Taomeow

They are all used, and to assess their energies, you need to look at the attributes of each trigram -- Season, Direction, Weather (to name the basic few), and how they will change from Earlier to Later Heaven. Thunder of Earlier Heaven is in the position/direction/season of Spring -- northeast -- so, which wuxing phase is associated with Spring? -- Wood, "born in Spring." And so on. These things are best worked out with diagrams and practices, lots of practical applications -- choose a taoist art, keep referring to diagrams (just don't get them off the internet, 99% found therein are, for some reason, either way off or at least slightly off, don't know why, they are very simple -- but once they go viral, they go wrong) and studying attributes, and they start falling into place. I don't think they can be understood separately from practical applications. It's like separating spring from what responds to spring in nature -- what is spring "by itself?.." -- a calendar designation?.. Someone who has never observed the spring as it interacts with life on earth, patterns in heaven, and other seasons, how it develops out of winter, grows strong, grows weak as it's yielding to summer, is opposed by autumn in everything the latter does -- might not see the connection between Spring, Thunder, and Wood. But it is pretty obvious once you take a closer look. Ditto with every other trigram and wuxing phase -- but "taking a closer look" is key. None of this taoist-fundamentals stuff is superficial, but every step into the depth of these notions is "easy and simple," it's just that they have to be taken in sequence and one at a time -- and not in a hurry -- and there's an infinite number of them.

Hey, this is the world of taiji after all -- practitioners of taijiquan know that it is all about constant adjustments. Yes, of course, when you supreimpose five phases ("elements") on eight directions, some of the eight will repeat their wuxing affiliations. Metal and Mountain are of the same phase. But the mountains of heaven are clouds, and the mountains of earth are solid. So Metal and Air are related as are Lungs (Metal phase organ) and breath. The air we breathe is just a manifestation ("element") -- oxygen attaches to iron in our blood, the molecule so put together is known as hemoglobin, so this is how metal-air is dissolved into our system. The process of formation of stars, from supernova to collapse, is pretty much about the core collapsing into iron -- "metal contracts" -- so the inherent dynamics of wuxing are present on all levels, micro to macro. Understanding the five phases and the eight directions superimposed on each other covers pretty much all there is... the rest is "adjustments."

This refers to the eight trigrams of Earlier and Later Heaven, not to the five phases of wuxing. The trigram with one yin on the bottom and two yang on top is actually the Penetrating, and manifests as Wind in heaven and as Wood on earth when it shifts position from Earlier Heaven bagua to Later Heaven bagua, but it's the same trigram in a different position and not the Wood phase of wuxing. Terminological difficulties. There's 13 fundamental energies in the world of manifestations, and the names of some of the eight of them seem to coincide with some of the names of the other five when translated.

Thank you for elaborating. So, stage one, which does not lead to war, is to openly express grievances instead of repressing them and pretending nothing is wrong. This, alas, is not always possible, and also often not practiced even when possible. People live in fear of the truth, of self-expression, of -- especially -- expressing a feeling as bound and straightjacketed by multiple superimposed taboos as anger, from crib to grave. Which is why it grows, and once it does get expressed on occasion, almost invariably misses its original target and its justified proportions, and is dumped onto the nearest receptacle like a bucket of random BS accumulated inside over the years. And this is how one will lose the war come stage two. The "apple bright" is what Sun Tzu shows how to grow toward stage two instead, once the chance for preventing war has been missed due to the failure of open and timely expression of grievances. Peace is bound to be broken because being denied expression does not make these grievances go away, it only makes them go underground and start growing. From this hidden base they feed the tree of life till a poisonous apple of war grows on its branches. To cajole the foe to fight for this enticing shiny fruit, an easy victory, grab at it and eat it and die as a result, is "to win the war before it starts."

I'd like to hear the story, Marble, if you care to share.

Here's a Westerner well-versed in secret doctrines who understood the Art of War A Poison Tree by William Blake I was angry with my friend: I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow. And I watered it in fears, Night and morning with my tears; And I sunned it with smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles. And it grew both day and night, Till it bore an apple bright. And my foe beheld it shine. And he knew that it was mine, And into my garden stole When the night had veiled the pole; In the morning glad I see My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

"Genji Monogatari" or "The Tale of Genji," an early 11th century Japanese novel, the first one ever written by a woman. The woman's name is not known -- in those times the nobility of Japan did not use their names in society according to the rules of politeness and went by their rank, office, place-name, or nickname. The sobriquet of the author is known as Murasaki Shikibu, "purple ceremonial." Murasaki is also the name of the main female protagonist. Genji, the main male protagonist, is an early Jepanese predecessor of Don Juan (not Castaneda's but the legendary libertine, Don Giovanni.) Interestingly enough, throughout the novel, protagonists exchange messages, either recited or sent in letters, that resemble modern use of emails, forum posts, texting or FB offerings, etc. -- instant comments on whatever is going through their minds or happening in their lives -- which are, however, exquisite poems in the classical genre of tanka.

