Tibetan Taiki Magic Circle?

[jad]

Hi, I wonder if you could enlighten me about the above subject. I have a very good visual Encyclopedia of ornamental design, and there is a design for what is described as "A Taiki", "magic circle that unites yin and yang" and it has the Trigrams in a different order to what I have been looking at, in fact through my research there seems to be many versions of where they should be positioned as far as I can see. The design I have in the book has the "Father" (Heaven) at the top, N, and the Mother (Earth) at the bottom,S, with First daughter (wind/wood) NW. Second daughter (fire) W. Third Son (mountain) SW. First Son (Thunder)SE. second Son (water) E and Third Daughter (lake) NE respectfully. It has the yin yang symbol in the middle. I have searched the internet for more information on the name "Taiki" in relation to the circle, but can't find anything, so I would be grateful if anyone has any knowledge of this term in relation to Tibet and the magic circle.

Many thanks
Jad

[bradford_h]

Hi Jad-
Did someone actually write those directions on the diagram? Or did you infer them from the way you usually look at maps?
It was European cartographers who instituted "North Up". Usually in Yijing studies, Astrology, and other symbolic mandalas, South is always up, East left, etc.
For the Diagram you are looking at, South Up is the proper orientation. This is the Fuxi, Xian Tian or Primal Heaven arrangement. If you convert the diagrams to binary numbers, the directions of the sequences relate to the Yin-Yang symbol itself. This arrangement originated with Shao Yong in the 11th Century CE, relatively new.

[jad]

Hi Bradford,

I have to admit I'm no expert on this subject. It is just that I had read about yin and yang and came across an ornamental drawing of what was described as "A Taiki, magic circle that unites yin and yang" from Tibet, as it was described in the book.It doesn't have any directions placed on or next to the Trigram positions, its the way they have been placed on the circle itself. Also the yin yang symbol in the centre of the circle has the "eye" on the top right, as opposed to the top left on all the other diagrams I have looked at. I wanted to understand more of the subject, so on looking through the internet, I came across many versions of the Trigram positions, which confused me and made me wonder which version was correct. I just had a thought, that maybe the diagram of the circle has been reversed as this would answer the position of Third daughter and First daughter, plus First son and Third son, being on opposite sides on the diagram? I still don't have an answer to the name "Taiki" in association with this circle.

Thank you for your imput. When you say "South is alway up, and East is left" do you mean South (Mother Earth) should be at the top in place of the Father (Heaven) and he should be at the bottom?? Could you direct me to a site where I could see the trigrams in the right position.

Thank once again,,,,,,,,,,Jad

[bradford_h]

"Thank you for your imput. When you say "South is alway up, and East is left" do you mean South (Mother Earth) should be at the top in place of the Father (Heaven) and he should be at the bottom?? Could you direct me to a site where I could see the trigrams in the right position."

No, I mean that Heaven should be at the top and the position at the top should be called South, not North. Earth is North. Your direction labels were incorrect, the diagram was OK.

Imagine yourself standing facing South. In the old days more people appreciated the Sun. The Earth is turning to your left, towards the Eastern horizon. The Moon above, as it orbits the Earth, is moving to your left. If it's night, and the Sun is behind you on the other side of the Earth, the Earth is moving in its orbit to your left. If you want to understand the meanings of these diagrams, it helps to imagine and understand your place in the big picture. This, unfortunately, is news to most astrologers, who don't really understand what a horoscope represents, a cross section of the sky made while facing South.