Nine Year Cycle in the Cosmos
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The I Ching Astrology is a part of Chinese Shamanism. It is a nine year cycle that repeats throughout a lifetime. It can provide startling insight for what has happened in the past years and what is likely to happen in future years, all based on cycles in the Cosmos.
The nine year cycle always occurs in the same order: Center, Heaven, Lake, Mountain, Fire, Water, Earth, Thunder, Wind, and then back to Center again. Below you can read the different years represented in the nine year cycle. Figure 1 and Figure 2 represent the nine year cycle with its corresponding element and direction. |
Figure 1
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Figure 2
What is I Ching Astrology?
In this system, earthly events are believed to be affected by the position and movement of stars. The stars in turn have a direct effect on all living things and events in life. Joel Seigneur uses examples and personal accounts of his experiences with this system, telling of direct and specific effects on people. The effects are rather specific to each individual but the general influences each year are very regular and consistent. In the class, audience members also share their own personal experiences. The I Ching Astrology cycle repeats every 9 years. Once you know the system, you can look back on your life and see the trends and cyclic patterns. Looking up family members and friends in the system can be very revealing. Celebrity's birthdays are easy to look up and watch as events unfold.
What is the I Ching?
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At the heart of ancient Chinese cosmology was the I Ching. Known as a system of divination, and a model of dynamic balance and inevitable change, it has been referenced through history as an expression of wisdom and philosophy. Some contemporary research indicates that the genetic code is contained in the 64 Hexagrams of The I Ching. Much has been published about The I Ching but it's very hard to describe. The Taoists used to say that once something is defined with words, It no longer fits the object of description. The basic structure of The I Ching Astrology is all based on the I Ching.
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What is the Five Element Theory?
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Referred to many times in the I Ching Astrology, The Five Element Theory describes a system of energy running through the entire Universe and proposes that every living thing has the five element system of dynamics running through it. Many Chinese traditions are based on this system: Acupuncture, Feng Shui, Tui Na, The Enneagram, etc. The Five Element system is also derived from the I Ching.
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Class Introduction
The I Ching Astrology is part of a live and very interactive presentation recorded in Los Angeles, California. It is an hour long segment of a two day workshop about Chinese Shamanism and the Five Element Theory of Ancient Chinese Medicine, presented by healer and lecturer, Joel Seigneur. During Shamanistic times, finding the root of an illness was the approach to healing. Physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects all made up the individual. For the ancient Chinese, life occurrences were recognized as being tied in with cosmic cycles orchestrated by the Stars.
The I Ching Astrology is one facet of this whole picture. Joel presents a condensed version of The I Ching Astrology. He also teaches a full day, more in depth course of this same topic. The recording of this Chinese Shamanism class from which these recording segments come, is now released in its entirety under teh Chinese Shamanism tab.
The Center (The Middle of the Wheel)
Everyone is born into the center, change year. It's the beginning of the nine year cycle. When you're in the center, you're the mixture of all eight of the energies which merge to create something. There is always a fundamental change that occurs in your life when you're in the center. Society follows that. You're in the middle of the wheel at 18 years of age; that's often when people go to college, or when people go from being with their parents to being independent, or go from a town to a big town, or from a big city to a country town, or whatever form it takes. When you're in the middle, it’s a year for big change; it may come early in that year, or it may come at the very end, but a big change will come. It could be a geographic location change, career change, or it could be a personal transformation, or for example, you could have a major sickness that totally handicaps you, and the big change is you no longer have it. It’s big changes like that, a very fundamental change. The key in that year is flexibility. It’s not the year to sign a 10-year lease or contract because the change might include moving. One needs to be flexible and open. If you resist change, it’s a lousy year. If you’re open to change, it’s an exciting year. It’s always a bad idea to resist change anyway because life is made of change, but when change is the theme of the year, then it’s particularly a bad idea. The change can be gradual or just one event that suddenly changes everything. It’s a new start, a new beginning.
Physical Weaknesses
It could be anything because it’s the melting pot of all energies.