This is a legitimate taoist text included in the taoist canon. Well worth studying. For those who do not engage in any wars due to sheer luck of having been born in a peaceful setting (few people throughout history were this lucky -- or are), it is worth contemplating from the POV of how this particular approach "fa ziran," imitates nature. A really fruitful way to look at nature for those who haven't tried to see it this way.

OK, here goes. The representation of the wuxing as a square arrangement of four of the phases, with Earth at the center of the square, introduces the idea of a "center." Everything else of necessity becomes the "periphery." Central authority, central government, central idea, one true god, dominant race, gender, social stratum, etc. etc. -- everything else starts revolving around this "central authority." And the cultivator who places herself in this central position, that of Earth, as these systems suggest, excludes herself from reality and destiny. That's because in reality each of us is comprised of all five phases (if all goes well -- I've seen many charts from which one or two or, in an extreme case, three were missing), and our central, main phase (in terms of Chinese astrology, either "proprietary, Self phase" or "dominant, most abundant phase," which don't always coincide) can be anything -- not "always Earth" by any stretch of imagination. As for all other elements (phases of qi, which is the term I prefer) being present in Earth -- true, but this is also true for each and every one of them. Their proportions are different, however. Earth can be Wet (Earth with Water) or Dry (Earth with Fire), but in any event it will be controlled by Wood and will control Water and will produce Metal and will be produced by Fire. Water can be Muddy (Water with Earth), Hot (Water with Fire), Metal can be Fluid (Metal with Fire), Fire can be Explosive (Fire with Metal), in other words, not only the combinations of any one phase with others but their position as "mother" or "child" phase, "controlling" or "controlled," their proportions within a given wuxing combo, and their yin-yang affiliations are always unique and change from person to person and from phenomenon to phenomenon. Earth placed in the center is stuck in a yin position -- internal in relation to other phases -- yet often treated as "pure yang," the main honcho of hierarchical systems. A double entanglement. What about Earth in the real circular mutual creation/destruction cycle of phases, which is yin part of the time and yang part of the time, depending on the Earthly Branch and Heavenly Stem that change positions every year? Earth in the middle is "unchanging" -- this is not taoist, the way of tao is cyclical change. A lot of confusion is also generated by mixing other systems into wuxing -- e.g. Earth of the Earthly Branch is a type of qi that is not related to Earth of wuxing, although the two interact -- but they are not the same energies. Let alone "elements," since Earth of wuxing can manifest as an "element" earth too, dirt, soil, planet -- but Earthly Branch is a cosmic pattern of qi both affected by Earth the planet being there and affecting it. Its mystical aspects are derived from completely abstract phenomena (numbers) that have to be tackled within their own "palaces" quite independent of the wuxing sytem. Reducing Earth to just one kind and fixing it as 'only" part of wuxing misses out on an altogether different system it is also part of. Also sprach Taomeow.

They used bloodletting in the olden days, and leeches, and in cases when these procedures weren't abused and misused, they could efficiently and safely lower the patient's high blood pressure (without toxic chemicals used today for the purpose) and often prevented a looming stroke. There were some other indications -- but also warnings against using these procedures on patients of the wrong "constitution." Acupuncturists in China did this too -- I've seen instruments in a museum of acupuncture in China that were used for the purpose. Also cupping coupled with bleeding is still used today. It is only used on people who will benefit from losing some blood though -- and it's not "everybody," of course. Some people need to build up their blood -- there's many, many TCM formulas specifically designed for the purpose. A sudden drop in one's blood volume can be very hard on many organs and systems of the body, and anemic, weakened, malnourished, etc., donors are at a greater risk of adverse effects. Where I come from donors were turned down if they had nearsightedness higher than -5 diopters (if I remember correctly) because a sudden rapid loss of blood affects the intraocular pressure and, coupled with high or moderate-high myopia, could trigger retinal detachment. I imagine it would be a very good idea to evaluate donors on a case by case basis -- and also establish public transportation worthy of the level of mobility modern lifestyles require so people wouldn't be needing thousands of liters of blood daily due to vehicular accidents as they do now -- also it would be a good idea to eliminate wars, this would drastically lower the demand for donor blood -- also stop hundreds of thousands of unnecessary surgeries currently performed every year -- sorry, spaced out into a daydream...

