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Tibetan Astrology

Tibetan astrology consists of two large interrelated sections – "black" and "white". This duality is due to the geographical location of Tibet, its borders with China and India. "Black astrology", or astrology of the elements, developed in close connection with China. "White astrology", or astrology of the stars, developed under the influence of Indian teachings.

The Tibetan horoscope for 2024, presented in this book, is based on the astrology of the elements. To get the most out of the horoscope, you need to know three concepts of Tibetan astrology, briefly discussed in this Chapter:

– the 5 Elements,

– the 12 Animals,

– the 5 personal forces.

The Sixty-Year Cycle

The Tibetan calendar is based on a sixty-year cycle. It appeared along with a translation into Tibetan of the Kalachakra Tantra in 1027, the year of the Fire Hare.

The year 2024 of the Wood Dragon is part of a cycle that began in 1987. Each year of the cycle is associated with one of the twelve Animals and one of the Five Elements. (If you multiply 12 by 5, you will get a 60-year cycle.)

To find your Animal and your Element go to the Chapter "How to identify your Animal and your Element".

The Twelve Animals

The Tibetan 12-year cycle is "ruled" by twelve Animals: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Bird, Dog, and Pig. In various Eastern astrological traditions, the list of animals may vary, but in Tibetan astrology, it is defined in accordance with the legend. Buddha wanted to see and to bless all animals before attaining the final liberation of parinirvana, but only 12 animals came and they came in the order in which they now alternate in a 12-year cycle starting with Rat.

Animals are universal multivalued symbols. In particular, they determine the personal characteristics that a person receives. The general psychological portrait of the 12 Animals can be found in the corresponding chapters of this book.

Tibetan astrological tanka, XIX century

The Five Elements

The Five Elements are potencies, dynamic principles, qualities of cosmic energy or matter: Wood – Fire – Earth – Metal – Water. One should not understand these symbols literally. For example, Wood is not a tree, it is the potency of growth and development. Elements have the following characteristics:

– Wood is vitality, growth, creation,

– Fire is an upward movement, heat, passion, joy,

– Earth is stability, fertility, heaviness, concreteness,

– Metal is hardness, coldness, purity, sharpness,

– Water is the moisture, flowability, penetration, cold, night.

All Elements interact with each other. It can be represented as a diagram:

External arrows show the productive cycle: Fire produces Earth, Earth – Metal, Metal – Water, Water – Wood, Wood – Fire.

Internal dashed arrows show the controlling cycle: Fire controls (suppresses) Metal, Metal – Wood, Wood – Earth, Earth – Water, Water – Fire.

Each year has its own set of qualities and Elements. Each person has a set of characteristics corresponding to the year of birth. Knowing the basic principles of interaction of Elements (production and suppression) you can compare the quality of the coming year with the quality of the year of birth of a person and predict how favorable the coming year will be.

The Five Personal Forces

Each individual has five powers, the nature of which is determined according to the year of his birth. These five forces are as follows:

Vitality, life force (Sok). It’s the power of life that makes a person alive. It is the inner life energy of a person that resides in his heart. Weak Sok is a danger to life.

Body, health (Lü). It is the strength and energy of body health, it’s physique, physical strength, and bodily well-being. It is, figuratively speaking, a vessel for life. Our vital energy (Sok) depends on the integrity of this vessel, depends on the health of the body, because our life force can flow out of the body due to diseases and injuries.

Strength, power (Wang thang). This is the potential of personal power, with which a person can achieve goals, shape his financial situation and manage life circumstances. A strong wang thang gives us the ability to effectively use our talents and opportunities, skillfully manage our time, avoid injury, achieve wealth and prosperity.

Fortune (Lung ta). Literally, Lung ta is translated as "wind horse". It is the energy of luck that attracts favorable situations, circumstances, and money. It brings us success and a good reputation, it is also a spiritual path. Lung ta is the movement of energy through the human body, it is the harmonization and strengthening of the three above-mentioned forces: vitality, health, and strength. When our internal energies are in harmony with the external energies, then fortune becomes our natural companion.

Life-soul (La). It is the spirit or the soul, but it is not the soul in the Christian sense, it’s the soul that binds together all the components of a person, giving integrity and interest in life. It is the immunity. La produces Sok (life force). This means that the Element of La-soul is always in the mother's relationship with Sok-vitality that resides in the heart. For example, if the Element of life-soul is Fire, then the Element of vitality will be Earth because Fire produces Earth. La is very mobile and moves through an individual’s energy channels during the lunar cycle.

Elements and Personal Forces

Each Animal in the Tibetan Zodiac has a predetermined set of three qualities:

– vitality,

– fortune,

– life-soul.

For example, Dragon’s vitality is Earth, fortune – Wood, and life-soul – Fire; Monkey’s vitality is Metal, fortune – Wood, life-soul – Earth; and so on.

Strength (Wang thang) is defined according to the Element of the year. For example, the ruling Element of 1952 and 1953 was Water. Accordingly, the Wang thang of an individual, who was born in 1952 or in 1953, is Water.

Finally, the Element of the body (Lü) is determined depending on the Wang thang Element and the Animal. For example, a person born in 1952 (Water Dragon) will have Water as a body Element.

Calculating favorability of the coming year

To predict how favorable the coming year will be, Tibetans compare Elements for the coming year with natal Elements. There are six degrees of favorability of the interaction of Elements:

– If the Element for the year produces the natal Element (for example, Metal – Water), it is excellent, it is ○○○ (three white stones).

– If the natal Element controls the Element for the year (for example, Fire – Metal), it is very good, it is ○○ (two white stones).

– If the natal Element (Earth or Water) coincides with the Element for the year, it is good, it is ○ (one white stone).

– If the natal Element produces the Element for the year (for example, Earth – Metal), it is neutral, it is ○● (one white stone and one black stone).

– If the natal Element (Wood, Fire, or Metal) coincides with the Element for the year, it is not good, it is ● (one black stone).

– If the Element for the year controls the natal Element (for example, Metal – Wood), it is bad, it is ●● (two black stones).

Example of calculating white and black stones for 2024

Let's say a person was born on October 7, 1952. The natal picture of forces and Elements for this person will be as follows:

– Year of birth: 1952. Animal: Dragon. Element of the year: Water.

– Vitality Element: Earth,

– Body Element: Water,

– Strength Element: Water,

– Fortune Element: Wood,

– Life-soul Element: Fire.

Knowing the natal Elements you can compare them with the Elements of the coming year and find out how favorable the year will be. For example, in 2024 (Wood Dragon) the forces and Elements will be as follows:

– Vitality Element: Earth,

– Body Element: Fire,

– Strength Element: Wood,

– Fortune Element: Wood,

– Life-soul Element: Fire.

Now let's compare the Elements of 1952 with the Elements of 2024. The degree of favorability is estimated with the help of black and white stones:

– Vitality Element (Earth matches Earth): ○ – one white stone,

– Body Element (Water controls Fire): ○○ – two white stones,

– Strength Element (Water produces Wood): ○● – one white stone and one black stone,

– Fortune Element (Wood matches Wood): ● – one black stone,

– Life-soul Element (Fire matches Fire): ● – one black stone.

Two white stones in the Body field indicate that the Element of 1952 (Water) controls the Element of 2024 (Fire). This means that the year 2024 gives an opportunity to those who were born in 1952 to strengthen their bodily "vessel".

If the Body had two black stones (as, for example, those born in the year of the Water Tiger), then this would indicate an increased health hazard in 2024.

The interpretation of all black and white stones for each pair Element-Animal and recommendations for 2024 can be found in the corresponding chapters of this book.