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Jiu Gong Ming Li: An Introduction To 9 Palace Fate Calculations

Fûsa

An area in which the 9 Star Ki really shines is the art of locating positive and negative energy flows coming from specific compass directions. This is often called directionology, but I usually call the problem directions Fûsa meaning "blockade" since these directions represent obstructions to ones efforts and actions according to the nature of what they are doing and the composite time cycles within which they choose to act. This is the spatial method of Ki, and through applied directionology, we will come to understand the workings of Ki in both time and space.

Every year, month, day and hour, the Ki which is incompatible with some desire or purpose exists alongside helpful Ki. There are certain directions through which Ki flows smoothly and supports us, and others where the Ki flow is working against us. The positive and negative energy flows not only vary by way of time cycles, but also are different for each of the 9 Stars. The Chinese call the negative types of "Qi Sha", meaning evil Qi, but I prefer the term Fûsa for philosophical reasons: Ki cannot be evil, only our opinions make it so.

Two Fûsa directions are called the Year Break and the Month Break. These are the directions opposite the animal sign for the year and the month. This is commonly calculated by using the Chinese Solar calendar, for which the year begins at Li Chun, around February 4th, when the Sun reaches the halfway point between the Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox. Western astrologers know this as the 15th degree of Aquarius (Tropical zodiac). There is not universal agreement on this though, and those of us who study the teachings of Shao Yong are not alone in suspecting that the Winter Solstice might be the actual beginning point for the Year measured in terms of its Ki. I have heard other Feng Shui and Ba Zi practitioners express this opinion as well, especially those who acknowledge that the Solar Calendar came around much later than Jiu Gong Ming Li, which is possibly older than the written number system.

This year, 2005, is the year of the Rooster. Consequently, the Year Break falls in the direction of the Rabbit. The Month Break is a little more difficult to figure out, because it is a subdivision of the Year Break's 30 degree segment of the azimuth circle. This information will be fully discussed in an upcoming article. Traditionally, it is not advised to travel outside of your routine in the Year/Month Break direction. In other words, if you wanted to go to Fiji this year, which would be in the direction of the Rabbit and therefore the Year Break direction, this would not be favorable, but if your job were located in the same direction, it would not affect you. There used to be a rule that inside a range of 5 KM the Fûsa directions do not become active, but nowadays, it is more important to separate routine and special journeys. A trip to Disneyland would not be a special journey of you worked there, even if you had to drive an hour (which means it could be 10 miles away considering the traffic in the Los Angeles area). But if you have never been and it takes only 15 minutes, it would be a special journey, wouldn't it?

It seems obvious that since the Year or Month break follows such a general rule, that the only way that it would work is if it happens to coincide with other, more personal Fûsa directions. The Tibetans have a unique way of dealing with this that will be discussed in the future. Whichever method is being used, this matter is a little tricky, because we are dealing with the terrestrial branches (animal signs) here, and they take up 30 degree segments of the azimuth circle, rather than the 45 degree segments controlled by the 8 Palaces (excluding the central palace). You may guess that the animal signs overlap with the Ki Stars. This question will also discussed in a future article. These two Fûsa become especially potent when the direction either belongs to an incompatible animal sign, or falls within a palace whose ruling Star controls or drains the Year or Month star of the person in question.

Two other generally inauspicious directions are known as the Yellow Emperor and the Secret Sword. The Yellow Emperor is placed in whichever palace the 5 Yellow star falls in the year Chart. The Secret Sword is the opposite palace. Moving in the direction of the Yellow Emperor is like doing something against your better judgment, and your better judgment turns out to be right. The Secret Sword direction is the called so because it is meant to imply betrayal - your own or that done by you - either way, a special case of not making a smart move. Please see the article "The Tao of 9 Star Ki" to learn more about the metaphysical laws underpinning this concept. Some traditions also refer to the direction that is opposite the palace of the year number as a Fûsa direction - look for our upcoming article on the "Ki Compass" for a thorough explanation of monthly Fûsa and other topics related to directionology.

The Life Sha and Life Focus Sha directions vary from person to person, depending on which star is in the central palace during the day, month or year of the seeker's birth. The Life Sha is the direction represented by the palace in which your Year Star falls in the annual chart, and the Life Focus Sha is the opposite palace. As an example, this year is a 4 Wood year - if a person were born in a 2 Earth year, their Life Sha palace would be the western direction, or the palace of 3 in the Universal Chart. Offending the Life Sha can affect the physical health, while traveling in the direction of the Life Focus Sha can cause confusion and misunderstanding.

The Life/Life Focus Sha directions are especially noticeable when they fall in the same palaces as the Yellow Emperor/Secret Sword.

Usually, we consider these blockades for travel, vacations or important business meetings. For other, more routine movement, they can be safely ignored. You may want to use this technique in setting up a meeting or working a stage to position yourself in a place where you are not facing the year break: in other words, during the Rooster year try to avoid facing East when in a business meeting or when giving a presentation. You might also learn to position yourself in the place where your Life Focus is located.

Another directionality application is that this method can help you understand something about the people you are involved with. You will generally find that people from the difficult directions give you a harder time than those from the friendly directions. When working with this aspect of directionology, use only the Life/Life Focus palaces, because they are based on the individual's personal 9 Star chart. Otherwise, anyone born during a Rabbit year would be a troublemaker during the year of the Rooster, and that's just not right.

Although this aspect of 9 Star Ki invites one to play in the sandbox of superstition, it is something that can be really useful in the hands of a skilled practitioner. For the average person, it is important to understand that the ancients believed that intent, creativity and unification of purpose always give a human being the advantage when dealing with Fusa, and the ability to utilize this knowledge the benefit of themselves and others.