From Round to Square (and back)

For The Emperor's Teacher, scroll down (↓) to "Topics." It's the management book that will rock the world (and break the vase, as you will see). Click or paste the following link for a recent profile of the project: http://magazine.beloit.edu/?story_id=240813&issue_id=240610

A new post appears every day at 12:05* (CDT). There's more, though. Take a look at the right-hand side of the page for over four years of material (2,000 posts and growing) from Seinfeld and country music to every single day of the Chinese lunar calendar...translated. Look here ↓ and explore a little. It will take you all the way down the page...from round to square (and back again).
*Occasionally I will leave a long post up for thirty-six hours, and post a shorter entry at noon the next day.

Saturday, March 31, 2018

Lunar World Preview 2018 03-31

As the Lunar World Turns
Saturday, March 31, 2018
[a] Preview Kittens RF
Saturday will be a magnificent day in Lunar World, people. In fact, it is way (wei) good, as I'll explain, below. On top of it all, spring is here (and lightning storms begin).

Day Personality
(Section Five—Characters Six and Seven)
Today's "constellation personality" is Stomach (). That may not sound all that great to you, but, trust me, it's great. It really has more of the idea in Chinese cosmology of a storehouse, and the sense of abundance. It's all good, unless you're incarcerated, but that is a long story.
[b] Stomach RF

BOTH personalities are pronounced wei ("way").

The jianchu "personality" is Danger (). This is the only one of the "personalities" that repeats in each cycle. In the jianchu cycle, Danger is "lucky" (and the opposite in the constellation cycle). The only way to spin it is to say that this "danger" is all about the opportunity that lies within (you never get very far without taking a little risk, right?)...


Lucky Stars
(Section Two)
[c] Irrigation RF
The auspicious asterisms are Linked Days (合日) and Golden Hall (金堂). They're good. I'll have more to say about the particulars as we proceed, but just know that section two is all about the good things in Lunar World.


Auspicious Times
(Section Three)
There are three inauspicious (凶) times today, three in-between () times, and six auspicious () times. I am sensing a kind of "auspiciousness inflation" this year, but I'll keep watching before I say more. Half of the day is great, and three-quarters is red-ink. Maybe that works for today (note the "personalities"), but it seems suspicious to me, based on twenty-five years of calendar reading (in which days almost always come out 4-4-4).


Things to Avoid
(Section Four)
It's a bad day for Opening Sluices (開渠), meaning irrigation activities, and Putting-into Water (放水). Think about these. Water is a big problem today. Rubber ducks are all right (in my interpretation), but keep the kayak, canoe, or boat on land (at least in Lunar World).
[d] Movin' On Out RF

Just Plain Counting
(Section Four—Characters 1-4)
It is the fifteenth (十五) day of the second lunar month. The moon should be full tonight. It is also #59: renxu (壬戌), the penultimate combination in what we call the Cycle of Sixty.

Elemental (and Phased)
(Section Five—Character 5)
Today's slice of the "Five Phases" (sometimes called the "Five Elements") is Water (水). Ordinarily, the Five Phases weave their way, two-by-two, through the calendar. Yesterday was Wood. Today is Water, and tomorrow is Water.

Appropriate Things
(Section Six) 
It's a solid day for six different things, including Going Out (出行), Moving Households (移徙) and Opening Markets (開市). Click the link below for the rest of 'em. 
[e] Perch RF

We also have today one of the seventy-two little five-day periods that make up the heart-of-the-heart of the agricultural calendar. Today's is First Lightning (始電), and it is a sure-fire sign of the start of spring.

Fear Your Unlucky Stars 
(Bottom of Section Six)
The baleful asterisms (the bottom of section six) are Upper Amputee (上兀) and Lunar Balefulness (月煞). They're bad.

Miscellaneous Omens and Activities
(Sections Seven and Eight)

Bifurcation (丫) is the miscellaneous omen of the day. No one knows what it means (and, seriously, I am only partly joking. If you have read this far, please know that I have asked dozens of calendrical experts, and they shrug their shoulders and say some version of "beats the hell out of me."

The miscellaneous building activities are Granary (倉), Perch (栖), and Storehouse (庫). No one knows what they mean either (see my final sentence in the paragraph above; I'm not kidding).

See You Tomorrow
So, it's a boffo, red-ink wonder-day (with a little bit of red-ink "risk." Go for it, people, and I'll see you back here for a preview of a very confusing Sunday, which (in the larger global context, if not in Lunar World) doesn't know exactly what it wants to be.
[f] Storehouse RF

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