Chinese Almanac Astrology March 29 - April 4, 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: 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

 

LUNAR HEXAGRAM: 40 Jie: Release
“...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

 
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MONDAY March 29, Yang Fire Rat 17
Hexagram 24 Fu: Return
Lunar Mansion: The Net / Crow
Solar Indicator: Harvest
 
“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
 
"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
 
“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
 
TUESDAY March 30, Yin Fire Ox 18

Hexagram 27 Yi: Jaws
Lunar Mansion: The Beak / Monkey
Solar Index: Open
 
“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 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
 
“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: 35 Jin: Advance
"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
 
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WEDNESDAY March 31, Yang Earth Tiger 19
Hexagram 3 Zhun: Sprouting
Lunar Mansion: The Trio / Gibbon
Solar Indicator: Shut
 
“Zhun is favorable for young people, fresh thinking, new alliances, and gentle progress. Zhun is an inspired, delicate and new situation needing unpretentious leadership and experienced advice to grow. When Zhun is divined inexperience is the basis for difficulties, there are no real outside obstacles. Delays should be expected."
LM Changing: Zhouyi 3 Zhun
 
"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

“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

 
THURSDAY April 1, Yin Earth Rabbit 20
Hexagram 42 Yi: Increase
Lunar Mansion: The Well / Tapir
Solar Indicator: Design
 
“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 Yi
 
“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

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

 

FRIDAY April 2, Yang Metal Dragon 21
Hexagram Consult the Oracle
Lunar Mansion: The Ghost / Sheep
Solar Indicator: Divide
 
“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

 

On this day progress is envisioned but we learn that pausing and even loss may be part of process. Though moving forward is immanent there is a shedding of skin on this day that puts a pause in the forward progress. The qi-teeter-totters and, in adjusting, exposes our vulnerable or immature state and we are unable to press forward. The young leader (fresh yang) does not want to leave the safety of his mother (big yin) who still protects him. What haunts this qi state is aggression - imagining that you are ‘ready’ for action, progress or pressing forward….
 
"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

SATURDAY April 3, Yin Metal Snake 22

Hexagram 51 Zhen: Thunder
Lunar Mansion: The Willow / Roebuck
Solar Indicator: Full
 

"Zhen indicates a time for a dramatic breakthrough from lethargy. Good fortune here has everything to do with staying calm. Zhen denotes a situation where, though things are in turmoil at first, they sort out and become beneficial in the long run. Whether you are the rebel leader or the deposed ruler there is good reason to proceed with standard protocol, good manners, and determination.”

LM Changing: Zhouyi  51 Zhen

 

“It is especially auspicious for seclusion and the composing of memorials. It is favorable to make offerings and practice divination. It is fruitful on this day to fast, enter retreat, practice meditation and receive spiritual initiation and/or ordination (lineage). It is ideal for funerals / burials and the complete resolution of the unsettled dead (exorcism).
“It is not auspicious for marriage. Do not indulge in lawsuits (as it will ruin 3 generations).”
LM Notes: The Willow
 
“This is an optimum day for education, preparation, polishing, gathering resources and firming up plans. Confidence grows as the right time and necessary resources are now part of the vision. The qi is forming patterns and remaining in the channels. Practice and disciplined cultivation bring confidence. The prince (yang) is gaining support. Discipline in small matters succeeds. True confidence requires no aggression. Though nothing needs to be done, the natural maturation of strength occurs.”

LM Notes: Full

 

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QI NODE: 5 Clear and Bright

Yang leads Yin

"Clear and Bright says it all! From the equality of the equinox arises the pure light of pristine Yang - fresh and vigorous. The days grow longer and everything is in its place for new growth. If the weather is harmonious the first harvest of green tea is made.

Abundant offering rites commemorating the ancestors let the dead (Yin) know that the living (Yang) made it successfully through to another winter. A little pride is okay. The warmth of Heaven pours down (rain and warm wind) like a continuous silk filament. Confidence spreads. Yang is fully activated.

In this qi node the qi is best at 7am. Rise early and practice neigong facing due east. Appreciate the Yang by going places and doing things. Be busy, it's okay! Be excellent at your work, remodel the house and volunteer to assist those in need. Be strong!"

LM The Way of Three Treasures

 

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SUNDAY April 4, Yang Water Horse 23

Hexagram 21 Shihe: Biting
Lunar Mansion: The Birdstar / Horse
Solar Indicator: Full

 

"A Zhou leader was both a warrior and a sage, not a brute. Good leaders know that it is their own miscalculations and poor management that lead to the need for a strong use of force (war). When we resort to harsh punishments we must do so cautiously - even humbly."

LM Changing: Zhouyi 21 Shihe

 

“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

“This is an optimum day for education, preparation, polishing, gathering resources and firming up plans. Confidence grows as the right time and necessary resources are now part of the vision. The qi is forming patterns and remaining in the channels. Practice and disciplined cultivation bring confidence. The prince (yang) is gaining support. Discipline in small matters succeeds. True confidence requires no aggression. Though nothing needs to be done, the natural maturation of strength occurs.”

LM Notes: Full

 

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In resolution and adventure... 

Warmly,

 

Jamie Shulander
Instagram@jamieshulander
jshulander@gmail.com