Horoscope sample text / Is there a metaphysics of the Yin Yang Horoscope?
In case you have not met the texts belonging to these ancient Chinese symbols before, as a sample the birth
hexagram Chien is presented with its "judgments" on each of its six "positions". Every person is born under
a hexagram and furthermore to one of these six places. These positions may be occupied by either undivided
lines, representing the active yang force, or divided lines, representative of the passive but responsive yin
force. During life one will "circulate" through all of the places and be exposed to the trends pronounced by
the judgment pertaining to each.
First some remarks on the composition of the symbol Chien (Gradual Development). The bottom three lines,
taken together, represent the principle of "kên", or steady concentration. In nature it can be seen in
the watchful immobility of the mountain and during the yearly cycle in the stillness of late winter,
just before the arrival of the thunderous forces of spring. Psychologically it is, among other things,
a symbol of deep concentration which becomes a prominent feature of every person born with it.
On this base, severely hard ground, we have the principle of "sun", mildness and/or penetration. In nature
it is represented by wood, "instinctively" stretching out roots and branches to be provided with sustenance
from sun and earth, that is, outside sources.
Now, very little nourishment is available via the roots
since rock hard ground is underneath the tree. In the year cycle the principle of sun is connected to
late spring - the time before things are being slowed down by great heat. Sun is also represented by
the wind, signifying extreme mobility.
In ancient times the combination of stillness and mobile penetration, in this particular order,
was assigned its name "chien" or "gradual development". The
Sinologue James Legge likened the process
hinted at to water slowly soaking into wood. From this we can see that although the
upper - and outer - force is very mobile, the general trend is slow development.
Imagine the case
that gave rise to the celebrity sample presented on the main page, a successful
tennis player,
and picture the innumerable fast and mobile moves on the tennis court needed to SLOWLY secure a victory.
The tennis game is indeed well-described as a gradual development, spanning hours of toil on the hard
ground, which, like the mountain, stands absolutely neutral to the whereabouts of the players on it.
A person born under this or any other sign, will have the entire set of texts as a canvas from which to
pick colors. Some canvases are more varied than others, though. The Gradually Developing is almost
painfully single-minded in its goal-orientedness.
Not very many hexagrams shows, like this one does,
a single symbol (the wild goose, see below) persisting through all of its six individual positions.
You can hardly expect to wear a Chien personality down, rather he or she will wear you out by returning
to the same thread over and over again! The lower force, kên, is the Yang power in a state of rest as
indicated by its symbol, the mountain, and thus it excels in holding its own for a prolonged period.
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Chien - overall judgment:
Gradual development.
The girl's marriage [lit: "returning home"] brings good fortune.
Favorability through steadiness.
Individual line judgments:
Bottom six:
The wild goose gradually proceeds towards the river bank.
A small child [at this early stage of development would be a] danger.
There would be words of criticism [or gossip].
No disaster.
Six at second:
The wild goose gradually proceeds to the rock.
Eating and drinking in happiness.
Good fortune!
Nine at third:
The wild goose gradually proceeds on the high plateau.
The man marches out to war but will not return.
The woman is pregnant but will not give birth.
[Two exemplifications of] misfortune.
Favorable to resist robbers.
Six at fourth:
The wild goose proceeds towards the trees.
Perhaps it will find its log [to settle down on].
No disaster.
Nine at fifth:
The wild goose proceeds towards the hill.
The woman does not become pregnant for three years.
Ultimately [the marriage match] is not bettered [that is, there will be a conception].
Good fortune.
Top nine:
The wild goose proceeds to a high plateau.
Its feathers may be used in the handling of ornamentation.
Good fortune.
Divided yin lines are called "sixes" and governs six year periods in this system; undivided
yang lines are called "nines" and correspondingly governs nine year periods. After having lived
through all of the varied circumstances symbolically described above, the "Gradually Developing"
(and any other character) steps into a new symbol, covering the mature period of his/her life.
Given the difference in duration between the lines, people with a majority of yang in their birth
symbols will have a longer way to maturity, which of course does not imply they will live longer.
