Additional omens - gender and the year

An indication of favorableness, although not very specific, is said to be whether one has his or her Heavenly trigram on top (this occurs during even-numbered years for a man and odd-numbered years for a woman). In these cases one is assumed to be in harmony with the year and the degree of auspiciousness tends towards the positive.

Let's speculate for a while on the reverse side of the coin, since auspiciousness in this astrology is matched by a set of additional omens indicating inauspiciousness. Men born during a Chinese Yin year (odd-numbered) have their Heavenly symbol subordinated to the one of Earth while women born during a Chinese Yang year (even-numbered) have their Earthly symbol elevated to the ruling top position in the hexagram. Are these discrepancies between sex and the polarity of the year indicative of weak-willed men and headstrong women being born throughout the entire year?

Probably not, but the ideas built into the two birth trigrams - and how they relate to each other - must be studied closely. Lack of will-power could be present if the trigram representing Earth (the subordinate force) is on top in a man's horoscope and not being of a dynamic sort. Conversely, a woman having the trigram for the Earthly forces on top and that trigram being of an aggressive nature probably indicates something. But precicely what will depend on the birth hexagram as a whole.

Born with a monthly hexagram

Furthermore, certain hexagrams are held to suit certain months better than others. Should the hexagram portraying the time of birth coincide with one of those patterns, favorableness is predicted. "Favorableness" means we are allowed to make a good and generous interpretation of the birth symbol. If the hexagram indicates an initially hostile situation, we can be reasonably assured that the owner, by virtue of his or her karma, brings out the best from the birth pattern. If, however, the additional omens described next shows heavy negativity, then the initial favorableness predicted by the match between one ideal representation for the month and the actual birth horoscope is neutralized.

Born with the ideal trigrams of the year

Just as a given month has its ideal representation in any of a small number of hexagrams, Heaven and Earth each favors a certain of the eight trigrams as an ideal year trigram. Correspondance, whether positive, negative, or the lack of it, between the auspicious Heavenly or Earthly trigram for the year and one or both trigrams in the birth symbol is an important indication. It is the sum total of the four comparisions between the birth hexagram and the optimal trigram representation for Heaven and Earth for the year that constitutes the degree of positive, negative or neutral auspiciousness. (Please calculate a horoscope if you have not already done so; the four comparisions are listed on the results page.)

If the sum amounts to zero correspondences this means the birth hexagram stands neutral to the yearly ideal trigrams, and neither favorableness nor unfavorableness can be predicted from these criteria.

One positive correspondance (+1) between one's birth hexagram and either one of the two ideal trigrams for the year means an auspicious moment of birth, prefiguring all good things desirable as life unfolds. When both natal trigrams correspond to the ideal symbols for the year, it is considered extremely lucky.

The presence of a negative relation (-1) could either be viewed as a neutralizer of the good fortune otherwise hinted at, or, we could speculate about good fortune and bad coming from different directions (that is, from things and people associated with the respective trigrams) This ancient astrology has not explained these relations in any detail, and everybody is invited to take their guess!

Without any positive indication, a negative relation (-1) to the year trigrams (that is, one's birth hexagram contains the opposite trigram to the one favored for the year, either Heavenly or Earthly) means the good things desirable will not automatically flow to one as life unfolds.

If there is an entire lack of auspiciousness and both trigrams in the birth symbol are the opposite to those favored for the year, either Heavenly or Earthly, this is somewhat critical and demands a close scrutiny of one's motifs in life, behavior towards one's fellow human being and so forth. A double negative birth omen even turns into a serious warning if the hexagram as such spells out trouble and the ruling line does not describe a movement to the contrary. Character need not necessarily be affected; both natal trigrams opposing the yearly ideal may rather indicate repeated bad luck in life.

In real life, however, it often appears that unauspicious births - as by some compensatory force, the free will perhaps? - actually lead the individuals to re-evaluate priorities, so that it is among the "unfortunate ones" one often finds deep insight as well as compassion developing with the years. Furthermore, a number of "successful" births, with energetic and ambitious hexagrams, has actually proven to correspond to rather arrogant people. There is certainly room for the free will and personal development with the Yin Yang Horoscope!

Other

When the provisional interpretation of the birth hexagram's name (shown on the results page after the calculation of a horoscope) includes alternative meanings, distinct signs of auspiciousness or the opposite MAY point towards one or other of these alternative horoscope titles. This is not to say that a horoscope depicting a "ruler-type" of personality instead portrays a "slave" or a slavish mentality under a decreased degree of favorability, but perchance there will be trials to overcome in ruling and lessons to be learnt in the exercise of true leadership.

Also, remember that the exact position within your birth pattern (the so-called ruling line), where it is situated and whether it is a Yin or a Yang line, is the most decisive factor when settling for one or other of the possible "characterizations" of any birth hexagram. A throrough reflection on the nature and behavior of this line within its context (symbolic drama given by the hexagram), may yield interesting suggestions!

A disconcerting find - or perhaps giving new hope!

Having calculated 400+ celebrities whose birth times have been gleaned from the Internet (at least a few will surely be wrong or the fruits of speculation), the above set of additional omens must as a whole be called into question. Sherrill and Chu, in their book "Astrology of I Ching," take for granted that a heightened or lowered auspiciousness will support a more or less benign reading of the birth symbol.

Let me just give one example. Out of ten mass murderers with known birthtime on file - Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin are included, only two had an overall auspiciousness below -3 (Hitler's value), some even possessing a neutral or a positive value.

Many times, however, the hexagram does present a "core problem" and the degree of auspiciousness, or lack thereof, would then result in a prediction where in the former case the person possesses the qualities necessary to cope with the existential situation given by the hexagram and ruling line. A core problem burdened by a heavy negative auspiciousness, one may, on the other hand, very well expect a person being more or less the victim or patterned for the worse because of the overall problematic circumstance. I have noted such cases among non-celebrities, without these people in any way being criminals. Sometimes they have just been afflicted with bad luck, more often than not due to haste and lack of intelligent direction of their lives.

At this point I am not sure of the value of the additional omens presented in the "Astrology of I Ching." Surely my findings indicate that a strong person will always overcome impediments, even if they are emphasized in his or her life. At any rate, this small empirical study shows that Sherrill's approach, of giving a stern or "bad" reading in cases of severe unfavorablity, is a practice not to be followed! I have no deep insight into the lives of these celebrities; perhaps those with highly negative auspiciousness have all walked over dead bodies to insure their success, but as long as there are no proof of this I would hesitate to give any given hexagram a humiliating twist. It is true that the scope of each hexagram is different - some take on bigger tasks, some specialize in details but no approach is to be considered "better" than the other.

From a parallel study of Western astrology, it may well be that it is a superior method for ascertaining the moral fibre of an individual, but during more than two decades I have found it rewarding to check each system against the other. A careful reading of a Chinese birth symbol will often bring the realization it is talking about THE prominent feature of the heavens at that time, whether it is the Sun in its mundane position, the Moon or some other planetary configuration of paramount importance for getting the "knack" of that particular birth moment (and presumably person).