Coordination between Water and Fire 水火既济 in Four Pillars Astrology

   In Four Pillars astrology, the presence of lots of Fire and Water elements in the horoscope often is considered to suggest heavy disease, and sometimes even cancer. In Chinese astrology this kind of clash between Fire and Water is called "War between Water and Fire" (shui huo xiang zhan) 水火相战 .  

  If one has a weak Fire and too much Water in the chart, then the Water will extinct the Fire. If the water is weak and the Fire is too strong in the chart, then the Fire will self-burn and cause different problems. 

   A balance between Water and Fire is needed in order to achieve a harmony in the chart. In TCM and Chinese astrology this is called: "Coordination between Water and Fire" (shui huo ji ji) 水火既济. 

  How to achieve this coordination? In respect of Chinese astrology, the Wood element is needed to smooth and coordinate the relations between Water and Fire. In this way, it is achieved a good flow of energy among the elements (from the cycle of mutual creation of the five elements): Water - Wood - Fire. 

  In a case that there is no Wood in the horoscope, then the Wood element could be supplemented by the means of Feng Shui or through other ways - increasing the presence of green color in the house, adding some green plants, eating more food and herbs, which can supplement the Wood element and balance the energy of Fire (Heart) and Water (Kidneys). No wonder that green herbs like dandelion, plantain and purslane have been proven to possess anti-cancer properties.

Annie Pecheva

Wuji - without boundary 无极

During deep qigong meditation one achieves the state of wuji 无极 - without boundary. Without limits like the infinite universe. As the ancient sages in China say, the Universe is "so big that it has no end, and it's so small that it has no inner [matter]". The matter and the energy in the cosmos can transform and expand without limits and shrink and divide without end.

其 大 无 外, 其 小 无 内

qi da wu wai, qi xiao wu nei

The mountain of White Clouds

   A few years ago, when I was visiting the Buddhist monk d-r He Xiaorong in Hunan Province in China, together with her we made a trip to the Mountain of White Clouds Bai Yun Shan 白云山.
   On the top of the mountain there is an abandoned Taoist monastery. The air there is very unusual - saturated with pure energy and lots of negative ions. Even if you don't do meditation, the feeling is as if you are in meditation - it's full of energy there!

As John Muir says: 

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. 

Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. 

The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, 

while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.”

a qigong poem that appeared to me one night

     Several years ago, after some intense qigong meditation, one night while sleeping, some Chinese characters of a poem appeared in my mind. I woke up and wrote them down:

识 为 君 好 地
玄 胎 洞 照 开
妙 中 轻 卷 气
动 起 三 百 河

    The text of this poem is related to the energy phenomena that occur within the body during qigong meditation. This poem tells about the opening of the deep "embryo cave" [here symbolically it means dantian - the energy center of the body], and during this wonderful process the energy unveils gently and activates three hundred rivers [the energy meridians and paths in the body].

The Summer (June) Solstice and the Energy

   On June 21st is the Summer Solstice.  It represents an important time of the year, when Yang transforms into Yin. The energy in Nature is very powerful during the 3-4 days before and after this date. It is exceptionally valuable period for more meditation and relaxation. No wonder why in the past in China the people didn't work for 3 days duing the Summer Solstice.

   The Yi Jing hexagram that is linked to the Summer Solstice is Gou 姤 "Encounters" (hexagram #44).

    In this hexagram there are 5 Yang and 1 Yin. The Yang energy starts to decrease, while the Yin energy (represented by the broken line) - to increase.

    Different energy points of the body correspond to the different periods of the year. The Summer Solstice relates to baihui acupoint 百会 on the top of the head. At this time of the year, bai hui naturally opens up and the energy at this place is very sensitive and intense.

   From the Winter Solstice till now the energy climbs up through dumai 督脉 (the Governing Vessel) channel on the back of the body. Now, at the Summer Solstice, the energy is at the highest peak - bai hui point. Similarly, now we are at the longest days of the year. After the Summer Solstice the days become shorter and the Yang gives way to the Yin.

   Happy Summer (June) Solstice to all!

A banquet held once in 60 years

   In Xiaolan town, Guangzhou province, China, there is a very special tradition - to host a  Chrysanthemum Banquet only in the year of the Wood Dog. The Wood Dog Year (Jia Xu 甲戌) happens once in 60 years, so you can imagine what a rare event it is!
  
   The tradition of the Chrysanthemum Banquet started in 1814 (year of Wood Dog), during the reign of emperor Jia Qing. Xiaolan town is famous for the cultivation of chrysanthemum flowers. In 1814 several local chrysanthemum societies joined together and in order to celebrate the event they organized a big chrysanthemum festival with a banquet of various chrysanthemum dishes. The Chrysanthemum Banquet was held again in 1874, 1934 and 1994  -  four times altogether.

