Bring a Jade, But a Small Jade

Monday, 28th of December

Master Mouse Says:

The Lunar Lodge for today is THE BOW, or more fully, “The Drawn Bow” ( 张弦 Zhāng Xián ). This name comes from an asterism of seven stars which suggest a shallow curve (the bow) and the angled shape of a drawn (or, “extended”) string, marked by two stars where two fingers would be placed to pull it away from the bow.  When, for purposes of brevity, this Lunar Lodge is written with one character only, it’s Zhāng, “drawn,” “extended.”  Ancient texts connect this asterism to a time in the annual calendar dedicated to hospitality and feasting, when cloth is spread out, or “extended,” on the ground or a table where the welcoming feast is to be laid out.  It’s regarded as a sign of abundance in general;  indeed, one of its other names is “Jade Treasury” ( 玉 府 Yù Fù ), and it symbolized the hall in which documentations of gifts to the imperial court were kept.

THE BOW is therefore regarded as favoring hospitality, whether in friendship or as a matter of office, and the food, music, gifts, and entertainments which complete the festivities.  It’s favorable also for new acquisitions, including property, especially in the sense that they can help to show a sense of higher respect to the invited guests.  Commerce and contracts are inauspicious on such days, in the same sense that inviting someone to join some family event over a meal, and then cornering them to ask if they’d like to buy some of your company’s product, would be both socially rude, and commercially insulting.

The spirit animal for THE BOW is the Stag, the male of antelopes and deer.  This animal image symbolizes poise of stance, grace in movement, strength of purpose, and nobility of heart.  The powerful strength of the stag, and his capacity to leap high into the air, bounding over obstacles, signify “clear aim,” “bold determination,” and “rising to high office.”  These are exactly the qualities which can bring the most propriety and benefit, given the hospitable and friendly atmosphere induced by this Lunar Lodge.  In Chinese folklore, those born under the sign of the Stag are “kind, and fond of eating,” which qualities equally express the graciously welcoming auspices of THE BOW.

The Solar Index today is DANGER, named for the second month of Summer in the agricultural year, from early July through early August.  DANGER is written with the same character as the Lunar Lodge THE ROOFTOP:  a picture of a person standing on the edge of a cliff or precipice.  In the case of the Lunar Lodge, this means “the caution necessary when working on the roof of a house.”  Working on the roof equals danger, as it were.  In more general use, the character can be translated as “danger,” “daring,” “awkward,” “precipitous,” or “tricky.”

The day of DANGER points to the trickiness of this part of the growing season;  things are going so well, so smoothly, so full of good feeling, that there’s danger you’ll drop your attention, inadvertently allowing minor slips to start tumbling towards ruin.  If all goes well, the worry will turn to relief.  If not, there may be nothing to be done about it.  Marking threats quickly, and taking steps to counter-balance them are key to insuring that the efforts already put in are not lost on account of simple oversight.  On the other hand, the heat and humidity in this month’s weather, also present a “danger.”  Working too hard and enduring too much exposure to the summer heat can cause Yang Heat to invade the body, resulting in internal imbalances which put the body in jeopardy through the rest of the seasons.  On both of these accounts, under-doing on a DANGER day is not only called for, it’s regarded as lucky!

Though this Solar Index is noted with double black dots in the Ming Li Tong Shu—to point towards caution and restraint—in many almanacs it is printed in red.  This is both to signify the high Yang energy of the day (which gives it a buoyant, productive feeling), and to note that it is particularly appropriate for weddings.  Family members, honored guest, and even the catering staff will easily share in (and contribute to!) the happy tone called for as the wedding couple begin their new life together.  Tipsy good-feeling and relaxation are abroad today, but once you’ve got the flute of champagne in your hand, you really do need to start watching your step.  For each person at the wedding celebrations, there are other people to consider, whose happiness and good-feeling should rightly take first place on the agenda.  Aim to balance your rising spirits with a deepening sense of respect for your surroundings;  take delight in the warmth you can put in others’ hearts by putting their needs and concerns ahead of your own.

