Coronavirus: the Chinese medical-philosophical view
by Liliana Atz Coronavirus (COVID-19) is responsible for the epidemic that is stranding Italy and much of the world and changing the lives of many people in this early part of the 2020s. It manifests with fever, respiratory and pulmonary problems. Its virulence has already led to the death of many people. Experts are trying to find the source of this new “plague,” but to date, despite much speculation, there is no certainty. The ancient Chinese medical-philosophical view associates the organ Lung and the viscera Large Intestine with the element Metal. The Chinese ideogram for Metal means “Gold,” a metal, thus of great value, stainlessness and durability. For Chinese alchemy, the precious metals extracted from the Earth are pieces of fallen stars, and the Metallo movement is a clear allusion to the symbolism of celestial energy, which is condensed in this way on the Earth, thus establishing a connection between human energy and that of the universe. “Connection with the universe,” in a globalized society as dedicated to exploitation of the environment and people as ours, is a truly great word. Modern-day man has lost touch with nature, the Earth and his own Self. The plethora of mental and physical illnesses that, despite material well-being, grip the lives of many individuals are a constant testimony to this. Not even China is immune from this plague. The quest for material well-being has led the people of the Yellow River to intensive land exploitation and a forgetting of ancient beliefs that closely linked humans to the environment. And right from there the contagion began…. Metal-says ancient Chinese Medicine-is a change of state, a mode of relating to the outside world, the ability to accept what is outside oneself and to communicate with the other, while remaining oneself. It symbolizes, in fact, self-respect and the relationship between one’s inner world with the outer world, with the other from Self. But in a globalized world where social malaise, aggression, an epidemic lack of values, drowned in the use of alcohol, drugs and compulsive shopping, and where fear for the future, characterizes the lives of many people, it is certainly not the majority who manage not to be carried along by the long wave of the “all out.” But without the “world within,” there is no balance, and the heavy use of tranquilizers and sleeping pills confirms this. Metal, for Traditional Chinese Medicine, is associated with the nose, skin and hair, and the emotion of sadness, a powerful emotion, but one that is little accepted by consumer society. Sadness, the acceptance of not being at the top all the time, actually constitutes the organism’s ability to return to itself to renew itself. Through the olfactory bulbs, the Lung connects to the limbic system of the brain, the place where emotional and instinctive responses, with their potential for change, are generated. But a running society does not stop easily, and then comes a virus, something tiny, invisible, that heavily erodes the Lungs and stops the world. For those who want to understand…. Taken from: EnneaMediCina: the Five Ways of the Soul
The Yin/Yang Dance of Life
by Liliana Atz The Tao or Dao, the “Way, the Path” is one of the most universally known symbols. For Taoists, the Tao is symbolic of the Universe itself, that vital stream that gave rise to everything and flows ceaselessly, always changing, yet always remaining the same. The Dao symbolizes the cyclical concept of existence; everything in the universe manifests itself in a spiral movement that, having reached maximum expansion, recoils to manifest itself at the opposite pole, in a perpetual movement of expansion and contraction. Associated with the Dao is the conception of Yin and Yang, the complementary opposites that maintain the natural order of the Dao: Yin is the feminine principle, cozy, passive and dark, and Yang the masculine principle, active, bright and moving. Wuji is the name used in Taoist cosmology to refer to energy in its pure state, that state before manifestation, where space and time do not exist, where anything is still possible. When this not-yet manifested energy begins to move, the first polarization appears. One enters the world of duality, Tai Chi, represented by the Tao with its two poles: Yin and Yang. These are the principles behind Tai Chi Chuan, the ancient psychophysical, emotional and spiritual discipline that, through the precise movements of its forms represents the eternal movement of the Tao. From the union of the formless (Wuji) represented by the hereditary energies of the male spermatozoon and the female ovum, the energy horizon of a new being comes into being, which, with its first breath enters the world of duality (Tai Chi ). How will he move through life, how will he dance his Tao between Yin/Yang? How much will the environment in which he develops influence him in his choices and perception of Self? Will he be too Yin, passive, submissive, compliant, tend not to make up his mind to let events take him or will he instead, be too Yang, masculine, active, assertive, seemingly a leader for himself and others? How much will he be in harmony with his “Heavenly Mandate“? How well will he be able to recognize and reconcile the drives of his Essence, with the drive of Personality? Not recognizing or misplacing the “Heavenly Mandate in one’s kingdom” does not bring fullness in Life. From emotional hardships to the important ones of some illness, the message of a “New Birth” is for everyone waiting to materialize.
Tai Chi Chuan: “Movement of emotions.”
