From the author: The sign of age is a program no less strict than the sign of the year of birth. There is a certain logic to it. One could consider the philosophy of human life in general, without taking into account the era, social system, standard of living, or social status. Signs of age The sign of age is a program no less strict than the sign of the year of birth. There is a certain logic to it. One could consider the philosophy of human life in general, without taking into account the era, social system, standard of living, social status, etc. There is no doubt that there are clearly separated periods in life. So, the first period is childhood - four ages corresponding to four signs - Rooster, Monkey, Goat, Horse. The four signs of the second period - Ox, Rat, Boar, Dog - go in the same order as in the annual horoscope, but there is a sharp break between the Dog and the Snake, which begins the third period - Snake, Dragon, Cat, Tiger. Thus, of all 11 transitions, two are especially steep - at 12 years old (from Horse to Ox) and at 42 years old (from Dog to Snake). This vision explains the possibility of crises during these age periods and demonstrates the boundaries of three fundamentally different and fairly independent life spans. Within each of these periods, a person develops according to the same principle. Each of the three periods begins with a so-called logical sign (that is, representatives of this sign, to a greater extent than others, are characterized by logically structured patterns of knowledge of the world). Rooster, Bull, Snake. This means that every first age is the planning age for the entire period. But is it possible to plan something at the first age (from birth to eight months)? At this age, a person is only a “potential personality,” that is, in fact, potentiality is planning, swinging for the future, winding up the spring. Who doesn’t remember how we wound up the “spring” at the age of 12-17 years (the age of the Ox). A life program is being formulated, albeit unconsciously. But what should a person aged 42-55 plan? Midlife – is it up to plans? But the fact is that it is at this age that a man becomes dissatisfied with his overly social behavior - family, work, responsibilities... But what about himself, his soul, feelings, thoughts? He turns inward, a severe crisis ensues, especially if this coincides with cooling towards his wife, disagreements with grown-up children, and dissatisfaction with the service. So a person plans, depending on his level, a dacha, a car, but someone begins to look into his soul. The second age is the age of searching through options, the age of love, everything. which corresponds to the signs of the mystical three - Monkey, Rat, Dragon. The third age is the age of modeling, game preparation for the fulfillment of the task of the age, for the end of the period, generalization of accumulated information. And in this simple stagnation, there is little difference between a preschooler (Goat), an intellectual slacker (24-32 years old, Boar) and a pensive memoirist aged 70-85 years old (Cat). And all these stages of each period are crowned by the final - the fourth age, the age of vital will, non-stop progress, intense work, on the edge of the possible. The first period ends with the Horse (7-12 years old). Studying and farming, physical strength and conditioning, learning everything in the world, and most importantly - learning to be independent - all by myself. The second is completed by the Dog (32-42 years old). Work and housekeeping, wife and children, career, sports, diapers and at the same time the greatest discoveries - all in this short and bright age. Well, the description of hard work at the age of the Tiger (85-???), ending his life, directly leads to an understanding of the meaning of life. And the realization of such a perspective opening up with the help of a horoscope is breathtaking. The periodization of human life is associated with a change in its social orientation. Childhood is the pre-social period, the time of preparation for social life, the second period is actually life in society, and finally, the third period is the time when a person outgrows society, risesabove his vanity and worries. In other words: the first period - the child is born, open to everything in the world - a blank and unfolded sheet; the second period - the sphere of perception is limited, corresponding to orthodoxy, a person limits his attention to the world of people; the third period collapses a person, turns him inside himself, pupates, compresses him into a point. But perhaps the most fruitful interpretation is this: a person, moving into the next period, breaks through another shell, loses another infantilism. Coming out of the mother’s womb, a person overcomes the first shell and enters the family circle, without which he cannot exist. At the age of 12, he breaks through this shell, falling into the circle of society, connecting all his thoughts with it, and only at the age of 42 does he break through this shell, finally becoming an independent and self-sufficient person. But the struggle does not end there, four more ages and the human soul is ready to overcome the last border - to leave its body. The meaning of this philosophy of ages is a consistent movement forward throughout life, no matter how this movement is interpreted - as the folding of open space into a point or as the removal of four shells from a ripening soul. Where does the stereotype about the wretchedness of old age and human degradation come from? Direct analogy with the plant kingdom and the animal world: birth, growth, withering. However, as the clearest evidence of spiritual perfection, one can recall the spiritual greatness of the elders, but there were too few of them. But this is not the main thing. At each age there are necessary stages for the full realization of human life. This is a valuable guide, a guide for everyone. A 12-year-old child who does not try to go out into society and remains with his parents becomes a socially infantile person. A 42-year-old person who does not try to find his personality, his “I,” becomes personally infantile. These are the majority, and therefore very few people are given the opportunity to go all the way to the final frontier, and they are considered the exception. What can