Monday, September 25, 2023

Chinese Almanac Astrology September 25 - October 1, 2023


CHINESE ALMANAC ASTROLOGY

Commentary and compilations by Jamie Shulander, 
All notes from class notes/works by Liu Ming

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LUNAR YEAR: YIN WATER RABBIT (1843, 1903, 1963, 2023, 2083) ‘Forest Rabbit’

“Water Rabbits are skittish, intuitive and untrusting. They sleep very deeply (troubles appear and resolve in the night). They have a paranoid attitude toward others that is not the product of bad experience in this lifetime. They therefore cannot dedicate themselves to any particular relationship to society and drift through various career choices without success. Though they are good at business and frugal with their finances their fortunes wobble. They may have strong ideas regarding the maintenance of their health, but are uneven in applying them. A strong protector in the form of a partner of mentor, whom they trust, can reverse their wishy-washy fortunes. Most illness are caused by spirit possession.”

LM Notes: 60 Characters


LUNAR MONTH: YIN METAL ROOSTER (1861, 1921, 1981, 2041) “Caged Rooster”

“METAL is the native element of the Rooster Earthly Branch. Metal Roosters are meticulous, articulate and confident characters. They have great good fortune in material terms. They make good financial advisors and this attracts many people to them. Their bodies are strong but they are troubled by mental instability. Their ability to analyze often leads to belligerence and this undermines their good fortune. Their argumentative compulsion to win is a defense mechanism for their delicate mental states. They are prone to mental disorders, kidney failure and exhaustion.”

LM 60 Characters


Qi Node: 16 Autumn Equinox
Yin and Yang Equality
"When the qi node Autumn Equinox arrives annual Yin qi is established. Day and night are equal. During this period the environment grows ever more yin and is characterized by a cool, dry wind (metal element). It is one of four annual pivots that rectify the annual qi. Yin and yang are equal - day and night are equal. Storehouses are filling up and the work of harvest is nearly complete. There is a pleasant stillness.
During this qi node qi is best at 6pm. Neigong should be done indoors morning and evening in short sessions. When yin/yang equality is reached and yin is about to take charge, it is best to eat food that has a higher jing/qi concentration. Breakfast can be eaten a little bit later than in spring/summer but it should be hearty. Do not eat at all after 7pm. All meals should be experienced in a quiet and undistracted setting. You needn't be a hermit, but avoid being social at every meal." 
LM The Way of Three Treasures

LUNAR HEXAGRAM: 58 Dui: Pleasuring

"Generally auspicious and associated with a light-handed approach to things. It is not how you find pleasure, but how you express it that will determine the longevity of your happiness."

LM Changing: Zhouyi 58 Dui


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MONDAY September 25, Yang Fire Dog 11
Hexagram 58 Dui: Pleasuring
Lunar Mansion: The Heart / Fox
Solar Indicator: Divide


“Fire Dogs are patient, persevering and kind-hearted. Strong (even aggressive) at standing up for others, they forget to speak for themselves. Their strength isolates them. They are poor planners but excellent and dedicated problem solvers. The problems they solve are often of their own making. They may lose a home or business to fire. They do not enjoy good health due to inherited liver and heat disorders. Their fortunes are shaped by the vague and unresolved longings of their dead ancestors (which must be resolved).”

LM 60 Characters


"Generally auspicious and associated with a light-handed approach to things. It is not how you find pleasure, but how you express it that will determine the longevity of your happiness."

LM Changing: Zhouyi 58 Dui


“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


TUESDAY September 26, Yin Fire Pig 12

Hexagram 38 Kui: Incompatible
Lunar Mansion: The Tail / Tiger
Solar Indicator: Full


“Fire Pigs are resolute, talented and aggressive characters. They are precocious and tend to marry/partner young or not at all. Having rare and unusual skills they are supported by people of power and influence. They are devout followers and absorb knowledge/power from others. Uniqueness and excessive strength isolate them. Their fortunes improve with age (60+) and/or when they learn to let go. Though they are particularly susceptible to “hot” disease, they respond well to treatment and have long lives.”

LM Notes: 60 Characters


“Unfavorable for planning or forward progress. Expect to be frustrated but make small gains. It is a good time to seek counsel from those with expertise and wisdom...Try a little self-reflection and humility."

