I Ching astrology – part 3

To make sense of I Ching astrology part 3 you’ll need to review my previous articles:

Energy cycles – the Feng Shui way

I Ching astrology – part 1

I Ching astrology – part 2

So far, we’ve looked at the trigrams which are the fundamental energy building blocks of our world and the cycles that they go through.  We’ve also applied these building blocks to part of ourselves, based on our date of birth.  In I Ching astrology – part 1 we looked at your birth star which is your inherent energy.  In I Ching astrology – part 2 we looked at your inner star which reveals your deeper nature and emotions.  In this article we are going to look at the third and final star which is known as your Outer Star or Energetic Number.

Your outer star reflects the face you show to the world and how people perceive you.  It tells us how you communicate with the outside world and also gives us clues about your hopes, aspirations or what you may be capable of achieving.

Your outer star is calculated from combining your inner star with the Lo Shu table (this is a table used in Feng Shui and is also called a Magic Square or Square of Saturn).  Rather than take up time with this calculation the table below is a quick reference guide for you which details all three stars: birth, inner and outer.  Find your birth star in the first column and then move along the row until you reach the correct month column.  (Remember that you may be using the preceding month if your birthday is close to the beginning of the month – see I Ching astrology – part 2 for exact dates.) 

Month→	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEP	OCT	NOV	DEC	JAN
Year ↓
1 WATER	187	178	169	151	142	133	124	115	196	187	178	169
2 EARTH	225	216	297	288	279	261	252	243	234	225	216	297
3 THUNDER	353	344	335	326	317	398	389	371	362	353	344	335
4 WIND	481	472	463	454	445	436	427	418	499	481	472	463
5 T’AI CHI	528	519	591	582	573	564	555	546	537	528	519	591
6 HEAVEN	656	647	638	629	611	692	683	674	665	656	647	638
7 LAKE	784	775	766	757	748	739	721	712	793	784	775	766
8 MOUNTAIN	822	813	894	885	876	867	858	849	831	822	813	894
9 FIRE	959	941	932	923	914	995	986	977	968	959	941	932

Now that you have all three numbers but for this article we are just focussing on the outer star or last number:

1 Water

Water flows and, if it gets blocked one way it will go another route.  Like water your nature is flexible and adaptable: change is not a problem for you.  We can experience water in many different ways: a soft misty shower or a torrid raging waterfall and your energy is just as changeable.  Water also represents the subconscious and the unknown.  People don’t always know what you are thinking and you may often surprise them with your reactions.

2 Earth

Earth is also the mother trigram.  People trust you and feel secure with you.  You’re a shoulder to cry on and someone to confide in.  And you do all of that very well: being of service is part of your nature.  However, people often forget that you may need support from others and, if you let them, they may unwittingly take advantage of you.  Therefore you may have to set boundaries at times.

3 Thunder

People certainly know when you’re around.  Your energy is tangible and, however hard you try, there is no way you can make a quiet entrance.  Your loud, impulsive behaviour can irritate some of the quieter stars.  However, for others you are pure inspiration and certainly get things moving and they welcome your vitality and often just follow behind you in the energy stream you create.

4 Wind

Like the wind others sometimes find it very hard to grasp you.  You have an elusive, almost ethereal quality.  Although others may see this as unreliable, or worry about your unpredictability, you do have a strong intuition and will always be in the right place at the right time.  To improve your relationships with other stars remember that they don’t have your qualities and try to communicate a little more.

5 Tai Chi

You attract people very much like the central palace that is your star.  People will gravitate towards you and may even be humbled in your presence.  You just have an air of authority about you: it isn’t put on or made up – it is just you.  The 5 tai chi also has the effect of doubling the energies of your first two stars and exaggerating their characteristics.  You will probably aggravate any star that has an ego problem but just ensure that you don’t take your natural charisma and authority for granted and become too domineering or bossy.

6 Heaven

You’ll always arrive early for any meeting and latecomers may see you checking your watch and tutting as they arrive.  People perceive you as being responsible, knowing the detail and being focused.  Some people may call you a perfectionist, others a jobsworth.  However, they’re happy to be on the same team with you if there are deadlines to be met and goals to be achieved.

