Author: Stephanie Stewart

The Rat in 2019 ~ Earth Pig Year

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

Who is a Rat?

Years: 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008.
Month*: December
Hour: 11:00 pm – 01:00 am
Day: ask us

* Caution: the start of the Chinese month can be as early as the 4th & as late as the 9th, depending on the year. I can let you know this too.

What is a Rat?

The Rat is yang water but with a hidden stem of yin Water, that is to say pure Water, the only Chinese Animal that is so pure. All Water on this planet, unless interfered with by outside forces, is connected with and on the same level as all other Water. Sea level at Zeebrugge is the same as sea level at Miami. If I spill my cup of tea here in Surrey and you spill yours in Taiwan, sooner or later they’ll mix. It may take aeons but they’ll mix. This powerful idea may clarify the connection between Water and communication.

Someone said that we have two ears and one mouth for a good reason: that we should listen twice as much as we speak. The issues relating to Water are listening and speaking while keeping the ratios right. The Rat can easily miss this. Some of us are elected primarily to talk and the yang Water of the Rat says it’s you. The Rat is the talker of the Chinese Zodiac. As you know, an unbalanced or distressed Rat tends to clam up or run off at the mouth. Which will it be this year?

Interestingly both Prince Harry and his father Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales are Rats. Charles’ career has been one of juggling his often outspoken opinions with the privilege of his position. It’s likely that Harry’s lessons will be similar; wise observation of his father’s conundrum could be invaluable. Rats tend to blurt or have learned to be shtum.

The Rat is supreme in the realm of ideas. It is said that when you can tell Water from Fire, you are a master. The blue of the sky at mid-summer, for instance is not Water but Fire. Who can identify this consistently? The Rat who is a planner and a plotter and a deep thinker, is the most likely candidate. He thinks ahead, sometimes to the detriment of his awareness of the present. This makes him a good chess player but not so great at poker. He is apt to be too controlling for games that require openness – even to good fortune. That sort of uncertainty can be painful. Your average Rat wants the credit and to get that he has to be in control.

In conversation you may find that the mature Rat second guesses in a very distinctive way: typically he gets his correspondent to commit to a position before he states his; a very useful quality in a teacher but not everyone’s cup of tea in a collaborator. The Dragon and the Monkey, even the Ox, may find this reassuring but it drives the Horse and the Tiger wild and to some extent even the Dog.

Being big talkers and travellers, Rats are traditionally suited to work involving communication: sales, oratory and persuasion. In the collaboration with the Rabbit, Rooster and Horse that Derek Walters (himself a Rat) calls the Flowers of Love, the Rat is the talker, the chatter-up if you will, where the Rooster provides the glamour, the Horse the passion and the Rabbit the stamina. A Rat with the assistance of these other Animals is effortlessly successful and charismatic. Whichever may be missing at any given time indicates his weaknesses. None of the others however is ever much at ease in the company of the Rat.

An unbalanced Rat talks too much and listens selectively. A balanced one gets it exactly right; he is fascinating talker and a skilled listener. But this wilful deafness can be a point of pride. Blessed with an orderly mind and excellent retention, a Rat can consider his ignorance of a subject a reflection upon the subject rather than upon himself. This sort of Rat needs to learn to value the convictions of others, especially if they are derived from premises he does not accept.

The Rat is a guardian, a watcher. Sometimes he is self-appointed and the unbalanced Rat has a particular blindness that leads him to believe that his opinion is an absolute. This is more accentuated and less well-informed in his partner the Ox in what some call the House of Creativity (or Cleverness). The relationship between the Ox and the Rat is less that of partners than of pupil and tutor but the Ox can be a particularly obdurate and dominating learner, sometimes drawing conclusions to which he is not entitled and sticking like a limpet to any conclusion he can justify. In these circumstances the Ox is not so much partner or indeed student of the Rat as tormentor. When Ox and Rat are together it is the Ox who calls the tunes.

A very conscious Rat can make good use of his blindness to the value of other people’s positions. She is likely to be able to explain things that baffle others and to derive laws from this gift. To have no explanation however is to open himself up to chaos. If he knows this about himself he can master even the most abstract discipline.

