Essential reading for serious students of Chinese practical arts, including medicine, martial arts and FengShui, Master Zhongxian Wu and Dr Karin Taylor Wu provide a detailed explanation of the 22 GanZhi symbols in this book, outlining the characteristics of each, and their interactions and relationships. TianGan (Heavenly Stems) and DiZhi (Earthly Branches), commonly abbreviated to GanZhi, originated in the ancient Chinese cosmological sciences and is a complex calendrical system which was created to codify the patterns of life and of the universe itself. The ten symbols of Gan express the Yin or Yang perspective of Five Elements and embody the Way of Heaven. The 12 symbols of Zhi, made manifest in the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac, hold the root of each Element and embrace the Way of Earth. Poetic summaries from the Song dynasty give the reader a deep understanding of the nature of each Stem and their relationship to each other. Offering an unprecedented insight into the subtleties and far-reaching influence of this ancient system, this book will be invaluable for the study or practice of Chinese medicine, FengShui, Chinese astrology, traditional Chinese cosmology, Qigong, Taiji, and other inner cultivation practices. A set of study cards (9781848191501), also published by Singing Dragon, are available to accompany this book.

This book explores the lives of young Bulgarians in the Cold War era when the Communist Party saw dance hits like "The Twist" as a menace to youth and society. It investigates the Party's efforts to shape youth into "socialist personalities" and to create a socialist mass culture in the face of "Westernization."

On the basis of biographical interviews, the author takes a critical look at the popular view of youth enthusiasm for Western rock and lifestyles as resistance. Young Bulgarians scarcely challenged the socialist order. But at the same time, the Party failed to impose its notion of conformity on the self-proclaimed "Beatles generation."

"Karin Taylor" is a researcher in history and cultural studies with a background in journalism and advertising. Her recent research focuses on Southeast Europe.

In this fully illustrated workbook, Dr. Karin Taylor Wu instructs you in the art of creating an individualized Chinese Four Pillar astrology chart. For the first time to the western audience, learn the traditional method of BaZi calculation without needing a Chinese calendar. Detailed instructions show how your destiny is contained within your birth chart, and how to understand its changes over the whole lifespan. Dr Taylor Wu also explains the relationship between your individual BaZi chart and your personality, emotions, health, relationships, aptitudes, and life chances. With many examples, and worked exercises, including a detailed interpretation of actual charts and case studies, Dr Taylor Wu demonstrates how to bring the GanZhi principles to life. The workbook provides an essential tool for optimizing personal life choices and for developing healing, consulting, and leadership skills in order to help others.

Fire Dragon Meridian Qigong is a traditional Chinese internal alchemy method that embodies the spirit of the rising dragon, an auspicious symbol of transformation in Chinese culture. The form works directly on the acupuncture meridians, releasing areas of stagnation and bringing the physical and emotional body into a balanced state of well-being. This Qigong form implements special visualization and breathing techniques in addition to movements that imitate sparks arising from a bonfire and swirling upward like a spiraling dragon. Stoking our 'inner fire' melts away the 'ice', or the areas of blockage and disease, opens our energetic pathways and allows the smooth flow of Qi in our meridians. The Fire Dragon practice follows the traditional internal alchemy process, where Jing (essence) transforms to Qi (vital energy), Qi transforms to Shen (spirit), and Shen returns to Emptiness. Fire Dragon Meridian Qigong is a key Qigong form for those seeking healing from cancer and other significant health challenges, and is the practice the authors turned to in order to transform the grief over their son's death. The book provides background information and a detailed description of the form itself, illustrated with calligraphy, meridian drawings, and photographs throughout.

Despite the central role of tourism in the political making of the Yugoslav socialist state after WWII and in everyday life, the topic has remained neglected as an object of historical research, which has tended to dwell on war and ethnicA" conflict in the past two decades. For many former citizens of Yugoslavia, however, memories of holidaymaking, as well as tourism as a means of livelihood, today evoke a sense of the good lifeA" people enjoyed before the economy, and subsequently the country, fell apart. Undertakes a critical analysis of the history of domestic tourism in Yugoslavia under Commumism. The story evolved from the popularization of tourism and holidaymaking among Yugoslav citizens in the 1950s and 1960s to the consumer practices of the 1970s and 1980s. It reviews tourism as a political, economic and social project of the Yugoslav federal state, and as a crucial field of social integration. The book investigates how socialist and Yugoslav ideologies aimed to turn workers into consumers of purposefulA" leisure, and how these ideas were set against actual practices of recreation and holidaymaking.