I'll be happy to elaborate a bit later, have no time right now. Please stay tuned.

Yes. Similarities are the outcome of common derivation and then later cross-pollination... but developmentally there came a fork in the road and Indo-European systems took (or rather were pushed onto) one path and Chinese taoist, another. So parallels may be found but most of them are either superficial or outright deceptive. I would choose a system and stick with it, and notice what others do in this respect but not try to, as a Chinese proverb goes, "travel in two boats simultaneously by putting one leg in each." The version of wuxing where Earth is placed in the middle is the outcome of cross-pollination. The original taoist wuxing is circular. Non-hierarchical. However, sometimes it is useful to "flatten the world," so to speak, by using the square plan with four directions and Earth in the middle -- it is used for some simplified (compared to the rocket science of taoism, internal alchemy, but not all that simple by itself of course) tasks -- e.g. for some basic-level feng shui. I wouldn't use this for any neigong or neijia -- or for any healing work. But in any situation where you are dealing with a flat square surface which you want to be a stand-off for the world, a model, you can use this system. It can be applied to the arrangement of an indoors taoist altar, e.g., but if you practice more "arcane" aspects with an outdoor one, you will definitely engage the circular model. And then you can remove the altar and just use the world -- but phases of qi and their transformations must become as obvious as their visible manifestations in "elements" before one is likely to benefit from this. So, many systems that are not unlike but not quite like the circular wuxing arrangement are merely simplifications -- the real multidimentional thing is not easy to grasp with a 3D-world-trained mind. Not easy but not impossible down the road.

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Dusty, you seem to have thrown in the towel scepter and applied for the position of Minister of Education instead. Yup, I know, the crown is heavy... Your program, however, reminded me of this masterpiece of common sense:

For one thing, taoism is several millennia older than Laozi. Taoists proper (unlike laoists, secular admirers of Laozi, and religious adherents of the deified aspect of Laozi in some more recent taoist sects) and historians of taoism alike credit Fuxi with its creation -- that's about 4,000 years before Laozi. The first canonized book of the taoist canon is the I Ching, not the Tao Te Ching (which if memory serves was sixths in line). But of course taoism existed much longer than its formalized written versions. One has to know its fundamentals (derived from Hetu and Luoshu) to realize that the word "tao" didn't have to be articulated ("the tao that can be told is not the eternal tao" -- have you noticed?) for the foundational ideas of this teaching to be grasped. Also, a linguist familiar with reconstructions of the Indo-European language and its transmutations will tell the author of that book that "dao" and "dharma" are about as related as chopsticks and ball bearings. Buddha and Jesus may or may not be the same person, but Nicola Tesla and Thomas Edison -- definitely not.

To answer those who think that wonderful things to benefit people will be accomplished peacefully and all you need to do is... er... wish upon a star?.. -- remember Carthage?.. No, of course not, it was too long ago, and according to some historians (who may be exaggerating for all I know), even the soil it once stood on in beauty and grace was sown with salt by the conquerors who razed it to the ground, so nothing can ever grow there again. But in the first millennium B.C., under the leadership of Queen Elissa, it flourished into the center of a large and rich empire, a major power in the Mediterranean. Aristotle wrote extensively on Carthaginian politics, and he considered the city to have some of the best governing institutions ever in existence in the world. However, the resulting rivalry with Syracuse, Numidia and Rome caused the latter to invade it and unleash several wars, with victory going back and forth a few times until Rome decisively defeated Carthage and destroyed it completely in 146 BC. The Romans then refounded it to their own specs, and that's how it trudged on until it was destroyed a second time, in 698, by the Muslim conquest. An empress who does not know her history is doomed to repeat it. Carthage was all about peace and prosperity. Didn't work. For as long as your peace and prosperity are an affront to someone greedy or envious or evil, it won't last unless you can defend it. History teaches us that nothing has ever been accomplished with a kind word that someone else challenged with a kind word and a gun. Empress Taomeow is not going to build an empire to be trampled upon. No way. @ thelearner: I appreciate your flattering assessment of her humble abilities as a ruler, but you don't seem to know a whole lot about the Illuminati, do you? -- or you would never have made the parallel. To know a black box containing a live cat from a black box containing a dead one, you need to do better than Schrodinger who solved the problem by declaring that the cat is simultaneously alive and dead. Nope. That's exactly the cat I don't want in MY empire's black box. That's exactly the future I don't want for humanity, to be a bunch of living dead. That some will have to choose which to be as the outcome of my sweeping reforms is inevitable. But if you allow the currently ruling opposing consciousness, THEM, to keep choosing for you, the choice will be -- sooner than later -- between being dead and being the living dead. Dire straits require drastic measures. Empress Taomeow is not a tyrant, but she has to defeat a helluva lot of current and would-be tyrants first if she wants to put an end to tyranny. Which she does. But they won't let her do it by just wishing upon a star, see. Surprise surprise.