Talk to the Animals

Born in the Year of the Rat: The Sheep on duty today will be striving for harmony, but not getting much agreement from the Rat Moon about exactly which way to go about achieving it.  Don’t let your own ideas get enmeshed in the machinery.  Keep your toolbelt to yourself, and let whatever seems to be in the works crank through on its own.  Fortunately, the day’s cycles are basically rising in energy, and aimed for resolutions, so minding your “under-doing”—by yourself—is the best way to reach your aims.  Take note of things that get left undone:  you get command of the machinery back in your hands tomorrow, and you can check them all off with a minimum of fuss.

Born in the Year of the Ox: The Sheep on duty today will be striving for harmony, but not getting much agreement from the Rat Moon about exactly which way to go about achieving it.  This will make things look to you like they’ve gone into lock-up, but that’s not the truth, it’s just an appearance.  There’s a pause to work out some kinks, that’s true, but it’s more like letting the clutch out to change gears, than turning the engine off.  The next six days are going to be relatively smooth going, so don’t feel you need to press issues forward today.  Under-doing, if you’ve noticed, is actually lucky today!

Born in the Year of the Tiger: The Sheep on duty today will be striving for harmony, but not getting much agreement from the Rat Moon about exactly which way to go about achieving it.  Things may seem a bit snarled, or at least Put On Pause for the day.  Once the details are worked out, movement will be smoother, faster, and more direct, so take the opportunity today to enjoy the sense of no direction, no movement, no particular purpose.  It’s a bit like being on a train that has to stop in the middle of a prairie for unscheduled maintenance.  Why not get out, have a stretch, and a look around?  You might enjoy it so much that getting back on board will seem …a little disappointing!

Born in the Year of the Hare: The Sheep on duty today will be striving for harmony, but not getting much agreement from the Rat Moon about exactly which way to go about achieving it.  You might feel you can put your two cents in, and help them to resolve the disagreement, but that’s probably not a very good idea.  This Sheep has A Point to get across, and won’t be satisfied until he’s had his say.  You can stand back confidently, and let others hash things out (while you make some progress on small affairs within your own purview), or you can back off from major issues to focus down on the things you most enjoy doing by yourself, anyway!  The Rat’s not entirely letting the Sheep do the driving, but if you will supply the Sheep that permission, you’ll be just where you need to be tomorrow, when things start forward again with a lurch.

Born in the Year of the Dragon: The Sheep on duty today will be striving for harmony, but not getting much agreement from the Rat Moon about exactly which way to go about achieving it.  You may have done an excellent job of referee-ing yesterday (I’d be willing to place money on it!), but you don’t really have that opportunity today.  Your input will only raise the level of confusion, and cause resolutions to take longer to emerge.  You have such a strong leadership role tomorrow, that you should take it as a matter of timing:  anything you’d like to say or do today, should simply be made note of, and delayed until tomorrow.  “Under-doing” for you today should feel like “just waiting.”

Born in the Year of the Snake: The Sheep on duty today will be striving for harmony, but not getting much agreement from the Rat Moon about exactly which way to go about achieving it.  Now, this Sheep has A Point to make, and he won’t be satisfied until he’s had his full say.  But on the whole, what the Sheep and Rat do agree about is their aim to achieve a Practical Solution to the problems of the day.  “Practical Solution” is almost your middle name, so when you feel the back-and-forth has gone on sufficiently, you can step in, place one or two on the table—Practical Solutions, that is—and just step back again.  There will be a bit more debate, but most likely things will go forward again quite soon.  And if they were to go forward in the way you’d like….?  Well, so much the better!  Remember, under-doing is lucky today.

Born in the Year of the Horse: The Sheep on duty today will be striving for harmony, but not getting much agreement from the Rat Moon about exactly which way to go about achieving it.  The difficulty this will place in your path is only that the sheer quantity of energy around today will make it awkward for you to feel you’re staying in one place.  So, more calisthenics may be in order for the day!  I’d like to make a suggestion, however:  whereas yesterday called for you to do something just to burn off some energy, today has much more support for doing something fun.  Get out and do something frisky, something with some frolic in it.  It can’t really be productive towards your aims directly, …but since when do you need to be productive, just to have fun?

