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Thread: Chinese Zodiac

  1. #46
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    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    (although I'm mindful during Mercury in retrograde mostly because I think it's a really funny concept).
    funny how an optical illusion can have such wide and diverse effects which are not...
    I used to mock him. I don't anymore.
    i relate to everyone according to there sign... one of the first things i ask from someone is what year they are born... cashiers, co-workers, kids, everyone, for me it is more imporatant than their given name... and nearly everyone around me who thought astrology was BS has made a U-turn.
    Quote Originally Posted by mawali View Post
    I used to think the Chinese astrology stuff was BS but as I begun to understand a little bit, i was surprised. My understanding is less than basic but it is art and science together and one must know how to interpret.
    once ones perception moves up a notch, you'll be able to figure someone out without them even talking...
    Last edited by uki; 10-28-2008 at 03:58 AM.

  2. #47
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    optical illusion

    Retrograde motion is not an optical illusion. Have you done any research on astrology? Retrograde motion was an theoretical construct used by medieval astrologers who believed the sun revolved around the earth. Under that assumption, the planets seem to travel backwards. It's a CYA to maintain the dominant paradigm in light of contradictory evidence.
    Gene Ching
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  3. #48
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    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    Retrograde motion is not an optical illusion.
    yet you follow up this statement with...
    Retrograde motion was an theoretical construct used by medieval astrologers who believed the sun revolved around the earth. Under that assumption, the planets seem to travel backwards.
    any comments?

    whats to research in astrology? just observe and relate...

  4. #49
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    Quote Originally Posted by David Jamieson View Post
    that guy is actually kind of funny.

    he has a whole list of things he b!tches about.

    http://maddox.xmission.com/

    edit:

    it says on the main page;

    "This page is about me and why everything I like is great. If you disagree with anything you find on this page, you are wrong."

    LOL, what a nut
    For whoso comes amongst many shall one day find that no one man is by so far the mightiest of all.

  5. #50
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    sorry but that guys website is freaking hillarious.

    here you guys have to read this one

    Fashion tips for women from a guy
    who knows **** about fashion
    For whoso comes amongst many shall one day find that no one man is by so far the mightiest of all.

  6. #51
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    Lightbulb chinese zodiac years and kung fu.

    how do the astrological energies affect you and your kung fu?? this year of the the monkey is sure coming in fast for this tiger - on all levels of reality, not just the martial ones. anyone else pay attention to the years over the years? considering it's essential embryonic relationship to kung fu, i am curious to see if anyone else is as curious as myself on the influence of stars, planets, and celestial alignments on the numerous levels of reality we find ourselves in, which of course includes the concepts and differential manifestions of what is collectively known as "kung fu". i mean... it must be kinda important, the mag donates most of a page to the chinese horoscope.

  7. #52
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    Ah, good to have you back, uki.

    Quote Originally Posted by uki View Post
    it must be kinda important, the mag donates most of a page to the chinese horoscope.
    Actually, it's a page and a half in every issue and three in our MAR+APR issues as those come out in the beginning of February around Chinese New Year. Our horoscope column launched in 2000, making it the longest Chinese Horoscope in print. We post our horoscopes online too, although not the introductions with the prescribed Feng Shui recipes (those are only in print). When the column first began, I encouraged our Feng Shui master to focus on forecasts for martial artists. Sometimes he does.

    Note that I launched a thread specific to this Year of the Monkey, like I've done for the past few years.

    Also this year, we're holding a Monkey King Championship at Tiger Claw Elite Championships.

    Gene Ching
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  8. #53
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    good to be back...

    don't know how long i'll stay, but it's spiffy in here for the time being.

  9. #54
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    zodiac & matrimony

    INDYLIFE
    WHAT DO CHINESE PEOPLE LOOK FOR IN A PARTNER? ZODIAC SIGNS AND MARRIAGE MARKETS ARE INVOLVED

    "No people whose Chinese Zodiac is a sheep," one parent said. / LIU JIN/AFP/Getty Images

    'My mother is a sheep, my girlfriend is also a sheep... this superstition is nonsense, sheep have the best temperament,' one man commented.

    BETH TIMMINS
    an hour ago

    People born in 1991 and 1979 are struggling to find love in China because of the stigma surrounding the sheep zodiac sign, a magazine has claimed.

