Sunday, May 06, 2012

Saju - Four Pillars


I heard the term "saju" for the first time in the drama Family's Honor. And since I have no will to make another vile post, I present you work of a lady, who talks about saju.


Here:

In studying Oriental philosophy, you will learn that ancient people understood the universe, the earth, nature and human beings under a certain philosophical thesis that had a lot in common.
The Five Oriental Studies
•命 (Four pillars) : study of time
•相 (Face/palm reading)
•占 (Divination) : I Ching
•醫 (Oriental medicine) : study of human body
•仙 (Zen) : meditation
•風水 (Feng shui) : study of space

In understanding all natural phenomena, the sequence of time and human relationship, ancient people have classified them on the basis of yin and yang and the five elements. The 10 heavenly energies and 12 earthly energies were examples. There was a universality of the binary numeral system along with the five elements philosophy. One year was divided into 12 months, or 24 subdivisions of the seasons, 12 ancient hours in a day, day and night, sun and moon as natural phenomenon of yin and yang, and five directions (north, south, west, east and center).


The same applied to human body, the balance of yin and yang is considered with respect to qi (breath, life force or spiritual energy) and blood. Qi denotes yang and blood yin. The five yin organs (liver, heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys) and yang organs (gall bladder, small intestine, stomach, large intestine, urinary bladder) are reviewed to keep the body healthy. Even the causes of disease are classified into six, i.e wind, cold, hot, water, drought and heat as external causes; and anger, happiness, worry, sadness, fear and shock as inner causes.

When it comes to the acupuncture meridian system, they classified the front of the body as yin and back of the body as yang. They believed qi (yang) and blood (yin) circulate through the 12 major meridians in the body, the yin meridians run through the front body and yang meridians run through the back body, then they assigned each organs to 12 meridians respectively.
From ancient books, we could find that they associated saju with health aspects by reviewing the five elements and their harmonious relationships.
If the five elements are harmonious, people would live a happy life. If yin and yang (blood and qi) are messy, people are not healthy.
Now let’s review some examples of saju and the health aspects in view of the five elements.
When the wood does not have proper water energy there can be blood disease. The earth without fire energy can cause lack of vitality. The metal with water energy but without fire can cause asthma. When jeong fire is too dry, it can cause sputum, while dry byeong fire may cause atopic diseases. The tumor can be caused by the congealed fire and metal elements in the branches. The weak kidney is caused by the weak metal and water elements and the stomach diseases are caused by the conflict between water and earth elements.


The terrestrial branches are also reviewed in connection with body, respectively.
Ja is a disease related to genital organs or pain in the lower abdomen, Chuk is stomach, In is shoulders, arms and legs, Myo is eyes and hands, Jin is back and chest, Sa is face and teeth, O is heart, Mi is spleen, Sin is respiratory system, Yu is liver and lungs, Sul is back and lungs, Hae is head and liver.
When the wood day master has many metal letters in saju, there is high tendency of weak liver and gall bladder. The person could have headaches and the eyes are bleary. Hemiplegia, stroke and neuralgia may occur when the wood is hurt by the metal.
The fire day master with many water letters or water combination in saju may cause heart and small intestine diseases. Acute or chronic shock and pain in the chest are related symptoms.
The earth day master with many wood letters or sitting on the wood combination may cause spleen or stomach damage. Dry skin and indigestion are frequent symptoms.
The metal day master with many fire letters or sitting on fire combination could mean lungs or large intestine damage. Asthma, cough and hemorrhoids are the possible symptoms.
The water day master with many earth letters or sitting on earth combination could indicate kidney or urinary bladder diseases. Backaches, diarrhea, prostate, and menstrual pain are related symptoms.
When the five elements are not in harmonious position, it is also related with the emotion of the day master.
When the wood is too strong or too weak, it can cause anger, when the fire is not balanced, it can cause a lot of emotional ups and downs, the earth can cause anxiety, the metal can cause sadness, frustration and pessimism, and the water can cause fear and panic
See the diagrams to show the circulation of five elements in Oriental medicine.

Saju - Pillars of Fate:
Saju is often considered an occult theory. Peeking into one’s life through the window of saju, readings based on the heavenly and terrestrial signs as dictated from one’s birthday, may sound strange to those who don’t have previous knowledge of oriental philosophy. Moreover, understanding the concept of this particular oriental theory ― the yin and yang, and the relationship between the five elements ― cannot be explained in short, simple phrases.
Nevertheless, it is still possible to read into the patterns found in history by analyzing historical figures’ saju, and can even formulate plausible solutions to current events by using the patterns and logic of the theory.
To begin, there are four “Heavenly Stems” and four “Terrestrial Branches” that comprise one’s saju, which are read through the yin and yang of the “Five Elements” of the universe. The stems represent the energies that a person should receive at birth (the ideal distribution), while the branches show what an individual is actually born with (realistic expectations).

From among these eight stems and branches, we can find the most representative sign of character that makes up a person, which is called the “Day Master.” The Day Master is always derived by the stem of the birth day, while the month branch dictates the season and environment that the person was born in, which rules his or hers life path overall.
For example, if a person’s Day Master is wood, their life and character would vary depending on which month they were born in. A wood Day Master in a season of fire is different from a wood Day Master in a season of metal (to clarify, summer is a fire season, while autumn is a season of metal). When applied logically to nature, the condition of the bark on a tree varies depending on the time of year, which is why a person with a particular Day Master would be different depending on their season of birth. Certain elements and environments are complementary, so a person’s core energy will be stronger when paired with its own season.


Other than the Day Master, there are four other “Stars” that constitute a person’s social and human relationships network, which are each assigned to an element. The five star categories are, in order, “Day Master,” “Expression,” “Money,” “Career” and “Knowledge.” Because each of the elements is arranged in a cyclical order, the Day Master dictates the elements for each of the following stars.
The fact that saju has only four pillars signifies that human beings are not perfect, because the five elements cannot all be satisfactorily represented. So, a billionaire may not be happy with his love life, or a scholar might fall into despair for lack of social recognition. This explains why people seem to thirst for what they don’t have; they are seeking a balance within their saju.
Saju tells of a person’s inner self, making it possible to see the outlines of one’s past, present and future. However, though we can calculate the chances of an outcome, we cannot predict fate.
Due to this, when saju provides an answer for the future, it is often distrusted. Yet, people continue to search for the key to their inner selves, ultimately choosing subjectively whether the answers they find are true or not. But because people do not look to saju for answers until they have fallen, it can lead to a muddled mindset and approach.
The four stems and four branches are not set in stone. The assigned elements at birth may be reinforced or weakened as time passes, while others are revived or damaged only when confronted with certain energies. Though reading one’s fate in saju cannot be tested as a guarantee for any person, it continues to offer certain insights into the lives of many.

 More here.
Photo from here.