Chapter 12: Spirits and Deities

12章鬼神

僥福鬼神，乃当今之所尚，祷尔上下，在古昔而皆然，不质正于易爻，亦虚行乎祀典? 先看卦内官爻，便知鬼神情状? 旺神衰鬼，方偶干巽，堪推阴女阳男，老幼旺衰可决?

若在干宫，必许天灯斗愿，如居兑卦，定然口愿伤神? 坎是北朝，艮则城隍宅土，离为南殿，坤则土地坟陵，震恐树神，或杖伤之男鬼，巽必缢死，或颠仆之阴人? 八卦仔细推详，诸鬼自能显应? 更值勾陈，必有土神见碍；如临朱雀，定然咒诅相侵? 白虎血神，玄武则死于不明之鬼；青龙善愿，螣蛇则犯乎施相之神? 金乃伤司，火定媵神香愿；木为枷锁，水为河泊之神?

若见土爻，当分厥类?鬼墓乃伏尸为祸，财库则藏神不安? 修造动土，必然煞遇勾陈；口舌起因，乃是土逢朱雀? 或犯井神，水在初爻遇鬼；或干司合，火临二位逢官? 若在门头，须犯家堂部属；如临道上，当求五路神祗? 四遇世冲，鬼必出门撞见；六逢月合，神须远地相干? 鬼克身，冤家债主；主克鬼，妻妾阴人? 我去生他，卑幼儿童僧道；他来生我，主宗尊长爹娘? 无生合克刑，必是兄弟朋友?刑不善终，绝则无祀?

如临日月，定然新死亡灵；自入墓刑，决是狱中囚犯? 旁爻财合，必月下之情人；应位弟生，乃社中之好友? 化出鬼爻临玄武，则穿窬之鬼；变成父母遇螣蛇，则魇魅之精? 太岁鬼临，乃祖传之旧例；日辰官并，是口许之初心? 持世则未酬旧愿，伏为有口无心；变财乃不了心斋，空则有头无尾? 鬼在宅中，住居不稳，官临应上，朝向不通．

兑卦金龙千佛相，坎宫木动犯划舟? 水土交加在干宫，则三元大帝； 火金互动于兑卦，为五道伤官? 三空无香火之堂，怪动有不祥之祸? 龙遇文书独发，经文可断； 蛇逢官鬼属阴，梦寐难当? 动入空中值鬼，恐失孝思之礼； 静居宅上临木，家停暴露之棺?

Chapter 12: Spirits and Deities

Overall Paraphrase
Praying to spirits and deities for blessings is a common custom today; offering prayers to heaven and ancestors has been practiced since ancient times. If not verified through the hexagrams and lines of the Book of Changes, wouldn’t the rituals of worship become mere formalities? 🌿 First, observe the Official (官爻) lines in the hexagram to understand the state of the spirits: the prosperous deities and the declining ghosts must be interpreted by combining the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches with the hexagram images (such as Qian and Xun), thereby determining whether they are female or male, old or young, strong or weak.

• If the Official line is in the Qian Palace, it may correspond to celestial deities or vows related to lamps and offerings;
• In the Dui Hexagram, it often indicates unfulfilled verbal vows or deities offended by words;
• The Kan Hexagram represents northern water deities, while the Gen Hexagram signifies city gods or local earth gods;
• The Li Hexagram points to southern fire deities, and the Kun Hexagram governs earth spirits or souls from graves;
• The Zhen Hexagram may indicate tree spirits or male ghosts who died from beatings;
• The Xun Hexagram could represent female ghosts who died by hanging or from madness and collapse.

Scrutinize the Eight Trigrams carefully, and various types of spirits and deities will manifest accordingly. If the Official line is associated with Gou Chen (勾陈), there must be disturbances from earth deities; encountering Zhu Que (朱雀) indicates curses or hexes; Bai Hu (白虎) signifies bloodshed deities, while Xuan Wu (玄武) governs unexplained deaths; Qing Long (青龙) points to unfulfilled benevolent vows, and Teng She (螣蛇) indicates afflictions by evil spirits. Metal lines correspond to injury deities, fire lines represent unfulfilled incense vows; wood lines symbolize souls bound by shackles, and water lines refer to river and water deities.

Earth lines require detailed classification: movement in the Ghost Tomb line indicates hidden corpses causing trouble, while movement in the Wealth Treasury line suggests restless hidden spirits. Disturbing earth during construction offends Gou Chen, and disputes often arise when Zhu Que is associated with earth. A water ghost in the first line may offend well deities, while a fire official in the second line might violate household deities. Movement in the door line disrupts the family altar, and movement in the road line seeks the Five Paths deities. The World line clashing with ghosts suggests encounters with wandering souls, while the Moon harmonizing with the deity line indicates distant influences.

