Karaniyametta Sutta | Chanting

Solar Terms for the month of July 2022, month of Ding Wei Fire Goat in the year of Ren Yin Water Tiger

Note: Apologies for the late posting of this month's Solar Terms. I left for New Zealand in June with a last minute urgent travel for personal matters. Was away for 6 weeks.

Solar Terms for July 2022

Solar Terms for the month of June 2022 - Fire Horse in the year of Water Tiger 2022

Solar Terms for the month of May 2022 - Yi Shi / Wood Snake month in the year of Ren Yin / Water Tiger

This evening the solar term of Spring Begins Li Xia starts the summer months off in the Chinese luni-solar calendar. The sexagenary pair for the month is rotated to Yi Si or Yin Wood Snake. 

In Singapore, Vesak Day is celebrated on the 15th of May, and is also the 15th day full moon of the 4th lunar month. 

Solar Terms for the month of April 2022 - month of Jia Chen / Wood Dragon in the year of Ren Yin / Water Tiger

Solar Terms for the month of Gui Mao, Yin Water / Rabbit 癸卯 in the year of Ren Yin, Yang Water / Tiger 壬寅

We have already moved into the second month of the year of the Water Tiger, Ren Yin 2022 in the Chinese luni-solar calendar on 5 March 2022. 

The beginning of the month is marked by the Solar Term "Jin Ze" or translated as "Awaken Insects" that started at 22:43 hours on the 5th of March, 2022. 

In the Chinese luni-solar calendar, the 60 sexagenary pairs sequence alternate on a Yin - Yang - Yin - Yang basis, and so while February was a Yang Water Tiger month, March is a Yin Water Rabbit month. April will be Yang month again, and so on and so forth. 

The elements of the month are Water (癸 Gui / Yin Water) and Wood (卯 Mao / Rabbit).

You may be wondering why the name Jin Ze / Awaken Insects was used to name this second month. The ancient Chinese observed the natural phenomena in their surrounding environment. It was observed that insects were beginning to awaken from their winter hibernation, and hence gave this name to the second month. It is useful to note that it is not the other way around, as in, the observed phenomena of insects awakening from hibernation and hence it is the second Solar Term month. China covers a huge geographical area with varied weather systems according to the latitude. The months are calculated on the solar path of the earth's orbit around the sun (via Gnomon stick sun shadow recording) and then names assigned (and not via observed seasonal phenomena). To further explain, Gregorian calendar months are named after Roman gods, leaders, festivals, and numbers. It does not mean that if you don't have Roman gods, leaders and festivals then the calendar is not applicable.  

Spring Equinox falls on 20 March 2022. Due to the tilt of planet Earth's axis, the various geographical zones on the surface of the planet experience seasonal changes, caused by the changing amount of sun light and heat received. On the day of the Equinox, planet Earth gets approximately equal 12 hours of day and night. Also the sun rises exactly at cardinal due East direction (90 degrees) and sets at cardinal due West direction (270 degrees). 

In Ba Zi birth chart analysis, we use the Day Master element (the Tian Gan representing the day of your birth) and compare it with the year's and the month's elements to get what we call the 10 Spirits / 十神 / shi shen. From the 10 Spirits, we can decipher the signals and information from the universe according to one's Ba Zi chart for the annual and monthly dimensions. You can go deeper into the day and the si-chen (2 hour block) but usually the annual and 10-year pillars are cover sufficient grounds already in a Ba Zi birth chart appointment.  

Book your Ba Zi appointment today. 

 

Solar Terms for the Month of Ren Yin (February) in the Year of Ren Yin 2022

The year of Ren Yin, Yang Water/Tiger started on the 4th of February 2022 on the Solar part of the Chinese Luni-solar Calendar. The beginning day is marked by the Solar Term "Li Chun" or translated as "Spring Begins". In the analysis of Ba Zi charts, we use the year as marked by the first Solar Term of the year, "Li Chun". There is also a mid point for the month on 19th of February with a Solar Term "Yu Shui" or translated as "Rain Water".  

Five Tigers - 5 Elements Tigers 壬寅，甲寅，丙寅，戊寅，庚寅

Five Tigers - 5 Elements Tigers 壬寅，甲寅，丙寅，戊寅，庚寅

The popularity of the annual Zodiac sign predictions reaches its height during the Chinese Lunar New Year period. They are simplified readings to cater to the masses as the whole population is grouped into twelve Zodiac signs; which means that hundreds of millions share the same reading per sign. Too general to be precise, and so it is infotainment. In modern days, the annual Zodiac sign readings serve a largely commercial purpose as many capitalist business entities use the predictions as marketing and promotional events for news and publicity. Temples and religious organisations use them as annual fund raisers. Historically these readings were done by scholars working at temple fairs as a side income while waiting to take the Imperial Examinations in the ancient cities of China. 

The annual Zodiac signs predictions are simplified to twelve, which is already quite lengthy to write and talk about. To bridge the gap to the actual 60 Jia Zi pairs of the sexagenary cycle, it is good to learn about the additional Five Elements. 

