In honor of my Teacher, Liu Ming,
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 OX
“Charged: Calm, dignified, sincere, tenacious, uncompromising, dependable, quiet, independent, just, punctual, outdoorsy, loyal and supportive.
Deplete: Insensitive, ruthless if crossed, humorless, sullen, slavishly conventional, fearful of change, aloof and dull.
Image: The Ox talked about in Chinese Astrology is well known to all Chinese farmers. When China turned away from the wily horse to the sedate ox as the plow animal, rice productivity greatly increased. As a plow animal the Ox plows straight furrows and needs no coaxing. Ox are linked with the profits of consistent hard work and the Confucian virtue of perseverance in what is right. Naturally strong they are at their best when they are constantly challenged. Their sense of justice (and the law) makes them good leaders. Though often materially successful, they lack attachment to material things.
YIN METAL OX (1841, 1901, 1961, 2021, 2081) ‘Traveling Ox’
Metal Ox are accommodating, strong and reliable. They never shy away from difficulty or back down in confrontation. They promise more than they can deliver. Hurtful trauma in childhood (orphaned, immigration) and repressed anger ultimately polish their cold-heartedness into a calm and generous character. They are good parents and friends to a small in-crowd. They are rarely sick, and live long lives. Though their fortunes wax and wane they have comfortable old age.
LM Notes: Metal Ox
New Yang and Old Yin
"Rain Water is the gentle, first yin response to the new, emerging yang. Heaven and Earth renew their active relationship. The moisture of the first spring rains refreshes the Earth. This Yin rain gives the Yang trapped in Earth (seeds, grains) nourishment. If the response of the Yang of Earth is weak, or if rain does not come, decay, rot and mold may occur. If yang responds well seed break open underground.
Yang is ‘jump started’ in this qi node, but there may still be very few signs. Yang has survived another winter. Though Spring Festival is over, fresh offerings are made at ancestor and Earth altars to support Yang. This is the gan ying principle. Yin is weak and yang is still unformed, effort or exertion must be avoided.
During this qi node qi is best at 4am. One should practice neigong just before dawn facing the sun as it rises in the northeast. Do not exert yourself, but let the yang and yin play - this renews us and gives us longevity. When the sun is up walk about the courtyard with arms akimbo. Loosen up. The environment is becoming very ‘friendly’ and ‘yangish’ - it is no longer pernicious, but it is our own impulsiveness (inner yang) that is dangerous. Impulse is the renewal but caution, rather than enthusiasm, makes it work.
Yang is also beginning to move on its own. Mild and inspired, new actions are auspicious and rewarding. Avoid being ‘very productive’. Cultivate the qi of spring by reading new fiction, watching the latest film, go for short walks outdoors and enjoying and/or playing music."
LM The Way of Three Treasures
LM Changing: Zhouyi 62 Xiao Guo
::: ::: :::
Hexagram 23 Bo: Erosion
Lunar Mansion: The Roof / Swallow
Solar Indicator: Shut
Hexagram 8 Bi: Alliance
Lunar Mansion: The House / Pig
"Jian is the omen read from the gliding, settling, gliding and settling of migrating birds. It is about gradual and instinctive progress. Jian also represents the growth of plants, a traditional courtship, the gracious acceptance of fate, and our natural continuity with the ancestors. It is the story of a long and predestined journey, the power of perseverance, and the predisposition (character, nature and fate) inherent in our birth.”
LM Changing: Zhouyi 53 JianLunar Mansion: The Wall / Porcupine
Lunar Mansion: The Stride / Wolf
Solar Indicator: Full
“...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 build, bury the dead (increase status/rank) and marry (your children will hobnob with kings) on this day. It is a good day to make your case, to push forward and to ask for what you are due (collecting receivables). It is a good day for gift giving and charity (canceling debts owed you)."
“Contraindicated activity: It is inauspicious to be confrontational, break the law or squander resources (gamble); such activities will bring years of loss and regret.”
LM Notes: The Stomach
“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
Hexagram 45 Cui: Assembly
Lunar Mansion: The Watchers / Cock
Solar Indicator: Maintain
“Beneficial for all joint efforts. Be receptive to the inevitable success that comes from joining together with others. Expect emotions to run high and epiphanies on all sides.”
"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 (familiar places / people), study, enter retreat, initiate austerities and make offerings to the dead. It is wise to postpone everything proactive (marriage, building, funeral, burials).