The Rat is versatile and multi-talented though not as notably so as the Pig of whom he is often jealous or the Dragon who can baffle him despite their mutual affinity. Yang water can speak of profligacy with money. The Rat is a brilliant small businessman but often a poor tycoon. In the power triad with the Dragon and Monkey, the Rat may appear to overvalue the hands-on deftness of the Monkey because he finds the Monkey easier to control and may envy the Dragon his magic. Twin Rats Robert Plant and John Bonham and Monkey Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin (formed in the Monkey Year of 1968) may be a good example of this creative tension.

And it is this potential for envy that is the other big weakness of the Rat and lays him open once more to the Rooster of the year who of course shares it. The full-on spontaneity of Fire has always drawn resentment from certain Rats. He can’t admire what he can’t himself master. This can lead to him not getting credit for originality of mind. Consider Water Rat Alan Turing of Enigma fame. And finally the Rat can be a fickle partner but an attentive parent, albeit one who may have favourites. The awakened Rat is absolutely even-handed; that in itself is quite a gift.
Richard Ashworth©
www.imperialfengshui.info

The Rat in 2019

2018 was lonely. Those in power forgot how much the Rat had contributed to their causes in the past. The Rat’s mentorship has been disregarded. You shared your secrets but they were not valued. Your associates Dragon and Monkey were struggling too, possibly with illness or depression and weren’t able to help you as much as usual.

Former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, is a 1972 Water Rat. She resigned her post in the Trump administration in October 2018 – Dog month, Dog year. As a Rat, Nikki realized before others that her thwarted efforts meant it was time to leave the sinking ship. There are rumors that she will run for President in 2020. The Ox in her month says she would be better as an advisor to the winner. The Rat in her year says if the election were in 2019 she’d run.

Though the earthy nature of 2018 is still present in the first quarter of the year, the Pig of 2019 brings relief to the Rat by beginning the water cycle. Water is your element. Your gift of articulacy has been compromised by the Dog year. You’ll be returning to your usual wordsmithing around February.

The Rat’s good ideas about leadership have gone unappreciated, and now she thinks that being in an advisor role is not enough. Being number two feels like losing. This competitiveness is a live issue for you throughout the year, peaking in April. Patience. 2021 is coming.

You are the most expressive of the twelve Chinese Zodiac animals, and in January you’ll be taking talent that in a different direction with a new agenda. It only feels risky because it’s not your usual way. A new iteration of your job is calling you to apply the benefits of your education, training and background for those who need justice. You’re worried about how this will affect the lifestyle you’re accustomed to, but you needn’t be. Go with it.

In 2019 the Ox’s influence on the Rat is growing. The Ox is interested in practical applications of justice and brings a heightened sensitivity to a Rat’s work. Rats are usually more comfortable wielding justice in a political sense, like a judge. Impartiality falls away in 2019 as Rats realize that justice is personal too.

In 2019 your natural charisma is enhanced. There’s romance if you want it. Your position on the dial plate amplifies your problem solving abilities regarding romance and everything else. In April and August especially, you are needed. Channel your refusal to lose so that it benefits others.

The Horse month of June, your clash month, is easier to manage this year. You’ll be putting out fires, literally and figuratively, likely on behalf of someone else.

Your full recovery from the Dog year will arrive in August. Timing and clarity become yours again for the fall and winter. You’ll need it to deal with your competitors.

Roosters are having another tough year, and will seek your counsel in September. Be open.

By December you’ll be officially working for the Ox. Curious?

© Stephanie Stewart 2019

Richard Ashworth is probably best known for introducing authentic Chinese
Imperial Feng Shui to BBC tv’s Housebusters and for his book The Feng Shui
Diaries which apart from anything else, may be the funniest on the subject to date. Read more…

The Pig in 2019 ~ Earth Pig Year

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

Who is a Pig?

Years: 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007.
Month*: November
Hour: 09:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Day: ask us

* Caution: the start of the Chinese month can be as early as the 4th & as late as the 9th, depending on the year. I can let you know this too.

What is a Pig?

The weakness and the strength of the Pig (who is inherently yin Water and therefore often reluctant to communicate) is that they think they know what is good for them. And they are actually right often enough to make advice close to impossible. By extension this means you Pigs may believe you know what is right for everybody else.

