The downfall of a president: A Feng Shui analysis

By Mauro Rahardjo and Dewi Mariana

BANDUNG (JP): As we all know, at 9.00 a.m. on Jan. 20, 2001, The Philippine President Joseph Ejercito Estrada decided to resign. About three years ago, at 9:20 am, May 21, 1998, President Soeharto of Indonesia also resigned from office.

These two events are well understood in Feng Shui terms. Feng Shui analysis enables comprehension about what happened in the past as well as what will happen in the future. As they have already occurred, it will be reasonable to show how accurate is a feng shui analysis of the two events.

The Feng Shui analysis for individual predictions is called the Pillars of Destiny. It simply consists of four pillars, the year, month, day, and hour of two events; one is the birth date of the individual and the other is the date when an event related to the individual occurs. There are five elements, e.g. water, wood, fire, earth, and metal that is originated from the Hsia Calendar, known as a thousand year almanac.

The interaction of elements in principle follows two cycles: the productive cycle says water nourishes wood, wood lights up fire, fire burns into earth, earth produce metal, and metal contains water. The controlling cycle says water puts out fire, fire melts metal, metal cuts wood, wood treads on the earth, and earth absorbs water.

The two cycles indicate that the interaction between two elements may weaken or strengthen the other elements. In principle, the elements contained in an individual's pillars of destiny should be in balance with the elements which come at the date of an event. If the self-element is too weak or too strong then misfortunes could occur to the individual.

This article analyses the dates of the downfall of President Estrada and President Soeharto. The analysis is shown to explain from Feng Shui's point of view why these events occurred.

To my findings, both presidents suffered their mishaps as a result of having elements that were too weak.

The valid elements at the dates concerned were against the presidents' self-elements. There was no support to back up their fortunes since the interaction of elements was not in balance.

Estrada and Soeharto

President Joseph Estrada was born on 19 April 1937 and so his Pillar of Destiny is shown in the table below.

(Year, Month, Day, Hour): (Heavenly stem, - fire, + wood, + fire, ?); (Earthly branch, - earth, + earth, - water, ?);

Table 1: Pillar of Destiny of Estrada, born April 19, 1937

(Year, Month, Day, Hour): (Heavenly stem, + metal, - earth, - water, + fire); (Earthly branch, + earth, - earth, - earth, + earth);

Table 2: Estrada's downfall 20th January 2001, at 9:00am

Estrada's self-element is fire, which is in the heavenly stem of the Day Pillar (see table 1). This fire stands on water and so make the fire weak. The fact that there are two earths on the earthly Branch indicates that Estrada's self-element, fire is even weaker. It is because earth is an element produced by fire, hence producing earth causes the fire energy to be exhausted.

Now, look at table 2, the date when President Estrada decided to resign. The pillars in table 2 shows the arrival of five earth elements, one water element, and one metal element. As explained above, the earth can cause fire (the self-element of President Estrada) to be exhausted. Water puts out fire and there is a conflict between metal and fire. Seven out of eight elements in the Pillars act against the self-element of President Estrada, which is the weak Fire.

Consequently there is no doubt that on such a date, President Estrada could not withstand many the pressures that came upon him. The earthly branch of the Pillar in table 2 all consists of earth, and they are all exhausting the fire of the President. The only water in the pillar stays on the Day, which is in conflict with his self-element that occupies the same pillar. Therefore there was no support any longer for him to stay in office.

Now let us examine President Soeharto's case. Soeharto was born on 8th June 1921 and his Pillars of Destiny are shown in the table below:

(Year, Month, Day, Hour): (Heavenly stem, - metal, + wood, + water, ?); (Earthly branch, - metal, - fire, + wood, ?);

Table 3: Pillar of Destiny of Soeharto, born 8th June 1921

(Year, Month, Day, Hour): (Heavenly stem, + earth, - fire, + earth, - fire); (Earthly branch, + wood, + fire, + earth, + fire)

Table 4: Downfall of Soeharto, May 21, 1998, at 9:20am

President Soeharto's self-element is water that stands on wood (see table 3). Since wood is an element produced by water, the water energy is exhausted. In the month pillar, there are wood and fire elements. Both elements also weaken the water. Being born in the month of June means Summer, and this is the month when the fire element is dominant. Although the hour of his birth is not known, it is concluded that Soeharto's water, his self- element is weak.

What happened on May 21, 1998, the date when President Soeharto resigned, is that all elements that came at this date were against the weak water of President Soeharto. Take a look at table 4; there are four fire elements, three earth elements, and one wood element. Fire is in conflict with water, the earth absorbs water, and the wood exhausts the water energy. Hence, there is no reason for President Soeharto to survive the pressures.

President Gus Dur

How about President Gus Dur? In spite of Gus Dur's determination that he will stay in office until 2004, there are still many who want him to resign. What about his chances in presidential office?

Gus Dur's self-element is found in the Heavenly Stem of the Day Pillar, that is earth (see table 5); this earth is supported by two other earths, and as he was born in August, the month when fire is strong, his self-element, earth, is strong.

(Year, Month, Day, Hour): (Heavenly stem, + metal, - water, - earth, ?); (Earthly branch, + earth, - earth, - wood, ?)

Table 5: Pillar of Destiny of Gus Dur, born Aug. 4. 1940

The year of the Snake, 2001, is the year of Metal (heavenly stem) and fire (earthly branch); the month of February 2001, is the month of metal and wood. Examining the elements, it is noted that the coming of fire, although a support for earth, is not good for Gus Dur since Gus Dur's Earth is already strong.

However, the metal is element that is good for Gus Dur, because this element is a relief for the excessive earth. Metal is a symbol of aspirations for Gus Dur, hence this year is a good year for the president to express his aspirations for the improvement of the country.

Dr. Mauro Rahardjo is founder of Feng Shui School and Dewi Mariana is his Feng Shui assistant.