age correspondences give us for understanding our nature? Quite a lot. A sign like the Snake, for example, is almost impossible to understand without understanding its age position. Only by remembering that this is the only sign devoid of energy supply and not yet endowed with an energy-saving mechanism can we explain “snake” depressions, breakdowns, trances, etc. There are 12 age programs in a person, each of which is waiting in the wings. But one of them, depending on the year of birth, is included throughout life. For example, those born in the year of the Horse (1954, 1966, 1978...) are lifelong juniors, which, however, does not prevent them from systematically entering subsequent ages of their lives. So, the properties of a constant are always with you, so you need to take into account what your component variable describes. First life - Rooster (baby) A person is given to live his first life without remembering anything. The child has one more foot in oblivion, and he does not need memory - he should not begin life, being burdened with thoughts about another world. This two-territoriality of age is cemented by a bridge of external circumstances: the unity of mother and child was true only before birth, and after birth it became formal. External helplessness and absurdity should not mislead parents: a newborn is a high intellectual. He has tremendous speed of thinking and serious work skills. And there is a lot of work, in fact, the first age is a continuous brainstorming: space, time, sounds, colors are being mastered. The child solves these problems purely intellectually - after all, he does not move in space and does not manage his time. The child’s ability to work with time, space, sound proves that the place from which he “arrived” has all these categories. Undoubtedly, it is at the first age that hearing and spatial (figurative) thinking are formed. A man, being born, screams. There are no analogues to this in the animal world. His cry can be compared to the crow of a rooster at dawn. But that's itHis resemblance to birds does not end there. A child at the first age must learn to imitate sounds, and not just any sounds, but those with the help of which parents communicate. Of all 12 analogues of the horoscope, only a bird (parrot, magpie, canary) can imitate sounds. The Rooster is a logician. Can a foolish person be a logician? Maybe. After all, logic is the ability to solve formalizable problems using formal methods. And space and time and sound (strength, frequency, timbre) are formalizable categories, that is, they can be expressed by formulas. And turning space over, reading space, analyzing and synthesizing sound, the baby acts as a formalist logician. By the way, his lifestyle is quite military. which also corresponds to logical thinking: getting up, going out, feeding, communication at the level of signals (crying, screaming), routine, order, subordination. Another indicator of logical thinking is the presence of inferiority complexes. They are there. He screams, trying to establish himself in this world, to prove to us that he already lives. Apparently, in this world, what does the power of sound mean? But we love and respect the baby for something completely different - they see in him a miracle of novelty, and the supply of this novelty will be enough until the end of the first age, and then there is love... And of course, the most important property of a logical logician is planning his life. What kind of plan is this? It’s easiest to imagine it as one continuous gigantic ambition, a life-long ambition. Where does the energy for this ambition come from? Of course, from parents, relatives and others who spare no effort to express their irrepressible delight. But is it certain that the child understands the direction and strength of these delights? I think so. After all, the Rooster is an open, and therefore insightful sign. Moreover, he absorbs delight, this most necessary emotion, like a sponge. Don't be afraid to overpraise the baby. Don’t be afraid to over-praise those born in the year of the Rooster. The Rooster's openness has many other consequences. His thirst for popular love can, if there is a lack of communication, lead to a terrible illness (hospitalism). In its critical phases, the only salvation is shock doses of communication. Men. those born in the year of the Rooster should not look for the traits of a baby in themselves, but let them discover the speed of thinking, like the great chess player Anand, the same logic as Suvorov and Frunze, such hearing. like Rachmaninov, a voice like Chaliapin and Caruso, and the imitative abilities of Khazanov and Petrosyan... All are Roosters. If they don’t find anything like that, let them at least have ambitions, like William Faulkner, who noted that “a brilliant defeat is better than a calculated victory.” Second life - Monkey (1 - 3 years) The second age begins in a year, although we can talk about seven to eight months. The two-territoriality ends, there is no longer a bridge connecting with that world, the little man has moved into the family circle. Now memory begins to form - the key to a coherent perception of life. Although she is still an infant, fragmented. Remember the films of Tarkovsky and Fellini - they are fragmentary, fragmentary. The plot is not typical for the masters of the Year of the Monkey. The military way of life ended. love has come - for the world, for parents, for oneself. Love is very concrete and tangible. You need to touch the world, your parents, yourself. You can lick and bite... Well, why not a small, funny, kind monkey. And if love is the science of mutual penetration, then this science must be comprehended in a very short time - during the second age. Love is identical to empiricism - that is, a haphazard search of everything that comes to hand, so make sure that you always come across something new. What a sharp difference from the first age - there is military monotony, and here - unsystematicity and confusion. Do not forget that taste and smell are formed at this age. There is no need to feed your child fairy tales about baby food... In fact, this is the first age of real human existence. He went out into the world, and perhaps the main discovery in this world will be the existence of his own person in it. That's why it's like that.