Born in the Year of the Sheep: The Sheep on duty today will be striving for harmony, but not getting much agreement from the Rat Moon about exactly which way to go about achieving it.  This is not a serious snag in your affairs, it’s just that you always want to make sure that you’ve come to a complete understanding of the situation, and that others fully understand your stance in the matter.  Take the time today to indulge those desires.  This is not really a Complaining License, per se, but as long as you don’t go off the deep end about it, there will be room for you to proclaim your woes, …if only to make sure you’ve gotten your point across.  Remember that you’re really working towards the practicalities of progress;  if you’re just trying to get high scores for debating technique, you’ll delay everything, and feel as if you’ve fallen short, to boot.   If you’re hosting, arrange a really luxurious meal.  If you’re being hosted, order off the expensive part of the menu!

Born in the Year of the Monkey: The Sheep on duty today will be striving for harmony, but not getting much agreement from the Rat Moon about exactly which way to go about achieving it.  You may not feel that you know what you’re supposed to be doing, while the push-and-pull of them working it out is delaying things.  But it will be very difficult for you to tell when they’re about to finish.  One minute: back-and-forth, back-and-forth.  Next minute: “Okay!  Here’s what we’re going to be doing!”  So you can either divert yourself with some small things of your own that no one else knows about (or would care about), or lounge about as if you’re on holiday.  Just be ready to jump up at a moment’s notice, and to lay hands on The New Plan.  Piece of cake, for you really….  Don’t make up your own solutions, though.  That opportunity is coming for you tomorrow.

Born in the Year of the Fowl: The Sheep on duty today will be striving for harmony, but not getting much agreement from the Rat Moon about exactly which way to go about achieving it.  This situation does not quite call for more of the “Just stay out of it,” but it is true that your insertions into the debate going on are not going to move things more forward.  They’re more likely to add a couple of hours to the delay.  It would simply add more topics to cover in the debate, you see.  What you can do (and quite handily, I’d wager) is to play a sort of guessing game as to what people are going to be asking for next, and have it ready for them before they even get the words out of their mouths.  They won’t give you more than a short, curious look when you succeed, but you’ll be laying down the tracks they’ll have to travel on when the Fowl comes on duty in two days time.  Remember: under-doing is lucky today.

Born in the Year of the Dog: The Sheep on duty today will be striving for harmony, but not getting much agreement from the Rat Moon about exactly which way to go about achieving it.  This is a day when your normally reliable Wisdom of Laziness is going to be just enough off the mark to be slightly dangerous.  It’s not that the members of the Clan of the Wagging Tail are lazy;  it’s just that they don’t see any Nobility in Labor, per se.  This view gives you an (almost) inerrant awareness of when and how Efficiency can lead to better Effectiveness.  That circuit’s not working today, however.  Trying to turn towards efficiencies, or taking shortcuts, will only get your ears boxed.  So keep to your work, as you understand it, and prepare for a new set of orders.  If it’s some consolation, the New Orders are being prepared with you partly in mind.  And remember:  under-doing is lucky today!

Born in the Year of the Pig: The Sheep on duty today will be striving for harmony, but not getting much agreement from the Rat Moon about exactly which way to go about achieving it.  This will be one of those rare days when you get to be The Adult in the Room.  You can’t really step in and smooth things over, you can’t really order things to go forward on a smoother plane, but you can be a sort of chaperone at this rather fractious dance.  Let the debating society continue its deliberations, just make sure that nobody gets so hot-under-the-collar that they pull a knife.  No need to offer recriminations or propose punishments;  a simple “Hey!  And what do you think you’re doing?” will be entirely sufficient.  Being the one to supply sandwiches and tea while the argument drones on would also be highly effective.

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Words to the Wise:

The coin is round, as Heaven is round.  In the mysterious distance,

The encompassing horizon circles the visible world.

In the coin is a hole, and the whole is square.  To all four directions of Earth,

The mind reaches out, and rebounds again, meeting its repose in the center.

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“For the most abstruse matters, look to the wild birds for answer.”

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