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To continue with the series of 12. This gregarious number appearing all over town.
In the introduction to the main text of The Way of Heaven: Neijing Suwen Chapters 1 and 2, by Claude Larre, it is said that: " 9 has the power of 3. It is effective and complete, filling the void in Heaven, Earth, and man. 10 combines the vertical with the horizontal, bringing 1 back to the head of the series. It follows 9, adding to it the brilliance of expansion. 10 is the number of the sun and the number of man. 11 is the image of 10, expressing 1 in scattered diversity. 12 is an active whole, the doubling of the 6 junctions of the qi. 12 is also the 4 of space-time animated by 3. It is a regulator of perfect movement. And so it is.
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In the Introduction to the main text of the book The Way of Heaven, it is stated that,
"Numbers play a significant role, and the best way of understanding that role is through the mathematical notation of a series." What finer example of a numerical series than the players' and fans grouping into a coherent community, a wholeness. The second set (5, 6, 7, 8) of the Way of 12 exemplifies this idea: " 5 is no longer a flux; like 3 it is an organizer... ...It presides over mutations, with reference to a gathering and distributing center where living beings are constructed. " 6 is the modulation of the vital flux, the number of currents that maintain life... ...It is the number of the modalities of exchange between Heaven and Earth, forming space-time in which the living are located and supported. 6 combines the alternation of 2 and the harmonized flux of 3. Heaven Earth is the field of the 6 junctions of the qi. " 7 springs up, the emerging of an essential, secret inspiration. " 8 spreads the qi, revealing and externalizing 7. " And so it is. I have been seeing the number 12 all over the place in Seattle recently. The number has shape and balance and creates a sense of order and benevolence. How could this be? In Chinese numerology (the study of numbers), numbers fulfill the role of creating an ordered framework around which one can organize one’s thoughts and observations when describing the processes of life.
In the introduction to the main text of The Way of Heaven (pp14-15, The Way of Heaven: Neijing Suwen Chapters 1 and 2, by Claude Larre, Monkey Press 1994 Cambridge, England) the author states that: 1 gives its cohesion to the being and maintains the individual as the unified whole… 1 constantly brings back all that is expressed to the living mystery, which both manifests and does not manifest itself, and whose constancy is in its changing; 2 divides but does not separate… It gives an account of the proper vitality of the 1. Through 2 one can understand the effect of the couple inherent in 1. For the world to be alive, it must beat. 2 is the beating; 3 does not divide or separate… From the merging, which is life itself for a couple, 3 is produced. Showing that 2 partners are alive because they compensate one another. And from them is produced a new but similar life. 4 marks the movement of qi in expansion… In so doing, it defines the set of directions we call space, but it is an expanding space. Like wise 4 presides over the unfolding of the seasons, which everyone knows are just differentiated accumulations of qi. Time is born from this differentiation. To be continued...(First in a series of 3) Here in the northern hemisphere we are in the fullness of winter. Three and a half weeks after the Winter Solstice. Spring Festival isn't until February 19th this year, so these are the weeks of Full Winter. When the cold is especially cold. When the wind penetrates even the best-layered clothes. When the sun is slowly starting to creep back up the sky (may your days grow longer!). Time to enjoy warm drinks in cosy settings. Time to get plenty of sleep. Time to prepare oneself for the inevitable coming of Spring. Any last-minute bulbs to plant? Need to move those dormant roses? Plan your summer garden now!
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Christopher Huson, L.Ac., AEMPI love Traditional East Asian Medicine! It's so cool! Archives
May 2017
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