Chinese Almanac Astrology January 11 - 17, 2021

 May we work together to create solutions and connect... 

         

In honor of my Teacher, Liu Ming,

 

 CHINESE ALMANAC ASTROLOGY

 

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

 

Commentary and compilations by Jamie Shulander

All notes from class notes/works by Liu Ming

INDICATORS Listed: Yearly, Monthly, Lunar then Daily

::: ::: :::    =    Change

 

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

 

AND SO WE BEGIN...

::: ::: :::

LUNAR YEAR:  YEAR of the RAT

"Charged: Charming, diligent, perseverant, methodical, social, cooperative, discrete, frugal and observant. Rats are capable and fun loving.

 

Depleted: Complaining, nervous, nit picking, annoyingly analytical, stingy, scheming, cowardly, overly concentrated (mono-maniacal) and selfish.

 

Image: The Rat talked about in Chinese Astrology is well known to all Chinese farmers throughout history. If there is grain, rats appear, so rats are linked to prosperity. A rat year is expected to be profitable. Rats always appear in groups and, though not individually strong, they can undermine an enormous barn by gnawing and nibbling away the foundation piece by piece. Rats often view their social life as central to their existence. Sociability is required to survive. Their acute social observation makes them good mimics or actors. When they are being someone else (acting) they love center stage. Though not a sensual materialist, like the Pig, rats are hoarders and often live in clutter. They are likely to become more capable as they age..."

 

YANG METAL RAT (1840, 1900, 1960, 2020, 2080) ‘Rafter Rat’

Metal Rats are sensitive, meticulous and resourceful. They easily win the attention and support of others and love to compete and win. Their ambition is modified by a strong personal sense of moral and spiritual values. They enjoy independence and are ruthlessly calculating in matters of the heart and finance. Though not without enemies, they experience relatively even fortunes. Jovial in appearance they internally brood and worry over the slightest things. They are susceptible to contagious and common illnesses but live long because of treatments from expert physicians and meticulous personal habits."

LUNAR MONTH: YANG EARTH RAT (1828, 1888, 1948, 2008, 2068) ‘Storehouse Rat’

Earth Rats are clever and thrifty characters. Their good fortunes come from their persevering labor and conventionality. They are frugal in their use of money and energy. Fear takes the shape of self-consciousness. They are more likely to be injured (scarred by tools or weapons) than ill, and prone to liver and wind disorders. They marry well and must be attentive parents to their young children, as illness and conduct problems will occur. They leave legacies.

QI NODE: 23 Little Cold

Yin Declines

“In the Little Cold qi node yin inclines gracefully toward its demise. The ground may freeze and thaw and freeze again. The sheer weight of Yin compresses yang but it does not succumb. It may be too cold to snow. Retreat is natural gesture. The ice is cracking but it is hard to notice the change. Yang is imagining its recovery. The qi is best at 1 am! If your bed points East and you sleep on your right side - you face north all night. You should be dreaming in such a way that you are reinventing yourself down to the very depths of your being. This qi node is the inherent birth found in every death. The impulse of immortality played out in the myriad ephemeral phenomena.

You may wake from a dream cured of a chronic condition. You may wake from a dream remembering your true nature. Do neigong while asleep!”

LM The Way of Three Treasures

LUNAR HEXAGRAM: 39 Jian: Stumbling

“Events call for experts, but, even if experts cannot be found, all goes well. Caution, patience, humility and self-discipline pay off. If you are not anxious or selfish, you are given success."

LM Changing: Zhouyi 39 Jian

::: ::: :::

MONDAY January 11, Yin Earth Goat 28

Hexagram Consult the Oracle

Lunar Mansion: The Bow / Deer

Solar Indicator: Destroy

Today offers the opportunity to find a new look. Be social and proactive. Let go, and gently morph into something else all week. 

"Earth Goats are proud, obstinate and aloof characters."

LM Notes: Earth Goat

“Auspicious activity: It is auspicious to build and buy new property. It is an especially good day to get married. It is favorable for divination, signing contracts, romance/courtship and all forms of partnership. Good auspice is especially related to festive group events, banqueting, family gatherings and/or community celebrations. It is an excellent day to take office (begin a new job).
Contraindicated Activity: It is not auspicious for funerals/burials (become unsettled: ghosts). Seclusion or isolation is unfavorable (miss opportunity).”
LM Notes: The Bow

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

TUESDAY January 12, Yang Metal Monkey 29

Hexagram 32 Heng: Constancy

Lunar Mansion: The Wings / Serpent

Solar Indicator: Danger

Keep the day simple and close to home. Keep yourself protected from wind and cold, and in general mind your health. Be community minded rather than independently driven today.

"Metal Monkeys are respectable, attractive and powerful characters."

