As the Lunar World Turns
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
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| [a] Preview RF |
Tuesday's Lunar Calendar
Well, I hate to break it to you on such a fun and wonderful day of calendrical optimism, but we are entering what is called an "Orphan Year." You might have thought that it was exciting to have the solar (of "luni-solar") New Year starting yesterday (February 4...every year). Yup, yesterday was the agricultural calendar's Solar New Year. What that means, though, is that his year runs from February 5, 2020 through January 23, 2021. Yup—no Solar New Year at all. Orphan. Alone. We'll manage, I'm sure, so let's get on to the information in today's day column.
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| [b] Turtle Beak RF |
Constellation Personality (Section Five—Character Six)
Jianchu Personality (Section Five—Character Seven)
The jianchu "personality" is Danger (危). It is the eighth of twelve characters in the jianchu cycle. It is the not-as-bad-as-you-might-think, and is even printed in red ink. It is a day of danger and opportunity, so grasp your chances (but don't get too confident). That is the basic message of the calendar.
Lucky Stars
(Section Two)
There are six beneficent asterisms today (no day is as jam-packed): Fortunate Engendering (福生), Yin General, (陰德), Discarding Spirits (除神), Chirp-Bark, which is particularly interesting (鳴吠), Great Clarity (大明), and Spirits Reside (神在). They shine over Lunar World with red-ink wonder.
(Section Three)
We see a "balanced" day today. There are four inauspicious (凶) two-hour periods, four in-between (中) times, and, yup, four auspicious (吉) times. This is the way that it is supposed to be. Good stuff.
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| [c] Cultivating RF |
(Section Four)
It's a bad day for six things: Lawsuits and Litigation (詞訟), Setting-up Production (置產), Planting and Cultivation (栽種), Constructing Dikes (築堤), New Boats (新船), and Entering Water (進水). You have to decide how to interpret them, since that is all that the text says. One of the fascinating things about reading traditional literature is to get a sense of how people did interpret some of these categories.
Just Plain Counting
(Section Four—Characters 1-4)
It is the first (初一) day of the first lunar month. Yup, the very first day of the (lunar) year. The cycle of sixty character is #10 guiyou (癸酉). The days cycle—1, 2, 3, 58, 59, 60, 1, 2, 3...—in perpetuity.
Elemental (and Phased)
(Section Five—Character 5)
Today's slice of the "Five Phases" (sometimes called the "Five Elements") is Metal (金). Ordinarily, the Five Phases weave their way, two-by-two, through the calendar. Yesterday was Metal. Today is Metal, and tomorrow is Fire.
Appropriate Things
(Section Six)
Every day except this one has a list of appropriate things to do (in contrast to Section Four—Things to Avoid. Not today. Instead, we see a long list of calendrical cycles and lucky directions. The good news is that they're all in red, and as auspicious as auspicious can be.
(Section Five—Character 5)
Today's slice of the "Five Phases" (sometimes called the "Five Elements") is Metal (金). Ordinarily, the Five Phases weave their way, two-by-two, through the calendar. Yesterday was Metal. Today is Metal, and tomorrow is Fire.
Appropriate Things
(Section Six)
Every day except this one has a list of appropriate things to do (in contrast to Section Four—Things to Avoid. Not today. Instead, we see a long list of calendrical cycles and lucky directions. The good news is that they're all in red, and as auspicious as auspicious can be.
Tuesday's Lunar Calendar
See You Tomorrow
O.k.,
folks. Enjoy your New Year's Day, and I'll see you back here soon for a preview of the coming days.
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| [d] New Year's Anticipation RF |
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