Symbolism is the most suitable and usable way for humans to pass on teachings and thoughts, the most natural way. This is easily understood when one considers that language itself, after all, is symbolism. Any human expression is a symbol of thought that is outwardly translated; the only difference remains in the fact that language is analytical and discursive, while symbolism is essentially intuitive. The symbolic body language manifested in the precise movements of Tai Chi Chuan, known as a martial art and for the undoubted benefits it brings to the practitioner’s health, conceals other messages, linking Eastern culture to the latest discoveries in Western science and psychology.Let’s see how. When the yet-to-be manifested energy, or Wuji, begins to move, it gives rise to the first Yin (feminine) – Yang (masculine) polarization from which Chi or energy originates. Chi like everything that exists in the universe is the manifestation of the cyclic movement of the Tao (1), the Way, whose symbol is now well known. These are the principles behind the discipline of Tai Chi Chuan. The whole universe, visible or invisible is given by the interaction of Yin-Yang. Tai Chi Chuan, the ancient Chinese psycho-physical discipline, has its historical roots in the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which prescribed breathing exercises, body massages, and hand and foot exercises as early as 1,000 BCE. Taoists introduced Chi Kung, a series of psycho-physical and respiratory exercises, for health maintenance, prevention and treatment of diseases. Energy gymnastics, which were constantly studied, expanded and integrated with ancient Kung-fu styles, gave birth to Tai Chi Chuan. But this definition of Tai Chi is only one aspect of it, as a balanced body is but the logical consequence of harmonious energy circulation. Man, as a child of Heaven and Earth is healthy only when he can keep himself in harmony between the ascending Breaths of Earth (Yin) and the descending ones of Heaven (Yang). Movement as the basis of life.In M.° Flavio Daniele’s book “Tao Science and the Art of Fighting ” Prof. Carlo Ventura states : “There is no important biological phenomenon that is not caused by movement. …It turns out that there is no change in gene activity that does not occur without movements of the DNA, deformations and vibrations of the nucleus and that complex of microfilaments and microtubules that we call cytoskeleton. The movements precede the same changes in function at the various cellular levels. …Applying a sound vibration to a cell or to signal molecules within a cell can cause these structures to vibrate, generating changes in morphology and function. Sounds and movements can thus be seen as a “molecular dialogue” within cells and tissues.” Law of Three in MotionFrom the union of the formless, represented by the inherited energies of the male sperm and the female ovum with the acquired energies, that is, with what the innate energies are capable of producing after fertilization, the energy horizon of a new being, the fruit, the union of the masculine with the feminine, of the passive with the active, the number Three, the neutralizer, comes into being. In Chinese culture, “Dantian” is the name that Traditional Medicine physiology gives to the three points in the body where Chi is stored and accumulated and from which it then radiates through the meridians into the body. These concepts connect to Taoist Inner Alchemy, meditative techniques and then Tai Chi, whereby the body is divided into three areas, each presenting a fulcrum, called the Cinnabar Field, where the essence of the primal One resides (2). Western psychology is also approaching these concepts. Eric Berne’s transactional analysis, for example, theorizes the individual’s psychic structure or “Ego” as consisting of three structures represented graphically as one personality, namely the three ego states, each with its own functions. Each ego state has positive and negative aspects, depending on whether it promotes or impedes a person’s independence. The Parent Ego guards experiences and examples.The Child Ego encompasses spontaneity and emotionality.The Adult Ego is the part where information is processed. How to make these aspects communicate?Transactional analysis proposes “healing” through the enhancement of the Adult’s “problem solving” skills, through the use of emotions, no longer understood as an obstacle, but as a tool aimed at satisfying and solving one’s needs. ConclusionThe way of the Heart, the way of the emotions, the way of Chi, turns out to be, as mystics have always claimed, the frontier between the instinctual center and the mental-spiritual center, the “way of evolution” for mankind of all times. And it is in fact deep in the brain areas of the limbic system and hypothalamus that the electrochemical processes that result in what we call “emotions” take place. From here, through the mediation of specific substances, neurotransmitters, messages are carried throughout the body-mind. “It is becoming increasingly clear,” says the Prof. Ventura- that the development of the nervous and cardiovascular systems occur through a coordinated action of common factors that guide the differentiation and migration of future neuronal and cardiovascular cells. Very recent research shows strong parallels in the development of both systems …..” Movement catalyzing emotions, then, which stimulate a different interaction of the three brains. This is where the power of the Tai Chi movement comes in. Starting with conscious work on the body and thus the neocortex, patterns related to the functioning of the nervous system, the three brains, are modified over time. One works alchemically on the three Dantians, according to Eastern language, stimulating a redefinition of the psycho-physical boundaries embedded in time, to restore psycho-physical-spiritual balance, to return to the One. Tao:All matter in the universe, living or nonliving is traversed by this eternal, essential and fundamental force. The Tao symbol represents the universe. From an initial phase of no differentiation, two polarities of different and complementary signs were formed, representing the fundamental principles of the universe: Yin, the negative, passive principle, represented by the color black, and Yang, the positive, active principle, represented by the color white. Primeval:the first
