Chinese Almanac Astrology March 15 - 21, 2021

     In honor of my Teacher, Liu Ming,

 

 CHINESE ALMANAC ASTROLOGY

 

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

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Commentary and compilations by Jamie Shulander

All notes from class notes/works by Liu Ming

 

INDICATORS Listed: Yearly, Monthly, Lunar then Daily

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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

 

LUNAR MONTH: YIN METAL RABBIT (1831, 1891, 1951, 2011, 2071) ‘Rabbit in Burrow’

Metal Rabbits are intelligent, quiet and humble characters. They are social, quick-witted and generous to those in need. They thrive in intimacy with a select inner-circle, but are otherwise aloof. Though their own fortune is modest, they enjoy the company of social and religious leaders. They enjoy spiritual practices and study, but struggle with their application. They do not have strong constitutions and are susceptible to cold illness with pain symptoms. They die from accidental injuries.

QI NODE: 3 Insect Stirs

Yang Rises

"Insect Stirs is a time of 'awakened movement'. The cold ground softens. Insects awaken from their hibernation. The heat rises up from below and cool wind descends from Heaven. Wind has the subtle freshness of spring but no great or abiding force. The hibernation of dragons ends. In winter dragons (the symbol of spring) are locked in frozen alpine lakes. Their stirring cracks the ice and causes thunder and lightning. The world is startled. Rivers and creeks swell.

Below the surface of Earth the insects stir - wake from their hibernation. In this qi node the insects do not reproduce, develop or burst out of the ground - they only stir. The union of Heaven and Earth is an occasional temperate wind - invisible and inconsistent.

During this qi node qi is best in the hours around dawn. One should practice neigong facing the rising sun. Do not exert yourself, but let the neiqi wiggle and play - this renews us and gives us longevity. Be creative, follow your instincts in neigong.

There is a slightly mischievous quality to the qi of insect stirs. When the baby reaches for the stove, one has to admire curiosity, but curtail enthusiasm."

LM The Way of Three Treasures

 

LUNAR HEXAGRAM: 34 Da Zhuang: Great Strength

“The wise use great strength with great caution, because the know it is costly (great injury). In general, the authors of the Zhouyi give great strength no value, unless it is paired with wisdom.

However, it is also observed that even the weak, when in a desperate situation, naturally possess great strength - the will to survive. The force or instinct to survive has great strength and can have a successful result. This kind of great strength should not be confused with belligerence or mere violence."

LM Changing: Zhouyi

 

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MONDAY March 15, Yang Water Dog 3

Hexagram Consult the Oracle
Lunar Mansion: The Heart / Fox
Solar Indicator: Danger

“It is auspicious to comply with superiors, make offerings to the ancestors, move home and/or immigrate. Only routine work may avoid negativity. Contraindicated activity: If you start a lawsuit (making your case) you will lose everything (imprisonment). If you construct a building, get married or bury the dead, disaster follows. Everything sold today will be at a loss to the seller. Pushing forward (forcing progress) on this day will have three times the negative result of other days.”

LM Notes: The Heart

“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

TUESDAY March 16, Yin Water Pig 4
Hexagram 40 Jie: Release
Lunar Mansion: The Tail / Tiger

Solar Index: Complete

“...Nowhere to go means you have no particular goal or purpose because the freedom to choose is new. You can let things come and go, that is just let them open up by themselves. After every period of restraint there is a release (southwest). Inhibition naturally thaws like ice in the spring.”

LM Changing: Zhouyi 40 Jie

“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

“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

WEDNESDAY March 17, Yang Wood Rat 5

Hexagram 64 Weiji: Not Yet Across
Lunar Mansion: The Basket / Leopard

Solar Indicator: Harvest

"Expect to be unfulfilled at first and then later satisfied. The old has not quite turned into the new...Good for waiting and preparation, education and growth. Bad for pressing forward, conflict, lawsuits, examinations, and travel."

