(184) Intoxicated with the lust for power

By Janet Shin

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Fortune tellers become busier during election campaigns. People spread rumors that a certain fortune teller pinpointed who would win in the election. A story about a former presidential candidate, who sent a helicopter to the house of a famous fortune teller to read the upcoming result of his candidacy, is still told to this day.

It was not unheard of for many former political candidates to have special measures done to their ancestors' tombs for better fengshui fortune. They consulted fengshui masters to pick an auspicious site and moved their ancestors' tombs. According to yin fengshui, there is a strong belief that the qi moves from ancestors to descendants. The corresponding energy between them conveys certain luck to posterity through the tombs. So the location of ancestors' tombs and rituals performed there have been considered one of the most important duties in Korean people's life.

The story of how the tomb of Prince Nam-yeon was relocated is well known to fengshui scholars. Nam-yeon was the father of Prince Heung-sun (1820-1898), whose son became Gojong (1852-1919), the 27th king of the Joseon Kingdom. Even though Heung-sun was born to the king, he was not qualified to succeed to the throne but rather persecuted by the other powerful families. In order to acquire ultimate influence over the others, he plotted to make his son the next king. When he consulted a famous fengshui master, he was offered two sites to choose. One would produce two succeeding kings and the other would bring eternal prosperity of the family.

If it had been you, which site would you have chosen?

Heung-sun decided to go with the former option to make his son the next king and moved his father's (Nam-yeon) tomb to mountain Gaya in the southern part of Chungcheong province.

What was foretold by the fengshui master was right. Heung-sun's son became the 27th king and his grandson the 28th king, Sunjong (1874-1926). However, here is an irony of Korean history; King Sunjong turned out to be the last of the Joseon Kingdom, which humiliatingly became a Japanese colony. Heung-sun's political ambitions ended the country's star-crossed destiny as well.

I personally visited the tomb of prince Nam-yeon and could not disagree that it was such an auspicious site. However the fact that there is no permanent fortune in our lives also seems to be true.

I have met many people who are greedy for power. An ordinary banker asked me if he could become a member of the National Assembly saying that his ultimate goal was to be a politician. He was actually a union leader at the bank and he considered his current career a platform for his future dream.

A friend of mine called me the other day after a long time. She studied economics at her university. Then she became an editor of a company magazine and after marriage she taught kids at various community centers. Although she did not continue what she majored, she has always been passionate no matter what she was doing. When I read her saju, I encouraged her that she would make a good teacher and her two sons would become prize students. Actually her sons became illustrious in science and are studying at a distinguished school of science.

What she consulted me this time was about her future career to be a politician. I know why she longs for power by reading her saju, but it wasn't good news for her to hear.

Being born with water energy in the month of a knowledge star, she is eloquent and intelligent. But the power of water is overly strong. Her month and year branches compose a greater water trine to make her excessively confident. This strong self is helpful to raise the wood energy because water nourishes the wood. The wood represents her talent and teaching as well as her children.

In the meantime she has the earth energy in her time branch, which suggests power. It leaves no room for doubt that she craves for power. The earth element would play an important role to pave the way for the water to flow. Unfortunately, her earth element is too damp and frozen to be influential and it would not make a steady career path going forward.

Whenever I read the fate of people, if anything wrong is seen, I try to guide them to stop to avoid frustration. But most of time, they seldom accept my advice and resist shifting their path. That is also their destiny.

Info : Are you interested in learning more about the ancient Chinese teaching about the "Four Pillars of Destiny"? For further information, visit Janet's website at www.fourpillarskorea.com and contact Janet at 010-5414-7461 or email janetshin@hotmail.com.
The writer is the president of the Heavenly Garden, a saju research center in Korea, and the author of "Learning Four Pillars".