Steve Jobs: the Taijitu of a Genius by Liliana Atz
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, the system of medical and philosophical knowledge formed within ancient Chinese culture, health and mental/physical well-being are the natural consequence of the harmonious circulation of chi within the network of meridians (energy channels of the body within which energy flows), while its imbalances promote the onset of disease. We come to light arriving from what for ancient Chinese medical-philosophical culture is the Anterior Heaven, carrying within us a life project that clashes, inevitably with family, social, and cultural rules. We often forget ourselves by filling our voids with tranquilizers and antidepressants. But all this is not enough and Life keeps pushing us to demand “changes.” There are, for Chinese medicine, “Eight Curious Vessels” or Extraordinary Channels Activation of these Channels on the one hand makes it possible to reduce the rate at which individual vitality is consumed, enhancing the potential for life and health and, on the other hand, promoting the opening of the psychic and spiritual centers, which are closely related to these structures. It is thought, that the Eight Curious Vessels develop in the prenatal period, even before the formation of the meridians. They are, according to Mark Seem, “…fundamental energy channels, closely related to the genetic code, determining in the manifestation of our constitutional terrain. Franco Bottalo states that these Channels “…are the foundation of the creation and continuous recreation that is life, to remind the individual that he must constantly and continually be reborn.” These are the channels, the terrain, that Tai Chi and Chi Kung go to affect. We are in a complex historical moment: personal “crisis,” of values, ethics, morals, which becomes a social, economic, and customary crisis. Individually we feel lost, helpless in the face of things bigger than ourselves, we wonder what can be done individually. Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple in this 2005 film tells Stanford undergraduates about his life and work experience. But what does a genius computer scientist have to do with Tai Chi? I do not know whether Jobs ever practiced or knew this discipline, but that is not what I want to state here. It is his intense story of a man “in love” with his ideals, his “creative madness” that I want to share with you. Creative madness that changed his life and our technological world, therefore, society. “…you have to find what you love, you have to believe in something, your intuition, fate, life, karma….” he says, “…everything I stumbled upon simply by following my curiosity and intuition, turned out later to be invaluable. …”, “… none of these things had any hope of finding practical application in my life, but ten years later, when we found ourselves designing the first Macintosh, it all came in handy…” and, again, “…If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today? And every time the answer is “no” for too many days in a row I realize that something must have changed…” Good viewing.
Tai chi and Enneagram: body, mind, spirit by Liliana Atz
The true gentleman is similar to an archer: if he misses the Target, he looks for the cause the self. (Confucius) In the field of neuroscience, the connection between the physical body, emotions, (we record in the muscles of the body our emotional memory), the brain, and the resulting behavior of human beings is now well known. Many studies have shown the connection between the emotional aspect in relation to personality type and the individual’s “illness” response. The enneagrammatic map shows how nature, through the genetic program of the species, and thus through transgenerational-familial inheritance, has organized a person’s body, mind, emotions, behaviors and related symptoms of imbalance. Each enneatype has its own personal “feeling,” its own personal emotional mode through which it usually reacts to life’s stimuli. This is at the root of those instinctive behaviors, repeated over time, that are the cause of psycho-physical distress. This is where the power of the Tai Chi movement comes in. When careful bodywork, and/or life situations, awaken myoelectric impulses frozen in the contractions/rigidity of the physical, the emotional experience of the person emerges. Prof. Carlo Ventura(1) states : “There is no major biological phenomenon that is not caused by movement…. It turns out that there is no change in gene activity that does not occur without movement of the DNA, deformation and vibration of the nucleus and that complex of microfilaments and microtubules we call the cytoskeleton. The movements precede the same changes in function at the various cellular levels. Applying a sound vibration to a cell or to signal molecules within a cell can cause these structures to vibrate, generating changes in morphology and function. Sounds and movements can thus be seen as a “molecular dialogue” within cells and tissues.” Movement catalyzing emotions, then, that stimulate a different interaction of the three brains (reptilian, limbic, neocortex). Starting with conscious work on the body, patterns related to the functioning of the nervous system, the three brains, are in fact modified over time. It is necessary, then to have suitable tools to reframe one’s life story, and the enneagram proves to be a valuable ally to be used in the process of body-mind-spirit transformation, in order to return to living in tune with the laws that govern one’s most authentic nature. 1. Carlo Ventura. Graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Bologna and specialized in Cardiology. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1990 from the University of Bologna. He is currently director of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Stem Cell Engineering of the National Institute of Biostructures and Biosystems (INBB) at the Institute of Cardiology in Bologna, Italy. He heads the Bologna division of INBB, which includes research units in Florence, Pisa and Siena. He is director of the Institute of Biosciences, a GMP Cell Factory recently established in the Republic of San Marino. Article published at: www.scienceknowledge. it and at www.lavalsugana.it
