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National fortunes and international landscape of Eastern Asia by reading 'Saju' of national leaders
By Janet Shin
What will become in 2020, the Year of the White Rat as per the Saju perspective?
As with an individual's fate, every year's fate can be read by the 60-gapja sexagenary cycle, which is based on the almanac system to establish the unit of time observing periodic phenomena of celestial bodies from ancient times. The basic algorithm is a combination of 10 celestial stems and 12 terrestrial branches.
It may sound a bit incongruent to mention "algorithm" when talking about Saju. Actually because of this, Saju theory of the East has become a significant study with a history of over 3,000 years and has also been studied in the West, though different from common modern western science.
To further explain, the 10 celestial stems and 12 terrestrial branches, the basic tools and code systems of Saju, are derived from the cognition and interpretation of the universe by yin and yang and five elements from ancient days. Mathematically, yin and yang are the number two and the five elements are number five, and when they are multiplied they become 10 celestial stems. Meanwhile four cardinal points, east, west, south and north and the four seasons or 12 months of the year become 12 terrestrial branches. They represent the concept of time and space and the principle of changes. The sexagenary cycle is like the lowest common multiple of the 10 celestial stems and 12 terrestrial branches.
To deduce a person's life history by the sexagenary cycle is Saju, the four pillars of destiny. This is a way to interpret the person's birth information: birth year, month, day and hour. We can read the fortunes of a year with the same logic, read the fortunes of a certain company and even interpret the meaning of an artwork.
The year 2020 is a combination of "gyeong" (庚) as a celestial stem and "ja" (子) as a terrestrial branch. Gyeong is metal, one of the five elements and white in color, while ja is symbolized as a rat in its zodiac animal, so simply the year of gyeong-ja, 2020, is a white rat. From the perspective of the five elements, gyeong is white metal and ja is black water, so 'gyeong-ja' year can be defined as a contradiction of black and white and a combination of metal and water. They mutually generate but contrast with each other. It may explain the tendency for the energy of cold metal to circulate downward flowing.
In Saju, metals out of the five elements are divided into two types. Gyeong, the yang metal, represents a raw metal substrate. When gyeong metal meets the black water of ja, it tends to fix, reform and judge. It prefers practical value over ostensible decoration, drawing a clear line for distinction and strengthening the inner truth. Economically, people would prefer things that are actually needed or highly cost-effective rather than consumption picking up or buying luxury goods. That will lead to a tendency to personnel reduction, restructuring and cutting back of unnecessary costs.
Metals represent technology in its phenomena and the combination of gyeong-ja can also mean fluent speech. Thus, technological advances around the world will be further triggered and those with unique skills will emerge as new powers. As a result, changes in vested interests in various areas such as the economy, society, politics and culture could happen. If an investment is planned for 2020, it is recommended to do so where it relates to technology.
Forecasting the year as one of technological advance is an advantage of 2020, but economically, it is hard to avoid a downturn. The reason is because of the water energy. The economy is revitalized when the wood and fire elements come in, whereas the water element sheds a relatively dark and depressed energy. Unfortunately, the energy of water started in 2019 and will not be completed until 2021. The three-year economy will be hard to galvanize and continue to grow at a low rate, all meaning darkness, crouching and shrinking. Even though the economic trend cannot be globally identical, this tendency has repeated by a 10 year-cycle; There was a similar economic recession about 10 years ago in 2007-09, the 2008 global economic crisis specifically. Turning the clock back a bit further, there was the IMF crisis in Korea during the 1996-97 period when the energy of the water element came.
The overall atmosphere of the year is sometimes improved and other times worsened, depending on the fate of each country's leaders. Reading Saju of the leaders, some people have good personal fortunes, while their national fortunes have worsened by the chemistry of the nations and the leaders.
Unfortunately, Moon Jae-in, the President of South Korea, has acquired career luck since his age of 64's fortune. He has been benefited with the opportunity of authority while the nation's economy couldn't be improved with his Saju, representing a winter tree born in the month of the water element.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's Saju is also full of cold water. But his Saju is symbolized as a sharp metal, which represents a very sensitive and temperamental person. It contradicts Moon's Saju that implies patience to overcome a cold winter. Short-term economic development is hard to expect in North Korea as well and Kim would not break or give up his own stubbornness or pride. If we read the chemistry of Moon and Kim, it is hard for the winter tree to conquer the winter knife. Kim may land Moon in trouble or rescue him from crisis or vice versa by taking certain actions or decisions in critical moments.
Trump, on the other hand, was born with the energy of hot soil raising big trees, which explains his greed and lust for power and tall buildings. He doesn't have to wait for luck to come, since all the hot fire in Saju helps the soil, representing himself. He tends to grasp everything in his own way. The dark water element is welcomed and utilized for his hot and dry saju and further economic development could be achieved.
If we read the Saju of Shinzo Abe in Japan, he has been supported by the energy of his birth season. The legacy of power inherited from his ancestors is also abundant. He may utilize Trump's influence well to maintain his power. However, in the coming year, Abe's authority will be severely damaged by the critical clash of the coming year's energy to his Saju. He will have to be very careful not to lose his current authority and people's support.
Are you interested in learning more about the ancient Chinese teachings, the "Four Pillars of Destiny" and oriental ways of fortune telling or fortune tellers? Janet teaches Saju for the public at Wonkwang Digital University and Seoul National University of Education. For further information, visit Janet's website at www.janetshin.modoo.at or her blog, http://blog.naver.com/janet_shin. You can also contact her at 010-5414-7461 or email janetshin.kor@gmail.com
The writer is the author of "Life's Secrets".
