TAOIST ASTROLOGY (ZHANXINGSHU): Timing of Divine Return (DAOZHAN: Divination Resource for Daoist Calculation Book 3)

“The holy sages were divine, hence they knew the future; they were wise, hence they stored up the past.”- Yijing as quoted in Da LiuThe word Tao (dao) means “way,” or more specifically “way of truth.” The master of method (fangshi), later known as human of the way (daoren), or master of way, or priest of the way (daoshi), a product of Chinese shamanism (Chuci), practiced divination, astrology, geomancy, medicine, internal alchemy (neidan), ecstatic wandering, and exorcism (Taoist arts) for the sole purpose of preserving their harmony with nature, and becoming a divine immortal. It was difficult to distinguish between the fangshi and the sorcerer (wu).Taoist divination, a diagnostic discipline of Taoist medicine, is the art of understanding reality (predicting portents) by utilizing such modalities as astrology, geomancy, Yijing calculation, and biomancy (analysis of the face, body and hand). Astrology predicts the inherited fortune (karmic condition) bestowed by heaven. Geomancy predicts the fortune in personal harmony with the environment. Body and face analysis predicts the fortune in one’s outer appearance. Hand analysis predicts the fortune in one’s inner self (personality). Yijing oracle mathematics provides the symbolic cosmic code as philosophical guidance for spiritual alchemy.Astrology (zhanxingshu), the heavenly art of divination derived from the science of astronomy (number in space-time), literally translates as “divination through star number,” meaning receiving divine messages from celestial orbits. Originally, priests (astronomer-priests) of antiquity watched (from celestial oriented architecture: ziggurats, temples, observatories) the celestial cycles of time (orbits of the sun, moon, planets and stars) to calibrate not only their lives, but also the celebration of the return of divinity (“star gate”). The primary purpose of astronomy-astrology of remote antiquity was to formulate various calendars demarking religious rituals and festivals for worshiping the reigning deities, who initially provided the astronomical technology (architectural observatories, calendars). (Most scholars customarily attribute ancient humanity’s astronomical endeavors for the purpose of generating agricultural calendars. But sophisticated astronomy is not required for successful agriculture.)Copyright 2005. (166 pages; 87 figures; includes astrological worksheet and chart); see http://lotusspace.com/P-texts.htm for more info. Read more