LM Notes: Metal Monkey

“Heng is very favorable for carrying out routine work. Maintaining and practicing what is durable in life brings good fortune."
LM Changing: Zhouyi 32 Heng

“It is auspicious to continue routine work and to uphold and support your superiors. It is auspicious for religious rituals (not ancestral), divination (and compliance), family gatherings and celebrations. It is favorable for sponsoring and/or attending public and cultural events. 
“It is very unfavorable for marriage (cause chronic illness and premature death for both partners), funerals and burials. It is inauspicious for traveling far from home. Buildings begun today become money pits (need constant repair) and the construction will cause injuries and/or accidental deaths.”
LM Notes: The Wings

“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

::: ::: :::

LUNAR MONTH: YIN EARTH OX (1829, 1889, 1949, 2009, 2069) ‘Penned Ox’

EARTH is the native element of the Ox Earthly Branch. Earth Ox are active, stubborn and highly motivated. They struggle to make sense of the world. They work hard for little reward and have a very uneven fortune, but are uncomplaining. Their strength makes more problems than solutions in their life. They are financially strapped, depressed and isolated when young but slowly overcome these limitations. Though capable of caring for others they rarely find a compatible partner or have children. They are prone to stomach/spleen disorders and arthritis.

LUNAR HEXAGRAM: 19 Lin: Approach

"You must be patient and appropriate in your progress, but do not procrastinate. The auspice is for forward action."
LM Changing: Zhouyi 19 Lin

::: ::: :::

WEDNESDAY January 13, Yin Metal Rooster 1

Hexagram 50 Ding: Tri-pod Vessel

Lunar Mansion: The Chariot / Earthworm

Solar Indicator: Complete

Pay attention, there are openings today. Be generous, relaxed and reflective. 

"Metal Roosters are meticulous, articulate and confident characters."

LM Notes: Metal Rooster

"It is a time of education and great spiritual and material success. Don’t rush. Your superiors notice you. Opportunity is abundant. Alliances are offered to you on all sides.”
LM Changing: Zhouyi  50 Ding

“Auspicious Activity: Great success comes to anyone who initiates and continues industry. Business booms, all prosper. Building and remodeling go well (bring prestige). Marriages will inspire both partners to be their best and they will produce brilliant offspring. Funerals, memorials and burials will allow the dead true peace (and produce scholar offspring). Contraindicated activity: It is very unfavorable to procrastinate and/or postpone.”
LM Notes: The Chariot

“It is a day for resting on your laurels. Success is established and secured and the new state seems to govern itself. Enemies are few. It is a time for inward reflection (yin) on the bare face of reality (yang). Struggle (yang) is no longer possible or necessary (yin). Decline is not feared and success not celebrated. Wisdom approaches and withdrawing succeeds. Art is the demonstration of confidence, dignity and wisdom - be artful. No more accumulating - decorate with modesty. The way of perfecting power is austerity and restraint. Do less, have less, show less and seek nothing. Enjoy what is already manifest.” 
LM Notes: Complete

THURSDAY January 14, Yang Water Dog 2

Hexagram 28 Da Guo: Excess

Lunar Mansion: The Horn / Crocodile

Solar Indicator: Harvest

Sweep the front door area, and freshen up altars. The momentum of the week continues today, with engagement and discipline.

"Water Dogs are kind, generous and frugal characters."

LM Notes: Water Dog

“Da Guo contains instructions on how to avoid disaster in heavy, grave or weird and unconventional circumstances. When you get entangled in excess, going forward with caution may be the best thing to do. Excess and eccentricity have their place. Something greater than the usual mechanical sense of cause and effect is at work in Da Guo."
LM Changing: Zhouyi 28 Da Guo

“It is auspicious to begin or initiate any activity (marriage) or series of activities. It is a good day to buy property, plant a garden, apply for and/or begin a new job. It is ideal to apply to or enter school, begin a construction or remodeling project. It is auspicious for marriage proposals and making your case as asking permission is favorably received. All activities related to children and/or young people are auspicious. Its first appearance each year (or any Spring season) is particularly auspicious. A child born on this day will be intelligent and fortunate.

“Contraindicated activity: Funerals, memorials, constructing tombs and burials will bring about disaster to a family. It is not time for exerted effort or overcoming obstacles. The qi is fresh and unformed and therefore should not be pressed into fixation (slavery).”
LM Notes: The Horn

“What makes this day smooth is a sense of fearlessness. It is not so much how it goes (yang) as what it shows (yin). Rise and fall are no longer the point - the wide view can be taken. Ease is possible - effortless continuity on all sides. The qi seems to float us forward quite naturally - ebbing and flowing are both acceptable. The lessons of earthly life are found in both maturing and declining. Everything succeeds. Cleverness and survival give way to courage and directness. Be like the beloved monarch and not an ambitious merchant. Let new resources and assistants come forward by standing back.”
LM Notes: Harvest

FRIDAY January 15, Yin Water Pig 3

Hexagram 44 Gou: Meeting

Lunar Mansion: The Neck / Dragon

Solar Indicator: Open

Begin to retreat. Today is not so much about pressing a notion, as it is to float down river. Be gracious and take notes.