LM Changing: Zhouyi 38 Kui

“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


WEDNESDAY September 27, Yang Earth Rabbit 13
Hexagram 54 Guimei: A Girl Is Married
Lunar Mansion: The Basket / Leopard
Solar Indicator: Level


“Earth Rabbits are persuasive, resourceful and distrustful characters. Their own uneven fortune often makes them dishonest with and wary of even their friends/family. They obsess about security but do not find it. Their strong sexual appetite does not respect boundaries and they often divorce and/or seduce other people’s partners. An uneven marriage may last a long time. They enjoy the company of unconventional characters and those less fortunate than themselves. In midlife, they can establish material security, and stop obsessing and metamorphose. In old age they have a real potential to study (knowledge) and gain wisdom. They are prone to lung and skin ailments.”

LM Notes: 60 Characters


"Things are auspicious for the underdog, but early success collapses. The situation is touch and go. Things can end up okay if some sacrifices are made."

LM Changing: Zhouyi 54 Guimei


"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


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LUNAR HEXAGRAM: 22 Bi: Ornament

"Bi is favorable when appearances match the inner nature of things. Simplicity, rather than extravagance, is recommended as the aesthetic of confidence. Beware of the deception that comes from superficial decoration."

LM Changing: Zhouyi 22 Bi: Ornament

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THURSDAY September 28, Yin Earth Ox 14

Hexagram Consult the Oracle
Lunar Mansion: The Ladle / Griffon
Solar Indicator: Settle


“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.”

LM Notes: 60 Characters


"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


FRIDAY September 29, Yang Metal Tiger 15
Hexagram 61 Zhongful: Holding the Center
Lunar Mansion: The Oxboy / Ox
Solar Indicator: Maintain


“Metal Tigers are demanding, candid and vigorous characters. They are contentious, aggressive, sensual and yet forgiving. They are generous to temples and to their friends. To avoid anxiety they do not hide their feelings or thoughts, but regret it later. When young they are wasteful and their fortune is limited and obstructed but as they age it consistently improves without reversal. They are physically strong and more likely to be injured than ill. They are susceptible to pernicious wind when depressed.”

LM Notes: 60 Characters


"The action that arises from stillness is able to ‘work wonders.’ A Zen archer lets the arrow find the target without meddling."

LM Changing: Zhouyi 61 Zhongfu: Holding the Center

“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


SATURDAY September 30, Yin Metal Rabbit 16

Hexagram 60 Jie: Juncture
Lunar Mansion: The Maiden / Bat
Solar Indicator: Destroy


“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.”

LM Notes: 60 Characters


"Favorable for the practice of circumspection and restraint. Being observant and conservative with resources is auspicious. Knowing how to see and when to use limits brings success."

LM Changing: Zhouyi 60 Jie: Juncture

“It is auspicious to stay home, enjoy the arts, self-reflect, do inner planning 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


SUNDAY October 1, Yang Water Dragon 17

Hexagram 41 Sun: Diminish
Lunar Mansion: The Void / Rat
Solar Indicator: Danger


“Water Dragons are hard working, restless and taciturn characters. Despite their efforts, they do not find a home, friends or family easily. Their patience and humor protect them from disaster. They are distinguished but not haughty. Their idealism, turned on themselves, will inhibit them and makes their fortune uneven. They will, however, spend their twilight years in comfort. Despite a strong constitution they are prone to nervous disorders and suffer a constant stream of minor chronic ailments.”

LM Notes: 60 Characters


Sun is about how sacrifice brings good fortune. It is also about the enlightened management of diminished resources and the transformation of reduced circumstances into an advantage. Sun is about attracting new resources into your life by eliminating inessentials. It is a time when recycling the trappings of success allows you to stay in power. It is when less is more.”

LM Changing: Zhouyi 41 Sun


“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

Instagram: @jamieshulander 

Monday, September 18, 2023

Chinese Almanac Astrology September 18-24, 2023

             I'm grateful to be a contribution to your life, 


Thank you for your contribution to mine!


Teton Valley, ID
One - Line Drawing & Watercolor

Instagram: @jamieshulander


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 CHINESE ALMANAC ASTROLOGY
In honor and memory of my Teacher, Liu Ming
 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

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 INDICATORS (aka Auspices): Yearly, Monthly, Lunar and Daily

LUNAR YEAR: YEAR of the RABBIT (Native Yin Wood) Discreet
Charged: Gentle, quiet, peace loving, intuitive, intelligent, aesthetic, domestic, social, diverse, dependent, supportive, loving and authoritative.
Deplete: Gossipy, snobby, superficial, paranoid, greedy, scattered, vain, promiscuous, opportunistic, deceptive, conservative, stubborn and lazy.
Image: The Rabbit talked about in Chinese Astrology is well known to all Chinese peasants as the animal that ‘lives in the moon’. The lunar image represents the Rabbit’s strong need to escape the bright light of day - they hate confrontations of all types. Rabbits take charge of situations from the position of subordinate. Once safety and security are established in their lives they show themselves to be capable and successful managers and advisors. They function best at home. Inveterate collectors, they are likely to ‘feather the nest’ with a great many material possessions. Rabbits actually derive energy from objects and often consider them truly precious.