    State-owned magazine Phoenix Weekly caused a stir online after interviewing numerous parents on Beijing on what it was like to try to set their sons and daughters up with a suitor.

    They found that people born in the year of the sheep are seen to equal a lifetime of bad luck as romantic partners. According to the article, for those born in the year of the sheep, “life is not good -no children even if other conditions are appropriate.”

    The Chinese custom of meeting in parks to discuss potential matches with relatives is popular in Beijing, and elderly people can typically be seen sitting on their own stools, carrying various “blind date materials”, which usually detail income, house registration and education.



    The ‘blind date marriage market’ has even been known to question whether the parents of the prospective match work in old Beijing, if they are Communists and the details of their ‘intellectual family’ according to the article.

    One prospective partner, Peng Shunli, was rejected by partner’s parents due to the fact of being born in 1991, but filling all other requirements: “If not sheep I certainly choose your daughter!”

    In a flood of comments about the story on Weibo, people are saying how unfair the judgements are for those born in the year of the sheep.

    "No wonder so many people are still single," remarked one person, according to the BBC.

    "My mother is a sheep, my girlfriend is also a sheep... this superstition is nonsense, sheep have the best temperament,” another man said.

    The most recent year of the sheep was 2015 and those with a 1991 and 1979 year of birth can expect to be frowned upon by some Beijing matchmakers.

    According to Chinese astrologer Master George Tang, those born in the year of the zodiac sheep, also known as the goat, are “refined, cunning, aesthetic, perceptive, charming, serene and sensitive.”

    “The Zodiac enacts a profound influential role in the culture and communities of China,” Master Tang explains.

    “Millions of people follow this for life and luck guidance and many base their relationships on the characteristics for each sign,” he adds.

    Other people remarked on the thread that they thought the anti-sheep sentiments derived in snobbery and superiority.

    A single man quipped: "I am a cow, you can come and eat grass with me."
    I didn't heed any of this, but I'm a dragon and married a tiger.
    Gene Ching
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  10. #55
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    Dragon children

    As a Dragon child myself, I agree.

    Chinese children born in the year of the dragon are more successful—but not due to supernatural forces


    Born this way. (Reuters/Bobby Yip)

    WRITTEN BY Isabella Steger
    OBSESSION The Art of Parenting
    August 30, 2017

    No, children born in the year of the dragon are not born inherently superior.
    Instead, the apparent success of these “dragon children” comes down to a lot of nurturing, according to two researchers at Louisiana State University (LSU) who studied the academic performance of people born in the year of the dragon in China. Due to the superstition that those born in that zodiac year will grow up to be more successful, places like China, Singapore, and Taiwan typically see a “baby boom” in those years. The last one fell in 2012.
    In a working paper published this month by the US National Bureau of Economic Research, the researchers found that dragon children receive higher test scores in China’s national college examination and are more likely to go to university than people of a similar age born in other Chinese zodiac years. The researchers note that the findings come even as logically speaking, competition should be more intense for people born in the year of the dragon if there were more babies born in that year.
    The researchers drew on recent Chinese surveys for the data to make the comparisons. These included an annual social survey that covers all provinces and includes birth year, and a survey of 5,000 randomly selected college students on their test scores. The paper has not been peer-reviewed.
    A similar study published in 2011 in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization also found that Asian immigrants born in 1976, a dragon year, were better educated than comparable immigrants who were born in non-dragon years, while there was no discernible difference in education levels among children born in a dragon year in the US in general.
    Both of these studies attribute the dragon babies’ apparent success to the parents’ behavior, shaped by their beliefs. “[T]hese results are not because of family background, student cognitive ability, self-esteem or student’s expectations about their future,” said the LSU researchers.
    For example, parents of dragon children were more likely to take the initiative in contacting their kids’ teachers and enroll their children in kindergarten, while dragon children are less likely to be made to help their parents out with household chores, they found.
    “[T]he parents of Dragon children have higher expectations of their children and they invest in their children more intensely. In the end, these higher expectations yield better educational outcomes. Put differently, these expectations create this self-fulfilling prophecy,” wrote the LSU researchers.
    Can Superstition Create a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy? School Outcomes of Dragon Children of China
    Naci H. Mocan, Han Yu
    NBER Working Paper No. 23709
    Issued in August 2017
    NBER Program(s): ED HE LS PE CH
    In Chinese culture those who are born in the year of the Dragon under the zodiac calendar are believed to be destined for good fortune and greatness, and parents prefer their kids to be born in a Dragon year. Using province level panel data we show that the number of marriages goes up during the two years preceding a Dragon year and that births jump up in a Dragon year. Using three recently collected micro data sets from China we show that those born in a Dragon year are more likely to have a college education, and that they obtain higher scores at the university entrance exam. Similarly, Chinese middle school students have higher test scores if they are born in a Dragon year. We show that these results are not because of family background, student cognitive ability, self-esteem or students’ expectations about their future. We find, however, that the “Dragon” effect on test scores is eliminated when we account for parents’ expectations about their children’s educational and professional success. We find that parents of Dragon children have higher expectations for their children in comparison to other parents, and that they invest more heavily in their children in terms of time and money. Even though neither the Dragon children nor their families are inherently different from other children and families, the belief in the prophecy of success and the ensuing investment become self-fulfilling.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
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  11. #56
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    Slightly OT