Simply put, take 12 (Zodiac signs) multiply by 5 (elements) and you get 60 pairs.

For example, the year of 2022 is not just the year of the Tiger, but the year of the Water Tiger. The next year of the Tiger in 2034 will be the year of the Wood Tiger, in 2046 will be the year of the Fire Tiger, in 2058 the year of the Earth Tiger and in 2070 the year of the Metal Tiger. It loops back to Water Tiger again in 2082, and so on and so forth. 

In the illustration above designed by myself,  I use shapes and colours to help you see the elements:

Water drop shape = Water element

Tall rectangle shape = Wood element

Triangle shape = Fire element

Square shape = Earth element

Circle shape = Metal element

For colours, yellow, green and red are easy to apply to design but Water's black and Metal's white are replaced with blue and grey so that they don't disappear into white and black screen backgrounds on the computer and mobile devices, and on paper.  

Also, the 地支 / Di Zi for Tiger is 寅, pronounced yín, second sound intonation and not the same as 阴 yīn, first sound, light or rising intonation.  

And so, baby steps, learn a little more than just your annual Zodiac sign. The actual Ba Zi birth chart readings are based on the Five Elements Theory, and personalised to the day and hour of birth. So before you start lamenting about how the past year was bad for you because you have self read an annual horoscope booklet based only on your annual sign, please get yourself a Ba Zi birth reading. Sometimes it is just your own mind making the classic "cognitive bias" used by marketers. (Google search "marketing bias" or "cognitive bias" to read up about it).

Four Tigers - 18 February 2022

During the Chinese Lunar New Year festivities period, web sites, news agencies and social media are filled with articles on the luck of the 12 zodiac signs according to the year of birth. There is a ready readership/viewership keen to know what the lunar new year is like, and what it holds for them. 

The 12 signs of the zodiac in Chinese metaphysics studies are called Di Zi 地支. The 12 Chinese characters used are 子丑寅卯辰巳午未申酉戌亥, and assigned the 12 animal names 鼠牛虎兔龙蛇马羊猴鸡狗猪. They are then rotated in the above sequence on an annual basis. 

子丑寅卯辰巳午未申酉戌亥

Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai

鼠牛虎兔龙蛇马羊猴鸡狗猪

Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig

In the Chinese luni-solar calendar, these 12 Di Zi's are also used to denote the 12 months, 365 days and the 12 si-chen (2 hour block) in a day. And so, on any given day and time, there are actually up to 4 Di Zi (zodiac animals) in the year, month, day and si-chen (2 hour). 

While the annual zodiac sign readings are based on the year only, a Ba Zi birth chart considers all "4 Pillars" of the year, month, day and si-chen, with the emphasis moved to the day. The Day Master translated term in English is from Chinese terms 本命，命主，日元，or 元神 , and is referring to the Tian Gan and not the Di Zi, like in the year zodiac readings. The methodology used in the analysis is based on the 5 Elements Theory.  

18 February 2022.

This date has caught the attention of many who practice Ba Zi birth chart analysis and Date Selections for important event. 

There are 4 "Tigers" as all 4 Di Zi's for year, month, day and si-chen are 寅 Yín. At the same time, all 4 Tian Gans are 壬，Rèn. 

In the illustration above I have also included the "10 Spirits" - that are derived by comparing the relationship between the Day Master and the other elements in the chart. The "10 Spirits" are heavily used in Ba Zi birth chart appointments to help clients see the influences and nuances of the Ba Zi birth chart. This is very different from the annual zodiac infotainment analysis that uses the Zodiac animal sign's nature to describe, for example Monkeys are mischevious, Tigers are ferocious, Dragons are majestic, Rabbits are gentle, etc etc. 

The Day Master sign is Ren or Yang Water and you have to apply Yang Water features to person born on this date according to their sex, Male or Female. In general, the wiser and more experienced Ba Zi Masters tend to avoid big sweeping statements; everything has a reference, and depends on the application to circumstances. Each Ba Zi birth chart reading has to be detailed and tailored to each different client. It is not a "one size fits all" type of infotainment reading. 

Have you got your Ba Zi birth chart yet? 

 

15 February 2022 Yuan Xiao Jie - 15th day of the Chinese Lunar New Year Spring Festival

From preparations for the Chinese Lunar New Year, to the final 15th day of the festival celebrations, at least 3 to 4 weeks of a Chinese person's calendar is dedicated to this festive event. Although the public holidays declared is only 2 days here in Singapore, there are many other customs and traditional practices that take place before and during this festival. It is an important event in the Chinese calendar. 

The meaning of the word 元宵 comes from 元 as in the first (month) and 宵(night). The timing of this event moves to the evening as it is the 15th day of the first lunar month, and that means it is a full moon night. And being practical and appropriate for the night time darkness, lanterns are used to light up the night. In English, this day is also called the Lantern Festival. One of the traditional games is finding answers to riddles attached to the many lanterns. 

This is our very own Chinese "Full Moon Party". 

It also marks the end of the festivities for the Lunar New Year.