By Janet Shin
The 60-year cycle of ten celestial stems and the 12 zodiac signs are combined to denote years in the cycle, which has been mentioned in previous articles. As the 10 stems circulate in the gap, eul, byeing, jeong, mu, gi, gyeong, sin, im and gye sequence and the 12 branches circulate as ja, chuk, in, myo, jin, sa, o, mi, sin, yu, sul and hae, the first 60-year combination is gap-ja, the second is eul-chuk and so on. The 60th year in the cycle is gye-hae.
For example, the year 2008 was mu-ja and 2009 is gi-chuk. Lunar New Year's Day is Jan. 26, which will be the actual start of the gi-chuk year in terms of the 60 year cycle. In sending out the old year and greeting the new one, it is interesting to review what was forecasted by fortune tellers for 2008 (mu-ja) at this time last year and what is being forecast for the coming new year (gi-chuk). Did they anticipate the financial crisis and global economy recession in 2008? Did they foretell the change of leadership in U.S. government? To make it simple, between optimistic and pessimistic, what was their major forecast?
At the end of 2007, leading Korean media outlets asked several fortunetellers to forecast national fortune for 2008. Some gave very optimistic views that stability and development would continue, but others forecast the struggles in the banking industry and even said financial distress would continue to cause difficulties in people's daily lives. It is a pity that their anticipations were accurate. Some foretold the price factors, deflation and even currency changes, while others predicted the downturn of real estate prices and the decline of asset value. People usually remember such forecasts, especially when they are accurate. Let's see how these forecasts were made in terms of the interpretation of the 60-year cycle.
As stated, 2008 was mu-ja. Mu is a yang earth-mountain or desert, and ja is yang water-winter, sea, darkness, from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., or the rat as a zodiac sign. It is a conflict composition between earth and water, totally opposite and restraining each other.
It is a winter mountain that is lonely, with leafless tress and living creatures looking for shelter and food. Affluence has disappeared, leaving only gauntness. It is a rat pressed by the heap of earth. The rat means the people are in a condition of distress in mu-ja years. It is water that falls down on the Earth to make muddy water. It was the year of injustice and corruption. It is like a mountain being eroded by the heavy rain. In a standpoint of ja-water, it cannot flow anywhere with the blocking of the huge earth bank all around.
With this forecast, the overall atmosphere in 2008 would be turmoil in social and political circles. Old powers would be reorganized and challenged by the new emerging powers. The conservative ideology was refuted by innovative theory. Was democracy challenged by this conservatism?
At this time of year, we are pleasantly surprised by fortunate outcomes but sad about the unlucky ones. Unfortunately, there were many unpleasant surprises in 2008. Even governments were not prepared for the fiasco.
Let's move on to the New Year and find out the forecast for 2009, gi-chuk. Gi is the yin earth-field, and chuk is a yin earth-cold swampy field, 1-3 a.m., and cow in terms of the 12 zodiac signs.
It is frozen earth from which people cannot cultivate or harvest crops. The economy will have slow growth and exports will not meet expectations. As the sun sheds lights, the earth will thaw and the situation will get better in the second half of the year.
Gi is a field and chuk is a cow. But the cow is working in a field, and a cow cannot work on its own. People will not be able to attain fruitful results and their hard work will not pay off. There will be a high unemployment rate with massive restructuring and layoffs, with more focus on reproduction than on the production of new products. Instead of buying new cars, more people will try to fix the cars that they currently own.
It is like a cold and dark grave. People will feel high pressure and distress, while the worldwide economy will continue to suffer. Most likely, the light at the end of the tunnel will not be seen until the end of 2009. There will be heavy rain during the rainy season and the winter will be short.
In saju, we often compare fate with driving a car on the road. The car, your fate, can be a used car, a small one, a full-sized luxury car and so on. It may have worn out tires but a strong engine. The road where we drive our car may be an expressway or a graveled path. Someone may drive a 1,000cc motorcycle on an expressway. Others may try to drive full sized cars on rough roads. But in most cases, ordinary people do not have perfect fate combinations as per their saju. How you drive your car on your life path is up to your saju and effort.
We just hope the cold and dark tunnel of gi-chuk will end soon so we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, which will be brighter than those of years past.
The writer is the president of the Heavenly Garden, a saju research center in Korea. She is the author of the book titled ``Learning Four Pillars." She offers saju learning courses to open for people who are interested. For more information, visit her Web site (https://blog.naver.com/janet_shin) or email to janetshin@hotmail.com