The benefits of Tai Chi by Liliana Atz
Calm movements, harmonized with the breath, soft, fluid, now all of a sudden energetic and then soft again. For many centuries Tai Chi Chuan remained secret and taught exclusively within a few families, to a few privileged pupils, but in the late nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century it became widespread throughout China, especially as a method of health gymnastics. It was a huge success, and millions of Chinese today regularly practice this form of exercise, which is considered one of the best means of staying healthy and becoming long-lived. Tai Chi is a gradual body-mind development art through which you can improve your physical and mental energy and increase your well-being. Through the pursuit of harmony of opposites, balance between positive and negative forces (Yin/Yang) and contact with the energy underlying the universe, Chi, the practitioner develops and increases his or her internal energy. It is not known exactly when and by whom it was invented. Legend has it that, around 1200, the monk Chang San Feng, observing a fight between a snake and a crane noticed how the slow, supple movements of the snake were able to dodge the dry, precise blows of the crane’s beak. Chang concluded that the reptile prevailed because it was looser and more focused than its opponent. On these principles he developed the new discipline. Indeed, the authentic spirit of Tai Chi is precisely the union of body and mind: the gentle movements of the body are guided by concentration on the inner energy (Chi). From this point of view, Tai Chi is complementary to another discipline, now also well known in our country, Chi Kung, which means “ability to conduct and circulate internal energy (Chi).” Its structure is such that those who observe Tai Chi practice can only pick up on its surface form, failing to grasp the deep aspects of working on the body, breath and mind. These stages are not separable because they are reflected in each other: the body relaxes, breathing slows its pace and becomes deeper, and the mind empties itself of thoughts, anxieties, and worries. This state becomes a moving meditation, and some have called this practice “Chinese yoga.” The name Tai Chi Chuan, or “extreme/supreme polarity boxing,” also refers to these philosophical conceptions and is called an internal martial art in this regard. Numerous health benefits are found after only a few months of practice: improved muscle tone and elasticity, increased sense of balance, decreased cervicalgia and other spinal disorders. Calm, deep breathing then improves the efficiency of the immune system and cardio-respiratory system, relaxing the mind and promoting a decrease in anxiety, nervousness and insomnia. Tai Chi interpreted in light of the latest findings of Western science acts on brain structure. The brain is divided into three parts: the neocortex, the mammalian brain and the reptilian brain. The neocortex, or human brain, as it was the last part of the brain to develop, is divided into two halves: the left hemisphere, the seat of logic, rational reasoning and language, and the right, the seat of creativity, intuition. The harmonization that the holistic practice (1) of Tai Chi brings at the brain level is documented by psychoneuroendocrinoimmunology. PNEI is the new science that tells how mind and body communicate and regulate the balance of our body and our well-being through a hormonal dialogue based on neuropeptides, cytokines to other active substances, powerfully influencing the activity of the immune system. Martial technique, wellness discipline, moving meditation, evolutionary discipline, Tai Chi is gaining great success worldwide. Hundreds of studies have been carried out in recent decades. One, very recent one published in the American Journal of Health Promotion, conducted by Arizona researchers, confirms how the practice of Tai Chi is beneficial to the health of the body and provides psychological benefits while improving overall quality of life. The study on the effectiveness of Tai Chi in people with rheumatoid arthritis showed that its practice has significant benefit for leg and hip movements. (cit.2) Israeli neurologists and rehabilitators have tested the effects of Tai Chi on stroke victims, recording in practitioners a marked improvement in recovery of general function and social relationships. (cit.2) Doctors at Harvard University have added to drug therapyb the practice of Tai Chi in people with severe heart problems, such as chronic heart failure. The Tai Chi group reported a marked improvement in quality of life, as measured by special scale, and also in the ability to move without fatigue. Previous studies had shown, moreover, a positive effect of Tai Chi on respiratory and cardiovascular capacity.(cit.2) A group of oncologists at the University of Rochester, in upstate New York, used Tai Chi as psychological support for women who had undergone standard treatment for breast cancer, recording significantly greater improvement in quality of life and self-esteem than the group that had received only psychological support. (cit.2) Finally, controlled studies in the elderly have documented a marked improvement in sleep quality and quantity and a significant increase in flexibility and balance, documented by a decrease in falls. (cit.2) Concluding with a phrase from Master Yang Cheng Fu: “He who can unite the outside with the inside can also realize the integral unity of his being.” Glossary:Holism: a philosophical position according to which the nature, behavior, and properties of a system cannot be reduced to the sum of its parts, but are also due to other phenomena or entities, such as the relationships created among the parts of the system. Bibliography: (cit.2) :Quotes from article by Francesco Bottaccioli, excerpted from the site – www.simaiss.it Tai Chi Chuan and meditation – Da Liu – Ubaldini Editore; Fundamentals of Tai Chi Chuan – Grandi/Venanzi – Luni Editrice. Published in: Science and Knowledge
Shiatsu: between body and mind by Liliana Atz
