Sunday, August 5, 2007

Sighting: Grand Duke

The idea of "Grand Duke" is not the monopoly of classical Feng Shui. It is also widely employed in 4P, fortune-telling and Chinese folk religions.

In terms of 4P and fortune-telling, someone is said to "violate" Grand Duke when his/ her Chinese animal sign is identical to the current year. For example, 2002 is the year of Horse, whoever is 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84... should be careful and avoid high-risk behaviors, because they are in "violation" of the Grand Duke.

For people who are 6, 18, 30, 42, 54, 66, 78, 90... or whose animal sign is rat (for the year of horse only), they "clash" with the Grand Duke. If you pay attention, people tend to die in year which clashes their own animal signs.

The 5 element nature of horse is fire and for rat is water, so rat clashes with horse.

In Feng Shui, Grand Duke is a directional energy which changes direction according to the animal sign of the year. Movements and constructions should be avoided in the direction of Grand Duke. Misfortunes like accidental death, loss of wealth and severe injury will happen if the Duke is disturbed.

Where can we "see" Grand Duke?

In some Chinese Temples, you may see there are 60 doll-sized figurines in a corner. All figures look the same except each has a label with a unique name. These are the Dukes.

Why 60 figures and not keeping it simple to have just one Duke? Chinese calendar is based on a 60 years cycle ("jia"). One different Duke per year is a logical deduction.

To explain the concept of Grand Duke is not easy, especially in ancient times when people's literacy levels were low.

Some smart people, mostly marketers, had personified the Grand Duke with 60 statues and names, so people could buy sacrifices and stuff to pray to the Duke on duty to forgive the clashes and violations.

Appeasing Grand Duke rituals is a staple income for many temples in China.

People do not know where to worship if you tell them Grand Duke is some sort of energy.

Is there any scientific basis of the Grand Duke concept?

Well, today is your lucky day, I just learn this a few hours ago in Barnes and Noble Bookstore.

In terms of western astronomy, the Chinese Grand Duke corresponds to the Jupiter.

Jupiter circles the sun once every 12 years. Our earth does that in a year.

The shadow of Jupiter casts on earth is the location of the annual Grand Duke.

Do you know Jupiter has the strongest magnetic field in the solar system? It is 25 times stronger than the earth's magnetic field.


Ken Lai
http://www.kenlaifengshui.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10429370@N05/