Technically the Pig is a cocktail of Water, Wood and Earth. This makes for extraordinary versatility. But this combined with the Pig’s weakness at emotional disclosure can mean that they lack a support system just when they most need one. Consider Fire Pig Hillary Clinton and her rogue email account; the story goes that she simply could not master her iphone and could not bring herself to seek appropriate help. That’s a Pig.

Versatile and wilful, gifted at whatever they do, the Pig is the sign of the inventor. Edison was a Pig and Elon Musk, as is Wikileaker Julian Assange. Perfectly-balanced Pigs can literally do almost anything but they don’t much like reflective advice from others and they are liable to hate uncertainty. Remember Fire Pig Elton John in “Tantrums and Tiaras”? And Elon Musk’s recent social media tiffs?

Vagueness is uncomfortable for the Pig: Edison was of course an obsessive patenter, Hillary determined to both get Wall Street onside and retain her liberal credentials and Assange, confident that he knows better than anyone else what the world needs to know. Brexit and the Trumpreich might have fallen differently but for some of these guys. This does not make them mistaken but the truth can be a moveable feast.

A balanced Pig (perhaps March birth around mid-afternoon) is a great audience and typically gets the listening/talking ratio just right. An unbalanced one can shoot off at the mouth and give (or take) away the farm before she knows it. Does any of this sound like – to pluck a name from nowhere – Earth Pig Simon Cowell?

More likely, you are prone to withdrawing into silence. Sometimes the Pig sulks but more commonly withdraws out of pure disinterest and can be perfectly cheerful when challenged on the withdrawal.

The Pig child needs just the right mixture of carrot and stick. Too much disincentive and he is suppressed or resentful. Too much carrot and he can be smug. The balanced Pig is the most sensitive of the animals; the unbalanced one has undergone an empathy bypass. As the parent of a Pig, just remember you are instrumental in this process. Your Piglet does not need to become a boor.

The Pig harbours the Wood of creativity so they can be as adept with the written as the spoken word as well as the yang Earth of deep concentration. Many Pigs prefer to study in noisy rooms and many are effortless A-students as tutors of the first year postgraduates of 2019 may notice. Bear in mind though that there is a near-epidemic of depression and anxiety among millennials and that Water is the associated element. Don’t ever take a 1995 Pig’s good cheer for granted.

The Stevie Smith poem “Not waving but drowning” is about a Pig. They look so competent. And they are. Until they’re not, If you care for a Pig beware of their apparent endless confidence. There are crucial gaps.

The Pig does not tend to like the Snake; one way or another they immobilise each other. And the Monkey, the Snake’s intimate, can be a source of annoyance also. The Pig’s most natural team is with the Rabbit and the Sheep. This alliance is quintessentially domestic; together these three can make anywhere home. A perfect family might be Pig father, Rabbit mother and Sheep first-born. Once home, the Rabbit entertains while the Sheep ensures compatibility and the Pig skilfully performs the tasks that are beyond the scope or interest of her partners.
Traditionally the Pig also enjoys the company of the Tiger as Elton John’s husband Water Pig David Furnish can attest. You might think they’d be more cautious but they know that the Tiger is uninterested in conquering anyone he considers easy meat. Of course he’s missing something here but the Pig’s fearless approach often disarms the Tiger before they realise. And by the bye, Pig’s literary ambition often burgeons in a Tiger year and flourishes in a Rabbit one.

Although she may herself be more adventurous, the Pig also understands the loyal and consistent Dog. She respects the fact that every home needs its guardian. These two will tend to develop a camaraderie with its own distinctive banter. The Pig respects the Dog’s diligence and the Dog knows the Pig will compensate for his weakness.

The Pig also operates well as factotum for a group consisting of the Snake (whose company she can’t otherwise stand for long) the Monkey (see above) and the Tiger. For these she is, interestingly, the peacemaker and setter of standards. Without the Pig this grouping whose common interest is travel and mobility, can’t get off the ground.

One final note: the Pig suffers what is called the self curse. That is to say that she has limited patience with other Pigs. Consequently they will find a Pig Year challenging as we shall discover. The Chinese character for a house is one Pig under a roof. Just the one.

Richard Ashworth©
www.imperialfengshui.info

 

The Pig in 2019

2018 caught up the Pig in the bullying punishment. It doesn’t formally include him, but his proximity to the Dog and his friendship with Sheep and Tiger makes it unavoidable, doesn’t it? That sounds like the kind of argument we’re about to hear from 1959 Earth Pig Kevin Spacey. Look for him to make a come back in 2019.

