(1) Feng-Shui and the Grand Cycle
The Chinese system of Geomancy (Feng-Shui) operates in the context a “Grand Cycle” of one hundred and eighty years, which are divided into three “Segments”. Each segment is then divided into three “Phases” of twenty years each. The full name of the Grand Cycle is the “Three Segments and Nine Phases” (三元九運).
The Grand Cycle is derived from the observation of the movements of the two planets Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter takes twelve years to circle the Sun, while Saturn takes thirty years. Thus the LCM of the two is sixty years. It can further be observed that Jupiter and Saturn meet every twenty years. From the above two observations, the Grand Cycle can be construed. The time it takes for the two planets to meet is a “Phase” (運), and every three conjunctions of the two planets is grouped into a “Segment” (元). Thus a Segment corresponds to the LCM of sixty years. Finally, three Segments complete the full Cycle of one hundred and eighty years.
Western astrology also attaches great importance to the two planet Jupiter and Saturn. The former signifies growth and expansion, while the latter signifies contraction and restriction. This corresponds to the fundamental rhythm of all life. It is, therefore, no coincidence that the Jupiter-Saturn duo appears both in Chinese Geomancy and Western Astrology.
Geomancy is the study of how man’s habitat can achieve a harmonious balance with his surroundings. “Feng-Shui” literally means wind and water, hence it refers to the invisible energy of the nature and the cosmic energy that runs through everything.
Most people have heard of Feng-Shui and have some understanding of its applications. Even Western architects and interior designers can talk of how a place has good Feng-Shui, or how to design a habitat that can capture the positive flow of life energy(氣). However, what is not so well understood is that Feng-Shui can change over time. A place that enjoys good Feng-Shui aspects at one time may lose its shine once there occurs a shift in the invisible energy that has brought on the good fortune in the first place. Feng-Shui masters are aware of this phenomenon. This is what the 180-year Grand Cycle is all about.
The Grand Cycle reflects the shifts in cosmic energy. Every twenty years, there is a shift in Feng-Shui. That is why a formerly well-placed habitat may lose its shine once Feng-Shui shifts from one Phase of the Grand Cycle to the next. Is it not marvelous that nature can be so equitable? Nobody can monopolize good feng-shui or good fortune. But feng-shui masters have a vested interest in providing their expertise to well-off individuals and help them to relocate to the new location favored by the new Segment of the Grand Cycle. However, this is easier said than done, because there are many variables, not the least of which is that individual’s “Fate”. In Chinese, there is a popular saying, “Fate determines Luck, and Luck determines Feng-Shui” (一命二運三風水). Fungshui masters are not too keen to remind their clients of this truth, though!
(2) The I-Ching and the Grand Cycle
There is one more thing that Fungshui masters do not mention. But this time, it may well have more to do with their ignorance than with their reticence. Most Feng-Shui masters are practical minded individuals. They learn their art selectively, and neglect that part which does not pay off. Thus, over time, everybody forgets what has been lost. Actually, each Phase of the Grand Cycle corresponds to a “Hexagram”( 卦)of the I-Ching(易經). And, as everybody knows, each hexagram has a meaning.
The I-Ching literally means the Book of Change. It is an ancient means of divination, similar to the shamanic art of all ancient peoples. It is a mean by which an individual can ask Nature or the Gods for advice when faced with an important decision. The Gods’ advice is by nature rather vague because it is meant to be generic and thus applicable to myriad different circumstances, which is where the shaman comes into his importance, by helping to interpret the message of the Gods.
This shamanic practice coincided with a period of great turbulence in the ancient feudal period of pre-imperial China, called the “Spring-and-Autumn” and the “Warring Kingdoms”. This was a dark period when life was short and nasty. Thus the popularity of the shamanic I-Ching. Eventually, the kings of the feudal state of Chou decided to systematically attach notations to all the hexagrams of the I-Ching, including comments of a moral nature. This practice was continued down the road, and over time, a rich body of texts have grown around the hexagrams, and the I-Ching officially took on its name, “The Book of Change”.
