In honor of my Teacher, Liu Ming,
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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
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.
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: YANG WOOD DRAGON (1844, 1904, 1964, 2024) ‘Laughing Dragon’
Wood Dragons are artistic, righteous and ingenious. They survive difficult childhoods to become caring parents. They are persuasive, humorous and easily make friends. Jealousy haunts them. They are productive artists. Their fortune steadily improves throughout their life. In old age they will cultivate elegance and own a considerable amount of property. They are prone to lung and liver disharmonies due to suppressed anger. They are susceptible to possession when passing through damp forested areas.
LM Notes: Water Dragon
QI NODE: 7 Summer Begins
Yang Ascends
"In Summer Begins the Yang heat that was trapped in the Earth (In Winter) is now full-fledged and in the Sky. The sun shines brightly. Hawks soar, frogs croak and earthworms are abundant. Though Yang has nearly matured it can still be impulsive, reckless. If the weather (our conduct) is not seasonal, storms can be destructive to crops. Yang in Summer Begins is like an unskilled soldier anxious to prove his valor on the battlefield. This sense of aggression invites the occasional hot wind invasion so caution is recommended in your exposure to the sun and wind.
“The qi is best at 9am, get up early and do not practice neigong in the direct sun. Several short practice sessions instead of one long one is a good idea. A relaxed sense of confidence and a clear Appetite can be your guide. When in doubt, eat several small meals rather than 2 or 3 big ones. Spring vegetables and fish are still the main course. Vegetarian meals are suitable for anyone now as the produce ripens. Yang activity is ‘full-on’ now so do not sit around lethargically - get up and circulate. Be preserving and maintain connectedness to your springtime dreams and projects."
LM The Way of Three Treasures
"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 SongSolar Indicator: Divide
“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
"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
Hexagram 45 Cui: Assembly
Lunar Mansion: The Tail / Tiger
Solar Indicator: Full
“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 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
Water Snakes are cunning, gifted and restless characters. Their seductive qi brings them assistance from people of knowledge and power. Their good fortunes rely upon others (previous causes). Their inner life is secret and they do not reveal their real thoughts or feelings to anyone. They dislike personal commitment and are unlikely to parent children. Natural renunciates, who enjoy the wilderness, their potential for the practice of wisdom traditions is great. They are prone to contagious disease and cold illnesses (pain). They are not easily ‘read’.
LUNAR HEXAGRAM: 1 Qian: Heaven
"Qian is the natural endless progress of time as symbolized by the onset of spring. Time is celestial movement, like the wind in the sky - not the product of human effort. The first hexagram is like the head of a circle; it is the beginning or renewal of a constant and endless cycle of time."
LM Changing: Zhouyi 1 QianHexagram 12 Pi: Obstruction
Lunar Mansion: The Basket / Leopard
Solar Indicator: Level
"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
“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
Lunar Mansion: The Ladle / Griffon
Solar Indicator: Settle
"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
“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
Lunar Mansion: The Oxboy / Ox
Solar Indicator: Maintain
LM Changing: Zhouyi 52 Gen
“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
“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
Lunar Mansion: The Maiden / Bat
Solar Indicator: Destroy
LM Changing: Zhouyi 39 Jian
“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
“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
Solar Indicator: Danger
LM Changing: Zhouyi 53 Jian
“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
“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
Jamie Shulander
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