7 Lake

You make the effort to be well dressed, groomed and sociable.  You’re an ideal host who will make anyone feel comfortable whatever the occasion.  People will like you, partly because you are a good listener and we all like to talk about ourselves but also because you’re fun and light-hearted.  Others may view you as superficial purely because you skim across subjects that aren’t much fun or that may dampen the mood.  And, if you are forced into a deep and meaningful conversation where you can’t be the social butterfly you are likely to walk away – it’s just not your scene.

8 Mountain

As a strong, silent type you may not be the life and soul of the party but you take everything in and respond when necessary.  You like to observe and people may call you quiet or reserved.  However, this reticence is not about shyness.  When an answer is required you usually have a very astute one to give.  People do not often see your emotions unless you are stirred into action, usually by a sense of unfairness or injustice.  Then they will see the mountain has a passionate heart.

9 Fire

You sizzle.  Probably wearing the loudest, most colourful outfit you will always be noticed when you walk into a room.  It may be your physical appearance, your loud voice or laugh or just the energy crackling around you.  People will view you as a bit of a fire cracker and the quieter stars may find you a touch too blingy.  The only thing you have to worry about is sustaining your energy.  You need others to support you otherwise you could burn yourself out.

This is the third part of your I Ching astrology and you now know your three stars.  In the next part we are going to look at how they interact with each other.

Jackie Notman is a copywriter, feng shui consultant and e-commerce retailer.  This article is from her blog ‘Life – and everything else’ where you’ll find an eclectic mix of articles and information.

 This Feng Shui information is general for everybody. However, there are deeper levels of Feng Shui which take into account you and your specific business or home environment. 

 If you would like to find out more about living in harmony with your environment, and using energy to your advantage, contact Jackie Notman on 07920 461574 or through her website www.fs168.co.uk

WANT TO PUBLISH THIS ARTICLE?
You have permission to publish this article as long as the tagline (above) with links is included and no changes are made to the article. A courtesy copy of your publication or link would be appreciated.

Energy cycles – the Feng Shui way

Like many other cultures, the ancient Chinese studied the stars, the earth, the patterns and cycles of nature and concluded, amongst other things, that things happen in cycles.  Once they knew the cycles they could predict what may be likely to happen in the future because, given similar circumstances, it had already happened in the past.

They also understand a maxim that is currently used: ‘As above, So below’ where the cycles of the universe are duplicated on a smaller scale in man – the macrocosm into the microcosm.  Therefore knowledge of these cycles can be applied to our individual lives.

The other aspect of these cycles is that they are eminently simple.  Our world is made up of two opposing forces – yin and yang.  Yin is the feminine, soft and diffuse energy whereas yang is the masculine, hard and focussed energy.  The two meet, each attempting to gain balance so there is never stillness.  Life is movement.  This dance of yin and yang is split into eight phases and shown in symbols known as trigrams.  Each trigram consists of three lines and each line is either yin or yang.  And so we have our building blocks of energy that create everything because everything contains a portion of yin energy and a portion of yang energy.

The I Ching is an ancient Chinese text, also known as The Book of Changes, which describes this energy dance between yin and yang. ( A Guide to the I Ching)
By combining each of the eight trigrams with each other it subdivides the phases of energy into 64 hexagrams.  Best known as a divination tool the I Ching is also used in Feng Shui when analysing the energy in homes and workplaces.

However, for the purposes of this article, we are sticking with the eight basic energy blocks, the trigrams, and how we can use that information to understand the changing energy of our environment.  Each trigram has been given a beautiful descriptive name.  it’s important to remember that this name describes the essence of what it is rather than the thing itself.  If you’re not sure what I mean by that you’ll get the picture as we look at each trigram:

Heaven

This is all yang (denoted by three unbroken lines) and is also known as Father.  Heaven or Father we view as being responsible, wise, strong and focussed.  In this energy we can gain focus, wisdom, authority and leadership.