Indeed, it was about change, about how a man’s fortune and the fortunes of a state can alter over time. It was an acknowledgement that nothing is permanent in life, and that man must shape his life according to this precept. But it was more than just change, for there was recognition too that Change carries a moral lesson for man. When an individual asks the Gods for advice using the I-Ching, he knows that the Gods speak vaguely so that only he who has been graced by wisdom can understand what the Gods are saying to him. He knows that the Gods want him to understand the moral implications of the situation, and that his decision must also be a moral one.
Thus, from being originally a shamanic tool, the I-Ching has evolved into a book that can be used to interpret all aspects of life. By referring to the eight basic hexagrams of the I-Ching, the Grand Cycle used in Fungshui takes on a moral perspective. It is this moral aspect that the contemporary Fungshui master, in his haste to make money, has neglected. And this is what we shall attempt to rectify here.
(3) The Hexagrams of the Grand Cycle
The Grand Cycle covers a period of one hundred and eighty years, within which there are nine phases of twenty years each. We are currently in the 8th Phase of the current Grand Cycle. By extrapolating, we can see that our Grand Cycle started in 1864, when the 1st Phase began. By adding twenty years to each phase we arrive at our current 8th Phase. Thus, the twenty years from 1944 to 1964 correspond to the 6th Phase, while the twenty years from early 1984 to early 2004 correspond to the 7th Phase. In February 2004, we entered the 8th and current Phase, which will last until February 2024.
Since each phase corresponds to a hexagram, each phase reflects the attributes of that hexagram. The I-Ching contains sixty-four hexagrams. For divination purposes, all sixty-four are utilized. But for our purposes, only the eight basic hexagrams are significant, because the others are derived from the combination and permutation of the eight basic hexagrams.
The eight basic hexagrams of the I-Ching, in the order in which they appear in the nine phases of the Grand Cycle, reflect a moral cycle of growth and decline, not dissimilar to what Plato said concerning the moral degeneration of the first ideal State into its various corrupted forms over time (Timarchy, Oligarchy, Democracy and Tyranny). Schematically, the first three phases of the 1st Segment correspond to initial growth, the next three phases of the 2nd Segment correspond to maturity and corruption, while the last three phases of the 3rd Segment correspond to disintegration and eventual regeneration. Thus, the Fungshui Grand Cycle is also a moral cycle that governs the process of all things material. It is also a cycle that sums up the teachings of Lao-Tze, the author of the “Tao”.
In the following sections, we shall look at the evolution of the luck phases from the 4th to the current 8th phase, and see what they say about our world and our current situation. But before we move on, the astute reader would have noticed a problem, namely that we have nine luck cycles but only eight basic hexagrams! So how do we fit them in?
Well, the answer is that only the first four and the last four phases correspond each to a separate hexagram, whereas the one in the middle (the 5th phase) does not. The first ten years of the 5th phase take on the aspects of the 4th hexagram, while the second ten years take on those of the 6th hexgram. And as we shall see shortly, since the 4th and 6th hexagrams are actually very closely related (the 6th is both a continuation and degeneration of the 4th ), the entire sixty-years period of the 4th through the 6th Phases take on exceptional significance, for it coincides with a period when growth shades into decline, when the positive turn negative, when good intentions turn into evil consequences..
(4) Interpretation of the 4th to the 9th Luck Phases of the Current Grand Cycle
Each Phase corresponds to a Hexagram of the I-Ching, while each hexagram is associated with a particular image which captures the essence and meaning of that hexagram. Moreover, each hexagram is represented by an archetypal member of the archetypal family, and takes on the attributes of that archetype. Let us now take a detailed look at the three afore-mentioned phases.
The 4th Phase
The 4th Phase 1924-1943, corresponds to hexagram #57 (Sun, the Gentle, the Penetrating Wind) symbolizes the penetrating power of the breeze. It is almost unnoticed in its arrival, and by the time anyone is aware of its presence, it is already everywhere. Unlike a gale or a hurricane, nobody feels the need to resist a breeze. In fact, people welcome its soothing and comforting qualities. The hexagram Sun is represented by the archetypal Eldest Daughter and takes on her characteristics of gentle authority, gentle care, soothing comfort. This phase coincides with a time in our recent history when powerful new ideas and ideals swept through the world.
