8 Trigrams Of The Yi Jing!
Which One Are You?Are you tired of practicing the "Goldie Locks" method of locating your most restful sleeping direction? That's what I call it when you keep moving your bed position until you find the direction where you get the best night’s rest. Or have you tried to figure out why your infant turns to a certain direction during the night? The answer is… your infant is naturally turning the top of their head toward the direction that is most restful for them, because they haven't been taught to be concerned with the shape of the bed. They’re actually turning toward the direction of their personal trigram from the Yi Jing (old spelling was I Ching). So to sleep like a baby, you want the head of your bed toward a wall in the direction of your personal trigram or at least in one of your trigram’s 3 other supportive directions.
Each trigram of the Yi Jing not only corresponds to a direction, but it’s also associated with a number, a symbol, an element (including the colors that represent that element), a familial relationship, parts of the body and illnesses related to those body parts. When you position the eight trigrams of the Yi Jing in their corresponding directions in a tic-tac-toe shaped grid with the South direction at the top, they create a magic square. A magic square is a mathematical grid that results in the same sum when you add the numbers in each square in any direction. For instance the magic square used in Feng Shui has 5 in the center square, which added to two of the opposing trigram numbers results in the number 15. Since this magic square has eight outer boxes it is often called a BaGua Map, because BaGua in Chinese simply means eight portions or sides. The term BaGua is used in many things Chinese, such as BaGua Tai Chi, which has eight movements that are continually repeated. There’s nothing really magical about a BaGua grid.
Feng Shui isn’t mystical… it’s a sister science to Acupuncture, with the same 5,000 year history of improving peoples lives. Both of these ancient Chinese sciences work with the five elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water, which are represented by the eight trigrams. The colors that represent the element of your personal trigram are supportive colors for you to wear. However, they are not necessarily good for the Feng Shui energies in your home, because those energies are not influenced by your personal element. Your building’s energy blueprint is created when the energy is captured under the roof and according to the exact 15˚ orientation of your building.
Each trigram relates to a familial relationship, however that doesn't mean that if you are the trigram of the eldest daughter (which I am) that you are the oldest daughter or even a daughter. It’s more how your personality relates to the familial relationship of your trigram as it was represented in the ancient Chinese culture. Sometimes your personality reflects aspects of the symbol that relates to your trigram, such as a Zhen person who can be loud and moving like their thunder symbol.
Your trigrams original or home 45˚ direction needs to be kept clean, uncluttered and well lit… both inside and outside of your home or office for your entire lifetime to avoid creating a negative influence on your health, relationships and/or finances.
If you need help getting organized or staying organized… I leave that up to the organizing professionals, like my personal assistant Karen Muranko or my professional organizer Evelyn Gray, Certified Action Coach. Evelyn has 6 years of special training working with people who are chronically disorganized. (See their ads in the Resource Marketplace below.)
Your gender and date of birth determines which of the eight trigrams is your personal trigram. Feng Shui uses the Chinese SOLAR calendar that begins on the 4th or 5th of February each year, which is the half-way point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox.
Your best sleeping direction is also the original or home 45˚ direction of your personal trigram. The eight trigrams are split into East group trigrams and West group trigrams. As you can imagine, the supportive directions for East group trigrams are the sabotaging directions for the West group trigrams. Therefore, when an East group person is sharing a bed with a West group person they must compromise when it comes to their bed’s headboard direction, because their supportive directions don't match. In this case, the house sitting direction (darker, heavier, private side) will determine which direction to point the head of the bed. One person will be supported by their house's sitting direction, so the bed would be positioned to support the other person. This way one is supported by the house direction while the other is supported by the bed direction.
See if you can determine your personal trigram from the following descriptions of each of the eight trigrams.
QIAN trigram –
Northwest, 6, Heaven, Hard Metal (white, gray, gold, silver), Father (husband, head-of-household, owner, president, leader)... Head & Lungs (headaches, pulmonary diseases) QIAN people are natural born leaders and authority figures, however they can be headstrong. A client’s QIAN grand-daughter has the other children in daycare following her lead, even though she isn't doing anything to cause it.
KUN trigram –
Southwest, 2, Earth, Soft Earth (yellow, brown, earth-tones), Mother (wife, female owner, older lady)… Abdomen, Stomach, Reproductive organs (digestive & reproductive disorders), KUN is the equivalent to Mother Earth. They are gracious caregivers and nurturers at heart. I have several KUN clients who are doctors, nurses and chefs. Sometimes they need a little push, just like when you plant something and you need to move the soil up aroundthe plant to hold it is place until it takes root.