Mike Pence, also a 1959 Earth Pig, lives and breathes the fallout of Trump’s nonsense. He would understand what I mean. In 2019 Pence will be more prominent; hopefully as mediator/spokesman for Trump. In April, Pence will cover for Trump’s incapacity from illness, injury or disgrace, but he doesn’t have the support base to make much of his temporary promotion.

In 2018 the Pig felt compelled, more than usual, to portray that he was FINE, thank you. Kind of makes sense. It’s true that you do get picked on just for showing vulnerability, but that has nothing to do with being weak. Those who love you know you are strong. Let them help you. It hurts them when you don’t.

Romantic relationships and close friendships are complicated for Pigs this year. In February, an irresistible attraction springs into existence as the Tiger brings out your inner Shere Khan. The Tiger is predatory so you will be too. Potential partners, including you, may be looking for gain instead of growth. Some think they are interested in commitment but don’t know what that means. For your safety, consult a Sheep or an Ox. Pain you inflict on others comes back like a boomerang in May.

Your uninhibited honesty brings requests to settle disputes in February, May and August. It’s not necessarily going to be clear who is right or wrong, or even who is involved, but your conduct is in the spotlight. You’ll be tempted to fly solo as a defense against this – don’t. That’s your self clash.

Allowing others to participate in your process makes you anxious lest your reputation will be compromised. March favors making a better balance. Put plans in place for assistance with housekeeping, maintenance, pet care, yard maintenance, child care… Make sure people you trust know what is going on with you. Learn to delegate.

May, the Snake month, will mark the peak of accusations made against the Pig this year, wrongful or not. You’ll need allies already in place to back you up.

In July groups ask for your help. You’re not a joiner but many of your associates are. What you all have in common is a concern for the health of our planet. Crisis brings out the best in you as long as it’s not yours. We really need your leadership.

The peak of feeling hemmed in comes in November. Because your orthodox standards regarding domesticity are akin to religion, you want to do everything yourself so that it’s done “right” – whatever that means to you. You’d be shocked at the relief you could feel if you could only admit to that you feel out of control. Open the door to intimacy. Get in touch if I can help.
©Stephanie Stewart 2019

Richard Ashworth is probably best known for introducing authentic Chinese
Imperial Feng Shui to BBC tv’s Housebusters and for his book The Feng Shui
Diaries which apart from anything else, may be the funniest on the subject to date. Read more…

Coming Soon: 2019 Animal Fortunes

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

Over the next few weeks I’ll be publishing 12 Animal Fortunes for the Earth Pig Year. In the first section of each post you’ll find funny and insightful thoughts on the nature of each Zodiac Animal from my teacher, Richard Ashworth. Richard and I have teamed up to inform and possibly entertain you. We want to help you prepare for the Earth Pig Year.

Follow me on FaceBook, Twitter or Instagram if you want to know when your fortune is ready.

To get the most meaning out of the Animal Fortunes you’ll want to know all four of the animals in your BaZi. Ask me if you don’t already know. I’ll get back to you ASAP.

I had been studying Feng Shui for years before I came across U.K. based Feng Shui Master Richard Ashworth’s Feng Shui Diaries in 2014. I knew instantly that he was the teacher I had been looking for all along. Unlike other teachers I had wanted to study with, Richard is available one on one via Skype. That’s a huge value for your tuition, plus you can be anywhere in the world and study with him.

I currently study BaZi and Feng Shui with Richard. I’ve been his student and mentee for 2+ years. As a diviner and a person who is always looking for meaning, my time with Richard has changed my life. Currently, I am working on writing my first book. That’s a dream I never thought would happen.

Richard’s humanistic approach, dedication to traditional Chinese methods, and sheer depth of knowledge all come together in his generous, yet challenging teaching style. Richard’s course materials are packed with information and presented in a way that makes the subject more accessible than I have ever experienced before. He is caring, a great listener, responsive to questions, and open minded to new ideas. Whatever level of interest you have in Feng Shui, studying with Richard will enhance the quality of your life.

And – if you’re looking to turn your esoteric knowledge of Chinese Metaphysics into a business, I highly recommend Richard’s mentoring. He is unique in that he came to Feng Shui with a background as a successful entrepreneur. As to my own business, I have found his advice about marketing my skills to be especially effective.