Take Madonna as an example, born under the all-yang symbol this would seem to indicate a type of life
needing a VERY long walk until getting sight of her true nature. According to the Yin Yang Horoscope,
this will occur in her 50s. The other extreme is the pure Yin personality, which, akin to the female
psychology (and bodily cycles), moves in shorter and more rapid cycles, according to this system
resulting in a potential full personal development a in the late 30s.
The starting position may indicate whether one already at birth
possesses the wisdom necessary for dealing
with this primary motif in life; whether this life is for training or repetition. Reincarnation is only hinted
at in this system and nowhere explicitly mentioned, but one must presuppose something of the sort when asking
oneself why the birth was to this and not that line position*. Some people are born in such a
relation to their horoscope that its greatest potential passes them by at the wrong time. An example of this
would be entering life directly in the position of kingship - in most of these symbols represented by the
fifth position (counting from the bottom). One may argue that it would have been nicer to reap this "success"
a little later in life where it could have been more fully cherished!
Though pure speculation, a birth to a fifth line (or any other position) might indicate what station
in life the arriving soul last worked at since each position in a hexagram corresponds to an approximate social
status, the equivalent of which can be found in almost any society. In other words, the birth position picks up
the former deeds (karma) and continues the story where it last left off! But, as said, this is metaphysics and
not an explicit part of the system.
Just as with Western astrology and its drawing of the planets and the zodiac signs, one might just as well view
the entire birth hexagram as the expression of one's karma, one's task or mission in life. This is the persisting
theme with which one will wrestle with for some time to come after being born...
Others, on the other hand, may "step into" their birth symbol with such timing (Destiny) that the symbol's
evolution goes hand in hand with what is possible during any given phase of the human life cycle. Having used former
tennis champion Bjorn Borg elsewhere on this site for a sample horoscope of the Chien type, it can be noted that
his birth to the third position put him at exactly the right age to come by the all-important fifth position in
the full possession of physical strength. It was during these years in the "king's position" that Borg began
securing his greatest victories. In this hexagram the "kingly position" is not, in contrast to many other birth
symbols, followed by a sharp decline when entering the top position, and so Borg's victories could continue well
into the succeeding nine year cycle.
The personal pages contains explanations to the sometimes bewildering stories you've seen a sample of above.
You can also find a wealth of information on the Internet when searching on the subject of "I Ching" (although
not much on its astrological aspect). I encourage you to do some searching. In that way you will already have
seen the wildest and most fanciful interpretations if you come back here. As an astrologer I am very reluctant
to go into any new age syncretism, but prefer to stay close to what is really known about this ancient symbol
system. A personal interpretation contains some material of a speculative kind, but not overly much.
*Actually there is one very mysterious passage in a circa 2200 year old commentary
called The Great Treatise (Ta Chuan) which is included in some translations, Legge's and Wilhelm's for instance.
It is not given any further explanation and left Legge in despair. Wilhelm clarified it well. I just leave
you to reflect on the very last sentence of this description of how wise people of old came to know the things
they knew:
Looking upward, we contemplate with its (the Book of Changes) help the signs in the heavens; looking down, we
examine the lines of the earth. Thus we come to know the circumstances of the dark and the light (the yin and the
yang). Going back to the beginnings of things and pursuing them to the end, we come to know the lessons of life
and of death. The union of seed and power produces all things; the escape of the soul brings about change. Through
this we come to know the conditions of outgoing and returning spirits.
(Passage quoted from Richard Wilhelm's translation, immensely more lucid than James Legge's on this paragraph.)
The last sentence refers to the ancient Chinese belief in two souls occupying the human body during life, the "kuei"
returning to earth at the physical passing away and the "shen" returning to heaven (and the ancestors). Wilhelm noted that
it was the latter type that was thought capable of again entering a body. The philosopher Chuang Tzu, living at
roughly the time of this text, or a little earlier, perceived one great Transformation going on in the Universe,
and jokingly said that he would gladly be satisfied with turning into a bird's beak for his next round, if that
was what was in store for him!
The concept of reincarnation might be held to have been introduced in China with
Buddhism, but it would rather appear that some of the pre-Buddhist thinking was occupied with much the same issues.
Here one would rather look for the ancient ideas embedded in the key concepts of "change" and "transformation".
Probably the original Chinese ideas were absorbed by the more highly developed concepts arriving with the Buddhists.
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