Marriage Divinations

Marriage Divinations (bag rtsis)

• As explained in Part V of the present work, divinations concerning marital prospects (Ch. gi gong) may be made on the basis of the hidden point of heaven which utilises the eight trigrams (spar brgyad gnam gyi gab tshe) to determine the degree of marital compatibility, or on the basis of the hidden point of earth which utilises the nine numeric squares (sme dgu sa yi gab tshe) to determine the time for the bride to leave the parental home (lam du 'jug pa), or finally on the basis of the hidden point of the offspring of heaven and earth, which utilises the twelve year signs (lo skor bcu gnyis sras kyi gab tshe) to determine remedial methods.
• Among these, marital compatibility includes calculations for rejecting a partner who has been subjected to unlawful sex and selecting one of compatible year sign (byi spangs lo gros sdeb tshul), for recognising the inauspicious and favourable natal year signs of a partner (lo ngan rung ngos 'dzin tshul), for recognising the individual elemental aspects and particular outcomes based on the destiny element (rkyang pa dbang thang sgos kyi 'bras), for recognising the nine permutated marriage calculations (khug pa) and further permutated marriage calculations (yang khug), for recognising the importance of seniority (ni sha), making the collective tally of the elements (spun grangs), comparing the constitutional types of the parents (pha dang ma'i rus), and comparing the trigrams indicative of the natal month of the bride and groom (skyes zla), as well as the luck aspects of their trigrams and numeric squares (spar kha dang sme ba'i klung), their sectors of growth and decline (dar gud), and the opportune planets and constellations (khri sgo gza' skar).
• Once compatibility has been ascertained by these methods, the following calculations may be made to determine exactly when the bride should leave the parental home (lam rtsis): "kham-yu" divination (kham yu) of the wedding day, the twenty unfortunate nuptial ties (byur thag nyi shu), the calculations of the nuptial trigrams (spar kha), numeric squares (sme ba), and their combinations ('dom sbrags), and those of the years (lo), months (zla ba), days (tshes nyi ma), hours (dus tshod), planets (gza'), and constellations (skar ma), as well as those of the spirit lords of the soil (sa bdag), the direction of the nuptial chart (phyogs), and the special calculation of the "celestial dog" spirit (gnam khyi), the five essential persons (dgos pa'i mi rigs lnga) required for the wedding ceremony, and finally the nuptial transport (sna len) and the nuptial seat (bzhag sa).
• Then, during the actual wedding ceremony, there are various prescibed rituals, which depend upon the previous calculations. These include the recitation of Buddhist scriptures or retentive charms pertaining to the marriage ceremony, such as the sNang ba brgyad, and the making of amulets, thread-crosses, and ritual charms (gto). GD (from the Glossary to Tibetan Elemental Divination Paintings)