If you do not expect the unexpected, you will never know the truth. (Heraclitus) Shiatsu, a Japanese manual technique, based on pressures brought to the energy meridians and/or acupuncture points with the thumbs, palms, elbows, and, in some styles with the knuckles, knees, and feet, belongs to the tradition of Eastern medico-philosophical disciplines. Although it is thought to derive from acupuncture it is likely to predate even the latter.In Japan, ancient Chinese techniques, from which Shiatsu is derived, were assimilated and adapted to the local cultural context. The Japanese devoted themselves to Chinese medicine with an artistic attitude; refining their creative vigor they took their techniques to the highest formal sophistication. In fact, the ability to reduce, analyze and refine is the prerogative of the Japanese approach, just as the creative impetus is characteristic of the Chinese. The recent history of Shiatsu is connected to the name of Shizuto Masunaga, a professor of psychology at Tokyo University whose sincere interest in Traditional Chinese Medicine led him to study ancient original scriptures. Masunaga graduated from Namikoshi’s school, where he taught for several years. Here he began to integrate psychology with orthodox Shiatsu practice, the study of ancient texts and modern Western interpretation of physiology. Over the past three decades many representatives of various Shiatsu currents, have begun teaching, each according to their own orientation, creating great ferment in the field, especially in the West. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is an ancient discipline of seeking health and harmony through energetic balancing of the body-mind. It is a medicine of Blows (energy, Qi), the art of restoring the functional balance of exchanges between different Qi. The object of this energy medicine is the regulation of man’s constituent and animating energy within the constituent and animating Breaths of the universe. What has come down to us is the result of the integration and systematization, in the course of its evolution, of the different philosophies with which it came into contact, especially Confucianism and Taoism. This tradition regards the universe as an energy field, the result of the perfect interaction of the two basic cosmic principles: Yin/Yang. There is a holistic, analog view of the human being, according to which health and well-being are the consequence of the psychological, energetic, physiological, and spiritual balance of the individual. The observation and cataloging of correspondences has led, over the millennia, to the assumption of an exhaustive knowledge of reality, where what happens in the macrocosm happens in a small way–by analogy–in the human microcosm. Through understanding the cosmos, the universe and nature, one comes, for Taoism, to self-understanding, to one’s individual growth. There is no dichotomy of good/evil, right/wrong. Opposites become equivalent aspects of the same reality/phenomenon, encompassing them within itself. The concentration of attention should be directed toward the observation of nature and its manifestations, which alone enables one to recognize the characteristics of the Dao. And it is nature that suggests the idea of Yin/Yang, the constituent polarities of the Tao symbol, which represents the most important and characteristic concept of Taoism. The observation of the cyclic alternation of day and night is symbolically related to the shadowy and sunny sides of a hill, a single reality that carries both shadow and light, the universally conjoined opposites that eternally chase and alternate each other. Any physical or psychic symptom, therefore, is not a sign of a localized condition, but is a telltale sign of an imbalance in the organism as a whole. TCM does not follow the modern trend of dismemberment of individual components in pursuit of the ever smaller, losing sight of the purpose, the unity, that is, man and his psychophysical balance. Embedded in the macrocosm, humans are also powered by the same flow of vital energy, Qi (Breaths), which flows within the body along the network of meridians, the invisible channels that form the connecting system between organs and vital functions. Qi is a kind of rarefied fluid that can be condensed to form a substance; it is the product of the interaction of Yin/Yang and forms the basis of the world of phenomena. In the human body it is the principle that moves, warms and protects against external influences. On a psychological level, its free flow allows us to change states, to alternate between different emotions, moving from work to pleasure, from activity to rest. For TCM, health and physical well-being are, therefore, the natural consequence of the harmonious circulation of Qi, while its imbalances promote the onset of disease. On this philosophical foundation were grafted Japanese studies that refined the original techniques imported from China, creating an autonomous style that is improperly referred to as “massage.” Shiatsu, in fact has been characterized since its inception, by the static nature of the pressure applied, which enters perpendicular to the surface of the body. The pressures enter deeply without slipping over the skin and produce a stimulus to which the person’s organism responds, recovering and manifesting its vital resources “from deep within.” This results in a renewed feeling of mental and physical well-being. This is possible because our skin, which has the same embryological origin as the nervous system, is capable of receiving stimuli from the external environment, making them communicate with the interior, sifting and filtering the messages received, transmitting them through the network of meridians and the afferent nervous system, and facilitating the reconstruction of the balance of vital energy, Qi, which “spurs” the whole psycho-neuro-endocrinoimmune supersystem. The diagnosis, which is typically oriental, makes it possible to extract information about the energy state of the human body through observation of the physique, habits, manner of movement and speech, as well as the choices the person makes. According to ancient Chinese theories, the universe consists of five primordial elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Each element is energetically connected to an organ and viscera of the human body (see table). When energy circulates in the meridians without hindrance, the organism is healthy in all aspects; if, however, due to