Read more about Richard below and/or visit his website.

About Richard Ashworth

Richard Ashworth is probably best known for introducing authentic Chinese
Imperial Feng Shui to BBC tv’s Housebusters and for his book The Feng Shui
Diaries which apart from anything else, may be the funniest on the subject to date.

Richard has studied with a series of masters over a period of decades including
attending Huazhong University in Central China. His direct, authoritative and
humorous approach has changed lives for the better from Poland to New Zealand.

He has worked with A-Listers such as Gillian Anderson (who said he “commands
both confidence and awe”) and Britain’s favourite Interior Designer Kelly
Hoppen (who called him “the person I trust with my own space”). He has been the
subject of the Sunday Times ‘A Life in the Day’ and advised Big Brother’s Little
Brother.

In 2012 he became one of very few Western masters to address the Singapore
International Feng Shui Conference and in 2008 was co-chair of the 1st International
Congress on Scientific Feng Shui in Turin. A regular enquirer of The Course in
Miracles and a longterm student of the Book of Changes, Richard is happily married
with six grown-up children.

At any given time Richard is teaching a dozen or so students feng shui and ba zi
(that is Chinese Astrology) either in groups or via Skype/Zoom online. No prior
knowledge of Chinese culture is required although many of Richard’s students are
themselves professionals. Details are available from sheilaashworthfengshui@gmail.com

Richard Tweets a daily forecast (@FengShuiDiaries) which is repeated on
Instagram, FaceBook (Richard Ashworth Imperial Feng Shui) and Linked In.

2019 Year of the Earth Pig

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

I Say What I Mean and I Mean What I Say

If you’re looking for brutal honesty consult a Pig.

With the Pig, if things don’t turn out the way you expected that means you probably didn’t listen to what they were saying. Actually this is true with everyone you meet. It’s just that the Pig is so much more transparent about it. The thing is, the Pig is often so honest as to be shocking. You might think they couldn’t possibly mean what they just said, but they did. This is part of the Pig’s self clash. 2019 is an Earth Pig year and therefore we can expect the year to have the nature of the pillar. We can all expect some self clash having to do with truth telling.

It has been said that the Pig suffers more than any other of the 12 Chinese Zodiac Animals. I would say that bit of folklore is rooted in the observation of seasons, with the understanding of the position of the Pig month in the annual cycle. In the cycle of the year, by the Pig month of November, harvest time has been over for some weeks at least.

Historically, the first experiences of a person born in the Pig month would have been scarcity of food, warmth, and safety. As a result of being born at the time of the year when supplies are rationed and the weather turns cold, the provision of domestic abundance becomes a priority for the Pig. They will expect you to be grateful for that.

The unique domesticity of the Pig is highly sensual and romantic. It can be alarmingly overbearing or lovely and loving. Some people would read Nigella Lawson as an Earth Pig year. She’s on the cusp.

The Pig is a shapeshifter who some would accuse of being a flake. The Pig sometimes goes too far with manipulation by means of provision and control – also with sensuality or the regulation of it. Maybe that’s why you sometimes see a Pig in the BaZi of a person who has some experience of orthodoxy.

The Pig is a kind, generous and loyal friend. A Pig brings growth, fertility and creativity to whatever is going on. The intellectually humble nature of the Pig leaves others unaware of their innate wisdom.

A Pig is often an artist or a musician. In relationship, a common Pig mistake is the one Prince makes with Vanity in Purple Rain; he has to learn that love is not given through control. Did you know Vanity was born in the Earth Pig year of 1959?

Like the character Prince plays in Purple Rain, even with all their self clash, the Pig is usually fun to be around. The magic of the Pig is that with Rabbit and Sheep, or Tiger, they can transform into Wood; with Rat and Ox they can take Earth and make it Water. There’s an excitement being with a Pig in the not knowing which way things will go; fear too. The Pig is nothing if not versatile; an autodidact, possibly a jack of all trades and master of none, but if so that’s only because the Pig won’t seek the help of a mentor or teacher.