YIN WATER RABBIT (1843, 1903, 1963, 2023, 2083) ‘Forest Rabbit’
“Water Rabbits are skittish, intuitive and untrusting. They sleep very deeply (troubles appear and resolve in the night). They have a paranoid attitude toward others that is not the product of bad experience in this lifetime. They therefore cannot dedicate themselves to any particular relationship to society and drift through various career choices without success. Though they are good at business and frugal with their finances their fortunes wobble. They may have strong ideas regarding the maintenance of their health, but are uneven in applying them. A strong protector in the form of a partner of mentor, whom they trust, can reverse their wishy-washy fortunes. Most illness are caused by spirit possession.”
LM Notes: 60 Characters

LUNAR MONTH: YANG METAL MONKEY (1860, 1920, 1980, 2040) ‘Silver Fruit Monkey’
“METAL is the native element of the Monkey Earthly Branch. Metal Monkeys are respectable, attractive and powerful characters. They have great good fortune and demonstrate it with great versatility and alacrity. They attract many powerful helpers and admirers. Despite their excellent capabilities they may choose to withdraw from the world and/or avoid the Monkey’s characteristic gregariousness. All good fortune can, however, be lost through lawsuit, in war or dangerous environments. Their immunity is weak and they easily pick up contagious diseases.”
LM Notes: 60 Characters

QI NODE: 15 White Dew
“Yin Descends
"White Dew qi node shows the shifting relationship between collapsing yang and ascendant yin. When yin 'descends' it is actually taking charge - yin style. In the morning white dew is the harbinger of change. The clouds are high in the sky. The growing west wind is cool. Dew is fresh yin qi - a fragile, glimpse of snow. The growing yin almost goes unnoticed. As the last of the summer qi subsides, a cool west wind (qi) appears and the season of autumn begins and develops. Geese migrate south and fall harvest continues in earnest.



"White Dew is a time of clarity and stillness. During this period the environment grows ever more yin and is characterized by a cool, dry wind (metal element). During this qi node the environmental qi is best at 5pm. Neigong should be done indoors. Do not eat at all after 7pm.

In the imagination of the poets and hermits of China it is a time of year when white nymphs are offering inspiration. Unlike their superiors, the Jade Lads and Ladies, these nymphs inhabit the sea and forest, not the Celestial realms. White dew, a rare or first form of frost of the year, is the signal of their presence. They show us white dew to remind us to prepare for the arrival of the Celestials (yin).” 

LM The Way of the Three Treasures


LUNAR HEXAGRAM: 20 Guan: Observance

"The situation is delicate and one in which the observance of details and tradition is of great importance. Progress is based on concentration."

LM Changing: Zhouyi 20 Guan


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MONDAY September 18, Yin Earth Rabbit 4
Hexagram 34 Da Zhuang: Great Strength
Lunar Mansion: The Bow / Deer
Solar Indicator: Destroy


“Earth Rabbits are persuasive, resourceful and distrustful characters. Their own uneven fortune often makes them dishonest with and wary of even their friends/family. They obsess about security but do not find it. Their strong sexual appetite does not respect boundaries and they often divorce and/or seduce other people’s partners. An uneven marriage may last a long time. They enjoy the company of unconventional characters and those less fortunate than themselves. In midlife, they can establish material security, and stop obsessing and metamorphose. In old age they have a real potential to study (knowledge) and gain wisdom. They are prone to lung and skin ailments.”

LM Notes: 60 Characters


“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 34 Da Zhuang


“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 September 19, Yang Metal Dragon 5

Hexagram Consult the Oracle
Lunar Mansion: The Wings / Serpent
Solar Indicator: Danger

“Metal Dragons have an egotistical, powerful and outspoken character. Despite their egotism, they are articulate and knowledgeable. They are so strong that they feel above morality and the law. Their uneven fortune is due to many broken boundaries and commitments - unburned bridges (karma). Their vitally strong constitution gives them enormous appetites (food, sex, ideas). Their medical problems go unnoticed, eventually becoming irreversible mental disorders (and/or possession).”

