From Round to Square (and back)

For The Emperor's Teacher, scroll down (↓) to "Topics." It's the management book that will rock the world (and break the vase, as you will see). Click or paste the following link for a recent profile of the project: http://magazine.beloit.edu/?story_id=240813&issue_id=240610

A new post appears every day at 12:05* (CDT). There's more, though. Take a look at the right-hand side of the page for over four years of material (2,000 posts and growing) from Seinfeld and country music to every single day of the Chinese lunar calendar...translated. Look here ↓ and explore a little. It will take you all the way down the page...from round to square (and back again).
*Occasionally I will leave a long post up for thirty-six hours, and post a shorter entry at noon the next day.

Monday, April 9, 2018

Lunar World Preview 2018 04-09

As the Lunar World Turns
[a] Sober Preview RF
Monday, April 9, 2018
Well, we start the (traditional) workweek with a 50-50 day that veers toward the positive. Even the slender little day column (two-wide) has all sorts of good stuff to ponder. Let's take a closer look to prepare you for your Monday.

Day Personality
(Section Five—Characters Six and Seven)
Today's "constellation personality" is Drawn Bow (張). Calendrical interpretations stress that the character looks like a drawn bow, and also has the idea of a spreading net, filled with bounty. The further extension of the idea is that it is a day for feasts and celebrating.

All good, right? Except that it is Monday in most of our worlds (but not in Lunar World).
[b] Level RF

The jianchu "personality" is Level (平), which is printed in black ink, but isn't all that bad (just a bit boring, like driving through eastern North Dakota. It takes a special sort of person (ahem) to appreciate that flatness (as we North Dakotans do. Most others find it boring, which is why my beloved home state is proclaimed Fiftieth in Tourism. North Dakota—level, level-headed, and "boring" (which keeps the riff-raff out, although -40F temperatures don't hurt, either). 

So, all-in-all, pretty good stuff today, even though one character is red and one is black. I'd call it 80-20 on the positive side.

Lucky Stars
(Section Two)
[c] Earth RF
There are two beneficent asterisms today: Great Clarity (大明) and Spirits About (神在). They're good.


Auspicious Times
(Section Three)
There are four inauspicious (凶) two-hour periods, three in-between () times, and five auspicious () times. That's a little more like it in terms of calendrical balance, but we still are looking like at least a twinge of "auspiciousness inflation."

Things to Avoid
(Section Four)
It's a bad day for Mixing Sauces (合醬) and Making Liquor (造酒). Think about these. It's a bad day for tasty liquids.


Just Plain Counting
(Section Four—Characters 1-4)
It is the twenty-fourth (廿四) day of the second lunar month. The cycle of sixty character is #8: xinwei (辛未). The days cycle—1, 2, 3, 58, 59, 60, 1, 2, 3...—in perpetuity. 
[d] Dipper RF

Elemental (and Phased)
(Section Five—Character 5)
Today's slice of the "Five Phases" (sometimes called the "Five Elements") is Earth (土). Ordinarily, the Five Phases weave their way, two-by-two, through the calendar. Yesterday was Earth. Today is Earth, and tomorrow is Metal.

Appropriate Things
(Section Six) 
It's a solid day for only one thing, but it's big (and has to do with leveling and adorning): Leveling and Painting Roadways (平治道塗).
Monday's Lunar Calendar
Solar Periods
(Section Six—Upper and Middle)
We are in the fifth of the twenty-four fifteen day solar periods (the 二十四節氣), which began on Thursday, April 4 and runs April 19. It is called Qingming (清明). We are in the thirteenth of the five-day solar micro periods (the 七十二候). It is called Paulownia Blooms (桐始華), and began on Thursday April 4, and runs through Monday April 9.

Fear Your Unlucky Stars 
(Bottom of Section Six)
The baleful asterisms (the bottom of section six) are bulging with badness—four of 'em, actually, including Vermilion Bird (朱雀) and Heavenly Dipper (天罡). And, no, that's dipper, not diaper.  The most ominous of all is hanging back in third position: Death Spirit (死神). I don't even know how to begin thinking about that, but I think that we're supposed to be terrified.
[e] Wash Your Hands RF
Miscellaneous Omens and Activities
(Sections Seven and Eight)

Today's miscellaneous omens are White (白) and Landmass (州). The miscellaneous activities are Kitchen (廚), Toilet (厠), and Stove (灶). Nobody knows what they mean, although you probably should not use all three at the same time.


See You Tomorrow
Enjoy your pretty positive, extensive, and bustling-ly...level...day, and make sure that you wash your hands when you return to the kitchen (you know what I am saying). I'll see you back here tomorrow night for a preview of Tuesday in Lunar World.

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