Heaven (Metal Element)
Heaven is a year to cultivate yang. The Trigram is three yangs, meaning, very yang, which means you have tenacity. You don’t let down. You face challenges and push through them. Instead of saying, "Oh I’d rather not," you just move ahead. This is a yang year, firm and sustainable. That’s what those three solid lines are about. It’s a driving force to make things, to accomplish things, because yang represents the doing. The yin doesn’t do, but the yin supports the yang. This is a year of action. Instead of staying at home and reading books, you’re out there doing things which could also take the form of investing or learning (investments in life). You might build another floor on your house, you might learn a new degree, but it’s a new degree, not for fun, but as an investment, it’s a building mentality and it’s vigorous. You have to be lively, you have to be persevering, you have to not let go being yang, having the courage to press forward and all. That’s what it is to be very yang. It’s just the opposite image of Earth which is all yin. We get to be all these things going through the 9 year cycle; we're not always stuck in yang, but in the Heaven year, that’s what we’re dealing with. At that time life can be really demanding and nevertheless, you must keep investing in the future. That’s yang. It’s strong and solid and non-wavering.
Physical Weaknesses
The metal element is activated this year meaning weaknesses in the lungs, large intestine, skin. You know it’s very interesting because I told myself I’m entering a period where the lungs are going to get weak, because that’s how it works. The Stars erode the stamina of the lungs, large intestine, skin in the Heaven year. My lungs were really in good shape then, so it would take a while for the Stars to erode that and I thought I didn’t have to worry about my lungs for a while, and, Bingo! For the first time in my life I got pneumonia, in December. Two months before the Heaven year started. So I started the year already with weak lungs--so see how it works?
Lake (Metal Element)
From my experience, if you do not heed to the way of the Lake, typically one of two things will happen to people. Either they get into an immobilizing condition like a broken leg where they have to take six weeks off and that kind of thing, or they end up in jail, because in Lake you’re supposed to cultivate reflections. A lake is a reflection of Heaven. In the Lake year, you’re supposed to enjoy things because a lake represents enjoyment. It’s peaceful and pretty. People go to the lake for recreation, to refresh their spirits, to reflect, to cool off, to calm down. You have to take the foot off the accelerator when you’re in a Lake year. It comes after the Heaven year, which is just the opposite. There are a lot of contrasts like that in the Universe. You finish a Fire year, and then you enter a Water year. A Heaven year is very firm and pushy, hard and driven with all that strength to keep going and when you’ve made plans for a break, the plans fall apart and you have to stay busy and keep going. That’s Heaven. But after that you switch to Lake. In Lake you have to lay back some, not that you stay in bed and do nothing, but you cool off. You have to allow time for reflection, for entertainment, for enjoyment. You really have to do that and if you don’t, again, from my experience, the Universe will immobilize you in some way. Legal problems often arise in a Lake year. If you look into it, when people get locked up, very often it’s in a Lake year. Not that you are going to be locked up automatically if you’re in Lake, but you’re supposed to quiet down. You’re not supposed to go as hard when you were in Heaven.
Physical Weaknesses
The Metal element is activated again this year (like the Heaven year before it) meaning that element gets even weaker in the lungs, large, intestine, skin. If you get hemorrhoids, that’s at the end of the large intestine in the rectum and relates to the Metal element. If you get polyps, that too is a Metal problem. If you’re going to get skin cancer, it’s likely to be in a Heaven or a Lake year. If you have a doubtful mole, have it checked when you are in those years, because that’s when it could be activated.
Mountain (Earth Element)
When visiting the Mountain energy, you have to espouse that energy and behave like a mountain. If you don’t behave like a mountain, it’s going to hurt anything that erects you, (the skeleton), mostly the back, the spine. To act like a mountain, just look at one and think about what it is. A mountain stands out, so that’s the time to stand up and stand out, it’s not the time to compromise, it’s the time to be an army general who has made a decision and when things don’t go well and everyone criticizes it, you get them fired. You execute it- "we keep going. I stand firm. I go against anything, I am right, this is right, I don’t care what you think." If you want to be Mr. nice guy or Ms. nice gal, then you are going to have lots of problems in that year because you’re supposed to be a mountain.
There was an example of a minister who was trained to be nice, compromise with everybody and avoid making waves. As a result, she had a lot of trouble in her congregation when she was in the Mountain year. She really hurt her hip badly. She was not acting like a mountain, but was trying to be water. The New Testament is a lot about the water philosophy, Jesus came and basically taught the world about the water philosophy, but it’s not the way to go while in a Mountain year.
Mountain is a year to go up but the way you do it is very careful so whatever you do, whether in your business or whatever you approach, you have to proceed as if you were climbing a mountain. You don’t lift your left foot until your right foot is on firm ground. If you rush up the mountain, you’ll fall down. If you’re running a business and you say, "I'm really gonna crack the whip, push all of the limits, and just go for it." If you rush in a Mountain year, you will fall. You have to be cautious and proceed carefully, that’s part of the style. It’s pretty simple and straightforward.
