The Tao Of Luo Shu (9 Ki)

Some terms used in this article:

Bigram = a mystical diagram consisting of two lines, either both solid, both broken, or one solid and one broken.

WuXing = The Chinese term for the 5 phases, commonly called the 5 elements. They are 5 stages in the evolution of Ki (Qi) represented in human experience as Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water.

Qi, Ki, Chi = Some regard it as the 'vital force'. Not unlike Prana, it is associated with breath. Put simply, it is that which animates.

Since the Japanese protected the 9 Palace Fate Calculation during the years it was ignored in China, we will use the term Ki throughout all articles concerning that art as a way of honoring the Onmyoji and their contribution. The Japanese call this method 9 Ki or Kyusei, while the original name translates roughly from Chinese as 9 Palace Fate Calculation.

Emergence and Return

TAO is probably the most misunderstood word in the language of Oriental metaphysics. Some translators have even substituted 'god', where TAO has nothing to do with deities. TAO does, however, have something to do with how whatever deities are out there behave, because it is the way of things. By things, I mean existence, by way I mean behavior - what nature (the universe) DOES.
Qi (Ki) is what animates the forms that TAO takes - in other words, the motive and mobile energy of the universe. This is why we see many teachers diagrams designed such that TAO is pictured in a circle, with Yin and Yang (the supreme ultimate, or Tai Chi, representing the primal transformation that expresses TAO) directly under that, and the various subdivisions of Yin and Yang into bigrams, trigrams and so forth, on up to the hexagrams of the Yijing (I-Ching). But what does this all have to do with 9 Ki (9 palace Fate Calculation)?
When we look at the mystical diagrams in most textbooks, TAO is depicted as being at the top, but its true position is the center. Like the Sun is at the center of the solar system, which revolves around another star within this arm of the Galaxy, which revolves around millions of other stars in the Galactic core, all principles revolve around TAO. This does not mean that a view of the universe based on center and periphery is absolute. It would be more correct to say that these examples remind us of the TAO, because in reality, all points in space and time are the center - the source of all possibility; the point of emergence from potential into manifestation.

Ki also emerges from the center (TAO is the center, Ki animates from the center). You could say that Ki (Qi) and TAO are the same from some respects, but those learned in the way of the ancients would disagree, reminding us that the Ki emerges from the center only because that is its TAO.
TAO sets the pace, motion, and direction, yet Ki and Tao follow each other in a course which seems to move in opposing directions. When Ki is active, it moves to the central palace, the point of origin. When TAO is active in any of the palaces, the Ki of that palace becomes the energy of return. TAO creates Ki, and Ki creates objects; objects are to Ki as Ki is to TAO.
In working with numbers as symbols, the numbers, or Stars, depict Ki as taking on binary attributes. On the one hand the primary expression of manifestation as Yin and Yang further subdivides into bigrams, trigrams and so forth - and each of the WuXing (5 phases) has a Yin or Yang quality. However, in the number system expressed by the ancients, we have 9 numbers, not an even amount which can be divided in such a way as to represent Yin or Yang, and all ideal forms must be in balance when at rest - so what does the 5 Earth Star represent? Naturally the TAO is represented by the number 5, which holds the central position, the balance point of the 9 numbers.

In 9 Ki astro-numerology, 5 Earth gets no trigram (because it has neither Yin nor Yang attributes), while the other 8 numbers are assigned a trigram each. To explain more fully, 5 Earth is neither Yin nor Yang, because it represents the point of balance at which Yin and Yang transform into one another; the point from which they appear to 'emerge'. The universal Luo Shu has 5 in the central palace, and when each Star, due to a change in the time cycle, enters the central palace, the events, forms and actions that are initiated during that particular time cycle are dominated by the QUALITY of that Star.
The palace in which 5 Earth is located also is very influential, because that palace becomes the "eye of the whirlwind" or the point that is attempting to impose balance and order on the set of 9 palaces. In the Universal Luo Shu, with 5 Earth in the central palace, the points of emergence and return, or initiation and cessation, or creation and destruction are the same, but in all other charts, the Star ruling the palace occupied by 5 Earth represents the kind of Ki responsible for the return of things and energies to the Tao, while the Star in the central palace is the Ki that imbues things created during the cycle of the chart with its particular quality. This seems like a very abstract way to come to tangible conclusions, but it is not unlike talking about the Sun's "movement" or "travel" along its northern and southern courses throughout the year.

In the days before numbers were invented, the Shamans of ancient China described the attributes of the Sun, Moon, Stars, the 5 Phases or Elements, and all activities and circumstances 'under heaven' by the use of the mystical diagram known as the Luo Shu.
The Luo Shu is a mystical diagram of utter beauty and symmetry. Its mysteries are profound and with a little discipline and penetrating insight, it reveals all that the mind is able to absorb. Surely, the only limits to the knowledge that can be gained from the study of the Luo Shu are those created by the mind that studies it. The Lo Shu, like most ancient maps, has North at the bottom, South at the top ,East on the left, and West on the right. In the universal 9 Ki map, 5 Earth is the center, 6 Metal is in the Northwest opposite 4 Wood in the Southeast, 7 Metal in the West opposite 3 Wood in the East, 8 Earth in the Northeast opposite 2 Earth in the Southwest, 9 Fire is due South opposite 1 Water in the North. Once again, from the standpoint of ancient Taoism, 5 Earth is TAO and the remaining numbers are Ki. At the first spark of the creation or initiation of an event, idea or being, 5 moves from the center to the Northwest and begins its ascending journey through the Luo Shu chart - its journey through the phases or elements; its journey through the trigrams. The 4 Wood star simultaneously moves to the center and this begins the descending progression of the numbers. As 5 makes its way around the chart, the other numbers or 'fragments' of the chi, follow its every twist and turn. Think of the 5 as the center of a tornado or cyclone - as it travels, it pulls all the other winds with it. While this process is taking place, every palace that the 5 'touches' or 'rests in' produces the opposite number (Ki) in the center of the chart. Following this thought we will see how the Ki expresses the TAO and its cyclic and sequent action through the 9 palaces of the Lo Shu.