During the 30-year period from 1924 to 1953, we saw the emergence of the universal ideals of human rights and national rights, the emergence of scores of newly independent nations, the extension of voting rights to entire populations, the ideals of communism and socialism being enthusiastically adopted by most of the newly independent nations. In America, the free-for-all form of capitalism gave way to the welfare state. During this period, America became the most powerful empire in the history of mankind; the number and speed of new inventions started to grow exponentially; a number of international institutions intended to make mankind better and the world safer were born – the United Nations, the World Bank, and the I.M.F. Everybody looked forward to a better, fairer and more prosperous future.
The Great Depression of 1929 was a major turning point in modern history. It triggered a major change in people’s ideas about themselves, their society, and the world order. F.D. Roosevelt took this opportunity to introduce sweeping and far-reaching reforms that transformed America from a free-for-all capitalist society into a prototypical Welfare State of Big Government. Similar changes took place over the oceans in Europe and elsewhere. Hitler and Mussolini were busy introducing similar reforms under different names. Russia too saw a deepening of Communist social engineering. In the colonies, there were popular movements clamoring for independence. All over the world, old elites, old institutions, old ideas, traditions were challenged and retreated almost without a fight.
Compared with previous and later revolutions, the initial changes in this period took place with amazingly little bloodshed. This is the influence of Sun (the Gentle, the Penetrating Wind), the irresistible force of ideas whose time have come. This was time of Great Orators (Roosevelt, Mussolini, Hitler, Winston Churchill, General Franco, Mohandas Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nerhu, Josip Tito, Mao Tse-Tung, Ho Chi-Min, Sukarno, etc.) who knew how to talk to the masses, how to soothe them, how to flatter them, how to make them think they are their own masters, and the masses followed them like the rats followed the Pied Piper to their grief. By the latter part of this period, the gentle qualities of the Breeze and the soothing qualities of the Eldest Daughter have begun to undergo a transformation, and morph into the qualities of the next hexagram, namely those of the authoritarian Father Figure.
The 5th Phase
The 5th Phase 1944-1963, is a hybrid. The first ten years correspond to hexagram #57 (Sun, the Gentle, the Penetrating Wind), while the last ten years correspond to hexagram #1 (Khien, Heaven, the Father). The period 1944-1953 was a continuation of the effects of the Gentle and Penetrating Wind. The period 1954-1963 was a precursor of the forces of Khien, the unyielding force of the Absolute Male, the Father Figure, the Political Strongman.
The 6th Phase
The 6th Phase 1964-1983, corresponds to hexagram #1 (Khien, Heaven, the Father) represented by Absolute Yang Energy, Creation, Cosmic Order and the Celestial Dragon. The image is of Majestic Power, Celestial Order, and Cosmic Energy. The hexagram Khien is represented by the father and reflects the distinguishing attributes of the archetypal patriarch – absolute authority, wisdom, strength, severity, and the bringing of order to chaos. These aspects can be found in abundance during the 30-year period from 1934 to 1964, when the world saw the rise of Strongmen whose authority, for various reasons, was enthusiastically and unconditionally accepted by the masses. These bigger-than-life individuals emerged at a time of economic, political and social upheaval. By the strength of their personality, the clarity of their vision, and the courage of their conviction, they mesmerized the masses, were adored, and could mobilize the people as a body. Thus, this coincided too with the dawn of the Age of the Masses.
The world leaders who arrived on the scene in this period include Mao-Tse-Tung, Ferdinand Marcos, Indira Ghandi, Sukarno, Ho-Chi-Minh, General de Gaule, Lee Kuan-Yeo, Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, President J. F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Prince Norodom Sihanouk, Pol Pot, etc.
However, there is a negative side to Khien, which comes towards the end of this period – these father figures eventually outlive their usefulness and their times. As the saying goes, “absolute power corrupts.” They have become so convinced of their superior wisdom and vision that they have got out of touch with the new realities. Instead of being adored or feared as they were previously, they became unwanted, despised and hated. At the same time, the ideals that they formerly championed have failed to live up to expectations and people were fed up with them.