Astro – Enneatypes: zodiac and enneagram by Liliana Atz
Western astrology has its roots in ancient Egyptian and Chaldean astrology (8th century B.C.) and, until many centuries after the birth of Christ, was not substantially distinct from astronomy It was the priestly class in Mesopotamia that observed the celestial vault and recorded every astronomical event on time. For a long time astrology and astronomy were closely linked, but beginning with the introduction of the Cartesian scientific method their paths slowly diverged. With Alexander the Great and his conquests, highly evolved Egyptian and Chaldean traditions came into contact with Greek culture. And it was the Egyptians first, and the Greeks later, who initiated an associative process between celestial bodies and deities, conforming the names of constellations and planets to their traditions, which was absorbed within the philosophical, spiritual and esoteric circles of those cultures. Astrology can be considered a “boundary discipline,” in fact its basic principles are based on astronomical and trigonometric elements and notions accessible to anyone, while the association with these elements and notions of symbolic meanings presupposes “the ability to perceive, recognize and interpret the inner spirit hidden in the symbols themselves.” Astrology has been an important map for reading human psychism. The psychic archetypes represented by the mythological planets known in antiquity tell of human evolution, of what in the various historical stages man was inclined to believe, of what was engraved in his DNA and therefore, collectively could accept and make “true.” The limit of human knowledge was reflected and extended, now as then, to the boundaries of the universe, represented by the limits of the zodiac and its planets: the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, as the zodiacal belt symbolized the space that God had demarcated to create the world. Only relatively recently have these celestial bodies been joined by the “discovery” of the so-called “transpersonal planets”-Uranus (1781), Neptune (1846) and Pluto (1930). Collective evolutionary history has thus opened up possibilities to “see” beyond the hitherto known world, beyond our “Pillars of Hercules,” to overcome the limits of Cartesian dualism. The Enneagram is a symbol of representation of the whole of reality, a dynamic model that synthesizes the Universe at both the macrocosmic and microcosmic levels. It has in common with Astrology the schematic summarization of human nature into a limited number of character types. Astrology describes twelve types of man, while the Enneagram speaks of nine types: the seven planets known in antiquity plus the two lunar nodes North and South. Each type can be associated with a planet or astronomical point. Type Ones avoid the COLLERA. The One aims for perfectionism, and its capital vice is IRA. The One corresponds to the planet Mars. Originally the god of agriculture, Mars is the equivalent of the Greek Ares, god of war: Roman soldiers paid homage to him before going into battle. In astrology it represents the masculine side of the character. Endowed with a strong sexual charge, Mars can make an individual as aggressive as he is resolute, as rugged and rough as he is positive and full of energy. Two types avoid recognizing their own needs. The Two avoids asking and is continually tempted to help others by running away from himself. Its capital vice is HOPE, and the planet to which it belongs is the Sun. Sun worship is thought to have originated in Asia, but almost every known civilization has had a solar deity. In the West the most important was Apollo. The Sun, which is in fact a star and not a planet, represents generosity of heart, affection and magnanimity, creativity and joy; but the Sun, with negative aspects, can nurture self-esteem to the point of changing it into pomposity. Type Threes avoid failure. Threes are great manipulators: they can make others happy that they can be activated for them. Their capital vice is LIE and the astronomical point connected to them is Caput Draconis, (the dragon’s head), one of the two lunar nodes. Type Fours fear ORDINARITY. The Four are perpetually sad, dejected, and in need of attention like no other of the enneagrammatic types. Their capital vice is INVIDENCE, and Mercury is the planet that represents them. Mercury is the Roman correspondent of Hermes, the messenger of the gods. It is the quintessential intellectual, intuitive, rational, versatile and argumentative, but also an excellent conduit for communication.This planet stimulates the mind, which can make the individual envious, critical and argumentative. Type Fives are tempted by KNOWING. They don’t ask and they don’t give. Their capital vice is AVARICE, and the planet that outlines them is Saturn. In ancient times Saturn marked the boundary of the known solar system, which is why it is symbolically associated with limitation but also with perseverance; its influence can make one practical and careful, or selfish and narrow-minded. Enneatype Six avoids WRONG BEHAVIOR. He gives his loyalty in exchange for security. Its capital vice is FEAR and the astronomical point that corresponds to it is Cauda Draconis (the dragon’s tail) the south lunar node. Seven types avoid PAIN. They love pleasure and fun and shy away from pain, which they tend to “transfer.” Their capital vice is INTEMPERANCE, and the planet that describes them is Jupiter, the equivalent of the Greek Zeus, the father of the gods who from the heights of Olympus threw thunderbolts in anger. This planet rules learning, philosophy, and languages; its influence can stimulate optimism, loyalty, and justice, but it can make one deluded, extravagant, vain, and lead to overindulgence in oneself. Negative Eight types dodge DEBT.They tend to impose their will on others even through the use of force. Their capital vice is LUST, and the associated planet is Venus. Venus inherited the attributes of the Greek Aphrodite, thus becoming the goddess of all forms of love: ideal, familial and sexual. It represents a person’s emotional life. Charm and elegance are also associated with the planet Venus. In bad aspect it turns love into sex and lust, or into selfishness and little respect for
Astrology and Enneagram by Liliana Atz
