{"id":2213,"date":"2020-03-05T12:50:07","date_gmt":"2020-03-05T11:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fabiopetrella.it\/?p=2213"},"modified":"2025-06-11T12:17:32","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T10:17:32","slug":"the-dark-warrior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fabiopetrella.it\/en\/the-dark-warrior\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dark Warrior"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Dark Warrior<\/a><\/span> is the ancient Chinese name, widespread throughout Asia, of the god Xuanwu, lord of the north, which in later times is replaced by the best known cosmic animal that represents the celestial north: the Black Turtle, formed by seven of the twenty eight constellations of the Chinese sky called “Xsiu”, placed on the equatorial belt (instead of ecliptic like the western Zodiac).<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"the<\/a>
A Ming painting of Xuanwu in his position as Xuantian Shangdi (Supreme Emperor of Dark Heaven), seated on a rock throne amidst the clouds surrounded by divine attendants and marshals. Of Xuantian Shangdi (Zhenwu), god of the North. Ithaca: Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art., Public domain, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=63363766<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The guardian spirit of the northern cosmic pole (or Zenith) is connected by Fengshui, with the typical Heaven-Earth parallelism, to the geographical north on the morphology of the ideal site, where maximum protection must be found, that is, a high mountain that slopes gently bringing the Qi (energy) to the ” Xue \u201d, the Nest, the perfect home that can be both for the dead (funeral site) and for the living (home).<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"the<\/a>
Xue original scheme – By Unknown author – Luan t’ou chih mi, vol. 4, p. 22a., Public Domain, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=107860824<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Even in the “urban” Ba Gua of today’s “Fengshui” it is possible to grasp the ancient symbolism that leads us to connect the north direction to three main aspects: Protection, Knowledge and Longevity.
Something remains of the oldest iconography related to the Dark Warrior or Xuanwu,<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"the<\/a>
Zhenwu (Xuanwu) with the two generals and the snake and turtle figures at his feet, in the Wudang temple of Yangzhou. By User:Vmenkov – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=23757693<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

but much more common are the images of the Turtle, usually depicted entwined with a snake (coincidentally also in the Bible the tempting snake of Adam and Eve represents knowledge ………) and used as a lucky charm in the practice of Fenghsui.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"the<\/a>
Snake and turtle netsuke- By Rama – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 fr, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=60087886<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Very interesting are the morphological characteristics of the turtle combined with the snake, which reminds us of the structure of the dragon with its armor and coils. Both images lead us to recognize the meaning of these “hidden” animals in the landscape that we are studying to identify the best site, ideal both for funeral sites and for the homes of the living. It is essential that there be a sinuous movement of the Qi before its arrest in the focal point (Xue) of the site so that the shield of the turtle on one side offers protection from the wind that disperses the Qi and the snake on the other conveys it slowly and sinuously to the chosen site.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Dark Warrior is the ancient Chinese name, widespread throughout Asia, of the god Xuanwu, lord of the north, which in later times is replaced by the best known cosmic animal that represents the celestial north: the Black Turtle, formed by seven of the twenty eight constellations of the Chinese sky called “Xsiu”, placed on the equatorial belt (instead of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[27,26],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Dark Warrior - fabiopetrella<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Fengshui symbologies for the North: from the Dark Warrior to the Black Turtle and the Snake which describe Qi flows\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fabiopetrella.it\/en\/the-dark-warrior\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Dark Warrior - 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