(126) Destiny: is it something we cannot alter?
As we study saju, the Eastern philosophy of nature and man, we come to realize how much we are influenced by certain powers in the universe. Whether it is the climate of one’s birth or the environment of one’s growth, these external factors are ultimately generated by the cosmic forces around earth.
We learn in school that we have to strive for our dreams and that hard work always bears fruit. Stories of people overcoming adversity, conquering their weaknesses, pull at our emotional heartstrings.
I have no intention of spoiling the virtues of those valuable lessons. However, while I admire the determination of those endeavoring to blaze their own fortunes and paths, I also see the larger energy system that sheds its critical influence on our lives.
In practicing saju, we may experience repeated patterns of energy flow and, especially when there is a clash between the external energy and that of one’s saju, it creates cumbersome changes or tragic incidents in one’s life.
For example, the year 2009, the year of the cow (yin earth), clashed and detracted from sheep (yin earth) and dog (yang earth) zodiac signs. If one had either the sheep or the dog signs in their saju, it would have created certain problems. 2010, the year of the tiger (yang wood) clashed with the monkey (yang metal) and snake (yang fire) signs.
In January, the last month of 2010, according to the lunar calendar, I was hoping that the curse of the tiger, monkey and snake would end. Unfortunately, it did not go down without a fight.
Here are some recent cases to show how things happened for people whose saju conflicts with the tiger zodiac.
One of my clients is a yang wood day master (example 1), which sees a clash between his expression and career star with the tiger sign of the year 2010. The expression star suggests an investment and the career star implies property. My client had purchased a villa with money borrowed from his father, who just passed away in January. Here’s his father’s saju, who had a yang metal day master.
It is surprising that the clashes between tiger, snake and monkey are seen in both the father and son’s saju, and that it did indeed generate a tragic incident in their lives.
Here is another example of a yang wood day master (example 2).
This client has a conflict between her month branch, and the monkey and tiger of 2010. Though the clash does not seem to be as extreme as the previous two, tragedy still found her. She separated with her boyfriend at the end of the year and then, over the Lunar New Year’s holiday, she received notice that her brother living in the United States had suddenly passed away.
With all of these tragic incidents happening right at the tail end of 2010, I am truly reminded of just how powerless we are in the face of the universal energy force. Would we be able to avoid tragedy if we foresaw it? Unfortunately, the answer is ``no,’’ as we, humans, have such limited powers.
However, we may reduce the damage of such clashes by preparing for them. The year 2011, a rabbit year, has yin wood energy that clashes with chicken (yin metal). Take a peek at your saju. You may be able to be prepared both mentally and physically for an unseen destiny.
Info: Are you interested in learning more about the ancient Chinese teachings of the “Four Pillars of Destiny?” Saju, or the Four Pillars of Destiny, and face reading workshops will be held this month in Itaewon, central Seoul. For more information, contact Janet at 010-5414-7461 or email janetshin@hotmail.com.
The writer is the president of the Heavenly Garden, a saju research center in Korea, and the author of “Learning Four Pillars.” Visit www.fourpillarskorea.com.