Hence, one by one, these former darlings of the masses, giants of history, were removed from the scene ignominiously, or simply disappeared. The only ones who have escaped the sorry fate of turning from heroes to villains were those whom Fate had kindly removed from the scene at the height of their popularity (Gandhi, Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Ho Chi-Minh). But there was one who really did choose of his own volition to step down before he could be tempted to turn into an autocrat. That man was Che Guevara. He could have given Fidel a run for his money, but instead he chose to withdraw back into the realm of heroes, and offered himself as a martyr for a lost cause. We salute you, el Che!
During the sixties and seventies, we saw the rise of anti-establishment and counter-cultural movements such as the Hippies Movement and the Flower Revolution, the 1968 Summer of Discontent when riots broke out throughout the world, notably in Paris, the Cultural Revolution in China, and the anti-war demonstrations in America. When the new phase (the 7th) arrived in 1984, these movements morphed and culminated around the year 1990 in the Fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of Communist regimes in Europe, the popular protests in the Philippines that removed Ferdinand Marcos, and the 1989 events involving the students in Beijing.
Thus the heavenly force of Khien, personified by the Father Figure who was initially acclaimed as savior and wise man, went away in ridicule, to be replaced by the 7th Phase, which is represented by, irony of irony, the archetypal figure of the Youngest Daughter – a frivolous, carefree, naïve, and pleasure-seeking creature! Nothing can be more different than the austere father figure and the frivolous young girl! Talk of extremes begetting extremes!
The 7th Phase
The 7th Phase, 1984-2003, corresponds to hexagram #58 (兌 Dui, swamp) represented by two conjoined swamps. The image is one of two bodies of murky shallow and putrid water intermingling. We can see this, since around 1984, in the globalization of trade and finance, in China becoming the world’s factory, the off-shoring of labor, mass migrations, and in America’s becoming the first global empire in history. The event that best captures the image of all-penetrating water and its pervasiveness was the advent of the computer, the internet, and the ubiquitous cell-phone, all three of which erupted in quick succession from 1984 onwards – at the very the start of the 7th Phase.
The hexagram (兌Dui) is represented by the archetypal Youngest Daughter, and reflects her distinguishing attributes – playful, frivolous, preoccupied with appearance to the exclusion of substance, pleasure-seeking, superficial, irresponsible, susceptible to flattery, naïve, gullible, malleable, and chatty. These aspects can be found in abundance in the past twenty or more years, since the 1980s. Recall the phenomenal growth of the entertainment and fashion industries, the prominence of entertainers and “fashion models” as role models. Recall the proliferation of branded fashion accessories and vanity products, of the beauty, slimming industries, and the growth of the dining, wining, and tourism industries. Recall the instances of outright fraud, of misleading and false representations in the financial world to entice and entrap unsuspecting consumers. Think of the dot.com bubble, of Enron, of the subprime mortgage bubble, etc.
The 7th Phase, moreover, is associated with the rise to power of various devious and artful crooks, charlatans, swindlers and demagogues. The superficial and naïve Youngest Daughter is a boon to all the crooks of the world – a gullible lamb for the fleecing!
The 8th Phase
The current phase corresponds to hexagram #52 (艮 Gen, mountain) represented by two mountains which stand back to back. The image is one of immobility, absence of all communication, obstruction, non-compromise, resoluteness, standing firm on principles, unyielding, introspection, ascetism, and spiritual contemplation.
The hexagram Gen 艮 is represented by the archetypal Youngest Son, and reflects the attributes of the archetypal young man – hot-blooded, rebellious, brave, disregard for consequences, idealistic, contemptuous of authority and institutions, thirsting for knowledge and relentless in the pursuit of truth, willing to sacrifice material comforts for the realization of dreams. We notice that these attributes have become more and more pronounced – Al Qaeda suicide bombers, militant fundamental Muslims, Tibetan and Uygur separatists in China, mass protests against World Trade, young people who came out in droves to root for Obama but who have since been let down by the current Administration, and the recent Wikileaks saga involving Julien Assange. These trends should gain in momentum.
