A Million Hands

A study of Arts and Crafts from around the world.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Feng Shui astrology

Chinese metaphysics is fascinating with many branches dealing with various aspects of life enhancement. Feng shui studies about ‘qi’ and energies that permeate our living environment and help us in tapping the best qi to facilitate peaceful living. Bazi or the four pillars of destiny is nothing but Chinese astrology that talks about the twelve animal signs of the zodiac, in relation to the five elements found in nature. All these when placed at the right position can attract positivity and enhance the life of the individuals. Any Chinese metaphysics has in its crux the five elements abundantly found in nature - water, wood, fire, earth and metal. Water feeds wood. Wood is fuel to fire, fire burns and produces ashes. From the earth we get our minerals or ore and the burning of metal produces liquid that is considered water. Each of these elements has a yin and yang polarity too. So finally, we get ten elements. Our birth date when converted into Chinese Astrology turns into these magnificent elements that we are composed of! In Chinese metaphysics, harmony and balance are often talked about. Achieving balance is what we aim for. Thus an astrological chart indicates the imbalance that causes disturbances and aims to bring fine balance. Apart from the five elements, Chinese astrology also talks about the twelve animals in the zodiac. These animals too have been allocated elements according to the season. It’s believed that when the Buddha invited all the animals in the forest for His birthday party, some animals were first to arrive and there were late comers too. The rat was the first to arrive, hopping onto the back of the hard working laborious ox. Immediately upon arriving, the rat hopped off the ox’s back and thus, the rat is the first sign of the zodiac. Exactly opposite of which is the horse. The last to arrive was the slow pig! So the year in which we are born determines what zodiac we are. For example, a baby born after the 4th of February 2007 is born in the year of the pig, as 2007 is the year of the fire pig! That doesn’t mean that all babies born in the pig year are slow or lazy. For lethargy and nimbleness of a person, we examine the entire chart and not just the birth year. The birth date is denoted as the day master and we determine the destiny of this day master in relation to the whole chart. The affiliation and animosity between the twelve animals is what charts the course of our life on earth! Apart from bazi, there’s also a lesser known school called ziwei dou shu, that is not as widely practiced as bazi is. Feng shui as well as bazi are not as simple as they seem. There is much to these than what meets the eye. Only a trained practitioner with years of experience, loads of practice and oodles of intuition can discern where the problem lies and how to bring about a balance!