin). Qi assertion (yang) is repeated again and again to hold and harden gains (yin). Establishing a new state is the focus. The qi of practice and the drilling of troops is awesome. Allies appear from all quarters. True majesty succeeds without pressing forward. Today success breeds more success and everyone may be included in the new victories. Generosity is a prophylactic to decline - giving is a sign of strength and cements alliances. It is the sun at noon.”

LM Notes: Maintain

FRIDAY December 28, Yang Wood Horse 22

Hexagram 35 Jin: Advance
Lunar Mansion: The Oxboy / Ox
Solar Indicator: Destroy

The Wood Horse is clever, independent and works well with simple concepts. When in doubt, pull back today, be generous and keep it simple...

"Jin is not about the prize, or what you did to win it; but about the expressions of grace in the face of good fortune. This grace demonstrates itself in humility and generosity. Cultivating oneself (caring for the ancestral shrine) makes one ready for the gifts of fate. The truth is, nothing is accomplished without a network of co-factors and helpers (family and friends [alive and dead]). Modesty and grace express our interconnectedness.”

LM Changing: Zhouyi 35 Jin

“It is auspicious to stay home, guard resources, meditate and focus. It is auspicious to initiate austerity, enter retreat, recover and economize.”

LM Notes: The Oxboy

“The successful prince as warrior must now lose his youthful ambitions and develop into a proper king….Today calculated loss (cancellation) succeeds”

LM Notes: Destroysing forward. Today success breeds more success and everyone may be included in the new victories. Generosity is a prophylactic to decline - giving is a sign of strength and cements alliances. It is the sun at noon.”

LM Notes: Maintain

SATURDAY December 29, Yang Wood Goat 23

Hexagram 45 Cui: Assembly
Lunar Mansion: The Maiden / Bat
Solar Indicator: Danger

Another day for a full retreat, with an open heart, self reflection and grace.

"When we sincerely open our hearts in this way we are naturally purged of our selfishness and wantonness. Through this exchange we may enter into the depths of human spirituality. There is no greater gesture than this ritual of rituals."

LM Changing: Zhouyi 45 Cui

“It is auspicious to stay home, enjoy the arts, self-reflect, do inner panning and practice austerity (meditation, fasting and rest). It is beneficial to guard your health and conserve your qi. It is favorable to support others. Building may be safe but not profitable.”

“It is not auspicious to take risks, medical treatments, bury the dead (cause epidemics, bowel disorders). To initiate industry (dig earth) and production on this day invites calamity.”

LM Notes: The Maiden

“To roust hypocrisy in his new alliances the leader must bait his hidden enemies (yin) by showing vulnerability. This day is a qi expression of true power but all the action is fraught with danger and risk. The games of political power are also the precursors of decline. The power plays show yin to be drawing life from the heart of yang. Success is limited now to a kind of survival. Manipulation and covert action succeed. Elegance becomes the mask of cleverness and intrigue. Doing only what needs to be done is best. Old habits or patterns of pressing forward will invite catastrophe. Beware grudges.”

LM Notes: Danger

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In resolution and adventure...

Warmly,

Jamie Shulander
Instagram @jamieshulander
jshulander@gmail.com
415-450-7884