The Lo Shu Matrix
In the last few months I’ve been researching legends surrounding the last Emperor of China’s mythical period, the Great Emperor Yu. This research is for another writing project I’ve undertaken, but there’s something I want to share that I think will be of interest to readers here…
Have you heard of the Lo Shu Square? I was pretty sure I hadn’t until I saw it in its modern, simplified form. A 3×3 magic square composed of the numbers 1 to 9, with 5 forever in the center, and the four even numbers always in the corners. I have known it as the magic square of the number 15, also called The Square of Saturn:
As soon as I understood what I was looking at, I knew it was so much more than what I had give it credit for!
The Chinese word Lo is often generically translated as ‘river’, but in this case specifically implies the river Lo. The word Shu means ‘scroll’. Legend says that the Great Emperor Yu walked along the river Lo during a time of great flooding to analyze why the river god was refusing the people’s sacrifices to stop the flood. However, as Yu is most remembered for the engineering feats that gave China control of their waters, his famous walk along the river Lo probably had more to do with analysis and less to do with appeasing a river god. At any rate, all stories congeal that it was the back of a turtle shell that provided Yu with his answers. Presumably, what was drawn would have been something like this image that first introduced me to the Lo Shu Square:
Note that the black square-dots in the corners represent even numbers. Because they are black and square-shaped they represent Yin energy. As such, the four corners are called “the numbers of the earth.” Just like earth has its four cardinal points. The white circles represent odd numbers and Yang energy. They are called, “the numbers of Heaven.” The whole thing together is also called the Nine Hall Diagram. It is said to explain the relationships between earth and Heaven. It is strongly connected to the nine directions (8 compass points, plus the center), the nine “pure colors” (3 primary, 4 secondary, plus black and white) and the nine temperaments (correlated to the interactions of Hot and Cold). There are plenty of modern sources which connect the diagram to the most profound mysteries of time and space.
It seems that Emperor Yu devised a system from this diagram that allowed the region to control their river. My guess is that it worked with his irrigation canals in a time-based fashion, being used to track the opening and closing of the spillways. This comes to mind because there are eight planes in which we can arrive at the sum of 15 (3 vertical, 3 horizontal, 2 diagonal) and in the traditional Chinese calendar each month is 15 days, with the 24-month year being mystically divided into three, eight-month periods (called Existence, Different and Same; the three that produce all things according to the Tao). Thus during each of these three periods it would be easy enough to have associated one of the eight ternary groups to a month. It is also worth noting that, like the square, this traditional calendar wheel was conceived of as an expression of Yin-Yang:
The first of the three mystical periods starts at the bottom-center of the wheel with New Year’s Day, marked by the New Moon (this is a lunisolar calendar), and moves left toward the Vernal (Spring) Equinox. This period is associated to Existence or what the Greeks called ‘Harmony’ or the “preferable middle.” The next 8 month period is associated to ‘Different’ or, in Greek Philosophies, ‘Proportion’. Then comes ‘Same’ or, ‘Symmetry.’
In the texts of the Bible, these 24 stations of the Sun are called the “24 Elders,” originally alternating between male and female pairs or “four twins” per 8 month period. These four divisions or twins roughly align with four zodiac signs, so that each sign is ruled by a male and female “Elder.” They are said to reflect the original four cell-divisions of Human gestation, among other things to do with your existence within time and space, and orientating yourself therein. (Interestingly, the number 15 belongs to Saturn, who is Lord our existence within time-space.)
The center of the Lo Shu Square is called the undivided and the ultimate, containing within itself all elements and therefore, all things. And indeed, we find the center symbolized by the number 5, which is the number of elements. More than symbolized, I guess, as when all numbers are connected in their numeric order, 5 is the central number of the sequence and right where it belongs in the center! As the zero-point of the diagram, imagine that the undivided center was instead assigned ‘0’. Unfold from the center the four directions of space. Now you have five-spaces accounted for, the five Halls of Heaven where odd or Yang numbers would be placed. This is the cross of the five elements within the square (four around the original one) and defines the “Wheel of Space.” In each corner, at the four diagonals belonging to the even numbers, fix a pillar or stone of Yin. These are the posts which turn the “Wheel of Time.”
It is these 8 directions around the center that are said to give birth to the 8 trigrams of the I Ching or “Book of Changes.” Even so, these 8 trigrams were mystically revealed to the Emperor Fu Xi and actually predate the specific formulation of the Lo Shu Square itself; or more accurately probably presents the original way in which the Square was perceived. I say this because the 8 trigrams are composed of 24 lines, half are broken and symbolize Yin and half are unbroken and symbolize Yang. These lines are then stacked in groups of three (hence the word trigram), comprising the 8 symbols, which represent the four basic elements (fire, water, earth and heaven) and the four phenomenon (wind, lake, thunder-storm and mountain). This calls to mind the eight ternary groups of the Lo Shu that sum to 15, which in essence are 24 digits, half Yin, half Yang, grouped into eight 3 digit arrangements, no differently than the construction of the I Ching. From here we can arrive at the DNA code and all sorts of other wonders. Indeed, great mysteries of astrology, astronomy, geography, biology and anatomy can be explained through this specific way of organizing and examining the numbers 1 to 9!
