Will 2006 be a good or bad year for President Bush?

One does not reveal private predictions from Daoist immortals and deities unless they were given years ago, since it would not be quite right to reveal heaven’s secrets. But one does reveal Yi’s omens to relatives and friends on occasions after pondering and weighing it with much care. An early warning may allow them to prepare for any eventuality. Being a mortal, one’s interpretation can be wrong therefore one remains blameless and will not be penalized by Heaven for the revelation if the omens unfolded according to the predictions.

The heading of a news report in a national paper, The Star, caught my eye yesterday. It read: “God says Bush will have a good year, claims preacher”. The report by Johan Fernandez went on to say:

“Commercial TV Christian preacher Pat Robertson has predicted that 2006 will be a good year for President George W. Bush and Republicans in Congress, despite indications of some tough times ahead. It will also be good news for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito and Robertson’s broadcast ministry. For most of everyone else it is a bad year. On his 700 Club program on Tuesday, Robertson said this was revealed to him in his conversation with God. (Robertson claims he talks to God often.) In addition to political advances for Bush, he reported that God indicated that Robertson’s ministry and his school, Regent University, would receive extraordinary prosperity in the New Year while most of the world was suffering from dire calamity.”

Robertson quotes God as saying: “It is My plan that a shaking will begin. Much more disasters will befall the Earth than have happened heretofore.” “There will be earthquakes, tornadoes, volcanic eruption. The coasts will be lashed by storms and disasters, and yet this still isn’t the big one.”

The Star paper balanced it with comments from an executive director from another church. The Rev. Barry W. Lynn said the prophecy was more than a little suspicious. “Isn’t it odd that God’s prophecies and Robertson’s political agenda are one and the same? Could it be that Pat is confusing his wish list for God’s will? “I know Robertson wants President Bush to succeed in stacking the Supreme Court with nominees who share his extreme views, but I don’t think God has given Pat a green light for this agenda.”

It is quite apparent that the so called prophecy is like any good fortune telling which depicts events that may happen without advising people what to do to avoid suffering from expected dire calamity. From experience, putting fear into people without further advice is not Heaven’s way. Divinities always offer ways to overcome impending disasters or avoid human sufferings if they have reasons to reveal omens to devotees or disciples. If they choose not to or cannot disclose the impending disastrous incident, they may just give forewarnings not to go to such and such places on such and such dates. Or they may just tell the devotee or disciple to stay at home for that particular day. The rest will be up to the mortal (s) concerned.

By coincidence, the prophecy came right after the Yi’s oracle to Sam Crane on President Bush’s prospects for 2006. The oracle came in the form of Hexagram 3 Tun / Difficulty at the Beginning which changed to Hexagram 61 Zhong Fu / Inner Truth. The oracle was published last week in Sam’s blog, “The Useless Tree”.

Sam sounded optimistic about Bush’s prospects in 2006 provided Bush acts as suggested by the Yi. However since there were a repetition of Hexagram 3 and the resultant Hexagram 61 for President Bush within a short four months, one’s thoughts may tend to differ as one connects the lines. Based on my own interpretation of the Yi’s oracle to Sam, which need no green light from any divinity, one would disagree with the prophecy proffered by Pat Robertson. You see, Hexagram 3 can also spell unemployment just as it did for some of the Presidential staff who resigned over the past few months as the Yi had indicated to Sam last September. One has mentioned before in this blog and the I Ching Forum that when the Yi gives repeated hexagrams on the same topic within a short spate of time, it is time to sit up and listen to what the Yi wanted to say.

Compared to the previous one (Hexagram 3 to Hexagram 7) given last September to Sam, this oracle seems to contain a more serious connotation because of the change in the top line of Hexagram 3 Tun. In my September 23 entry, one had interpreted that of the three moving lines, Brown of FEMA represented the first line, the Head of Homeland Security the second line and Bush the ruler in the fifth line. Brown has since resigned. And the fifth line of the hexagram sounded alright for Bush with: “Difficulties in blessings. A little perseverance brings good fortune. Great perseverance brings misfortune.” The guidance suggested by the line was that ‘He must not force the consummation of a great undertaking, because success is possible only when general confidence already prevails. It is only through faithful and conscientious work, unobtrusively carried on, that the situation gradually clears up and the hindrance disappears.’

Four months later with many things still left undone for the people, and with more controversies and doubts on his sincerity arising, it does not look too good for Mr. Bush.

In this latest oracle, with Brown gone, the weak second line still changes but the previous moving fifth line representing Bush has since stepped up a notch to the precarious top line.

Six at the top means: “Horse and wagon part. Bloody tears flow.”

The difficulties at the beginning are too great for some persons. They get stuck and never find their way out; they fold their hands and give up the struggle. Such resignation is the saddest of all things. Therefore Confucius says of this line: ‘Bloody tears flows: one should not persist in this.’[W/B]

In view of what the Yi had indicated, 2006 looks more likely a bad year for Bush. If he still does not discharge his Presidential duties sincerely (Inner Truth) to obtain the confidence of the US people, as suggested by the Yi in September, President Bush may find himself in the saddest position as described in the top line of Hexagram 3. (Think former President Nixon and of his signature - a mere dot - on the last official document that he had to sign just before he left office.)

The likely chance of a flaw, if any, is that the ‘annual hexagram’ was divined before Chinese New Year. And with a changing top line, hopefully, President Bush may still be able to turn the oncoming difficulties into opportunities and go beyond the dire situation depicted by the line.

How accurate the prediction for 2006 will be is left to be seen. Perhaps one may consult the Yi asking about the US Presidency for the year in question after Chinese New Year? Well, just may be.