The Mountain is where you find the most diversity of vegetation, metals, minerals, climates, animals, etc. It’s a little bit of a Noah’s ark and because of that exposure to a wide range of different things, it’s a year to practice tolerance. In a Mountain year, people can get isolated to test their resolve. For example, say you have a close friend with whom you always share everything and suddenly the friend says, "I disagree with you. I don’t want to have anything to do with you," and if you say "Okay, I change my mind so I keep you," you’re not a mountain. You have to say,"I stick to my guns." Sometimes there’s some isolation in a Mountain year just to force you to come up with that kind of feeling. Standing firm is the main thing.
As far as back problems are concerned, they may come any time in the year but they could already show up even before the Mountain year starts, as early as October or November because the Mountain energy is creeping up, and the more you act like a mountain, the less back problem you’ll get. The back problems are just there to remind you, hey- you're not being a mountain. So therefore your back hurts because your back is what makes you a mountain. That’s what keeps you erect. Now we don’t get our lessons fully at one time, so expect the back to be a weak spot because if you didn’t get your whole lesson, you still get a little back problem. But the more you espouse the mountain, incarnate the spirit of the mountain, the less back trouble you’ll have.
Physical Weaknesses
The Earth element is activated this year, meaning weaknesses in the stomach, spleen, pancreas. For example, you could have digestive problems. If you have a tendency toward hypoglycemia it would pick up in a Mountain year. Should you not act like a mountain it would really pick up strongly.
Fire (Fire Element)
Fire is bright, if you want to act like fire you say "look at me". How do you get the world to look at you? You keep your mouth open, you interrupt people. You wear outrageous clothing. You wear gigantic earrings (for example). Women tend to dress more sexy in a Fire year, to draw more attention. That’s fiery, that’s sexual glands.
Fire is martial. Water (the opposite of fire) avoids conflicts, Fire goes straight to it. That’s where the buck stops. Fire is very confronting. Fire goes quickly to the top. You blow on a little ember and it quickly goes to the ceiling. In other words, limitation is not in your vocabulary this year - you go to the top. Some piddly little bureaucrat bothers you - you call The President. In Mountain (the previous year) you go through the numbers, through the hierarchy and so on, but when you're Fire, nothing stops you.
Fire is very forceful, not the time to pussyfoot around - time to be very direct. It’s also a year where the B.S. stops. Fire explodes. It’s the inside coming out. The identity of fire is on the outside. The inside is not as warm. It’s the outside that burns. That hollow core and the outside abrasiveness must be embodied in a Fire year. The Trigram is Yang lines on the outside, and yin on the inside so, in other words if you have feelings that you keep inside and you keep your mouth shut and you don’t want to make waves, this is not the year for it. This year it’s explosion from inside out. Do it twice as hard. "The volcano erupts." "It’s a year to kick butts." The Fire is not diplomatic. It’s explosion, a bomb, not holding back feelings, just putting them out there - an outburst.
Fire has to do with sexual glands, so people feel more sexual energy in a Fire year, and are more interest in sexual things. I remember a lady who was very catholic. She was taught to button the collar, be nice to everyone and not make waves. Forget it in a Fire year. Unbutton your collar, put on big shoes, kick, wear big earrings, ring the bell. Put a bell on your earrings, say "Here I am, look at me!" It’s that kind of stuff in a Fire year. For some people it could be a drastic cultural change. If you’re a woman living under the Taliban it’s not easy, but you still have to find a way. Fire is very physical. So you’ll be less in the mind and more in the instincts-more on the physical plane, more laughter, enjoyment, gratification, more in the sexual glands, less in the head. Sexual glands have to do with the very physical connection of Fire energy, in fact it’s reproduction.
Physical Weaknesses
The Fire Element is activated this year, meaning, weaknesses in: the heart, small intestines, blood vessels, etc.... If the fire is repressed, people might notice it in the sexual glands because they didn’t let that explosion come out enough, (acting too shy).
Water (Water Element)
The Water year is opposite of Fire. In Water year, the whole action is outside in so you become quiet and observant. If you have a problem, you don’t confront it, you avoid it. If you were in a Fire year and you have a problem then you address it in a Fire way and it works out. In a Water year, the only way you’re going to make it work out is by avoiding it. If you’re going to take the position like, "I’m going to sue them," or whatever it is, then you’re going to fail, but if you practice avoidance, then you have a much greater chance of success. The mind has a set way of doing things, a way and a style to do it in, you see that in management a lot. There is a hierarchy and a set format, but there are different waysand styles of handling things based on the astrology.