Given the concept of symbolic representation or “As Above, So Below;” it is no wonder that in the time of Emperor Yu everything from the nine provinces of the empire, to the layout of the temples, to the management of time, to the methods of divination, to the arrangement of the “Nine Wells” that dictate how rice is planted and maintained – came to be ruled by the Lo Shu matrix.
Bring into this correlations to the Solfeggio and the Rodin Vortex and what you have is the work of this brilliant site, appropriately called The Lo Shu Matrix!
I have returned!
I have been planning a return to my blogging activities for some time. When I saw the astrology for today, I decided it would present the perfect vessel for getting back in the saddle, so to speak. Or maybe I should say for catching a ride on the fierce, fabulous Dragon-energy thundering into our lives. The Aquarius New Moon arrived at 2:39 AM (EST) today, January 23. I am always excited for the Moon in Aquarius given that Aquarius is the natal ruler of my Moon, and its energy motivates and inspires me. As this is the first New Moon of 2012, it heralds the Chinese New Year. And this, my friends, is the year of the Dragon.
The last Year of the Dragon came in 2000, a period similar to 2012 being marked by world-change prophecies and trepidation surrounding widely predicted events. However, fear received more press than any sort of wide-spread crisis then (think the much anticipated Y2K tech meltdown), and that’s the most likely outcome now; especially for those able to embrace the spirit of transformation that highlights this Dragon’s character.
Further highlighting the mystical number 23 and themes of transformation, Mars stations retrograde at 23° Virgo today until it turns direct on the 2nd of three evenly spaced Friday the thirteenths this year; this one all the way in April. From now until then we will be called on, in various regards, to “get the plan in order,” reevaluate how we put our energy into the world and carefully examine how we give energy to ourselves. This is the time to do a bit of preemptive spring cleaning – on the inside.
“The outward freedom that we shall attain will only be in exact proportion to the inward freedom to which we may have grown at a given moment. And if this is a correct view of freedom, our chief energy must be concentrated on achieving reform from within.”
Mahatma Gandhi
This Equinox is Super
At 8:09 pm PST the Sun enters Libra commencing Autumnal Equinox. What makes this Equinox special extra special is that this is the first time since 1991 that Equinox commences on the Full Moon. Thus, as the sun sets on Summer, the full Harvest Moon will rise in the east to herald Autumn’s dawn, epitomizing the balance suggested by the Sun’s entry into Libra – spectacular!
Adding to this, at the moment the Equinox “perfects” or becomes exact (8:09 pm PST), Jupiter will be right alongside it as the second brightest object in the sky. This is amazing given that Jupiter is huge right now! Monday night was Jupiter’s “night of opposition”. During its closest encounter with Earth since 1963 the giant rose opposite the Sun (as the Moon will do tonight) and hit the zenith at Midnight.
At the exact moment of Equinox a much fainter Uranus will also be very close-by, conjuncting Jupiter and within 10 degrees of the Moon, making for one super-charged, Super Equinox!
Roman Numbers in Gematria
In Latin there were originally 6 letters assigned to a Number value, as follows:
I = 1
V= 5
X= 10
L= 50
C= 100
D= 500
It became so common to write two D’s for 1000 that they were eventually combined into an M-like shape to perfect the Number system. However, put that aside a moment and take a look … you might find it rather interesting that the Gematria of the above letters adds up to 666 (1+5+10+50+100+500=666)!
God Realization
It’s my effort and my goal to live to God realization as I possibly can – oneness. To have conflict, you need two-ness. You need two people, two ideas, two things that go up against each other. I don’t go up against anyone or anything. I feel very connected to the Source from which I emanated – a source of perfect abundance. I just never got separated from it, so I’ve always known that I am that, and it is me. This is something that’s with me wherever I go because I never doubt it. Thinking in terms of conflict or being conflicted about the abundance that has come into my life is just not a concern of mine.
I don’t believe that I am famous, because fame isn’t located in me. Fame is located in other people. Fame is a component of the ego. The ego says, “I am what I have; I am what I do; I am what others think of me.” I try to live in a spiritual consciousness, which says that who I am is a divine creation of Source that lives as a divine creation of Source. When you stay in that awareness, then you create what I call the power of intention. You create the ability to be just like God. We came from love. We came from kindness. We came from perfect abundance. If you see yourself that way, then you’ll attract that into your life. If you see yourself needing to have other people love you and care for you or buy your books or whatever, then you’ll attract lacks, shortages, and needs into your life, and I don’t have any lacks or shortages or needs. If people only knew who or what is with them, in them, beside them all the time, they would never worry about anything.“
- Wayne Dyer, “Spiritual & Health”, December 2005
The Amazing Sounds of Saturn
Ok. So, personally, I would title this video the same as this post, but only to potentially direct more eyes to its phenomenal content. Because the music is exactly what I’d expect from a soundtrack to epic space footage, it took a bit for me to realize that I was listening to the planet itself… Stellar!
The Development of Action
When the opposites are reconciled, creative impulses develop into actions: they are not simply mused about in a far-off dreamy manner. A responsibility toward one’s development is grasped with new-found strength to carry it through. No longer can one sincerely blame external circumstances for one’s failures. Instead a determination develops to make things happen, to feel new feelings, to re-image oneself.” ~ Nancy Qualls-Corbett (The Sacred Prostitute: Eternal Aspect of the Feminine)
Xia Musing Aloud