ZHEN trigram –
East, 3, Thunder, Hard Wood (green to represent leaves), Eldest Son... Legs, Feet, Throat (hysteria, convulsions, leg/feet/throat problems), ZHEN relates to thunder, which is loud and moving. ZHEN people like to be moving and would hate a job where they had to sit still for long. They are also enthusiastic.
XUN trigram –
Southeast, 4, Wind, Soft Wood (green to represent leaves), Eldest Daughter… Hips, Thighs, Buttocks (colds, rheumatism, hip/thigh/buttock problems), XUN is the eldest daughter whose marriage into a family in a nearby town would be arranged from the time of her birth. Knowing she would move like the wind, she would be restless and crave variety. She would also love to travel since, when she married, she would travel back and forth between her two families.
KAN trigram –
North, 1, Water, Water (blue, black), Middle Son (middle aged man)… Ears, Blood, Kidneys (earache, blood or kidney ailments), KAN people are flexible, yet focused and determined like water. Water is soft, but the most powerful element one earth... since it can erode a mountain and corrode metal.
LI trigram –
South, 9, Fire, Fire (red, purple, burgundy, violet), Middle Daughter (middle aged woman)… Eyes, Heart (eye & heart disease), LI people are like the "Energizer Bunny," because they keep going & going & going, sometimes until they burn themselves out. Most LI people only rest when they are ill. They are very passionate and can have a hot-temper that can blow like a tea kettle.
GEN trigram –
Northeast, 8, Mountain, Hard Earth (yellow, brown, earth-tones), Youngest Son (youth / children in general)… Small Bones: Arms, Hands, Fingers, Spine (arthritis, broken bones), GEN relates to the mountain, which is hard earth. It takes forever for a mountain to age, so a GEN person is very youthful. Mountains are not easily moved so GEN people are stable, however they can become stubborn.
DUI trigram –
West, 7, Marsh, Soft Metal (white, gray, gold, silver), Youngest Daughter (young girls)… Mouth, Teeth, Chest (mouth & chest related diseases), DUI is the youngest daughter who was the more artistic, sociable and talkative in the traditional Chinese family. Therefore, you won't find a DUI working as a librarian or any other profession where they need to be quiet.
To confirm which is your personal trigram… Send me an email with TRIGRAM in the subject line. In the body of that email list your first name, gender and date of birth (yes, including the year) to PK@FengShuiAdvantage.com.I’ll send you an email confirming your personal trigram, along with all its supportive 45˚ directions.
Your personal trigram directions are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how you are affected by Earth’s magnetic pull. From your gender and date of birth there are also 15˚ personal directions, which barely 5% of Feng Shui consultants can determine. These more powerful 15˚ Personal Feng Shui directions can over-ride your general 45˚ trigram directions. For instance, I’m a XUN person so SE is my trigram’s home direction and my most restful sleeping direction. However, my personal ‘Lonely Pillow’ direction is 15˚ of SE, so I sleep in my second best sleeping direction.
I refer to all of your personal directions as your ‘Lifetime Keys,’ because they are with you from the moment of your birth and they are the key to how you are influenced by Earth’s magnetic pull for your entire lifetime. After working with clients much like you over the past 10 years, I’ve fine tuned the process of explaining how to locate… then avoid or activate ALL of your ‘Personal Directions’ including your 15˚ directions for… Consuming vs. Prosperous, Valued Friends vs. Lonely Pillow, Creativity vs. Analytical Abilities, Injury vs. Robbery, Luck or Romance.
During an on-site Feng Shui Advantage consultation you’ll learn how to manage your building’s energy patterns and you’ll also receive two pages for each resident’s personal directions. One page describes all of their ‘Lifetime Keys’ and the second is a diagram that can be used to find those directions anywhere in the world. For those of you too far away for an on-site consultation, you have the opportunity to learn to manage all of your personal directions… by ordering your personalized ‘Lifetime Keys Personal Directions Self-Mastery Toolbox.’ The only thing the toolbox doesn’t include is instructions on how to manage your building’s energies. To learn more about how your 15˚ Personal Feng Shui directions are affecting your life or to order your toolbox visit… Personal Directions.
© 2007 P.K. Odle. All rights reserved.
NOTE: You’re welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “about the author” information at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to PK@FengShuiAdvantage.com
