nts life flourish, thus producing wood in the process.
Controlling
The entire universe is composed of these five elements. They are interdependent and another controls each. Hence we find that:
- Metal is controlled by Fire. Metal can only be melted and forged with great heat.
- Fire is controlled by Water. Nothing will put out a fire as fast as water.
- Water is controlled by Earth. We dig canals in the earth to irrigate fields or build dikes to keep out or absorb water.
- Earth is controlled by Wood. Trees and their roots hold the soil together and get their nourishment from the earth.
- Wood is controlled by Metal. The metal blade of an axe can fell even the largest tree.
Under this philosophy, we see that no element can be called the strongest or weakest. They are forever dependent on one another and are equal. The chain of life that brings about their existence links them, and there is no power struggle. Each has its own place and function.
The Moon, being the closest heavenly body to Earth, has shown its many visible powers to mankind since the dawn of civilization. Its magnetic pull has ruled the rising and ebbing ocean tides as well as all other bodies of water. The Chinese culture has built itself firmly around the lunar influence, believing it to affect humans so immensely because our bodies consist of three-quarters liquid. Likewise, plants and animals are subject to its all-encompassing force.
Would it be too farfetched, therefore, to speculate that even nations will be beneficially or adversely affected, depending on whether they were born under a good or a bad moon? Will the year in which a country is formed have a great bearing on its place in history? Chinese fortune telling leaves us to draw our own conclusions, after providing us with the necessary tools.
It is said that astrology is an accurate science, based on fixed formulas and mathematical calculations. Likewise, lunar horoscopes are equally exacting and scientifically evolved. Yet I hasten to add that it can be considered as an art form: the art of recognizing relevant facts in whatever disguises they may appear or expressed in. The Chinese sages of old and the fortunetellers of today liken themselves to medical diagnosticians of the present, probing, searching and forever interpreting telltale signs of what the future may hold.
The ancient Chinese method of chance reading is never dogmatic or fatalistic. We are never made to feel hemmed in by our weaknesses nor inhibited by our deficiencies. Rather, we are encouraged to exploit our resources in varied and imaginative ways.
Thus, Chinese horoscopes, instead of restricting us, teach us how to plot new courses if our present methods of approach do not meet with success, and how to circumvent the circumstances of birth and other barriers and to reach our goals by taking new routes. As they instruct us in self-analysis and in knowing what to expect from situations, we will be able at worst to face, at best to solve, the problems we are most fated to encounter.
Some of the information about Chinese Horoscopes is extracted from "The Handbook of Chinese Horoscopes" by Theodora Lau and published by Harper & Row. Copyright © 1979 by Theodora Lau.
