Page 568 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM A-L

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Fig. 45. The "fire phases" (huohou) in the human body. The cycle
begins from zi -f (at the bottom of the picture) and continues
counter-clockwise along the *dumai and renmai channels. The
picture shows the twelve "sovereign hexagrams" (bigua .f'ri'H;
see *bagua) and the corresponding moon phases. For a similar
picture, see Despeux 1994, 91. See also table 13.

:icx.), and "minister" (qing 9NP). There are therefore twelve "duke hexagrams,"
twelve "sovereign hexagrams," and so forth.
The compounding of an elixir reproduces, in a reduced time span and in
the laboratory, the process through which nature, in its own time and in its
womb, transmutes minerals and metals into gold. Fire is therefore the main
agent of transmutation; it is the earthly counterpart of the Sun and incarnates