Shu-Jing

What is a Geomancer?

What is a Geomancer?

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What is a Geomancer?

                       Penned by Shoh

 I'll do my best to explain to what exactly 'Geomancy'
 entails, though the term itself is more often
 misunderstood than correctly applied.

 A Geomancer is one who is at one with the earth. The
 Geomancer perceives the courtship of the winds where
 others perceive little more than a mundane whistling.
 The Geomancer understands the ancient and untold language
 of the universe: he/she is at one with the natural rhythms
 of existence itself.

 This world is a living one. It is dynamic, changing,
 diverse, yet somehow eternally the same, static and in 
 equilibrium. Heroes will be born and expire, kingdoms
 will rise and fall, yet the Geomancer perceives that
 little really changes. The Geomancer sees that this world
 and everything in it (for everything is a part of this
 world) is the continual and perpetual harmony of dual 
 opposites. The energies of the unnmoving, receptive, dark
 and feminine forever incline towards the active, bright
 and masculine. It is the interaction and flux of these
 forces, the duality of opposites, that gives rise to all 
 earthly phenomena. We know this to be incontrovertible
 fact. To know so is to perceive the very fabric of
 existence.

 The timeless and ancient balance of all things is known to
 the Geomancer, yet it is a mystery most ecstatic and
 sublime, for one can never contain its boundless secrets
 in the flawed receptacle of the human mind. Knowing however 
 that it is the beginning and end of all things, one can 
 perceive it at work. The elements themselves are actors in
 the drama of existence: they interact; wax and wane. Water 
 descends where fire rises. Wood is expansive, while metal 
 moves in on itself. Knowing that each element produces the 
 next is the key to observing the cycles of the natural
 world. The natural rhythms are contained in repetition: yin 
 gives rise to yang and yang to yin.

 Are these things of any interest to you? Is this knowledge
 to your liking? Read on, young one.

The Geomancer Demeanor

A Geomancer's View

Geomancer Honors and Dishonors

Geomancer Guides

Path of the Earth Mage

Circle of Subpaths

Geomancer Services

Summary of Geomancer Services

Ba Gua Ceremonies

The Inner Sects

The Unity of Inner Sects

An Introduction to Wu Xing

An Introduction to Tiaoli

An Introduction to Wu Wei

Geomancer Histories

Geomancer Lessons

Qi and its Two Forms

Wu Chi and Tai Chi

Tracing the Tai Chi Circle

Yin, Yang, and Balance

Neutrality

Balance and Neutrality

The Luck Trinity

Karma

Karma Levels

The Four Deities (A)

The Four Deities (B)

The Earth's Dragon

The Wu Xing (Five Elements)

The Geomancer Way of Thinking

The Elemental Cycles (A)

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                        ) (  (-----(
                       /   \  \     \
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Geomancer Lessons:

                    The Elemental  Cycles
                       Various Authors

"It was still the beginning of summer when the drought hit
 our village. The glades and forests that had been so
 plentiful were drying and dying. The greatest mind of our
 land came together to solve the crises. DarthVex, a
 scientist from the academy, and Phlegyas, a social activist 
 from the slums invented at those meetings, irrigation. The 
 forest was renewed by the water brought in and all like
 seems grand...until the lightning struck. Fire spread
 threw the forest and destroyed it in whole, leaving only
 ash. It was (as we thought) the end. soon though we
 realized what was happening...the fire had nourished the 
 earth...minerals were then found abundantly in our lands
 ...it was a new source of trade for us! I remember Darth 
 pointing out a strange thing though...the metal we mined
 was melted down to create many things...it as he gazed
 into it he pointed out how much it was like water. We both 
 remembered our first tool of irrigation and we were forced
 to stop and contimplate what we were seeing...the
 completion of the cycle....it all returned..again..and 
 again...."

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 Knowing the properties of the elements allow us to examine
 the interactions between them. There are two cycles: a 
 productive cycle, which delineates the ability of each
 element to activate another and the destrictive cycle,
 which outlines the ability of each element to limit the 
 activity of another. They are transcribed below:

Productive (or generative) Cycle

 Water---Wood---Fire---Earth---Metal

 Water feeds wood for it to grow. Wood feeds fire which  
 produces Earth. Earth creates metal and Metal holds Water.
 The cycle continues. To use the productive cycle you are
 able to use the element before and after the main element
 you are bringing into the room. For example, if you are to 
 bring wood into the home you may add water because it
 feeds the wood and/or add fire because it is created by
 fire. The destructive cycle will show which elements do
 not work well together.

Destructive (or degenerative) Cycle

 Water---Fire---Metal---Wood---Earth

 Water douses fire. Fire melts metal. Metal cuts down the
 wood. Wood clogs the earth. Earth muddies the waters. The 
 destructive cycle is used in Feng Shui to lessen an energy. 
 For example, if a room is filled with a great deal of new
 age metallic objects and streamlined furniture. You would
 add some fire like a fireplace or some red throw pillows
 on the couch to cut down the metal energies.

 Knowing which element produces the next or quashes the
 last in each cycle is the key to creating an auspicious
 flow of Chi. Where the energies of each element are 
 appropriately balanced, Chi will flow well, and vice versa.

 Contemplating the elements teaches us a greater balance. 

 If we think about it, the elements are not really
 physically manifested in nature. Rather they are an
 abstract presence in the world -- energies, if you will.
 How else may metal generate water? Water in the real world
 is in a constant state of flux and is moved around as it
 flows through crevices and cracks in the earth. It is also 
 evaporated and redistributed through the earth as rain,
 snow, sleet, et cetera. 

 (Continued ...)

The Elemental Cycles (B)

                            /)
                           //
                          (/
                         _/   ______
                        ) (  (-----(
                       /   \  \     \
                       \___/   \     \    
                               _)_____)
                              `------`

Geomancer Lessons:

                The Elemental Cycles (Part Two)
                       Various Authors

 So how does this effect balance? Well the entire world is
 in a state of constant flux, always changing. So to
 balance this, the world needed a cycle capable of
 controlling and generating the elements. This is where we
 get our generative and control cycles from. I say control 
 cycles when referring to the destructive cycle, because 
 controlling and limiting elemental presence in the world
 is what it really does. 

 Because the balance is the world as a whole, what effects
 one part of the world will effect the other. A large
 forest fire in one part of the world destroys a forest.
 This diminishes woods presence in the world, but it
 creates more earth. This in turn causes a greater metal 
 presence. This in turn generates water, and perhaps is 
 manifested in another part of the world as long periods of 
 rain. This generates more wood. Not only in the cycle but at 
 times like that it is usually a growing season. More trees, 
 more plants, more of everything in that aspect. Where is 
 metals manifestation in this? We don't see it do we? But
 isn't there more wood and more water generated? Yes there
 is. So must the elements be physically manifested? No. 

 What does this lead us to see? That the world uses this
 as a whole to create a delicate balance. But because wood
 is a growing thing it needs tweaking, and when it reduces
 or increases one it must adjust the others to balance it.
 The elements are indeed wonderous. The power they have is
 not explicit, but it is in balancing oneself that its power
 is manifested.

The Eight Trigrams

Elemental Affinities (A)

Elemental Affinities (B)

The Origins of the Ba Gua

Two Ba Gua Sequences

The Ba Gua Map

Ba Gua Zhang

Feng Shui

The Stems and Branches System (A)

The Stems and Branches System (B)

The Ba Yin

Tao Te Ching

Creative Works