There’s a lot about Water, like avoiding obstacles, not being splashy, not being confronting, but being very sensitive to other people. When you’re in a Fire phase, who cares about the other people, that’s the style, but in a Water year, it’s what do the other people think about it? It’s totally the opposite of Fire. When you’re Fire it’s time to boost the ego, to come out, to be noticed. In a Water year it’s a time to be more subdued, to cultivate humility. Water always settles down, Fire always wants to go up, because it’s the nature of fire is to stand up and shine. The nature of Water and what keeps it alive is for it to flow. By flowing it goes downward and downward and by going downward it keeps flowing. To go downward is humility. By practicing humility and by being humble, you improve your life in a water year. Eventually if you’re humble enough, this little river becomes the ocean. By becoming lower than everything else, you become bigger. That’s the philosophy of Water. So by practicing humility and putting yourself second. That’s how you become big. That’s the nature of Water.
An illustrious example of someone in a Water year was former President Clinton when he had his Lewinski scandal. If you remember, in the same year he got a hearing aid which is pretty young man for a hearing aid, only 50-51. He got a hearing aid in that Water year because his kidneys were weak. If you are in a Water year, expect some events to occur that are totally out of your control because that’s the only way to force you to be Water. If it’s out of your control, all you can do is flow with it and see where you end up. The word that comes with that is trust. It’s a year to develop trust, not thinking everything you do is your own doing but knowing that there is a flow and you see where the flow takes you. So the key word is trust and that’s why the Universe gives you events out of your control like Clinton had. What could he do? The friend of Lewinski spilled the beans and the media was making things out of it. All he could do was just watch, go with the flow and avoid the subject and the obstacles. Actually that’s what he did pretty much, but he had no choice, that was the way to go.
Physical Weaknesses
The Water element is activated this year, meaning, weaknesses in the kidneys and bladder so therefore the lower back, the bones and ears etc. These things will be weaker at that time. If you have arthritis it could pick up. To reduce those problems act like a Water in a Water year. Those physical manifestations can be called disasters or reminders that we’re not being enough like Water.
Earth (Earth Element)
To be Earth is to be feminine, yin, mother Earth. It’s the most feminine year. So how do you practice being yin? Yin is patient. Yin is yielding. Yin is nurturing. Yin is nesting. So for example, it’s a very good year to decorate the house, improve the home and make it a place that feels like a nest, comfortable. It’s a year to dress more feminine, maybe a little heel, a little lace or whatever to appear more feminine, to cultivate anything feminine in you. If it’s a man, extra attention to what he’s wearing does it.
Taking care of a garden is nurturing. It’s about growing things and that’s what the Earth does. taking care of children, and doing things with children, that’s definitely very motherly and Earthy, but also the Earth year implies that you deal with practical matters and that you stay to the ground. For example, should you have a corporate job and you say, "This is the year where I will go for it, I’m going to be president this year." No, not in an Earth year. In the Earth year, the key words are stability and femininity. You want to feel stable. That’s what Earth energy is about. People in that year like to be on the ground for the sense of security and stability. So should you push forward too much, the Universe will signal it to you by somebody stabbing you in the back, not literally necessarily, but for example in an organization if you’re in an Earth year, somebody will stab you in the back to bring you down to the ground. It’s a time to be more practical. From your point of view, the one stabbing you in the back is a bad person, but it’s still Heaven sending that person to remind you to be more practical, grounded, and stable. The Earth is abused. A mother gets abused by the children, It’s a very giving and abused
person. The Earth year is a year of giving.
Physical Weaknesses
The Earth element is activated this year, meaning, weaknesses in the stomach, spleen, pancreas. Hypoglycemia or an ulcer could flare up, all those kinds of physical problems are a possibility. You can have problems on the areas of the spine that connect to the stomach, pancreas and spleen.
Thunder (Wood Element)
You need thunder and lightning for things to grow. A Thunder year is the time to put down a new foundation. It’s not a drastic change but definitely a time for a new foundation and a new dimension in your life. It’s not that you totally change your life but you’re definitely adding a new activity, a new knowledge, really a new dimension in your life. You’re putting down a foundation. If you look at thunder, the base is yang, That’s the foundation and all the rest is yin.
Thunder is noticeable so if you don’t like to make noise, too bad, make noise. What does that mean to make noise? It means getting your message across, also switching gears, because last year you were in an Earth year, so this year is more public. Earth was a time of being in retreat. Thunder is definitely a year of action. A year to go out in public.