I'm not sure I know what "aliens" means. I observe what I observe: there's monsters. There weren't any for a million years of our history. There were humans, animals and plants -- life on Earth. Before humans, it was thriving for hundreds of millions of years, and with humans, it was thriving for another million. And then, in the past 10-15 thousand years, it all changed suddenly (in terms of species' life span, in the last second) and drastically. Suddenly there were monsters among us. Suddenly there was deforestation of the planet that never stopped -- this is a planet of forests, and suddenly they were in the way. Suddenly there was coercion, there were wars -- vertebrates never went to war in the previous 525 million years of their history. Suddenly there were masters and slaves, large scale construction of objects that are not dwellings for the species -- globally (and at the same time everywhere, Egypt to Peru to Japan to Macedonia to China), suddenly there was grain agriculture (everywhere at the same time, in historic terms within a nanosecond), suddenly there were ruling classes and the oppressed, suddenly there was abject poverty for 99% of humanity for the rest of its history (yes, this is the situation today too, in global terms), suddenly there were obligatory famines, obligatory bloodshed, obligatory and vast systems of punishment -- jails, torture, execution, and in general life in fear of the "authority," and then there were many words, billions of words from high above -- from preachers and rulers and then "scientists" -- about how bad it was before all their blessings and how much "progress" we have made and how much happier we are when we are "civilized." And there was drastic shortening of the human life span which they told us was its extension. And there was a long stretch -- ten thousand years long or more -- of the majority of the population of this planet suddenly living in either quiet or not-so-quiet desperation. "Quality of life" became something that is measured not by the hours, days, years, decades of inner aliveness and joy and love and closeness and delight and pleasure but by the number of objects you manage and their "monetary value." And there was an epidemic of degenerative disease, and breakdown of communities, families, affectionate ties among humans, and humans and animals, and humans and nature, which we were told never existed -- see, we were all bloodthirsty savages before the king and the church told us to stop killing each other unless otherwise instructed by them... fancy that, we actually didn't till we became civilized. We knew each other too well, we lived in closely knit bands, and we worked together, alongside our children and parents and brothers and sisters and uncles and aunts and friends -- hunting and gathering, fishing and foraging, exploring and reporting back -- an average of 8 hours a week, and enjoyed life and each other's company the rest of the time. And we made art -- we danced and sang and painted our bodies and painted the walls of the caves in a way that made Pablo Picasso cry out in despair, "We've degenerated as artists!" when he first visited those caves in the south of France and saw the magnificent art of our "savage" ancestors. Anyway... I could go on but it's time to stop. Bottom line: I don't know what "aliens" means. There's been an onslaught of a monstrous, parasitic, self-serving opposing consciousness on humanity we all know and love as "civilization" and "progress." Where it came from, I don't know. Archons or aliens or a local opposition of monsters. I've heard many versions of what it is, but I'm not committed to any one of them because I just don't know. What I know without a shadow of a doubt is, it IS. And it is not human. We didn't do it to ourselves. We were first forced, then mutilated, then manipulated into doing this and then believing it's our own idea, us and no one else. I used to buy it till I knew better. I know my humanity. I know there's none of that therein. It's all installed, non-native -- and monstrous.

In reality, diversity is a HUGE challenge. It's not a "bad" or "good" thing anymore than any huge challenge is -- but it becomes a bad thing if the challenge is not met properly, is ignored, mishandled, swept under the rug, or (in a typical case) used to breed hostilities, discrimination, humiliation, false perceptions and images and accusations, scapegoats and "superior" breeds of man, and divide and conquer ad nauseam. It is a double-edged sword for sure, and the edge typically used is the killing one, not the healing one. Alas. So in this respect homogenous countries have it much easier. No Japanese object to paying taxes "because we don't want to support illegal Japanese immigrants" or "all those ghetto Japanese on welfare" or "those devious Japanese banksters." So they have to discern what it is about people that really makes them good or bad people because Japaneseness ain't it -- everybody is Japanese, the good, the bad and the ugly. Of course they can go to town with despising non-Japanese everybody else everywhere else, there's that... What's better -- to be human or to be a special kind of human?.. We've all been convinced that it's better to be a special kind, "better" than some other kind. Sigh.

