August, 2019 | Serious Feng Shui

Water Monkey Month
August 8-September 8

Here are the Animal Fortunes for the month of the Water Monkey. To get the most out of the fortunes you’ll want to know all four of your pillars which are based on your birth date and time. If you don’t know them get in touch. Each of the four animals of your BaZi correlates with an aspect of your life.

Year Pillar
Has to do with your physical body and what you do with it, ancestors, family traits. In terms of luck the year pillar is said to take the first “hit” of any event, good or bad.

Month Pillar
Relates to career, work environment, training, age mates and peers, siblings, exes and your modus operandi

Day Pillar
Yourself and true partner; your immediate environment and home life.

Hour Pillar
Your innermost self, your children, future, hopes and dreams.

Monkey
You’re back baby! And – your friends are here. You probably don’t realize it yet but it’s safe to be happy. Why not?! You might think of this month as the beginning of a new cycle, especially if you’re a Yang Water stem person. But even if you’re not, the energy needed to float your boat into the Metal Rat year is finally arriving. Let the talk and emotions flow. It will make you feel better I promise.
Hint: Respect the Snake and those who come clean

Rooster
You’ve got the kind of support that comes from a big brother or father this month which makes competitors fairly benign. You may find yourself vacillating between frugality & overspending; frivolity & calculation. Your words may come across as over emotional or sharp so consider them with care. Don’t drive away allies.
Hint: The tongue that kills can resurrect too.

Dog
Metal season can be tough on a Dog and it’s just starting. Your achievements and products are in demand and you’re probably working longer hours. Support is diminished but you will still meet your deadlines if you stay hydrated and pay attention to your health. Take breaks.
Hint: The best thing you can do for yourself this month is take deep breaths. Keep breathing.

Pig
The Monkey month bursts the balloon. You’re the one who feels the Pig year waning first. Use these next three months to reinforce existing support systems or make new ones. Prepare for landing. Ask for favors. Use your power to put things in place for next year. You don’t want to be trying to do that in November. Don’t waste your love on people who don’t get you.
Hint: Your free ticket is expiring but you can still use it now.

Rat
Rats are just getting started this month with new projects and more attention than they’ve had in awhile. Your usual m.o. of waiting for others to reveal their position before you reveal yours will come in extra handy this month when there is so much talk and emotions are running high. Give good counsel. Resist the urge to obscure your meaning with too much metaphor.
Hint: Just come out with it if anyone asks.

Ox
You can feel your power rising, can’t you? Are you ready to come out of the background? Prepare to assume a new position; one more public than you are used to. You’ve got the facts. You can control the Water. More allies are on the way. Toughen up a bit but don’t lose your sensitivity. We need your common sense for guidance.
Hint: Go ahead. Surprise us all. Start showing your stuff.

Tiger
How’s that new relationship going? Monkey month may bring some turbulence that spills over into a real breakup in November. Knowing you – you’ve already seen this coming. Do you know what you want? Do you know what to do to get it? Are you going to hurt yourself again to maintain your favored position? No way!
Hint: Communication will solve this whole thing.

Rabbit
For the Rabbit this month is about personal authority. If you want personal growth and increased authority, take on the challenge you’ve been putting off. If you want to reshape about your reputation, you’re in a perfect position to take care of whatever is involved. Putting it off may come back to peck you in the Rooster month of September.
Hint: I’m not saying it’s comfortable/easy but it will definitely be worth it.

Dragon
Old and new friends begin coming out of the woodwork. They’re available for collaborations and celebrations. Stop working and get attention out or miss the fun. It won’t change your reputation as a mysterious beast. Besides, you’ve been keeping your head down for a while now. Come up for air. Join us for a bit.
Hint: Insincere tricksters can’t hurt you. You’ll always get over it.

Snake
Given that it’s a Pig year, your theme song this month might be Lady GaGa’s Bad Romance. But it doesn’t have to be. As in all relationships, everything can be solved through communication. Emotional honesty is the best policy. That’s doesn’t mean unburdening yourself by burdening others. I know you know what I mean.
Hint: Be prepared for those irresistible Monkeys. They’re everywhere.

Horse
The hidden stem combination of Water and Fire makes for good luck in the Monkey month. There’s a self-sustaining kind of energy for Horses when the Monkey is present. You’re more independent and capable of getting a lot done. It’s the behind the scenes relationships you want to cultivate now: lovers, family, and best friends.
Hint: You’re getting more attention than you know – all the time. Believe it.