“It is not auspicious to be industrious in any way (building will bring loss). All positive events that occur today will ultimately have negative results (marriage will end in disloyalty and divorce). Medical treatments on this day will complicate existing illness - turn acute into chronic (possibly bring on premature death). Confrontation or battle on this day will lead to injury or death.”
LM Notes: The Watchers
“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
Hexagram 12 Pi: Obstruction
Lunar Mansion: The Net / Crow
Solar Indicator: Destroy
"To consult a physician and consult oracles (divination of all kinds) will bring clarity. It is a good day for industry (labor/gardening = long term wealth), building (restores clarity) and burying the dead (enhance intuition). It is inauspicious to take anything for granted. It is inauspicious for revolution, confrontation, breaking taboos, neglecting responsibilities or travel (someone at home dies/gets sick)."
LM Notes: The Net
“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
“Yi is about the natural progress of things when it is enhanced by the best of conditions. Sun and water and good soil help the tree grow strong; yet a tree is also subordinate to the warmth, the rain and the soil. The tree also naturally "knows” what to take and leave. Yi is the “knowledge” of nature.”
LM Changing: Zhouyi 42 YiHexagram 15 Qian: Modesty
Lunar Mansion: The Beak / Monkey
"It bodes well to follow superiors, practice austerity and/or pool resources with others. It is a good day to sincerely comply with divination and maintain taboos meticulously.
"It is inauspicious to push forward, be industrious or initiate new ventures. Revolution or demanding idealistic justice on this day will be catastrophic."
LM Notes: The Beak
“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 Mansion: The Trio / Gibbon
"You are advised to keep still (resist the urge to move) and enter the unseen (meditation) - two actions, which are non-actions. Good fortune comes from keeping still. Let things arise of themselves. Do not struggle.”
LM Changing: Zhouyi 52 Gen"It bodes well to dispose of inessentials (haircuts), edit, fast, study (Classics), take exams, enter retreat and practice meditation. It is good to be industrious close to home (house clean). Initiating business (particularly group enterprise) will be fruitful if planning has been thorough.
"It is inauspicious to push forward aggressively. Do not get married, finalize divorce, bury the dead (it will create family dissent), spend savings or speculate financially as these all lead to losing resources and cooperation."
LM Notes: The Trio
“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
Lunar Mansion: The Well / Tapir
Solar Indicator: Harvest
“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“It is auspicious to build, remodel, do fengshui adjustments, take exams, and maintain routine industry. The earth can be dug (gardening = wealth) and it is a good day to donate, buy or sell (investment) real estate. Community or charity projects will flourish. It is favorable for apologies. It is favorable for medical treatments (particularly for initiating a series of treatments for a chronic condition).
“It is not auspicious to postpone needed repairs, apologies or difficult tasks. It is not good for funerals or burials of those who died by suicide, violence or sudden illness because others will soon follow.”
LM Notes: The Well
“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
"Jian is the omen read from the gliding, settling, gliding and settling of migrating birds. It is about gradual and instinctive progress. Jian also represents the growth of plants, a traditional courtship, the gracious acceptance of fate, and our natural continuity with the ancestors. It is the story of a long and predestined journey, the power of perseverance, and the predisposition (character, nature and fate) inherent in our birth.”
LM Changing: Zhouyi 53 Jian“It is especially auspicious for funeral/burial (resolution of fate). It is also good to make gifts/donations to temples and offerings to the divinities, spiritual guardians and make memorials for the dead (ancestors/lineage). It is advantageous for entering retreat, meditation, fasting, spiritual initiation, ordination and ‘crossing over’ into transitory states.
“It is not auspicious for worldly industry of any kind. It is a bad day to go to war (many casualties) or get married (husband will die early). One should avoid the wilderness (possession/illness will result).”
LM Notes: The Ghost
“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
“It is not auspicious for marriage. Do not indulge in lawsuits (as it will ruin 3 generations).”
“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
Hexagram 62 Xiao Guo: Small Succeeds
Lunar Mansion: The Birdstar / Horse
Solar Indicator: Shut
"Success in small matters. The judicious and timely use of small force succeeds. Being an assistant is favorable. Things go well if you avoid pretense."
LM Changing: Zhouyi 62 Xiao Guo“Think powerful, but gentle succeeds...It is auspicious for building and routine work (you will meet / hobnob with the powerful). Good auspice is directly related to continuity, convention and not innovation.
“It is not auspicious for funerals/burials or marriages (rape, divorce). It is a dangerous day for travel and/or medical treatments.”
LM Notes: The Birdstar
“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
In resolution and adventure...
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