Ten Celestial Stems and Twelve Terrestrial Branches

[Stigweard]

My current study has me plowing through the I Ching and I am working through the whole theory around the Ten Celestial Stems and Twelve Terrestrial Branches.

 

Master Ni says, "The main reason for using the ancient energy-time system is to understand the nature of life. According to ancient spiritual understanding, time is neither the face of a plane nor a straight line. A unit of time is a phase of cyclic universal energy."

 

In terms of cultivation, by knowing precisely what phase the Stems and Branches is present one can attune oneself better to Universal energy and thus tailor make and enhance your cultivation.

 

Does anyone have any knowledge, insight, references etc they can share with me so I can broaden my understanding in this area?

 

Cheers

Edited September 4, 2009 by Stigweard

[宁]

My current study has me plowing through the I Ching and I am working through the whole theory around the Ten Celestial Stems and Twelve Terrestrial Branches.

 

Master Ni says, "The main reason for using the ancient energy-time system is to understand the nature of life. According to ancient spiritual understanding, time is neither the face of a plane nor a straight line. A unit of time is a phase of cyclic universal energy."

 

In terms of cultivation, by knowing precisely what phase the Stems and Branches is present one can attune oneself better to Universal energy and thus enhance tailor make and enhance your cultivation.

 

Does anyone have any knowledge, insight, references etc they can share with me so I can broaden my understanding in this area?

 

Cheers

 

 

hi there Stig

 

wuxing times 2 (yin + yang) = ten stems

 

the terrestrial branches are the meridians, in humans, and the chinese hours = 12

 

this is part of Qi Men Dun Jia, an art that M. Winn says it's China's best kept secret...

(but can be somewhat found in usual fengshui and bazi courses)

 

good luck in finding out the rest of it

 

[Pietro]

hi there Stig

 

wuxing times 2 (yin + yang) = ten stems

 

the terrestrial branches are the meridians, in humans, and the chinese hours = 12

 

this is part of Qi Men Dun Jia, an art that M. Winn says it's China's best kept secret...

(but can be somewhat found in usual fengshui and bazi courses)

 

good luck in finding out the rest of it

 

 

 

let me add,

every year a different one is "active"(?), I think the 10 refers to the 5 energies in a yin and a yang aspect. When you combine the 10 and the 12, each changing every year you get that the whole pattern repeats every 60 years. And this is why in China it is believed that after 60 years you start again, and your life is supposed to last 120 years (2 cycles). When you practice wu ji qi kung you "take in" the energy from the 10 celestial stems. After having absorbed the energy from the 12 earthly branches.

 

Pietro

[Franklin]

Stigweard

 

if you can find a copy of this book it is great

 

The Celestial Stems

by Royston Low

 

http://www.amazon.com/Celestial-Stems-Roys...8585&sr=8-6

 

his books are actually really hard to find now

but all the ones i have seen are really good

mostly about acupuncture

 

 

the celestial stem book is short

i think like 96 pages or so

it have very good background and overview

 

and also covers finding the "open" point based on the stems and branches for each hour of each day

 

if you have an acupuncture school nearby you might check their library to see if they have a copy

 

franklin

[Stigweard]

The 10 Celestial Stems showing the Wuxing (five elements) in their Yin and Yang expression.

Edited July 5, 2011 by Stigweard

[Stigweard]

Two representations of the Twelve Terrestrial Branches

 

Two representations of the Sixty Phases

Edited July 5, 2011 by Stigweard

[Vajrahridaya]

Yantraing it up I see...

[Stigweard]

Yantraing it up I see...

I am sorry my friend ... it appears I am quite dense because I have missed what you were trying to say. Could you rephrase or expand on your post for my poor comprehension?

 

[Creation]

Don't know anything about this but try:

 

http://damo-qigong.net/project/iching/liuren.htm

http://damo-qigong.net/project/iching/dunjia.htm

 

Both sections have 4 pages, I think.

 

I hope this helps.

[Stigweard]

Don't know anything about this but try:

 

http://damo-qigong.net/project/iching/liuren.htm

http://damo-qigong.net/project/iching/dunjia.htm

 

Both sections have 4 pages, I think.

 

I hope this helps.

Cheers for that

[Stigweard]

Heya Folks,

 

I have created an Excel calculator for the Celestial Stems and Terrestrial Branches:

 

http://www.taowizard.com/Celestial_Stems_a...al_Branches.xls

 

Would love to get some feedback on this.

 

Also, Master Ni makes a strong point that by working with this system you can tune your cultivation into the universal energy more efficiently. He even goes on to say that without doing this the full potential of Taoist cultivation will not be attainable.

 

I would love to hear if anyone knows of which activities and cultivation practices are most appropriate for each of the 60 phases.

 

[Mal]

Heya Folks,

 

I have created an Excel calculator for the Celestial Stems and Terrestrial Branches:

 

http://www.taowizard.com/Celestial_Stems_a...al_Branches.xls

 

Would love to get some feedback on this.

 

Cool Stig

 

Perhaps add a Stems and Branches "faq" or "what is" link on the sheet so it's more stand alone?

 

Got this one from Goggle

The interaction among the 12 terrestrial branches is infinite so it is not easy to learn.

[Stigweard]

Cool Stig

 

Perhaps add a Stems and Branches "faq" or "what is" link on the sheet so it's more stand alone?

Yup

Got this one from Goggle: "The interaction among the 12 terrestrial branches is infinite so it is not easy to learn."

LOL ... Tell me about it!

Edited September 5, 2009 by Stigweard

[Stigweard]

Just bumping this topic up for a friend.

 

[unmike]

Stig, do you happen to still have a larger copy of any of the images you included earlier in the thread?

[Stigweard]

Stig, do you happen to still have a larger copy of any of the images you included earlier in the thread?

Images updated ... Better??

 

[thelerner]

Images updated ... Better??

 

Your next homework assignment would be to label them in English!!

 

It would be very valuable, these concepts are so deep and complex a picture really can be worth a 1,000 words (or pages).

 

Yours

 

Michael

[Stigweard]

Your next homework assignment would be to label them in English!!

 

It would be very valuable, these concepts are so deep and complex a picture really can be worth a 1,000 words (or pages).

 

Yours

 

Michael

LOL sure, I'll get to that straight after I finish my TTC translation

 

You are right though to be able to get this into English would be helpful. Apparently there is a way to tune your daily practice to where the cycle is in the sixty-phases. Haven't worked it out yet so this is on the shelf for the moment.