Yu the Great
Yu the Great tamed the great flood not by damming it but by dredging channels to the sea, working for thirteen years and passing his own house three times without going in. He divided the land into nine provinces, cast the nine ding, and founded the Xia dynasty - the first in the traditional Chinese sequence.
The planetary, elemental, zodiacal, stone, herb and tarot values are modern Western correspondences chosen for coherence with the rest of the corpus, not ancient attributions. Yu is a culture hero who became a figure of cult; the entry treats him as the tradition does, at the boundary between legend and god.
Correspondences
- Planetary Correspondence
- Saturn
Offerings
- Offerings
- WaterGrainJade
Sacred timing
- Sacred Timing
Symbols and forms
- Alternate Names
- Da YuYu of XiaThe Flood-Tamer
- Gender Expression
- Masculine
- Titles
- The Flood-TamerFounder of the XiaLord of the Waters
- Symbols
- Measuring cordAxeRiverNine ding
Practice
- Invocation Approach
- ToneSteady and labouringAddressYu the GreatFlood-TamerLord of the WatersRelationshipThe order that is dug not decreedWarning
he worked for thirteen years and passed his own door three times without entering. Do not ask him for speed.
ResonanceInfrastructure persistence water where it belongs - Modern Practice
Worked with for anything that has to be built rather than decreed: infrastructure, a long repair, a persistent problem in a household or a business. The offering is water and grain, and the practice is a task done at the same time each week until it holds.
Nature and meaning
- Domain
- WaterFloodOrderLabourIrrigationPersistenceThe nine provinces
- Mythology Summary
Yu the Great tamed the great flood not by damming it but by dredging channels to the sea, working for thirteen years and passing his own house three times without going in. He divided the land into nine provinces, cast the nine ding, and founded the Xia dynasty - the first in the traditional Chinese sequence. The Yu Gong, the "Tribute of Yu", is a chapter of the Book of Documents describing the work.
Details
- Secondary Planets
- Mercury
- Correspondences
- ColorsBlueYellowBlackScentsWaterEarthMetalsIronAnimalsDragonTurtle
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