(341) Saju of Bob Dylan, winner of 2016 Nobel Literature Prize

By Janet Shin

It was recently announced that Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature for “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” Apparently, the public wasn’t anticipating it, not because they didn’t like Bob Dylan but because he wasn’t on any possible lists.

Reading his saju first brought me the words of freedom and contemplation, as his song “Blowing in the Wind” says.

Bob Dylan

How many roads

must a man walk down

Before you call him a man

How many seas

Must a white dove sail

Before she sleeps in the sand

..

How many times

Can a man turn his head

And pretend that he just doesn’t see

The answer, my friend,

Is blowing in the wind

The answer is blowing in the wind

Must a man look up

Before he can see the sky

How many years

Must one man have

Before he can hear people cry

The day master in this saju is yang water, which represents a big ocean. But being born in the month of fire, the ocean is not selfish but sacrificing its energy for others, for the broad public. Having earthly branch energies with wandering letters implies that the day master doesn’t want to settle in one place and “wanderer” may be a more appropriate word to define him. Being a day master of the ocean, his adventure would be similar to that of flowing water or wind. The water as one of the five elements is usually compared not only to the substantive water but to the blowing wind or the sailing clouds.

Having fire and metal as the next dominant energies reveals his versatility and intelligence. Nevertheless, the way he utters his talents doesn’t seem so clamorous because his expression star doesn’t reveal its energy outwardly.

I have added the 10-year cycle to Bob Dylan’s saju to speculate on his whole life perspective. The 10-year cycle is to read a transition of one’s destiny every 10 years. According to the 10-year luck number, one may estimate the turning points in his or her life. Bob Dylan has six as his 10-year luck number and 2016 is actually his turning point. Recapitulating his destiny, the most dynamic decade of his life is from 26 to 35 years old. We can see the energetic and influential letter of yang-wood (tiger) as its earthly branch, which also represents his expression star and clashes and penalizes all letters in his saju. During this period, he might have proven his most artistic temperament on top of some unwanted accidents and agonies.

Obviously many beautiful songs and lyrics were composed during this period but he had to go through some unfortunate personal affairs as well, such as divorce and car accidents.

The next 10-year cycles, starting at 36 and 46, are those of career stars, which would be more associated with social identification, such as official awards and public recognition. In the cycle starting at 76, as he just turned 76, the energy is more interspersed in the areas of expression and knowledge. The latter can also be interpreted as a social respect. He would concentrate on his concerts and communicating with the public.

Are you interested in learning more about the

ancient Chinese teachings, the “Four Pillars of

Destiny” and Oriental ways of fortunetelling or

fortunetellers? Janet teaches saju for the public

at Seoul National University of Education. For further

information, visit Janet’s website at

www.sajufortuneteller.modoo.at or her blog,

https://blog.naver.com/janet_shin. You can also

contact her at 010-5414-7461 or email janetshin@

hotmail.com. The writer is the author of

“Life’s Secrets.”