The hexagram 艮 indicates that all previous developments have to cease. The cosmic order requires that the excesses of the previous twenty years be reversed. But actually it goes much further than that, for these excesses must be seen as the culmination of several hundred years of expansion (since Columbus landed on the shores of America). Hence, it will truly be the end of an era – that of materialism, international trade, mass migrations, mass travel, mass consumption, globalization, the destruction of nature and of the local community, the dehumanization of human beings, etc.
(5) The Six Lines Within Each Hexagram
Let us now look at the timeframe to see how events might unfold in the 8th Phase. Each hexagram consists of six lines (hence hexagram). Thus, each line has a time span of three years and four months (20 years divided by 6). Since entering the 8th Phase in February 2004, almost six years have elapsed. We have already reached the third line.
The First Line (Feb. 2004 – June 2007) represents a person stopping at the toes. This is a good time to stop, for no injury is inflicted on the person stopping, since he has stopped before the body has time to move forward. Unfortunately, most people would not have noticed anything amiss – the changes are so subtle that people are lulled into carrying on with their merry lives. But already, the warning signs are there. Recall suicide bombing attacks such as the one in Bali, and the Tsunami of December 2004 off the coast of Indonesia that killed 200,000 people region-wide, and Hurricane Katrina that devastated Louisiana.
The Second Line (June 2007 – Oct. 2010) represents a person stopping at the calves. This is not as good as stopping at the toes. It represents a person who wishes to stop, and yet is found in the midst of a moving throng of people. He wishes to stop but lacks the determination to buck the trend. Hence he is unhappy with himself. But it is still not too late to stop. However, by now, the 8th Phase has made itself more strongly felt. Recall the U.S. subprime bubble bursting, the Leahman Brothers mini-bonds saga, the financial crisis of 2008, the collapse of AIG, the sovereign debt crises in Iceland and Greece. Recall the spate of deadly earthquakes in Sichuan and Qinghai in China, in Chile and Haiti, the volcanic eruption in Iceland and more recently, the oil-spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Third Line (beginning in October 2010) represents a person stopping at the waist. This is a most inauspicious moment to stop, for it is almost too late. Imagine a person caught up in a huge moving mass of bodies. He has no choice but to be carried away. His free will is almost irrelevant here. The image is of a person suffering a body spasm and he attempts to stop his body’s involuntary jerking movements. This person can only come to harm if he tries.
The Fourth Line (beginning in February 2014) represents a time when the stillness has reached the entire body.
The Fifth Line (beginning in June 2017) admonishes the stillness of the tongue even. Speech has to be used sparingly. Words have to be well-considered before being uttered.
The Sixth Line (beginning in October 2020) is the last and the most auspicious of all the six lines in this hexagram, for it is a Yang Line (unbroken) occupying a Yang position. This Line is in its proper position, signifying that it flows with the cosmic order of things. Not only is stillness now complete, it is to be accompanied and motivated by moral fortitude.
Taking this last line into account, the interpretation of the entire hexagram is that after much trials and tribulations, this period comes to a good and morally correct conclusion. We now see why the I-Ching considers the hexagram Gen to be an auspicious one.
(6) The 9th Phase
The next, the 9th Phase, is the last in our current Grand Cycle. It corresponds to hexagram #30 (Li 離 Fire; Radiance; Clinging) represented by two Fires which cling to each other. Following is what the annotations in the I-Ching has to say about this hexagram: “Fire has no definite form but clings to the burning object and thus is bright. As water pours down from heaven, so fire flames up from the earth. Li stands for nature in its radiance.…Human life on earth is conditioned and unfree, and when man recognizes this limitation and makes himself dependent upon the harmonious and beneficent forces of the cosmos, he achieves success…” The whole image is one of harmony with nature at last.
The 1st Line (2024-2027) of this hexagram says: “It is early morning and work begins. The mind has been closed to the outside world in sleep; now its connections with the world begin again.”