LM Notes: 60 Characters


“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


WEDNESDAY September 20, Yin Metal Snake 6
Hexagram 9 Xiao Xu: Minor Force
Lunar Mansion: The Chariot / Earthworm
Solar Indicator: Complete


“Metal Snakes are bright, sensitive and insightful. Their childhoods (up to 28) are often difficult and sorrowful. Though socially active they remain aloof in fear of betrayal. Their sensitivity often gives them visions and surrounds them with subtle beings, not all of who mean them well. Their mental health is always precarious, especially if parents and/or a partner do not protect them. Their deaths come suddenly (or suicide) due to the interference of ghosts and demons. They are well-suited to monasticism.”

LM Notes: 60 Characters


"It is best to subordinate to or ally yourself with the strong or wait to accumulate more strength and resources. Do not be rambunctious, distracted or diverted. Small projects done well will eventually add up to success. Obstacles and delays can be expected in any forward action.” 

LM Changing: Zhouyi 9 Xiao Xu


“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


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LUNAR HEXAGRAM: 58 Dui: Pleasuring

"Generally auspicious and associated with a light-handed approach to things. It is not how you find pleasure, but how you express it that will determine the longevity of your happiness."

LM Changing: Zhouyi 58 Dui


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THURSDAY September 21, Yang Water Horse 7

Hexagram 5 Xu: Waiting
Lunar Mansion: The Horn / Crocodile
Solar Indicator: Harvest


“Water Horses are independent, hard-working and thrifty characters. They are particularly gifted craftspeople and have a friendly demeanor. They easily offer themselves to protect and ‘save’ others (military). They are not adverse to intentional ‘tragedy’ (heroism). Their fortunes are likely to improve as they grow old. The most emotional of all Horses they tend to compromise their health with repressed feelings. Their livers are weak and they are susceptible to curses and spells.”

LM Notes: 60 Characters 


"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


“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 early life are found in both maturing and declining. Everything succeeds. Cleverness and survival give way to courage and directness. Be like a beloved monarch not an ambitious merchant. Let new resources and assistance come forward by standing back.”

LM Notes: Harvest


FRIDAY September 22, Yin Water Goat 8
Hexagram 26 Da Chu: Great Store
Lunar Mansion: The Neck / Dragon
Solar Indicator: Open


“Water Goats are talkative, sentimental and persevering characters. Their emotional attachments to people and things cloud their wisdom. Their consideration of others undermines their success. Egalitarian idealists they work very hard ‘against all odds.’ Their generosity is unfailing. Rarely thanked for their work they nevertheless are strong helpers. They are often robbed or make poor judgements in financial matters and their fortune does not smooth out until old age (60+). Though rarely ill their illness tends to be complex and hard to diagnose and/or treat.”

LM Notes: 60 Characters


“Routine work brings about unexpected results. At the highest level of success is an opportunity to be extraordinarily generous."

LM Changing: Zhouyi 26 Da Chu


"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 September 23, Yang Wood Monkey 9

Hexagram 11 Tai: Great
Lunar Mansion: The Root / Badger
Solar Indicator: Shut


“Wood Monkey’s are versatile, adventurous and ambitious. Hurt by uncaring parents or orphaned in childhood, they tend to live unsettled lives. They often work at more than one job and live in more than one place - and have an untrusting character. Their ambitions can land them in lawsuits or in prison. A strong mentor or partner can release them from some obstructions. Strong in their youth, they decline in old age plagued by sleep disorders, congenital heart disorders and psychosomatic complications. They are prone to madness and depression.”

LM Notes: 60 Characters


“Tai is favorable for going forward and expanding. When Tai is divined natural growth is inevitable - all plans succeed, if you do not push or rush them. Do not over analyze the situation. Recognize that things unfold by themselves.” LM Changing: Zhouyi 11 Tai


"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 September 24, Yin Wood Rooster 10

Hexagram 10 Lu: Treading
Lunar Mansion: The Room / Hare
Solar Indicator: Design


“Wood Roosters are idealistic, quarrelsome and insightful. For what seems to them to be no reason, family and sometimes friends abandon them. Their outspoken quality is both a blessing (amusing) and a curse (off-putting). Their fortune is uneven. They often receive the ‘debts of the ancestors’, family debts and congenital illnesses. Though they are likely to suffer from chronic minor illnesses or handicaps, they are long lived.”

LM 60 Characters


"The process contains danger because you do not have the power to create success with certainty. Everything depends on exactly how you conduct yourself. Humility, caution, fear-management, and contemplation bring success.” LM Changing: Zhouyi 10 Lu

"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


Jamie Shulander

Instagram: @jamieshulander 

In honor of Liu Ming and Chinese Wisdom Science

            A joyful Vernal Equinox and auspicious Wood Dragon Year! I'm calling this blog a WRAP! If you're interested in the Chine...