    I get sent a lot of weird stuff. This one was particularly amusing because Astrology doesn't mesh with the Bible.

    Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.

    Isaiah 47:13-14
    I've always interpreted this passage to mean that Jews, Christians and Muslims that read horoscopes are hypocrites, but what do I know?

    Biblical Signs in the Sky? September 23, 2017
    January 25, 2017 Christopher M. Graney
    One day last fall I was working in my office when my desk phone rang. It was a reader of The Catholic Astronomer, calling me with a question. He asked why the Vatican Observatory blog was full of discussion on black holes or whatnot, when there was something much more momentous to talk about.

    It turns out that the momentous thing to which my caller was referring was an arrangement of celestial bodies that will occur this year (2017) on September 23. On that date, according to various Internet sources, the heavens themselves will be a tableau of Revelation 12:

    A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.… She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.

    On September 23, 2017 the sun will be in the zodiac constellation Virgo—“a woman clothed with the sun”. The moon will be at the feet of Virgo—“with the moon under her feet”. The ‘nine’ stars of the zodiac constellation Leo, plus three planets (Mercury, Venus, and Mars), will be at the head of Virgo—“on her head a crown of twelve stars”. The planet Jupiter will be in the center of Virgo, and as the weeks pass after September 23 Jupiter will exit Virgo to the east, past her feet, so to speak—“She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth”. Jupiter is the largest of the planets, the “king” of the planets, so to speak—“She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod”. Must this not be a sign of something momentous, like the Internet sources say?


    Results of a Google image search for September 23, 2017 and Revelation 12. Note that this and all images in this post can be enlarged by clicking on them.

    Now, I know that the readers of this blog are diverse. People with interest in astronomy are a diverse group! And you all will have diverse reactions to this question. Some of you are probably saying right now, “what a bunch of nonsense!” Others of you may be thinking that my caller had a good point, and you would like to learn more. Fortunately, I am a community college professor! Community college people are the ‘A-Team’ of the academic world (as in B.A., Hannibal, and the crew from the T.V. show and the movie—who are tougher than anyone else and able to save the day using duct tape, PVC pipe, and a butane lighter). We thrive on diversity! No question phases us! We know that there are a lot of smart people out there who have not had much formal education in a topic like astronomy, and that interest in questions like this reflects a basic interest in astronomy combined with interest in religion and scripture. My caller was familiar with the Stellarium sky software. He could call up the skies of September 23, 2017 on Stellarium and see for himself that this celestial arrangement was a real thing. His was a reasonable question. Scientists need to be able to answer questions people have like this one, without treating the questions as nonsense, because the questions will not go away just because they are dismissed. And thus before long I was having a nice conversation with the caller, and I ended up telling him I would look into his question, and write a post on this topic. But I said it was unlikely to be the post he was looking for. He was OK with that.

    And so, Mr. Caller:


    The constellation Virgo on September 23, 2017, according to the Stellarium sky software. The moon’s size is exaggerated for visibility.


    Green arrows show the “nine” stars of Leo. Blue arrows show the planets Mercury, Venus, and Mars. Red arrow is Jupiter. Violet arrow is the moon (shown enlarged). The sun is at Virgo’s shoulder.