The route that 5 takes in terms of house numbers is 6,7,8,9,1, 2,3,4, and then it returns to the center. The route that the 8 numbers representing Ki take, by being dragged into the center palace, is 4,3,2,1,9,8,7,6, and they also resolve when 5 again returns to the center. The motions of TAO and Ki are opposite, but as TAO re-focuses the center, each number has its opportunity to become the center, and express TAO in its own way. The 9 Stars move in perfectly synchronized movements not unlike an object and its shadow. The moment that 5 enters a palace, its shadow (the Ki of the star that rules the opposite palace) appears in the center of the chart, creating perfect balance. Everyone will agree, I'm sure, that moving 'against' TAO will create imbalance, and this can also be seen in the Luo Shu chart. Outside of being philosophically profound , this insight can be quite practical for divination. When 5 Earth is in the 7 Metal palace, it 'drags' the 3 Wood star into the center and creates an imbalance on that axis. In other words, Ki is 'slanted' or biased towards the West ( 7 palace ). This accumulation of "western" energy will cause a reaction in the direction or palace that is opposite it, in this case the 3 Wood palace. The 1 Water star is the reacting energy there, because 1 Water will occupy the Eastern 3 Wood palace when 5 is in the West . One must be cautious in interacting with the Eastern direction or the 1 Water star during this time-cycle, because it has been thrown off balance, and circumstances, relationships, substances or activities related to the 1 Water star are likely to suffer. The following chart shows the movement of 5 Earth and which stars will be adversely affected by its movement.

When 5 is in the N.W. 4 House and 3 Star is afflicted
When 5 is in the W. 3 House and 1 Star is afflicted
When 5 is the N.E. 2 House and 8 Star is afflicted
When 5 is the S. 1 House and 6 Star is afflicted
When 5 is the N. 9 House and 4 Star is afflicted
When 5 is in the S.W. 8 House and 2 Star is afflicted
When 5 is in the E. 7 House and 9 Star is afflicted
When 5 is in the S.E. 6 House and 7 Star is afflicted

Think of a water balloon, and imagine squeezing the left half of the balloon. The water will shift and accumulate to the right half of the balloon causing an imbalance. The left side of the balloon will be severely depleted and the right side will become overabundant. Both are unbalanced. So there is not only an adverse affect on the palace and star opposite the palace (the "expanded" side) in which 5 Earth resides, but also the palace and direction (the squeezed side) in which the 5 resides.

So far, we have only discussed the cycle in which the 5, or TAO is on its ascending course, and the 8 Stars are tenanting the center in descending order. At the point where the greatest Yin or Yang is reached, the two primal forces transform into one another, and the cycles reverse, such that the 8 stars will now visit the central palace in ascending order, and the 5 Earth star will visit the 8 palaces in descending order. This is evident in the Year, Month, Day, and Hour cycles of time. The Stars reverse their motions at 'fixed' intervals. The Ki Day Star is the easiest to understand, because they move to the central palace in ascending order from Winter Solstice to the Summer Solstice. At this point Yang (ascending order) is the most extreme in nature, and consequently converts to Yin, therefore at the Summer Solstice the numbers reverse directions and begin to move to the center in descending order until Winter Solstice arrives, when the Yin has matured and become so strong, it compensates by transforming to Yang again.

Whether or not the cycle in which the 9 Stars are active is Yin (descending) or Yang (ascending), the principle is the same. In Luo Shu Astrology, when 5 Earth ascends the other 8 Stars descend, and when 5 Earth descends the other 8 ascend. TAO produces Ki in reverse motion. Do keep in mind that the 5 is always balanced, and it must be, by necessity, to 'hold fast to the center', and create the point of balance upon which the extremes wrestle out the changes and transformations we call circumstance. Winter and Summer are extreme conditions, but the forces behind these conditions, the orbit of the Earth around the Sun, the ocean currents and the atmosphere, must remain in perfect balance. Any disturbance to one of these factors will trigger reactions throughout the system with possibly disastrous results.

Over the years, my colleagues and I have not found anywhere where this principle of balance in movement within the Luo Shu and the 9 Ki system have been discussed in this way, and my studies are continuing and will reveal much more about this ancient magical tool. The mysteries of the 9 Palace Stars are subtle and profound, and with diligent study, these mysteries will emerge from their cocoon, transformed into useful guides on the path to wisdom. You will also find these pearls of wisdom to be practical tools for discovering otherwise hidden information and taking advantage of opportunity in everyday life.