The 2nd Line (2027-2030) of this hexagram says: “Midday has come; the sun shines with a yellow light. Yellow is the color of measure and moderation. Yellow light is therefore a symbol of the highest culture and art, whose consummate harmony consists in holding to the mean.”
The 3rd Line (2030-2034) of this hexagram says: “Here the end of the day has come. The light of the setting sun calls to mind the fact that life is transitory and conditional… The sense of the transitoriness of life impels men to uninhibited revelry in order to enjoy life while it lasts, or else they lament the approach of old age. Both attitudes are wrong. To the man of understanding, it makes no difference whether death comes early or late. He cultivates himself, awaits his allotted time, and in this way secures his fate….”
The 4th Line (2034-2038) of this hexagram says: “… man who is excitable and restless may rise quickly to prominence but produces no lasting effects. Thus matters end badly when a man spends himself too rapidly and consumes himself like a meteor.”
The 5th Line (2038-2041) of this hexagram says: “Here the zenith of life has been reached. Were there no warning, one would at this point consume oneself like a flame. Instead, understanding the vanity of all things, one may put aside both hope and fear…”
The last and 6th Line (2041-2043) of this hexagram says: “It is not
the purpose of chastisement to impose punishment blindly but to create discipline. Evil must be cured at its root. To eradicate evil in political life, it is best to kill the ringleaders and spare the followers. In educating oneself it is best to root out bad habits and tolerate those that are harmless. Asceticism that is too strict, like punishment of undue severity, fails in its purpose.”
As the above quotes from the I-Ching make clear, the last twenty years of the current Grand Cycle (2024-2043) is a period of recuperation and rebirth after the turmoil of the last twenty years. But there is already an inkling in the 4th Line that the lessons of the past are slowly fading, and that people are already yearning for excitement, new adventures, new endeavours. These will become more pronounced in the 1st Segment of the next 180-year Grand Cycle, when the whole process of growth, maturity, decline and disintegration will resume.
(7) The 7th Phase looks West whereas the 8th Phase looks to the North-East
A further point to note is that each 20-year phase of the Grand Cycle corresponds to a cardinal point of the compass. The 7th Phase corresponds to the West, while the 8th Phase corresponds to the North-East. Each phase favors those countries and locations that receive the cosmic energy of that cardinal direction. During the 7th Phase, the entire Western world prospered, with America reaching the apex of its world power. Countries in other regions that have latched on to the West have also prospered, such as China which has turned itself into the world's factory, and all those countries that rely on international trade, finance and mass tourism.
The reverse of the coin is that with the change in the luck cycle, those who have been previously favored by the 7th Phase will fare poorly now that we are in the 8th Phase. Thus, the entire Western world, together with those countries joined to it in a symbiosis of trade, travel and finance, will suffer a reversal of fortunes. Which country will do well in the coming years? Look at a map of the world, and you’ll see that Russia is spread over the entire North-East. Yes, hard as it is to believe, Russia is well placed to receive the blessings of the new age. But think again, and you will see that this is by no means a coincidence.
Russia is the least involved with the West or reliant on international trade. During the years from 1984 to 2004, Russia went through a horrendous period redefining itself and paying the price for its Stalinist past, while the West and China prospered. Today, Russia has been reborn from its ashes. It is self-sufficient, being endowed with vast natural resources. Russia has rediscovered its rich spiritual, intellectual and historical roots, and has found fortitude in the Orthodox Church. Apart from the aberrations of the communist period, Russia has always been a deeply spiritual and religious nation which has held nature in awe. These are things that the 8th Phase (the hexagram Gen, the Mountain) approves. Besides, I am not alone in this. Back in the 1930s, Cheiro predicted that Russia would one day be the hope of mankind.
(8) The Previous Transition From The 7th to the 8th Phase
The last time the world went through the transition from the 7th to the 8th Phase was the time straddling the Napoleonic Wars which laid waste to the whole of Europe. Just as today America is the world’s hegemon, France was the hegemonic power of Europe, and in those days, Europe was the world. France was at the centre of that world, ever since Louis XIV’s reign in 1661, when “le Roi Soleil” and his Court at Versailles set the tone for the world just as American culture has permeated the whole world today. Just as today, when the 7th Phase favors the west, France was located in the western portion of Europe.