    First, in one year, thanks to the Earth’s annual orbit, the sun travels the entirety of the ecliptic, and thus passes through every one of the 12 constellations of the zodiac. The sun is in Virgo every September. Second, in one month the moon goes through its cycle of phases, and travels the entirety of the ecliptic, and thus passes through every constellation of the zodiac—all owed to the period of the moon’s orbit being one month. Therefore there is always a day or two every year when the sun is in Virgo and the moon is just to the east of Virgo (just past the “feet”). So, the celestial “woman clothed with the sun with the moon at her feet” is as common in September as is the U.S.’s Labor Day.

    But what of the crown of twelve “stars,” comprised of three planets and the nine stars of Leo? The response to this question is another question—why nine stars in Leo? There are many more than nine stars in Leo. Those nine are just brighter ones that are often depicted as comprising the general outline or shape of the constellation. But in fact there are scads of stars in Leo and surrounding the “head” of Virgo.


    There are many more than nine stars in the constellation Leo.

    And not all depictions of Leo show those nine as its outline. Some show the outline of Leo as consisting of ten stars, for example. That would give Virgo a crown of thirteen stars here!
    Continued next post
    Gene Ching
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  12. #57
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    continued from previous post


    Two depictions of Leo outlined with ten or eleven stars rather than nine. The depiction on the left is from an astronomy book for children; the depiction on the right is from an old National Geographic atlas.

    And yes, multiple planets being at Virgo’s head while Jupiter is in Virgo’s center and the moon is at Virgo’s feet is somewhat unusual. But it is not that unusual. The period of Jupiter’s orbit is a little less than twelve years, and therefore Jupiter will be in Virgo (with the sun there, too, and the moon at the feet) once every eleven or twelve years.

    So the sun in Virgo, the moon at Virgo’s “feet”, and Jupiter in the constellation are regular occurrences. This leaves the planets at the “head” (the number depending on the number of stars granted to Leo) as the determining factor in making a “momentous” celestial arrangement. Indeed, while various Internet sources speak of the specific celestial arrangement here as being “unique in human history” or “once in 7000 years”, in fact it is not unique to September 23, 2017. This basic arrangement happened before—in September 1827, in September 1483, in September 1293, and in September 1056. These are all shown at the end of this post. I only searched back one thousand years, from 2017 to 1017—there are undoubtedly other examples outside of that time period, and probably a couple examples that I missed within that time period.

    No doubt someone could go diving into the history books to scrounge up some events from 1827, 1483, 1293, and 1056 that the September skies of those years supposedly foretold. That’s the way it is with astrology. A person reads his or her daily horoscope and finds that it says “obstacles will be placed in your path today.” Then, that person picks those instances of getting stuck in traffic, or in a long line at the grocery store, or wherever, and says “hey, that horoscope was right,” when of course we all encounter such things every day.

    It is true that astrology—reading the heavens for signs—is something astronomers used to believe was valid (or, my guess is that many of them pretended to believe it was valid, because it paid the bills). But astrology has been found to have no more scientific basis than Harry Potter’s wand. It doesn’t work (something that does not seem to hinder its popularity). If astrology had anything going for it, astronomers would not need to go begging for money to fund astronomical research. We could just use our astronomical knowledge to divine which way the stock market was going, invest accordingly, become “astronomically” wealthy, and fund astronomical research from our surplus. As it is, watching the heavens for signs of what is to come is a waste of time. And it is doubly a waste of time because “signs in the sky” appeal, for some reason, to all sorts of people out there—all of whom can use Stellarium to find this or that momentous “sign” signifying whatever they want to signify.

    And that is why astronomers ignore the seemingly momentous celestial arrangement of September 23, 2017, and talk instead about black holes or whatnot.


    The constellation Virgo on September 24, 1827, according to Stellarium. In this and the images below, the moon’s size is exaggerated for visibility.


    The constellation Virgo on September 6, 1483.


    The constellation Virgo on September 5, 1293.


    The constellation Virgo on September 14, 1056. Venus and the star Regulus in Leo are very close to one another.
    Nevertheless, come Sep 23, it might be prudent to dust off your tinfoil hats.

    Zodiac & 6-6-6
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
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    What does 2018 hold for you?

    Our 2018 Kung Fu Horoscopes by Wilson Sun.

    Thread: Chinese Zodiac
    Thread: March+April 2018

    Gene Ching
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  14. #59
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    Kung Fu Horoscopes by our Feng Shui Master Wilson Sun

    What does the Year of the Pig hold for you? See our 2019 Chinese Zodiac Horoscopes.