LM Changing: Zhouyi 64 Weiji

"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

“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

THURSDAY March 18, Yin Wood Ox 6

Hexagram 47 Kun: Beset
Lunar Mansion: The Ladle / Griffon
Solar Indicator: Open

"The situation is harsh, fated and seemingly irreversible. When Kun is divined efforts to escape often lead to the worsening of circumstances. Diving Kun is inauspicious in all cases...Time will tell whether enduring such hardship and pain will make you a stronger person. The good news is, the pain will pass.”

LM Changing: Zhouyi  47 Kun

"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

“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

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LUNAR HEXAGRAM: 5 Xu: Waiting

"Xu suggests that waiting is a part of the natural unfolding (fate) of all situations. Xu is about making the most of waiting - using the power of patience and procrastination to avoid struggle and develop wisdom in action. Accepting fate is not about abandoning intelligence. A wise and able person has the sensitivity to find the freedom within fate. The wisdom of Xu is the clarity to hold back and go forward at the right times.” 

LM Changing: Zhouyi 5 Xu

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FRIDAY March 19, Yang Fire Tiger 7

Hexagram 6 Song: Disputing

Lunar Mansion: The Oxboy / Ox

Solar Indicator: Shut

"When a situation lacks clarity it is best to retreat and wait for fortunes to change. Using litigation is a costly and risky way to succeed. If disputes are successfully resolved, caution is still required in handling the outcomes. Do not exert yourself in complicated or obstructed situations. Do not force things. It is favorable to self-reflect and to seek counsel.” 

LM Changing: Zhouyi 6 Song

“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

“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

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QI NODE: 4 Spring Equinox

Yin and Yang Equality

"At the Spring Equinox the yin and yang are equal. A quivering Yang arises and a shaky Yin submits. The day and night are equal in length. This qi node marks one of four annual pivots that rectify the annual qi. In lunar calendar terms this is spring's midpoint. A Prince is crowned. During this qi node the best qi is available around dawn; you should practice neigong facing due east and greet the dawn. Imagine that you inhale the true and pure yang of the sun from over the horizon as the light appears. Have it enter your body and refresh all your organs, channels and joints. 

You will notice that all the winter's lethargy is gone and if you have been cultivating spring, yang is no longer shaky. Plans and actions are enhanced. It is an ideal time for in depth study, long walks and consulting with diviners and astrologers. Focus and go forward. Do not forget the advice of sages! Crows and ravens are sun-creatures in Chinese tradition - they will be rascally now all through spring and summer."

LM The Way of Three Treasures

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SATURDAY March 20, Yin Fire Rabbit 8

Hexagram 46 Sheng: Ascending

Lunar Mansion: The Maiden / Bat

Solar Indicator: Design

"Since Sheng is about ascending naturally, the auspices stay favorable if you are receptive and subordinate. Your talents are recognized and they suit the times. Steady gradual progress is indicated."

LM Changing: Zhouyi 46 Sheng

“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

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

LM Notes: Design

SUNDAY March 21, Yang Earth Dragon 9
Hexagram 18 Gu: Contamination
Lunar Mansion: The Void / Rat
Solar Indicator: Divide

"Gu indicates that life is a continuous flow, not just an individual personal experience. Success is not simply a matter of personal control. Unseen environmental forces do affect us."

LM Changing: Zhouyi 18 Gu

“It is auspicious to stay home, strengthen family ties and protect your children. Sleep and rest are recommended (be cautioned by your dreams).”

“On this day it is not auspicious to marry (your children will be delinquent or handicapped), bury the dead or make offerings to ancestors (ghosts/dead will become demonic - causing illnesses for 3 years!). Extra-marital affairs begun on this day will eventually ruin your family, reputation and health. Medical treatments today can cause injury and expose constitutional weakness.”

LM Notes: The Void

"Holding back on this day is related to deeper self-reflection, education of all sorts and consulting with experts and elders - rather than forward action. It is not about immature reluctance or cowardice but about shedding inessentials."

LM Notes: Divide

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In resolution and adventure... 

Warmly,

Jamie Shulander
Instagram@jamieshulander
jshulander@gmail.com