Not looking for gratitude -- in fact, Empress Taomeow would happily rule anonymously. After running all the more popular and appealing scenarios in my head and hitting all the dead ends they terminate in, I had to come to terms with the realization that human life on Earth must either return to its original shape and form or else end all life on Earth, human or not -- and sooner rather than later. We are not on the brink of the abyss. We're already over the brink and in free fall, we just haven't gone splat yet, that's why we still hope we're not going to, still think we can take three, four, seven more steps to cross it. No. Drastic measures are required to intercept all this precious spirit-infused protoplasma headed for ugly (not beautiful) oblivion, break its fall, and get it back to whence it fell -- or rather, was forcibly pushed. The empress has to choose. And choosing in favor of life on Earth is impossible to accomplish if alongside humans ready and willing to lead a human life we keep accommodating those who aren't. No. Didn't work before, won't work the second time around. I would rule to create, at any cost, conditions for humans to live a human life on earth and let all other creatures great and small live their creature life on earth too. Anyone who is not willing or not able to participate in life on earth on its terms, the way we were willing and able to live for a million years before, is either an alien intruder, their clone, their servant, or their robot -- and does not belong. So, my plan would make it impossible for non-humans, transhumans, half-past-humans, etc., to live among humans. My plan eliminates monsters and reestablishes humans, animals and plants in their rightful place which the monsters had appropriated. The empress, upon accomplishing this task, will resign and go to the mountains to pursue her taoist fancies. "No specialization" will mean that no one will be emperor or empress anymore as soon as everyone will be human. No one's whole humanity will be limited to a fragment, to a paltry piece torn off the discarded whole to "specialize" -- be it in being "emperor" or "accountant" or "fisherman" or "homemaker." Everybody will be what they ought to be: everything. No one will be a product to slap a label onto. There will be human life again, not the life of walking, talking inventory. Just like in the good old days.

Here's what Empress Taomeow would do: 1. Get the army on my side like Catherine the Great 2. Militarize the domain quickly and overwhelmingly like the pirate queen Chin Shih 3. Establish a meritocracy like empress Wu, but this time make it complete -- not a little outlet but the only way to get ahead 4. Once loyal support is safeguarded, announce my plan for the Old World Order and the end to "civilization" 5. Fight and defeat all internal enemies that will challenge or sabotage the plan, then all other countries that might do likewise, then annex them 6. Expose the secret governments and their crimes against humanity and execute all members and facilitators 7. Outlaw money, land ownership, and exploitation 8. Outlaw medicine not based on the "Do Not Harm" premise 9. Undertake a major clean-up of the environment 10. Undertake a major reforestation effort and make peace with all animals and plants 11. Outlaw electricity, fossil fuels, and man-made chemicals 12. Outlaw monocultures 13. Outlaw specialization In that order.

You make Appalachia sound worthy of a visit! As for the Caspian beach, I can give you a verbal description, see how you like it. In the resort area of Zagulba near the capital city of Baku, the sea is very warm, and it's warm at night too, the wind always blows, day and night, warm wind, strong wind, and on the beach it gets so strong it howls like a pack of wolves. You better put a rock on your T and towel or you'll never see them again -- gone with the wind. Night swimming in warm, not rough but not calm, softly but energetically rocking water, with the wind howling in your ears, and then as you get out, the sand blown by the wind giving you a leg massage that is invigorating but barely tolerable in its intensity, are unforgettable. I was a college student when I was there. To make my stay more interesting, I got an Azerbaijani boyfriend, not real boyfriend but one of those summer vacation liaisons we fall into so easily when we are very young, who told me many enlightening stories about life in a Muslim world I had no idea about. They are very passionate people, with a very short fuse. Nazim (the boyfriend) kept blackmailing me with his impending suicide upon my departure. I didn't believe him but part of me was worried...

Oh, forgot Mexico. Mexico does alternative therapies better. And all medications are OTC -- including all European pharmaceuticals that are not available here.

"Better" is in the eye of the beholder. Is it better to have no ethnic diversity like Japan, where 98.5% of inhabitants are Japanese, or plenty like Russia, home to 185 ethnic groups? Is it better to have high per capita income like Norway, or spend whatever income you have on your children's education and your parents' comfort in old age like China? Is it better to have a cleptocracy or a corporatocracy -- the only choices all countries really have politically these days? Is it better to be a small country that is being managed like Laozi's small fish being carefully fried, or a large one managed the way one eats a whale -- discarding most of it? Countries are unnatural. And some of them are not even countries. They started out as corporations for profit, and remained that for the duration of their history. Is it better? The only way to answer this question is to qualify it: better for whom? So, I listed only the things I experienced that were "better" for me.