Astrological Wheel

This diagram shows Yama , Lord of Death, holding an astrological wheel within a ring of fire. Tibetans followed the same system for reckoning time as the Chinese did, that is based on twelve-year cycles within sixty-year cycles. An animal represents each year within a twelve-year cycle. Clcokwise from the top the astrological wheel shows all twelve zodiac animals: horse, ram, monkey, cock, dog, pig, rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon and snake. In the center a blue lotus blossom, each of whose petals contains one of the eight Daoist trigrams. Its center is divided into nine compartments, each housing a sanskrit number. Colors signify the five elements: green for wood, red for fire, yellow representing earth, white symbolizing metal and blue for water. Such diagrams would serve as aids to divination.