Weekly Tibetan Astrology: September 13 - September 19, 2010

NOTE: Everyone enjoys receiving good news. The good news this week is: if you can manage to devote your energies to fervent practice, you just might make it to next week. Apart from messages the elements will send (beware of downpours and thunderbolts, i.e. lightning strikes), this week has one day that particularly afflicts the year. I won't tell you which one, and thereby spare you the neurosis. What I will do is tell you to pull out all the stops on Wednesday and Friday -- offerings and pujas are definitely indicated.

Actually, this is a difficult week to read. Just as an experiment, I thought it might be fun to carefully note the elements this week, so we can look back next week and get something of a feel for how it works. Well... if we're still around, that is. Tomorrow isn't promised to any of us. We'll use O to indicate a positive situation, and X to indicate a negative situation. We'll look at Kalachakra first, and the common Kagyu calendar next. In horse racing, they call this betting the consensus. Bear in mind that elements are not the only thing we consider. I just happen to find them playfully fascinating.

The other thing I want to say is please don't try to "personalize" this too much. These are trends, not necessarily predictive in nature, and cannot be universally applied. It may be sunny and sweet in one place, and a whole lot of nasty in another. We are studying the ebb and flow of energies, not staring into a crystal ball.

However, even with that thought in mind, please be aware of the very slyly negative undercurrent that is building beneath the past few weeks. Some strongly deluded people -- who nonetheless feel themselves supremely entitled -- are most definitely plotting harm. No matter how many ribbons and bows they use to wrap it up, or how eloquent and earnest the rationalizations, it is still harm.  By the cricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.

"General disease has medicine, but religion disease has no medicine. General mental disorder has a cure, but religion madness has no cure." -- H.E. IXth Ogyen Tulku

So, what to do with all this seemingly glum information? We might take a clue from the character of this month's auspicious tenth day. This month, we commemorate a time in history when "religion madness" was very bad indeed. The non-Buddhists tried to poison Guru Rinpoche! But, Guru Rinpoche transformed the poison into nectar, becoming luminous, like the rays of the sun; hence, Nyima Ozer, the so-called "Sun Ray Guru." Usually, when Nyima Ozer is depicted, you also see Drogmi Palgyi Yeshe in the picture; one of the Twenty-Five Disciples, who is famous for subduing the mamo. 

Just above, I have given you a recent quotation from Palgyi Yeshe's current incarnation.

If you want to take the dictionary definition for mamos, i.e. that they are wrathful feminine forces, responding to human misbehavior and abuse of the environment by creating obstacles and disease, then this also provides a clue. Actually, there are several types of mamos, inclusive of worldly mamos with a rather murky agenda -- and let me assure you, they do not suddenly pop up dressed in bones, saying "Hey! I'm a mamo! I'm here to eat your lunch!" See my note on ribbons and bows, above.

Now that we have a general direction, the whole affair doesn't seem quite so glum anymore, does it? Not like we are dealing with something new, or unheard of, that nobody knows how to manage. To the contrary, these are ancient issues with equally ancient remedies. "Sudden" events don't need to be surprising.

What was I just saying about fervent practice?

September 13, 2010 - Chinese 6th, M-T-K 6th. Ox, Zon, Red 9. Note omitted lunar 5th in Tibetan practice. Reach out and touch somebody today: you will benefit from contact with friends, but don't make promises. Good day for serious group practice, but avoid letting it degenerate into a social gathering. Also avoid travel. Avoid speaking ill of others today. Bad day for the elderly. Don't spend money. Water-Water transiting to Water-Water. O > O. Water-Fire. X. On a personal note: Happy Birthday to someone I never forget.

September 14, 2010 - Chinese 7th, M-T-K 7th. Tiger, Li, White 1. The elements are unfriendly today. Geological upset entirely possible. Travel possible: best if east or west. Smoke puja not so bad. Fire-Water. X. Fire-Earth. X.

September 15, 2010 - Chinese 8th, M-T-K 8th. Rabbit, Khon, Black 2. Medicine Buddha Day. Tara Day. Grand day for naga offerings. Otherwise? Trouble indicated.Water-Water transiting to Water-Earth. O > O. Water-Earth. O.

September 16, 2010 - Chinese 9th, M-T-K 9th. Dragon, Dwa, Blue 3. Today is zin phung. Some increase possible. Aid may get through to those who require aid. Good day for travel, but avoid the mountains. Wind-Earth transiting to Wind-Earth. O > X. Wind-Water. X.

September 17, 2010 - Chinese 10th, M-T-K 10th. Snake, Khen, Green 4. Guru Rinpoche Day. A nyi nak day, but some increase nonetheless possible. Two schools of thought on the coincidence of a nyi nak day and the lunar tenth. Most astrologers believe the nyi nak aspect rules. Me? I'm betting on Guru Rinpoche. Who cares what astrologers say? Puja tonight, at 6:00 p.m., is very important to stabilize energies. This is Kalu Rinpoche's birthday. Today is particularly auspicious for the offering of gifts. Don't cut trees today. Earth-Earth transiting to Earth-Water. O > O. Earth-Water. O.

September 18, 2010 - Chinese 11th, M-T-K 11th. Horse, Kham, Yellow 5. Decrease indicated. Earth-Water transiting to Earth-Earth. Neat little reversal of yesterday, isn't it? O > O. Earth-Earth. O.

September 19, 2010 - Chinese 12th, M-T-K 12th. Sheep, Gin, White 6. Mixed indications. Today can be favorable in some respects, but the elements are in an uproar. Clean up the house. Vajrakilaya helps. Fire-Earth transiting to Fire-Fire. X > O. Fire-Earth. X.

Naga observations for the eighth  month: Very good days are lunar 2, 8, 12, 15, 29. Offerings also possible on 3 through 7, 11, 14, 16, 17, 20, 22, 23, 27, 28, 30. Very bad days are lunar 10, 19. Also avoid 1, 9, 13, 18, 21, 24, 25, 26

Consult our extended discussion of 2010 astrology by clicking here.

Published every Monday at 00:01 香港時間 but written in advance and auto-posted. See our Introduction to Daily Tibetan Astrology for background information. If you know the symbolic animal of your birth year, you can get information about your positive and negative days by clicking here. If you don't know the symbolic animal of your birth year, you can obtain that information by clicking here. For specific information about the astrology of 2010, inclusive of elements, earth spirits, and so forth, please consult our extended discussion by clicking here.  Click here for Hong Kong Observatory conversion tables. Weekly Tibetan Astrology copyright (c) 2010. All rights reserved.