• Ghost overcomes Self: entanglement with enemies or debtors;
• Self overcomes Ghost: disturbances from wives, concubines, or female spirits;
• I generate Him: spirits of juniors, children, monks, or Taoists;
• He generates Me: spirits of elders, parents, or relatives;
• No generation, harmony, overcoming, or punishment: spirits of brothers or friends;
• Encountering punishment or overcoming indicates unnatural deaths, while encountering an exhausted line signifies unattended wandering souls.

An Official line associated with the Sun and Moon represents recently deceased souls, while self-entering a tomb with punishment indicates imprisoned ghosts. A Wealth line harmonizing with a side line may signify a lover, and a Brother line generating in the Response position could be a close friend from a community. Transforming into a ghost with Xuan Wu indicates a thieving ghost, while transforming into a Parent line with Teng She suggests nightmares or monsters. An Official line with the Year Branch represents ancestral traditions, while an Official line with the Day Branch indicates verbally made initial vows. Holding the World line signifies unfulfilled old vows; hidden lines indicate insincere promises. Transforming into Wealth suggests unresolved mental abstinences; encountering emptiness indicates unfinished matters. Ghosts in the House line bring unrest in the dwelling; officials in the Response line indicate unfavorable orientations.

• Metal line moving in the Dui Hexagram: unfulfilled vows to a thousand Buddhas;
• Wood line moving in the Kan Palace: offending boat or water deities;
• Interaction of water and earth in the Qian Palace: deities like the Three Primes Emperor;
• Interaction of fire and metal in the Dui Hexagram: the Five Paths injury official;
• Emptiness in the third line: sign of severed incense and offerings;
• Movement in the anomaly line: impending misfortune;
• Qing Long alone activating the document line: indicates vows related to scriptures;
• Teng She with a Yin Official ghost line moving: restless dreams;
• Moving emptiness encountering ghosts: fear of neglecting filial rites;
• Quiet wood associated with the house: exposed coffins stored at home.

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🧠 In-Depth Understanding

Core Concepts 💡

The ancients systematically analyzed the types, directions, causes, and methods of appeasing spirits and deities by combining the Official Ghost lines (symbolizing supernatural forces) in hexagrams with the Eight Trigrams, the Six Deities (Qing Long, Bai Hu, etc.), and line positions, reflecting the cosmology of "heaven-human resonance."

Modern Interpretation 🌟

• So-called "spirits and deities" can be understood as latent psychological pressures, unresolved inherited family issues, environmental energy disturbances, or cultural imprints in the collective unconscious.
• The directions of the Eight Trigrams (e.g., Qian as heaven, Kan as water) correspond to spatial layouts and natural elements in reality, such as the Li Hexagram in the south possibly indicating issues related to sunlight or heat sources.
• "Unfulfilled vows" can be seen as unkept promises or broken psychological contracts, requiring psychological compensation through rituals or actions.

Practical Value ⚡

• View traditional rituals rationally, emphasizing cultural heritage and psychological疏导, rather than superstitious fear.
• If encountering recurring disturbances (e.g., nightmares, unrest in the dwelling), check environmental layouts (e.g., dampness, old items), family history (e.g., improperly handled funeral matters), or unresolved psychological events.
• It is recommended to resolve attachments through organizing space, writing for release, family dialogues, etc., and reinforce psychological stability with cultural rituals (e.g., ancestor worship) when necessary.

Philosophical Reflection 🤔

• The ancients incorporated unknowable forces into the hexagram system, reflecting an orderly exploration of the unknown and reverence for causality.
• Modern individuals can adopt the core of "revering heaven and loving people," abandoning blind worship, and turning toward deep awareness of nature, history, and psychology.

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📚 Related Knowledge

• Associated Concepts: Official Ghost lines, Six Deities (Qing Long/Zhu Que/Gou Chen/Teng She/Bai Hu/Xuan Wu), Eight Trigram symbolism, line position spaces (first line: wells and stoves; second line: dwelling; third line: doors and beds, etc.)
• Extended Reading: Authentic Divination: Chapter on Spirits and Deities, Hidden Meanings of the Changes: Chapter on Souls
• Modern Research: Scholars believe that "spirit and deity hexagrams" often reflect the combined effects of psychology and environment, suggesting interpretation through anthropology and environmental psychology.

(Note: The original text did not provide specific Eight Characters case studies, so no Component tags are required.)