Chinese Astrology
& Eastern Metaphysics
Human Being · Time · Space · Change
Chinese Astrology is far more than the familiar “Chinese zodiac sign.” It belongs to a wider world of Chinese philosophical, cosmological, astrological and divinatory traditions concerned with the relationship between the human being, time, space, cycles and transformation.
What is Chinese Metaphysics?
Chinese Metaphysics is a modern umbrella term used for a number of distinct traditional systems. It is not one single doctrine or technique.
BaZi studies birth data through the Four Pillars. Zi Wei Dou Shu uses palaces and symbolic stars. Feng Shui examines the relationship between people and space. Qi Men Dun Jia developed as a system of strategy, timing and divination. I Ching is both a philosophical text and a divinatory tradition centered on change.
Eastern Metaphysics and philosophy
Eastern Metaphysics is an even broader expression. There is no single unified “Eastern philosophy.” Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Tibetan and other traditions developed distinct philosophical and cosmological systems.
This library focuses primarily on the Chinese cosmological tradition, in which the human being is understood within an evolving relationship between Heaven, Earth, time and environment.
天 · Heaven
Temporal and cosmic cycles and the larger conditions within which events unfold.
地 · Earth
Space, landscape, environment and orientation.
人 · Human
The human being acts between Heaven and Earth within existing conditions.
變 · Change
Change is not treated as an exception but as a fundamental condition of existence.
Yin and Yang — the dynamics of opposites
Yin and Yang are complementary, relational qualities. They should not be reduced to a simple opposition between “good” and “bad.” Each is defined partly through its relationship with the other.
Inward, receptive, dark, cool, quiet and concentrating qualities.
Outward, active, bright, warm, moving and expressive qualities.
Balance is not stillness. Day becomes night, activity becomes rest, and every state changes.
Qi — a central concept
Qi is one of the most important and difficult concepts to translate in traditional Chinese thought. Depending on context it may be rendered as breath, vital breath, dynamic quality or process.
Within Chinese metaphysical systems it belongs to a traditional cosmological vocabulary and should not simply be equated with scientifically measurable physical energy.
Wu Xing — the Five Phases
Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water are often called the Five Elements. Five Phases is frequently a more useful translation because they describe processes and changing qualities rather than merely five substances.
Growth, spring, expansion and outward movement.
Heat, summer, culmination, brightness and upward movement.
Center, stabilization, transition and containment.
Structure, condensation, autumn and inward movement.
Winter, depth, storage and inward or downward movement.
The phases interact through traditional generating, controlling and transforming cycles.
Chinese Astrology — much more than the annual animal sign
The twelve zodiac animals are the best-known feature in the West, but they are animal correspondences of the Twelve Earthly Branches and form only one part of a much larger calendrical system.
Combine the Five Phases with Yin and Yang.
Used not only for years but also months, days and hours.
Stems and Branches combine to form the traditional sexagenary cycle.
Major systems
The Four Pillars of Destiny: year, month, day and hour arranged through Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.
A traditional astrological system using palaces and symbolic “stars.”
A historical system of strategy, timing and divination involving time and direction.
Traditional approaches to landscape, environment, orientation and temporal cycles.
A traditional calendrical framework associated with date selection and classification of activities.
The Book of Changes, structured around 64 hexagrams and a philosophy of transformation.
Feng Shui — the human being and space
Feng Shui, literally “wind and water,” refers to a family of Chinese traditions concerned with landscape, orientation, environmental form and different systems of directions and time.
There is no single Feng Shui method. Different schools emphasize landscape forms, compass methods, Xuan Kong, Flying Stars and other frameworks.
I Ching — a philosophy of change
The I Ching or Yi Jing, the Book of Changes, is one of the major texts of Chinese intellectual history. Its symbolic structure is built around eight trigrams and 64 hexagrams.
At its heart is a fundamental idea: no condition is completely static. Every situation contains tendencies through which it can transform into another.
Chinese Astrology & Metaphysics Articles
Available English articles on Chinese Astrology, Chinese Metaphysics, I Ching and Feng Shui are loaded automatically below.
Αυτή η ανάρτηση είναι επίσης διαθέσιμη σε:
Français 
Español 
Ελληνικά