WHAT IS A SYMBOL? In ancient Greece the Symbol (Symbolon), represented the sign of recognition and control obtained by breaking an object in two, thus the possessor of one of the two parts was able to be recognized by the other by showing how they matched. This ancient tradition expanded over time to include the idea of the Symbol as a representation of a non-sensible reality, a magical reality that alluded to something mysterious but real at the same time. The magical value of the Symbol remained alive throughout the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and beyond. The objective reality of the Symbol remains its enormous expressive power, its ability to reveal otherwise inaccessible structures and characters that are part of worlds unknown to us but real, even if not evident in immediate experience. Symbols have been expressions of civilizations, materializations of the divine and transcendent, the driving force of Tradition, visible signs of divine cosmogony. Symbolism is the most suitable and usable way for humans to pass on teachings and thoughts, the most natural way. This is easily understood when one considers that language itself, after all, is Symbolism. Any human expression is actually a symbol of thought that is translated outwardly; the ‘only difference remains in the fact that language is analytical and discursive, while Symbolism is essentially intuitive. In the ancient world every human science was part of a whole in unity with the Divine. The mythology of both Western and Eastern cosmogonies tells of anthropomorphized deities in close connection with the human world. The symbolic world of mythology constitutes a unified and meaningful representation of the reality in which ancient peoples lived. Through mythological tales we are able to understand the thinking of ancient civilizations, their understanding of society, their fears, their needs. The affairs of the gods are mixed with those of human beings. It is difficult to understand mythology without understanding the world in which man lived. Pagan gods embody the principles that govern the world, quarrel and love, are subject to passions and remorse, but above all reflect a world that is still very much tied to nature, and that feels the need for a balance among the natural elements that cannot be altered. And then came Descartes (Renè Descartes 1596-1650), the father of Western scientific thought, who with his “Cogito, ergo sum” (“I think, therefore I am”) led to the bipartition of reality into the so-called “Cartesian dualism,” which has extraordinarily influenced Western philosophy. Starting from the principle that thought can independently prove its existence, Descartes concluded that the essential characteristic of the subject was thought. He went on to reflect by deducing the existence of God and arguing that He had created two substances: the thinking substance (res cogitans), whose essential characteristic is thought, and the extended substance (res extensa), whose essential characteristic is that it occupies a certain physical extent; while the thinking substance conforms to the laws of thought, the extended substance conforms to the mechanical laws of physics. Descartes developed complex mechanistic models for the explanation of numerous physical phenomena, which had the virtue of replacing the philosophical speculations of antiquity. From this assumption, only what can be scientifically proven “is true,” and man has split into two parts, where the predominance of matter over the more emotional, psychic aspects, which cannot be scientifically proven, makes him fragmented and incomplete. ASTROLOGY:Initiatory astrology, far from the commodifying interpretation that astrology has assumed in our day, interprets the twelve signs of the zodiac as stages in the creation of the known world both at the level of the macrocosm universe and the microcosm man. The very placement of the twelve signs on the symbol of infinity, represented by the circle, is indicative of the message that this ancient science wants to convey to the eyes of those who know how to look, and anyone who walks through the door that leads from the “Anterior Heaven” to our “Posterior Heaven” is linked to the space-time imperatives of Heaven and Earth, which united give birth to Man. Activity, passivity, male and female. Based on these principles, the formation of Man paralleled that of the Zodiac. From the top down the energies condense, while the opposite happens if from the bottom they expand upward. The regular alternation in the sky, with expansive motion, of the zodiac signs beginning with Aries, followed by Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius and Capricorn, Aquarius and finally Pisces, is countered by the contrary motion of the planets: the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The union of Heaven and Earth begets Man. Three, in all cosmogonies, represents the transformative aspect, the fruit, of the union of an active aspect with a passive aspect. In our culture we speak of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Taosti tell of three Dantians, the Hindus of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, the Kabbalists in the Tree of Life of three Pillars and three Triads, etc… In man we find a physical body, an emotional body and an intellectual body that interpenetrate and that only by interacting harmoniously with each other enable him to access other levels of consciousness. These three energy centers surround his body in a system of vibrational shells called auras. We will have, therefore, a physical aura, with its etheric double, an emotional aura and an intellectual aura always accompanied by its own double, or, put another way, the active and passive aspect, the masculine and feminine, the + and -. These first three auras, in turn, have a counterpart at a more evolved level called atmic aura, (counterpart of the physical aspect), celestial or buddhic aura (counterpart of the astral body) and causal aura ( counterpart of the mental body). Since life on Earth is linked to four basic elements: earth, water, air and fire, it is the diverse combination of these elements that shapes and vivifies all that exists.(Basic diagram taken from The Zodiac Key to Man and the Universe . O.A. Aivanhov)
Comparing Symbolisms – Tai Chi Chuan and Enneagram: “movement of emotions” by Liliana Atz