With the collapse of Napoleon’s Empire, France was impoverished and had lost all her American and Canadian possessions. The Hapsburgs, though winners of the conflict, were so weakened that they could not prevent the rise of the new nation-states within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This was the age of independent nation-states, which ushered in a new awareness of nationality, and of the right to self-determination. This was also the age of turmoil and revolutions, for while Napoleon had been defeated, he had irreparably damaged the prestige of the old aristocracy, and had opened up the floodgate to the demand for all sorts of rights. Meanwhile, Great Britain had been kicked out of America, allowing the various American colonies to become independent, and free to shape their own destinies. Power had shifted from the former empires to the newborn nation-states of Europe, and to the independent American colonies, loosely joined in a confederation.
This was an era when the peoples of Europe had become so disillusioned with the false promises of the French Revolution that they turned their backs on the lofty ideals of universal brotherhood and the Romantic notion that man was by nature good. The French philosopher, Rousseau, formerly the darling of the Romantics and all the ladies, who had so loudly touted these falsehoods, was spurned by a disillusioned Europe. On the other hand, that most oriental and pessimistic of all German philosophers, Schopenhauer, who was profoundly influenced by Buddhism, struck the right chord in a Europe scarred by the horrors of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.
But it was not just Rousseau and the Romantics who found themselves out of favour. All the ideals and beliefs of the previous age, from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment period, were rejected – universalism, rationalism, and belief in man’s innate goodness. Instead, people put their faith in the ideas of a new generation of philosophers, namely, the irrational and the mythical – ideas that would become the building-blocks of the Nation-State. People found comfort, identity and a sense of community, in believing themselves to be members of a nation bound by common blood, shared history and myths.
And if we need any more similarities between the two periods before being convinced, it is by no means a coincidence that in the year 1815, the volcano Tamboro in Indonesia erupted. This created what became known as “the Year Without a Summer”, and caused a major famine in the Western world known as the “Last Great Subsistence Crisis in Western Europe”.
Although the past gives a clear hint of where we are headed, it cannot give an exact prediction of the future. This is because our forebears, who gave us the I-Ching and the art of geomancy, for all their collective wisdom, had never lived long enough to observe and identify cosmic cycles longer than the 180-year Grand Cycle. Indeed, our Grand Cycle may be only one of many, encompassed within even greater cycles of longer durations. That history never repeats itself exactly is due to the fact that it is not just cyclical, but also spiral – History unfolds in a spiral which modern historians have mistaken for linear progress. So, although there are recurrent patterns in history, the particular events, their scope, immediate causes, intensity and lasting effects, will be different each time.
“History does not repeat, but it rhymes.” – Mark Twain
(9) The Cardinal Grand Cross of the Summer of 2010, and Uranus Squaring Pluto
Recall that the 180-year Grand Cycle is based on the orbits and conjunctions of the two planets Jupiter and Saturn. In August of last year (2010), an extremely rare astronomical phenomenon occurred – the personal planets (the Sun, the moon, Mars and Venus), the social planets (Jupiter and Saturn), the cosmic planets (Uranus and Pluto) formed a Grand Cross pattern at the four Cardinal Points of the Zodiac. Astrologers all agree that this signals momentous changes for mankind.
It is highly significant that the Grand Cardinal Cross should manifest itself at this time, coinciding with the start of the Third Line of the 8th Phase of the current Grand Cycle. The 8th Phase brings things to an end, the 9th Phase ushers in a new period of rebirth after recuperation from turmoils.
Uranus (the planet of revolution) enters the sign of Aries (the warrior) in March 2011, and starting in June 2012, will form a series of squares (90' angle) with Pluto (the planet of death and rebirth) in the sign of Capricorn which represents the establishment, over a period of 4 years! This promises that things will heat up and reach a crescendo until a final "denouement" . The stars and the I-Ching are both pointing in the same direction.