The Eight Trigram Field in Hangzhou

   The Eight Trigram Field is located in the beautiful Chinese city of Hangzhou. It is maintained since Song dynasty, which means already about 1000 years.

     In this field, different crops (soy, mung beans, aubergines...) are planted at the corresponding directions of the eight trigrams.

The illusionary mind of a young boy in Beijing

Few years ago in Beijing there was a young boy (in his 20s), who after reading too many martial arts novels, his mind entered into an illusionary world 走火入魔. He gave up everything else in life - study, work, personal life, family, friends... I was there with some Chinese friends and the old Daoist priest Xue Zhicheng 薛之程道长.  The mother of this boy asked Daoist Xue to check the feng shui of their home, in hope to find out what is the root of her son's problem. Daoist Xue made some feng shui calculations and said: "No problem with the feng shui here". But, after we left, he told us that actually there is a problem with the feng shui, but as this family is not very rich, they cannot make the needed changes to improve the feng shui in the house. And this was not the major factor influencing the boy. The core of the problem was in the mother who had over-spoiled her son...

Astronomic explanation of stem & branches theory

What is the astronomic explanation of the stem & branch theory?

This question has been in my mind for long time... There are different sayings about it. Some say that the stems and branches are the vertical and horizontal segments of Heaven, the place between North celestial pole and South celestial pole.  And some people suggest that the stem & branches theory is very deep. It's so deep, that cannot be explained (like Dao), as it surpasses the information not only in time, but also in space and it goes beyond the knowledge of contemporary astronomy and science.

Liang Juchao 梁启超（1873—1929）points out that the 22 characters of the heavenly stems and earthly branches have many similarities with the 22 letters of the Phoenician alphabet.

According to Guo Moruo 郭沫若（1892—1978), the theory originates from Babylon and was later applied in China.

Danny Van den Berghe also gives a good explanation of the arrangement of the stems and branches on the world map. It is very helpful and you can see it here:
http://www.fourpillars.net/pdf/world.pdf

Triple Tigers in Chinese astrology

Julia Butterfly Hill is famous for her actions to protect nature. She has a very interesting horoscope, which corresponds to her interesting life. To me, the most striking feature in her horoscope is the presence of the triple Tiger branch. She is a real tigress!

Born: 18 February 1974

Day: Geng Yin (Yang Metal Tiger)
Month: Bing Yin (Yang Fire Tiger)
Year: Jia Yin (Yang Wood Tiger)

As Julia is born in the year of Wood Tiger (Jia Yin), I would call her the "Green Tigress". She reminds me of the chart of Tang Yin 唐寅 - a famous Chinese painter, poet and scholar from Ming Dynasty in China. You can read more about him in wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_Yin

Tang Yin was born in the year of Metal Tiger, the month of the Tiger, the day of the Tiger and the hour of the Tiger... 4 times Yin (Tiger) branch in his natal chart! That's why his name is Yin - Tiger. And he is better known by his courtesy name Tang Bohu 唐伯虎, in which Bohu literally means "White Tiger", corresponding to his year pillar of birth - Geng Yin (Metal Tiger, or white tiger) .

So, if Tang Bohu is the White Tiger, then Julia Butterfly Hill is the Green Tigress.

The divination appears itself

心不动 卜自来

If the heart/mind is not disturbed, the divination appears itself.

Zhuang Zi wax figure full with qi

This is one of the best images of the Chinese philosopher Zhuang Zi which I have ever seen. The picture is taken in the year of 2000, when together with some friends I visited the Chu City (磨山楚城) on the Mo Hill in Wuhan City, China. In the Chu Celestial Terrace there were two wax figures - one of Lao Zi, and the other of Zhuang Zi. You can feel the strong energy coming from these figures about one meter away.



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The Progress star of Hannu Manninen

Hannu Manninen is a famous nordic combined athlete from Finland.

While watching nordic combined event on Eurosport last year, the sports commentators often mentioned his name - "Hannu Manninen... Hannu Manninen..." and to me it sounded like "Hanuman" - one of the most popular gods in the Hindu pantheon, a noble hero and great devotee of Lord Rama.



Hannu Manninen's date of birth is 17 April 1978. According to Chinese astrology, he is born in the day of Earth Rooster (ji you 己酉) and he has the rare symbolic star Progress star. For people born in the day of Earth Rooster the Progress star shows big progress in work - they may start from an ordinary level and often unnoticeably for the others they make fast and big progress, which leads to great success in the end.

The nordic combined sport consists of two parts - ski jumping and cross-country skiing. It's interesting to see how the Progress star works nicely for Hannu Manninen: in the first part, during the ski jumping, his results are not the best ones, but later, during the cross-country skiing, he quickly comes from behind and often finishes first. That's the Progress star in action.