"Water Pigs are volatile, open-minded and gregarious characters."

LM Note: Water Pig

“Inauspicious for all intimate personal relationships. It is a time to withdraw and cut your losses. Both sexes are at risk to be abused by the inappropriateness of a relationship. Think rot and ruin. A kind of corruption has entered the very foundation of things.”
LM Changing: Zhouyi 44 Guo

"It is auspicious to comply with the orders of superiors and/or let assistants/helpers lead the way. The image is auspicious, in a preordained sense, but can be ruined by unnecessary effort. It is about the useful conventions of education. Collecting data before action.
"Contraindicated activity: Industry, marriages and weddings, signing contracts and starting or initiating production invite calamity. These activities will bring ruin over the following 10 days. Building on this day causes strokes for fathers and eldest sons. Burying the dead will cause the spread of disease. Going to battle is disastrous. Travel by sea invites shipwrecks."
LM Notes: The Neck

“The choice here is whether to call fate something to fight or something to embrace. It is a day with an easy qi. It is a day to appreciate how things really operate beyond the desire that creates images and appearances. Accepting should be a boundless (yin) act beyond goals - the goal has always been return to our beginningless origin (Dao). There is no protagonist (yang) that should relax - there is only relaxation itself (yin). Look around for a successor (new plan, idea, task) and resume the heart/mind of a novice. The son of a rebel leader may become the second emperor of a new dynasty. An open heart gives the option to acquire great wisdom.”
LM Notes: Open

SATURDAY January 16, Yang Wood Rat 4

Hexagram 24 Fu: Return

Lunar Mansion: The Root /  Badger

Solar Indicator: Shut

Keep a simple approach, be studious and rest. If something doesn't make sense, wait.

"Wood Rats are particularly studious, industrious and naïve characters."

LM Notes: Wood Rat

“Short-term plans succeed in the context of a broad view. Things are turning for the better. Routine work comes to fruition. It is favorable to have a clear goal before setting out."
LM Changing: Zhouyi 24 Fu

"It is auspicious to go to school, make offerings to ancestors, consult oracles and/or physicians. Avoid abandoned buildings and the wilderness (as spirits that cause illness are active). Comply with superiors and taboos (follow conventions/traditions).

"Contraindicated activity: Marriages and weddings bring accidental death. Contracts signed today invite betrayal and embezzlement. Travel by sea invites shipwrecks."
LM Notes: The Root

“A Shut day is a day of rest, whether you like it or not. Qi resources are spent and the notion of a spender (yang) is long gone. Dispersion has ended in exhaustion (big yin) and no memory exists to create joy or negativity. Struggling to act on such a day borrows qi from fantasy and sets up a ghostly pattern of bad qi credit. What’s it like to float down the river with no boat, no river and no protagonist? It is ideal day for retreat, mediation and severing ties with everything - don’t worry, it is not the end of anything! Let go anyway - feel the freedom and inaction, disconnectedness, because it offers limitless insight. Focus on your golf swing and forget about how the kids are squandering their inheritance on cocaine. It’s that kind of day! The river has reached the sea and even the water is confused.”

LM Notes: Shut

SUNDAY January 17, Yin Wood Ox 5

Hexagram 27 Yi: Jaws

Lunar Mansion: The Room / Hare

Solar Indicator: Design

A good day for calm assessment.

"Wood Ox are particularly humble and naive characters...".

LM Notes: Wood Ox

“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 27 Yi

"It is auspicious to make (sincere) offerings to ancestors, consult oracles, practice ritual and meditation, move home, begin construction and add rooms (remodel) to homes and shops. It is a good day for fengshui adjustments, acquiring luxuries, medical treatments (esp food/herb cures) and making investments. Success will visit anyone who studies and/or takes exams today. Funerals on this day benefit both the living and the dead. Straight-forwardness and sincerity bring success."
"Contraindicated activity: Finalizing divorce, excessive ambition and ingratitude. Exaggeration and hypocrisy bring disaster. Not a good day for taking leadership or management responsibilities."
LM Notes: The Room

“It is an excellent day to recover wisdom by stepping back, planning, recalling alliances and reassessing our position.”

LM Notes: Design

::: ::: :::

In resolution and adventure...
 
Warmly,

Jamie Shulander
Instagram@jamieshulander
jshulander@gmail.com