The nine mewa, the birth numbers of Tibetan elemental astrology.
Tibetan astrology braids two streams: kar tsi, the star calculation that came from India, and nag tsi, the black calculation that came from China. The mewa belong to the second. Nine numbers, each with a colour and an element, move through a magic square year by year, and the mewa of your birth year is read as the ground you stand on: your temperament, the direction that suits you, the buddha family you fall under.
Around the mewa sit the parkha trigram, the animal of the year and the element that rides it. It is a system used for far more than character. In Tibet it sets the timing of practice, travel and ritual, and the personal reading is one use of a much larger calendar.
How it is computed
The year's animal and element as Tibet counts them, Losar-bounded, and the birth mewa counted backwards from the Wood Mouse year 1984. The parkha given is the mewa's seat in the square; the birth parkha cast from the mother's age is not drawn.
The nine mewa
Nine numbers moving through a magic square, each with a colour and an element.
Mewa 1
White 1, the mirror of medicine: the deep and the still. Born here you heal by presence; your care is not to sink.
Mewa 2
Black 2, the mirror of dreams: what is hidden and heard at night. You know things before they are said; your care is daylight.
Mewa 3
Blue 3, the mirror of ocean medicine: breadth and movement. Your mind travels; your care is to come home with it.
Mewa 4
Green 4, the mirror of the nagas: growth and what stirs beneath. Things grow around you; your care is patience with what is still small.
Mewa 5
Yellow 5, the mirror of the war god: the centre and its power. You hold the middle; your care is not to become the only centre.
Mewa 6
White 6, the mirror of the king: authority and order, the cut of iron. You set things right; your care is mercy.
Mewa 7
Red 7, the mirror of the mountain spirit: fire, warmth, the sudden. You light rooms and set them alight; your care is the slow burn.
Mewa 8
White 8, the mirror of the country god: protection, place, the ground held. You guard what is yours; your care is to let others in.
Mewa 9
Red 9, the mirror of prosperity: the fire that draws, brightness, favour. Things come to you; your care is to deserve them.
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