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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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)
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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
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Geomancer Lessons:
The Ba Gua Map
Penned by Innysus
Later Heavens Sequence:
Li
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Xun ------- --- --- K'un
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Chen --- --- --- --- Tui
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Ken ------- ------- Chi'en
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K'an
Starting from the top and going clockwise, each trigram in the Later Heavens Sequence denotes a color, direction element, personality, role, season, and trigram.
Li - Color: Red Direction: South Element: Fire Personaliy: the Clinging Role: Reputation and Social life Season: Early Summer Trigram: Fire
K'un - Color: Yellow Direction: Southwest Element: (Big) Earth Personality: the Receptive Role: Marriage, Relationships, and Romance Season: Late Summer Trigram: Earth
Tui - Color: Grey Direction: West Element: (Small) Metal Personality: the Joyous Role: Children, Creativity, and Entertainment Season: Early Fall Trigram: Pond
Chi'en - Color: Grey Direction: Northwest Element: (Big) Metal Personality: the Creative Role: Helpful people, Spiritual life, and Travel Season: Late Fall Trigram: Heaven
K'an - Color: Blue Direction: North Element: Water Personality: the Abysmal Role: Career, Life Mission, and Individuality Season: Early Winter Trigram: Water
Ken - Color: Brown Direction: Northeast Element: (Small) Earth Personality: the Still Role: Wisdom, Self-Knowledge, and Rest Season: Late Winter Trigram: Mountain
Chen - Color: Green Direction: East Element: (Big) Wood Personality: the Arousing Role: Health, Family, and Community Season: Early Spring Trigram: Thunder
Xun - Color: Green Direction: Southeast Element: (Small) Wood Personality: the Gentle Role: Wealth and Prosperity Season: Late Spring Trigram: Wind
Center -
The Center of the Ba gua map represents you. It is sometimes associated with your health, though Chen in the East is as well. The Center helps to maintain balance in the rest of the Ba gua and affects each of the other areas. The Center uses earthy colors similar to those of K'un and Ken and is associated with the element of Earth.