Sheep
The abrupt nature of the shift from the Sheep month to the Metal of the Monkey means playing in the field is over for now. Time to get back to work if you want company. This month is stimulating to the Fire in you. If you’re job hunting look for opportunities to support the underdog. You’ve got a helpful perspective on that.
Hint: Learn to be more calculating. It won’t change your cuddliness.

You will always find an answer in the sound of water.
Zhuangzi

In times that test fortitude and persistence, there are urgent choices to be made. The balance between our public and private selves seems to seesaw with every exchange. Thank goodness there’s everyday life to distract us. We need to have dinner. The kids need to go to the dentist. I take comfort in the idea that these things are separate at the same time that I realize it is an illusion. What I make for dinner and the planet are intertwined – like one hand holding another. I don’t think I will ever be perfect at it but this kind of integration is what I pursue in my work.

The Water Monkey month begins August 8th. The pillar is made up of yang Water in the stem on top and yang Metal in the Monkey branch on the bottom. In the Chinese calendar Monkey month marks the beginning of the Metal season that is autumn and the birth, or Chang Sang, of yang Water.

It strikes me that the coming Metal Rat year is an inversion of this Water Monkey month or maybe it’s the other way around. Maybe it’s a mirror – or something like the conception of the coming year. I like that better. The Rat is the peak of Water, also called Dai Wong.

The character for Yang Metal 庚 evolved from a more ancient ideograph that shows two hands, right and left, holding or swinging something in between. I envision it like a pole or a sword – maybe a scythe. Some interpret the origins of the character as having to do with harvesting. Timing would support that since Yang metal is the main element of the Monkey.

The character for Monkey 申 carries a similar meaning. This time the two hands are holding a rope each pulling in a different direction. There’s a choice to be made; a struggle of alternate principles. The Monkey is all about decisions: yin and yang. Even the symbol shows a “crossroads”. Which way to go?

I recently watched The United States of Hoodoo. I’m always interested in the origins of magic and the commonalities of archetypes. I find the archetype of the Monkey very similar to Papa Legba. Papa Legba is a guardian, but also a trickster who presides over the spiritual crossroads. He invites you to examine your habits and beliefs and get down to your truth. There’s something about morality here but it’s not personal.

Papa Legba’s sense of humor is mordant. He seems to share the trait with the Monkey of revealing the truth through comedy, or fibbing to conceal the chaos. It’s going to be painful either way. That kind of pain can be a catalyst if you let it. Like the Monkey, Papa Legba has a gift for language. He speaks every language and operates to carry communications from the spirit realm to the physical realm.

Myths of Papa Legba describe blues musicians like Robert Johnson going to an actual crossroads at midnight to acquire new skills and talents. You can do this too. All you have to do is be brave enough to show up at the appointed time and place with a gift. Be ready to accept attendant consequences. Learn the lesson.

The most interesting person in this documentary that is full of them is 1974 Wood Tiger Val Jeanty who explains about the influence of rhythms and music on space/time. A Wood Tiger playing with Metal (music) tells you that Val wields plenty of power herself. She explains that certain rhythms are “precoded” for different purposes – to create a certain frequency.

When you put your hand near the speaker the sound manifests as a physical reality…certain songs you don’t sing after 3pm on Thursdays. Everyone knows not to sing it because there’s a frequency in that song that you don’t want to manifest.
Val Jeanty

I hear her talking about the Metal element. People with Water stems in their BaZi may get this more than others. Music makes them well up.

Val Jeanty is doing what a Feng Shui master does. She is tuning into a certain frequency; like a radio homing in on a clear signal. She charges the environment. Using Feng Shui you can do this with a person, a house or a business. The Feng Shui person’s job is to figure out which channel is the best one for you and set up things to receive it.

When you try to stay on the surface of the water, you sink; but when you try to sink, you float.*

Funny how well that quote describes the Water Trigram.

It’s going to be a turbulent month. Expect lots of communication, talking, tears and outbursts. In terms of the Five Elements, Water (pessimism) may temporarily conquer Fire (optimism). If this seems overwhelming it might be helpful to remember that the human body is 60% water. We develop in and are born from water. No need to fear. Time to act.

*See also: The Law of Reversed Effort

Month: August 2019

12 Animal Fortunes for the Water Monkey Month

Monkey Month: Water Tests Mettle