Symbolism is the most suitable and usable way for humans to pass on teachings and thoughts, the most natural way. This is easily understood when one considers that language itself, after all, is symbolism. Any human expression is a symbol of thought that is outwardly translated; the only difference is that language is analytical and discursive, whereas symbolism is essentially intuitive. The symbolic body language that manifests itself in the precise movements of Tai Chi Chuan, known as a martial art and for the undoubted benefits it brings to the practitioner’s health, conceals other messages that link oriental culture to the most recent discoveries of western science, psychology and an ancient symbol of uncertain origins: the Enneagram. Let’s see how. When the yet-to-be manifested energy, or Wuji, begins to move, it gives rise to the first Yin (feminine) – Yang (masculine) polarization from which Chi or energy originates. Chi like everything that exists in the universe is the manifestation of the cyclic movement of the Tao (1), the Way, whose symbol is now well known. These are the principles behind the discipline of Tai Chi Chuan. The whole universe, visible or invisible is given by the interaction of Yin-Yang. Tai Chi Chuan, the ancient Chinese psycho-physical discipline, has its historical roots in the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which prescribed breathing exercises, body massages, and hand and foot exercises as early as 1,000 BCE. Taoists introduced Chi Kung, a series of psycho-physical and respiratory exercises, for health maintenance, prevention and treatment of diseases.Energy gymnastics, which were constantly studied, expanded and integrated with ancient Kung-fu styles, gave birth to Tai Chi Chuan. But this definition of Tai Chi is only one aspect of it, as a balanced body is but the logical consequence of harmonious energy circulation. Man, as a child of Heaven and Earth is healthy only when he can keep himself in harmony between the ascending Breaths of Earth (Yin) and the descending ones of Heaven (Yang). The Enneagram, whose origin is lost in the mists of time, is an ancient symbol that only reached Europe in the early 1900s thanks to Georges Ivanovic Gurdijeff. Handed down orally and in great secrecy from master to student in the Middle East, probably within Sufi brotherhoods(2), it consists of a circle divided into nine parts or nine aspects of personality: only self-knowledge can lead to union with the divine. The Enneagram embodies the principles of two universal laws: the law of Three and the law of Seven. The first law states that every phenomenon results from the meeting of three different forces: active or positive force and passive or negative force. The meeting of these two polarities gives birth to the Three, the son, the Neutralising force. The three forces are observable outside and within us, but it is not at all easy to recognise them, especially the third force. There are undoubted analogies with other traditions: the Christian Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit; the Salt, Sulphur and Mercury of Alchemy; the Three Triangles of the Quabbalah; etc. The Law of Seven, on the other hand, provides the methodology of the movement of a force in the unfolding process of any phenomenon. The development of the frequency of vibrations, ascending or descending force, passes through seven degrees, phases or ‘notes’ arranged along a harmonic scale, with two blocking points. Everything in the universe is vibration, but on every scale of transmission of these there are always two points where the vibrations slow down and require an external push to continue in the same direction. Otherwise, the route derails and changes trajectory. The points on the outer circle of the Enneagram are six in number and correspond to personality types that can be linked to ancient Greek and Latin deities. In the centre of the circle is the seventh point. The inner triangle, corresponding to points three, six and nine, symbolises ‘other’ aspects of consciousness. Since the early 1970s, the Enneagram has also been studied and used as an instrument of psychological investigation, according to the reinterpretation of Oscar Ichazo and his pupil Claudio Naranjio. The interpretation of reality deformed from childhood by the subjective aspect behind which everyone learns to mask their individuality, in fact, leads man to conflict and illness. Man is inwardly out of balance as he does not possess a single ego, but many conflicting aspects that interchange from moment to moment. According to John Bowlby, father of Attachment Theory, Internal Operating Models (MOI) are formed in the child, i.e. models of the relationship of self and self with other. These are mental representations constructed by the individual, containing schemata, representations of the world, which enable him to make predictions and create expectations in his relations with others. Over time, MOIs become automated, until they operate at the level of the unconscious, that is, until they become tendential characteristics of the individual’s personality. For Bowlby, there are several Internal Operating Models for each of the main motivational systems. Movement as the basis of life.But what links Tai Chi to the Enneagram? In M.° Flavio Daniele’s book “Science Tao and Art of Fighting” Prof. Carlo Ventura states: “There is no important biological phenomenon that is not caused by movement. …It turns out that there is no change in gene activity that is notoccur without movements of the DNA, deformations and vibrations of the nucleus and the complex of microfilaments and microtubules that we call the cytoskeleton. Movements precede the same changes in function at the various cellular levels…..Applying a sound vibration to a cell or to signal molecules within a cell can cause these structures to vibrate, generating changes in morphology and function. Sounds and movements can therefore be seen as a ‘molecular dialogue’ within cells and tissues’. The Enneagram groups man’s ordinary psycho-physical functions into three centres or brains: instinctive-motor, emotional and mental. These centres do not ordinarily interact harmoniously. One of the three tends to prevail and interpret life in its own peculiar way.
