Practical Uses
In Tibet, the earth lords are part of what we would call geomancy, one of many forms of divination the Tibetans routinely use to allow the universe to speak to them. Earth Lords are consulted for a variety of purposes, in particular anything having to do with land and its disturbance. This would include building roads, houses, clearing trees, selecting burial sites, and so on.
There exists a whole hierarchy of steps that need be considered, including not only the structure, shape, and orientation of any new building, but everything about the land and environment surrounding any building or site. This can include things as subtle as the effect of moonlight, rainfall, the affluence (or lack thereof) of the owner, and so forth. All manner of rituals exist for compensating for problems discovered in the inspection process.
As mentioned earlier, what is being sought out are the geographic directions where the earth lords are NOT present, that is: humans are to avoid disturbing the earth lords in whatever directions they currently inhabit.
According to author Gurme Dorje in his wonderful book “Tibetan Elemental Divination Paintings,” the origin of the Sa-Dak or Earth Lords is ancient, stemming from the time that the Bodhisattava Manjsuhri first emanated the Cosmic Tortoise at Mt. Wu-Tai Shan in China. It is said that Manjushri cut the cosmic turtle with his “sword of contemplation” and from it the earth lords arose. It is said that King The- Se emerged from the crown of the turtle, his minister Tsang-kun emerged from the heart, his astrologer Se- wa emerged from the right lung, the Queen Mother The-chim from the left lung, the Queen Hang-ne Hang-Pen emerged from the right arm, the royal bodyguard Se-Shar from the left arm, the kings royal mount Se-Wwa from the right leg, the royal timekeeper Se-ja from the left leg, the royal treasurer Se-Ji at the tail, the royal dog Hal-Chi from the humours, the serpent-spirit lTo-Phye from the skin, the monthly spirit lords from the forehead, the daily spirit lords from the right hip, and the hourly spirit lords from the left hip. Gyurme Dorje also points out that the a number of lesser spirits emerged from the belly, such as The-se Drum-bu, Druk-Lha from the small intestine, the Dröl-Bé Lha-Nga from the heart , the Nyen Chen from the limbs, and the Sil-Mé Sa-Dak (minor spirit lords from the turtles minor channels.
This subject is quite complex and those of us learning about Tibetan astrology in the West are only now beginning to get a handle on this fascinating topic. This brief description here is but an attempt to draw attention to the existence of the Earth-Lord concept in Tibetan geomancy and to provide a short introduction. In putting this introduction together, I have drawn on two primary sources:
The book by Gurme Dorje “Tibetan Elemental Divination Paintings” is very highly recommended, although it too is quite incomplete as regards all the details of the earth lords and represents an excerpt from still larger traditional Tibetan sources.
This book is a reproduction of a 17th century text by Sange Gyatso, a treatise on astrology and divination, known as “The White Beryl.” This work is an 18th century illuminated manuscript that is reproduced, translated, and commented upon by Dr. Gyurme Dorje, a skilled translator and authority on Tibetan culture. I should warn readers that this book weighs in at about 35 pounds and cost $500 or more. It is filled with various methods of Tibetan astrology and geomancy and is highly recommended.
My second source is the fine work of Tibetan translator and scholar Edward Henning, which can be seen at his website at WWW.Kalachakra.org. Also very highly recommended is Hennings book “Kalackra and the Tibetan Calendar (Treasuries of the Buddhist and Indic Sciences),” which is available through Amazon.com and should be available by the time your read this.
Edward Henning, as far as I am aware of, is the most important western scholar of Tibetan astrology. He was kind enough to help translate the brief descriptions of the various earth lords given in this book and has been very patient in answering my many questions.
Well, there you have it. I hope this short introduction has been at the very least helpful. The inclusion of the descriptions of the earth lords and the tables for placing them for any given year, month, day, or hour should make it possible for you to calculate any of these charts for yourself. For those of you who would rather have a program do this for you, I suggest you check out my program “Tibetan Astrology,” which handles all the calculation for the earth lords and for a dozen or so other techniques of Tibetan astrology. You can read about it at StarTypes.com.
The Earth Lords Tibetan Astrology And Geomancy By Michael Erlewine.