Earth

This is all yin (denoted by three broken lines) and is also known as Mother.  Earth and Mother is nurturing, yielding, understanding and forgiving.  In this energy we can tap into our intuition and focus on the emotional and softer side of our character.

Thunder

Also known as eldest son, there is still a lot of yang in this energy but some yin is showing up too.  We think of thunder as being a strong natural force that happens quickly and intensely.  This energy allows us to explore and find new things.  It can be creative or destructive.

Wind

Also known as eldest daughter.  This energy is mainly yin with some yang.  If you think of the wind it’s hard to grasp and contain.  It will go where it wants, may be hard or soft and change very quickly.  A wind energy is as creative as thunder but more fickle.

Water

This is middle son and is balanced between yin and yang with just a little more emphasis on the yang.  Water can both destroy life with its force and nurture it as a life sustaining substance.  Water energy is, above everything else, flexible.  It can be many things to many people and is strongly tied to our subconscious.

Fire

The opposite of water, fire is the middle daughter.  And like water, the ultimate fire symbol – the sun can be either life destroying or sustaining.  Fire is hot, fast and illuminating.

Mountain

This is the youngest son who doesn’t have the inclination to tread new ground as his eldest brother.  The mountain is solid, immoveable and strong.  Sometimes that’s good, sometimes it’s stubbornness.  We go to mountains to retreat, either in a cave or on the summit where we can be a spectator of life rather than take part.

Lake

And finally the youngest daughter.  The lake is a playful, relaxing energy.  The youngest daughter doesn’t have to help with the chores or be a substitute mother like her eldest sister.  She can just relax and enjoy life and that is what the lake energy is all about.

Now you know the different types of energy, how do you use that information?  Well, each year is governed by a trigram.  As I write this in 2011 this year is a Lake year.  That means the underlying energy is a relaxing one: a time to recover from the harder energy of the previous year and take stock.  Of course, one type of energy for a whole year is not particularly realistic especially, as we know, energy is constantly changing.

Within that year, each month will be governed by a trigram.  Again as I write this on the 8^th August 2011 we have just gone into an Earth month.  So, although the underlying theme or energy for the year is relaxed, this month until the 7^th September has a nurturing, grounded energy, albeit in a relaxed way.

You’ll probably say that things change for you daily.  So you won’t be surprised to know that each day is also governed by a trigram: wheels within wheels and cycles within cycles.  Today is a Tai Chi day.

If you’re paying attention at this stage you’ll notice something missing.  There isn’t a Tai Chi trigram.  That’s because the Tai Chi is the centre of a wheel with all the eight trigrams radiating out from it.  Hence a tai chi day is about coming back to the centre, taking stock and grounding before going off again.  So, today the energy encourages us to take stock with our minds on nurturing or relationships but in a relaxed frame of mind.

Of course, you can choose to live your day today in harmony with that energy or fight against it.  The aim with Feng Shui is to harmonise our lives with the energetic world around us so this knowledge is useful and effective if you choose to use it.  To keep up to date with these daily energy cycles you can join my Facebook page.

The next article in this series explains how we use the same system for our personal astrology – starting with your birth star.

The information in this article has been provided to inform you about the general energy cycles that are all around us.  As with everything in Feng Shui there are deeper layers and the next layer we can look at on this subject is how your inherent energy interacts with this energetic world.

Jackie Notman is a copywriter, feng shui consultant and e-commerce retailer.  This article is from her blog ‘Life – and everything else’ where you’ll find an eclectic mix of articles and information.

 This Feng Shui information is general for everybody. However, there are deeper levels of Feng Shui which take into account you and your specific business or home environment. 

 If you would like to find out more about living in harmony with your environment, and using energy to your advantage, contact Jackie Notman on 07920 461574 or through her website www.fs168.co.uk

WANT TO PUBLISH THIS ARTICLE?
You have permission to publish this article as long as the tagline (above) with links is included and no changes are made to the article. A courtesy copy of your publication or link would be appreciated.