I’m currently reading ‘The Fifth Season’ by Mark Nepo. It’s a book about ageing. The author is in his 70s. It’s actually a great book for people of all ages, especially my age. I highly recommend it.
These are some of my favourite quotes:
“The more a meteor burns up, the brighter it gets.
More of it burns away & flakes off until all is light.
As we hurtle through the years,
we are worn off by all that doesn’t matter.
As experience wears us down, we grow brighter.
At death, we are all light.
The 2nd half of life is integrative in a way
that discards all that isn't essential – if we don’t resist it.”
Page 1:
“The highest reward for our toil is not what we get for it,
but what we become.” – John Ruskin
Page 11:
“Hard as it is, every catastrophe requires us to build again.
No one is exempt from mysterious emergent cycle of build, repair & rebuild.
And we are changed, renewed & reshaped for the rebuilding.
Whenever we build, we build something in us.
Whenever we repair, we repair something in us.
Whenever we rebuild, we resurrect something in us.”
Page 41:
"The pain of not playing is greater
than the pain encountered when playing.
The pain of not being fully alive is greater
than the pain encountered while living.
The commitment to live a creative life,
whatever that means to you, is essential."
Page 153:
“A common feature of spirituality is a loss of self,
a letting go, a willingness to embrace something outside of ourselves,
a willingness to listen rather than talk,
a recognition that we are small and the cosmos is large.”
– Alan Lightman
The title of his book, according to him, is based on Chinese folklore that references the ‘Heavenly Pivot’ as the 5th season in the Chinese calendar, associated with late summer.
From a TCM viewpoint, there is a correlation between Heavenly Pivot & late summer. Heavenly Pivot or 天枢 (Tiān Shū) is seen as ‘Stomach 25’, referring to 2 acupuncture points to the left & right of the navel. It represents transformation from fire to earth (late summer).
From an astrological viewpoint, there is no direct correlation between Heavenly Pivot & the 5th season. There are 4 seasons which are divided into 12 earthly branches and 24 solar terms. Three earthly branches – 巳午未 Si Wu Wei – correspond to early, middle & late summer. 午 (Wu), the 5th earthly branch, is middle summer. 未 (Wei), which is late summer & a homophone for ‘stomach’, is actually the 6th earthly branch, not the 5th.
In Chinese astrology, Heavenly Pivot – also known as the Celestial Pivot – is part of an asterism of 7 stars called 北斗七星 (Běi Dǒu Qī Xīng) or The Northern Dipper. It is considered the first star among all 7 because it is closest to Polaris, the North Star. Its Arabic name is Dubhe, and is the 2nd brightest star among all 7 despite being the furthest (123 light years) from our planet. In 奇门遁甲 (Qi Men Dun Jia), Pivot is 天蓬 Tian Peng (Heavenly Grass) & is associated with water, not earth. In 紫微斗数 (Zi Wei Dou Shu), Pivot is 贪狼 Tan Lang (Greedy Wolf) & has a dual nature of water & wood, unlike Heavenly Grass. So these 2 stars have slightly different meanings in different contexts, even though they are derived from the same star.
Heavenly Grass in a QMDJ chart has its ‘Fu Yin’ natal position at 'Kan' which represents the winter season. Greedy Wolf in a ZWDS chart does not have a natal position, but based on its elemental constitution, it corresponds to both winter & spring.
In the olden days, at a certain fixed time, the Northern Dipper would have an ‘arm’ (or 柄 bǐng ‘handle’) which pointed towards the corresponding season of the year. The extreme end of this handle is the 7th star of the Northern Dipper, named 破军 Po Jun (Broken Soldier) for ZWDS or 天柱 Tian Zhu (Heavenly Pillar) for QMDJ. The ancient Chinese used this pointer as one of the ways to measure times & seasons, but due to precession and modern time-keeping devices, this is no longer relevant unless you are calculating a birth chart or doing divination. Its original Chinese name is 瑤光 Yao Guang (Bright Precious Jade). Its Arabic name is Alkaid.
Question: Why do the Chinese make things so complicated? They have 3 different Chinese names to refer to the same star. The Arabs only have one. The answer is, the ancient Chinese court astrologers did this deliberately to make things too complicated for people to understand, not just foreigners but even their own fellow citizens (who could understand the Chinese language). QMDJ was not transmitted to the masses because the military used it to win battles. If both foreign or local enemies knew its secrets, the battle could not be won. 紫微斗数, literally translated, actually means “Purple Emperor Dipper Calculation”. This system was exclusively meant to calculate the emperor’s fortune & help him overcome his fate. If everyone else knew how to improve their fate, the emperor’s position could be jeopardised.
It was rumoured that Chairman Mao either secretly knew 奇门遁甲 (QMDJ), or employed someone who secretly knew it to help him gain power, or both. So even though he publicly banned it, he privately used it to 'disarm' his opponents. Obviously we don’t really know if he knew, since it’s a secret. It’s up to you, the reader, to come to your own conclusion.