    THREADS
    Year of the Pig 2019
    Chinese Zodiac

    Gene Ching
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  15. #60
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    Wet pig

    Thought this was the year of the earth pig...

    Opinion
    The year of being water – a Chinese astrological reading of Hong Kong in a challenging hour
    It has been a turbulent Year of the Pig for Hong Kong. But believe it or not, an era of tender loving governance may be just round the corner
    Foong Woei Wan
    Published: 10:30am, 24 Aug, 2019


    Protesters on the march during a rally in Hong Kong on August 18. The water represented by a Pig year could have been a boon for Hong Kong, a Wood Dragon, but there is such a thing as too much water. Photo: AFP

    A violent storm blows through Hong Kong with an unprecedented intensity, leaving a trail of broken glass, blocked roads and traffic disruptions, and the government comes under fire for failing to manage the situation.
    That would be Super Typhoon Mangkhut, which hit the city on September 16 last year – a Pig day with an unusually forceful element of water, according to the Chinese almanac. But it could as easily be the protest actions that have engulfed Hong Kong this year, which happens to be a Pig year with an underlying element of water.
    I am neither a fortune-teller nor a feng shui expert. I’m just a civilian who takes a geeky interest in Chinese cosmology, its poetic possibilities and its understanding of the interconnection of all things. Much ink has been spilled on how Hong Kong should move forward, but perhaps it would be useful to start from the beginning and see the city through the prism of ba zi, the age-old practice of analysing the eight characters denoting a birth time.
    In Chinese astrology, hours, days, months, years and even decades follow the zodiac cycle. Hong Kong was reborn as a special administrative region of China on July 1, 1997, a Wood Dragon day, which makes it a wood sign. More precisely, it is a tree growing in wet, fertile earth, and its birth chart is a picture of a thriving forest: trees, a little stream, soil, sparks, starlight, sunshine.
    When you are a wood sign, a suitable amount of water makes your world go round – it is mother’s milk, love and luck. Wood fuels fire or light, which is your productivity, and fire produces ash or earth, which is your money.
    For a tree planted in the withering heat of summer, Hong Kong is in an enviable position. Although this Wood Dragon is flanked in the ba zi chart by a Wood Rat, a lucky tree that is even closer to the stream, there is enough water to go around and keep everyone fairly happy. (Could the other tree be Singapore or some other city? Your guess is as good as mine.) Besides, Hong Kong is capable. It keeps a little ecosystem running by tapping into water, radiating heat and producing earth to sink roots into. So far so viable, right?
    But we need to talk about metal: an element that is virtually non-existent in Hong Kong’s chart, yet is making its presence felt in the city’s life. Metal symbolises structure. With regard to a tree, it is a controlling element that could take the form of an axe or shears; it could be a woodcutter or a gardener; it could be a boss.
    Hong Kong is, by nature, a free spirit. In the forest it was planted in, there was no danger of being cut down for firewood or even having its leaves trimmed. Moreover, the fire in Hong Kong’s chart keeps it safe. Fire has no fear of metal, just as a resourceful employee has no fear of a stressful boss.
    Yet, the water in Hong Kong’s chart needs metal. Metal is the surface on which water forms, just as order becomes a support for liveability.
    Here, Hong Kong faces a paradox. In the Chinese zodiac, the Monkey and the Rooster represent big and small metal objects like axe blades and shears, respectively. By the alchemical logic of Chinese cosmology, it is the Monkey, not the Rooster, that bonds with the Dragon and Rat in Hong Kong’s chart to form more water – more luck to feed into the city.
    However, think again of the axe-swinging woodcutter and the tree-pruning gardener. One is efficient, the other is patient. One wants the forest to thrive so there is more wood to be cut and more money to be made; the other wants the trees to thrive. Who would be a better boss?
    Hong Kong has been in a Monkey luck cycle since 2009, but is moving into a Rooster decade next year. A gentler era might be just round the corner.
    And what of this year? Why hasn’t it felt like a lucky year, despite the powerful presence of water symbolised by the Pig? Well, for a tree, real or imagined, there can be such a thing as too much water. In Chinese cosmology, water is a metaphor for the fluidity of thought, but also the rush of fear. However, fear is not Hong Kong’s style. I, for one, choose to believe the city can brainstorm its way out of this year.

    Foong Woei Wan is a production editor at the Post
    THREADS
    Year of the Pig 2019
    Chinese Zodiac
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
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