Is the rumor about the Three Gorges Dam failing true?

[sdi]

There is a rumor going around that the Three Gorges Dam is going to collapse soon. If it happened, it would be one of the worst human disasters in history. I wanted to know if the rumor was true.

I, personally, am represented by the first house, and characterized by kept-in-the-dark Carcer. The rumor is represented by the third house, and characterized by deceitful Rubeus. The person telling the rumor is represented by the seventh house, and is also characterized by Rubeus. Impedition exists between the first and third houses, indicating that the rumor is not true. Furthermore, the figure of Rubeus in the third and seventh indicates that the person telling the rumor is intentionally sowing dishonesty. Laetitia in the eighth house (the second from the seventh, representing the rumor-teller's pocketbook) could indicate that they are being paid to spread the rumor, particularly since it also occupies the fourth (the tenth from the seventh, representing someone in authority to the rumor-teller, such as their government or boss). One must be careful what they read on the Internet!

While the meaning of the house chart is quite clear, I personally have difficulty making much sense of this court. This is, in my mind, one of the benefits of house charts: they are rather cut-and-dried—does the chart perfect, or not?—which helps to prevent the geomancer from reading their own desires into a chart with fanciful interpretations of the court figures.

Comments

[witty_name]

Well read!

[sdi]

Thank you, I hope so!

[open_space]

Would the result change if the question is not framed as a rumor but rather ask if it will collapse?

The way I think of rumors is something not based on any factual evidence and there is evidence to think that the dam could collapse due to the warping seen in the images.

[sdi]

Excellent question.

Yes, the framing absolutely matters: it is entirely possible that the rumor I heard was false, and yet the dam is still structurally unsound. (That is, somebody playing up the situation for some reason or other even though they have no special knowledge of it.)

The reason I asked about the rumor and not the dam is that I have a personal connection to the rumor, but no personal connection to the dam. I am not sure, but I've always had the feeling that a personal connection to the thing asked about is essential: that is, the closer one is to the thing asked about, the more likely one is to get an accurate reading about it. So, say, someone who works at the dam will be more likely to get an accurate reading about it than someone who lives downstream of it, who would be able to get a more accurate reading about it than some random Chinese person, who would get a more accurate reading about it that some random person on the other side of the planet (which is what I am).

Now that you mention it, though, I have no explicit reason to believe this to be true, and I should follow up on that.

[sdi]

I followed up on this with two questions.

The first was "can I ask about matters that don't personally concern me?" and got a simple and straightforward "yes."

The second was "Will the Three Gorges Dam collapse in the next three months?" I got this chart:



I'm the first house, occupied by Rubeus (since I'm worried about deception). The seventh house is the rumor-teller again, still Rubeus. The quesited is in the twelfth house (of fears), occupied by Conjunctio (which I suppose is a pretty literal way of saying it's "still in one piece"). There's no perfection, so the dam will be OK. The Judge, Fortuna Minor, seems to indicate to me that China is bringing all of its forces to bear upon the problem (as well it should).

[open_space]

Sweet! Thank you for following up. I wish I had better geomantic chops to participate on it. I’m glad it seems to indicate that at least in the next three months the dam will be ok.

Cool geomantic generator by the way!

[sdi]

For sake of posterity, it is now three months later and the Three Gorges Dam has not collapsed yet.

[sdi]

I can't edit the above comment, but the chart in question is this one:

[tunesmyth]

While the meaning of the house chart is quite clear, I personally have difficulty making much sense of this court.

This is one of those things that there are differing opinions about. The position I'm currently leaning toward (and I may change my mind again on this as more data comes in) is that for House charts asking yes-or-no question, the house relationships answer the direct question as asked, and the Judge clarifies the bigger picture surrounding the question without necessarily answering the question with the traditional rules for asking yes-or-no questions of a court without referring to house.

Your question was "Is the rumor about the Three Gorges Dam failing true?" There are two approaches to an answer. One is, are the people spreading the rumor telling the truth. The other is, is the dam really in danger of failing? As there was no perfection, then the answer to either is "no"; but own intuition on the court tells me that it is particularly revealing the answer with regards to the second approach, "is the dam really in danger of falling"? Here the RW is Via, the Chinese government pulling out all the stops to keep the dam safe and in place (as opposed to Populus, which would be too symbolic of flowing water for comfort). The LW, the situation they encounter, is of massive force with the power to change the fortunes of all concerned for a very long time indeed-- Fortuna Major. The Judge, ultimately answering the question, is Fortuna Minor-- the situation is still fine for now but things are tenuous, moving fast, and they may not last that way forever.

4th house Laetitia (end of the matter) may be happiness that the dam is not in imminent danger; the Reconciler Acquisitio is also positive, suggesting that in the end, the Chinese government may shore up the dam sufficiently to stop a catastrophe, at least for the time being. I am thankful there is no Populus anywhere to be seen in the chart!

[sdi]

The position I'm currently leaning toward [...]

Thanks, I think I tentatively agree for this chart and will keep that in mind as I look forward. I also agree that Fortuna Minor as judge (in both charts) seems to indicate that, while things are OK for now, the dam's days may yet be numbered.