If you go back in history to the times you were in any of the positions around the wheel (Water, Fire ,Thunder,etc.) and see what your life was like then physically, personality wise and so fourth. It’s an indication of what it will be like this time around the wheel.
Physical Weaknesses
The Wood element is activated this year, meaning weaknesses in the liver, gallbladder, nerves. If you have nerve problems, they’re more likely to be pronounced this year, especially if you don’t act like a Thunder. If you have liver problems, they will be aggravated. If you tend to get depressed, depression will show up. If you have cramps, they’re more likely and so fourth. The sight changes. If you are in a liver year you might need a new pair of glasses, that kind of thing.
Wind (Wood Element)
The key word in Wind is communication. Wind is a great communicator on the surface of the Earth. It allows the seeds to move around and it unifies everything. When you are in a Wind year, you have to communicate. For example, if you don’t have a relationship, you’ll be given an opportunity for a relationship for the sake of communication. If you have a relationship that’s based on non-communication, then in a Wind year it becomes intolerable, and fights will come out of it. Then if you still want to stay together, just stay in separate buildings so the communication problems don’t exist. It's a year of communication. also meaning that if you have an opportunity to travel, you say yes to it. Even if you’re exhausted and you’d like to stay home, you go on the plane. When somebody asks you to go somewhere, don’t say, "I’m tired," just go. If you’re invited to a new group and they think differently from you, go and listen to them. Again, it’s really a year of communication and you should do that when you’re in the Wind year, the next 10 years of your life will be easier. The way it works in a Wind year, is you’re going to meet one or two people with opportunities that will pan out, big help in the next 10 years. It will be a real support to your life, to your opportunities, to your way of thinking and to your way of being.
I remember a lady who inherited an enormous amount of money from her husband in a Wind year who decided to stop working and decorate her house. That’s not Wind, that’s recluse. Wind is communication so even if you inherit a big sum of money, just keep going and keep doing things. Forget you’ve got the money, don’t say,"Now I go to Las Vegas and live by the pool for the rest of the year," because that’s not acting like a Wind any more. See, you have to really be on the go. Typically people travel a lot in a Wind year. Conversely in an Earth year, traveling shrinks. The real opportunity and purpose of traveling disappears. If you have an opportunity to go that’s fine, but don’t push it, you’re supposed to stay close to home. The Wind year is when you travel a lot, and the opportunities really come. Wind is communication.
Physical Weaknesses
The Wood element is activated this year again, like the year before, meaning, further erosion and weaknesses in the liver, gallbladder, nerves, etc. It may affect brains, depression, nerves, stroke, any of the wood things. If you notice more impatience and waking up between 1 and 3, then you know, that’s the old liver friend.
Application of the I Ching Astrology
Your Life, Family & Friends
After learning the technique for looking yourself up in this system, it's interesting to look up past times in your life to see what The I Ching Astrology year was about at the time. Figures 32 and 33 can help to locate the year of inquiry, and reveal the underlying pattern of energy.
Celebrities
The birthdays of famous people of any type are usually listed on the internet and lots of biography programs covering historical and contemporary public figures appear on television . Once the birth year of a celebrity is known, watching the life unfold of that person in the I Ching Astrology patterns can be very interesting.
Example
Celebrity Birth Date Astrology Number
Martha Stewart Aug. 3 1941 #5
Martha Stewart went to prison in her Center Year ,the year of major change. She was released at the beginning of her Heaven Year, a year to get busy, which is what she did. The next Year, her Lake Year, 2006, was a year to take it easy and reflect.
The 9 Year Sequence always occurs in the same order:
Center, Heaven, Lake, Mountain, Fire, Water, Earth, Thunder, Wind, then back to Center.
After learning the technique for looking yourself up in this system, it's interesting to look up past times in your life to see what The I Ching Astrology year was about at the time. Figures 32 and 33 can help to locate the year of inquiry, and reveal the underlying pattern of energy.
Celebrities
The birthdays of famous people of any type are usually listed on the internet and lots of biography programs covering historical and contemporary public figures appear on television . Once the birth year of a celebrity is known, watching the life unfold of that person in the I Ching Astrology patterns can be very interesting.
Example
Celebrity Birth Date Astrology Number
Martha Stewart Aug. 3 1941 #5
Martha Stewart went to prison in her Center Year ,the year of major change. She was released at the beginning of her Heaven Year, a year to get busy, which is what she did. The next Year, her Lake Year, 2006, was a year to take it easy and reflect.
The 9 Year Sequence always occurs in the same order:
Center, Heaven, Lake, Mountain, Fire, Water, Earth, Thunder, Wind, then back to Center.