Feng Shui to Go

   

A new year means a new beginning. When we went from 2012 to 2013 we had a chance for a fresh start. We made resolutions and came up with new goals for 2013. A month has passed and so have many of those aspirations. Good news! We have a second chance to put out our good intentions with Chinese New Year. In Asia, the solar new year is set at the date of February 4th. The first new moon in the sun sign Aquarius brings the start of a new lunar year and the changing of the Chinese animal. This happens on February 10th.

       

Feng Shui uses nature as a model for living life. The insect, the Cicada is the animal imagery that the late Professor Lin Yun uses to show us how following this natural occurrence can help us. The cicada crawls out of the ground as a “nymph” and becomes encrusted in a brown shell. When the time is right, the cicada breaks out of its shell and enter the world as a soft fragile being. Last summer I had the pleasure of finding one of these cocoon shells on a tree in my yard. I watched the insect emerge from its shell, unfold its wings, dry out and within a couple of hours fly off to start a new life. It was very much like watching a butterfly but because of the rarity of cicadas emerging only every seventeen years, I felt especially blessed to observe this. Every new years’ eve for the past twenty + years I’ve been doing the “Golden Cicada sheds Its Skin” ritual for good luck; this year visualizing this process will be more vivid.

Go around the house while:

• Burning incense
• Burning sage
• Ringing bells (don’t forget the closets)
• Turn on all the lights between 11 pm – 1 am
• ”Tracing the Nine Stars” ritual (you may have this in your feng shui packet.)
• Make up your own ritual for renewal.

February
10 — New Moon, Chinese New Year
12 — Mardi Gras
14 — Valentine’s day
18 — Presidents’ day
25 — Full Moon

This year of the water Snake finds more conflict in the world and a slow recovery of the economy. The North and South directions are favorable, the West tolerable, but the East holds a less desirable energy and would benefit from some fire colors (red, magenta, fuchsia, purple, etc.) As you know by now, As the earth moves and energy shifts with it, we want to take advantage of the positive energy and locations , correct imbalances and “cure” negative areas so our luck will be strong. (see last month’s news). Are your temporary cures for the year of the Snake in place?

Every Chinese New Year when the year changes, the Chinese animal who rules the year will change as well. There are twelve animals in all so it takes twelve years for that animal to rule again. If you were born in the year of the snake, you will be twelve before this animal sign comes around again. The Chinese elements are also at play here, too, and add to the personalities of the animal signs. There are five elements – water, wood, fire, earth and metal. Each time the animal sign comes around, they rotate as well. This year is the year of the water snake. If you were born in the year of the water snake you will be turning sixty years old this year.
Just as in Western astrology, your Chinese animal is just a small part of your total astrological profile. All snakes aren’t alike anymore than all Aquarians are the same.

Your Four Pillars Chart reveals more about you. This chart takes into account:

1. The year you are born (that gives you your animal sign and major element),
2. The month you were born (that give you two more elements),
3. The day you were born (that gives you two more elements and we take a close look at the stem element to see if it is in harmony with the season you were born. For example if you were born in the summer and the element in your chart is fire – that makes it a very strong fire because fire is strong in summer. If the element of the day is water and you were born in the summer, that water would be weaker because water is the element of winter. There is also conflict between the elements because water puts out (destroys) fire.)
4. The time of day you were born. There are also two elements for the hour you were born. There is an important animal sign associated the time you were born.
• 11 pm – 1 am Rat ascendant (on the horizon at the moment you were born gives you another animal influence)
• 1 am – 3 am Ox
• 3 am – 5 am Tiger
• 5 am –7 am Rabbit
• 7 am – 9 am Dragon
• 9 am – 11 am Snake
• 11 am – 1 pm Horse
• 1 pm – 3 pm Goat
• 3 pm – 5 pm Monkey
• 5 pm – 7 pm – Rooster
• 7 pm – 9 pm – Dog
• 9 pm – 11 pm – Pig

Last month we looked at what animal signs got along best. Equally important is how do your elements get along with each other in your own chart and with a partner’s elements. When I was in South Korea, I noticed young couples lined up outside the astrologer’s door late into the night, every night different couples, waiting to have their charts done for compatibility. Much attention was paid to this before marriage.
If you had a strong fire energy and your partner was all water, he might put out your fire.If you had a lot of wood and your partner was mostly metal, would his metal (ax) chop or wound your wood energy?

Here is the Four Pillars Chart of a yet-to-be born baby girl. Her elements are fairly well balanced.

New Baby Girl	Hour	Day	Month	Year
Born in Chicago	8 am	10	February	2013
	Wood +	Fire -	Wood +	Water -
	Dragon	Sheep	Tiger	Snake
	Earth +	Earth -	Wood +	Fire -
Best directions	South (sleeping)	North (workings)	East (also good)	Southeast

There are 8 possibilities to have an element (water, wood, fire, earth and metal) represented in a person’s chart. Two for the hour two for the day, two for the month, two for the year in the baby’s chart above. You will see that she has:
1 water
2 fire
3 wood
2 earth
0 metal
Since there is no metal she is not totally balanced in her chart.
Wearing white or metallic colors or metal jewelry will help to keep her in balance. She might have a white or metallic bedroom that would supply more metal element for her.

A man	Hour	Day	Month	Year
Born in Wisconsin	1:30 am	14	February	1922
	Water -	Water -	Water +	Water {
	Ox	Ox	Tiger	Dog
	Earth -	Earth -	Wood +	Earth_
Best directiions	NW (for sleeping)	W (for working)	SW (also good)	NE (also good)

Here is a less balanced chart that has three elements of the five elements and half of them are in water.
4 in water
3 in earth
1 in wood
0 fire
0 metal

This person needs to add metal to help the conflict of water and wood. Fire (red colors) will bring more necessary energy. Extra wood (or the color green) will soak up the water. He has had a life-long interest in trees and saving and planting forest lands.

This is a simplistic introduction to the Four Pillars charts that we use for every person in a place. Knowing what elements you need and what directions you have an inclination for is customizing feng shui and taking it to the next level. If this is too much to take in right now, don’t worry…Feng Shui is like an onion with many layers. We peel them away one at a time. When you are ready for the information, this will make sense to you.

Kung Hei Fat Choy