Pig, Snake, Tiger and Monkey make up a group called Stations. With a name like that, as you would expect, they are quite dynamic. Each one wants to change things by starting an elemental or seasonal cycle. If you find one of those four branches in your BaZi or in your Big Fate you can expect changes, mainly having to do with travel and movement. The Pig and the Snake have a relationship called a clash. In the Pig year, this is important to know, especially if you have a Snake in your BaZi because it will give you some information as to where in your life the clash will happen.

When Pig and Snake clash usually it has to do with travel issues – a prod to movement or the blockage of it. There’s a contest of manipulation here. The Pig’s over-honesty is scorned by the Snake who sees truth as a currency to be hoarded or hidden. The Pig thinks the Snake is a straight-up gas lighter who needs to be stopped. I’d say the clash has to do with trust and showing the vulnerability of imperfection.

The Pig In You

Pig Year
If you’ve got a Pig in the year pillar of your BaZi it might be that you’ve got extra-hands-on parents who didn’t teach you how to cook, clean or do laundry. On the other hand they might have been gentle, religious or spiritually inclined and flexible.

Pig Month
A Pig in the month pillar speaks to your modus operandi – could be extreme. The month pillar has to do with your career or work, which you prefer to do solo. I know a person with a Pig in his BaZi who gives me the “fight eyes” when I offer to help out. He actually seems offended by it; like I’m insulting him.

Pig Day
A Pig in your day pillar means you and/or your partner have Pig qualities. You are the one who cuts flowers from your garden to set your perfect table for the four course meal you’ve just created from scratch without any help. The expertly selected wine is already decanted and the awesome playlist you created is on. As long as the guests just sit back and appreciate a good time will be had by all. If your guests know you they don’t offer to help because it will only annoy you.

Pig Hour
A Pig in your hour tells about your hidden aspirations for sensuality, domesticity and control. You might think that your excessive pleasure in being a provider is a secret, but you give away your truth by demanding recognition and appreciation from others. It’s not that you don’t deserve it but that your expectations are too high.

The Nature of the Earth Pig

With Yin Earth on top and Yin Water on the bottom, the overarching theme of the Earth Pig year is relationship.

One interpretation of the Earth Pig pillar would be that the Yin Earth stem wants to control the Water of the Pig branch but it can’t. The water is too strong; stronger than the Yin Earth, so it is like an undercurrent that erodes the Earth above. The power, or kun, of the Earth is eroded by its choi, or prize which is water. Water turns against the Earth. This means flooding, but also that authority crumbles due to the actions of the people. Institutions, corporations and governments will have to adapt.

Paradise Is Burning

I will always remember 2018 as the year Paradise burned to the ground. If this isn’t a final warning that we are about to be kicked out of Eden again then what will it take?

Climate change used to be a topic associated solely with hippies, tree huggers, Al Gore and bearded weirdos of science. For the past twenty-four years, however, we have had hard data that almost anyone could understand. Now, we don’t need science to help us understand because we have record high/low temperatures, wildfires, hurricanes, floods, droughts, volcanic eruptions and visibly shrinking polar ice caps. In these extremities we might wish for our Mother – the way she used to be.

One of the first scientific reports about global warming and climate change came from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 1995. The release of Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” on May 24, 2006 and the IPCC’s fourth assessment report in 2007 created a peak of interest and extended awareness beyond the scientific community.

1995 was a Wood Pig year. 2007 was a Fire Pig year. 2019 will be an Earth Pig year. Do you see how the Pig keeps coming around to ask for help on the Earth’s behalf? The Pig is domestic so she has to do with our home; the Earth Pig more so because the home is our planet.

Elementally speaking, an analysis of the Earth Pig pillar reveals that Earth is the challenge and water is the prize. We have abused the privileges of living on our planet and now the Earth is challenging us to woo her back. We have contaminated our prize: bountiful oceans and cool, clean drinking water.

So, in 2019 we’ll see more focus on healing the planet and cleaning up our water supply. Look for new businesses opening to do just that. In Feng Shui water is about communication. The tainted state of our planet’s water reflects the differences we don’t seem able to bridge with words; our refusal to listen and consider alternative views. Not even common sense seems able to prevail. Cleaning up the water would bring us together. Clear communication roots out corruption.

The Personal and The Political

In terms of human relationships, the Earth Pig pillar says that men are losing control of women but are still in charge and capable of slowing our progress. How do we tell them that when we are in charge we will still care about their well being? They can feel the earth shifting under their power base. Women are eroding the partriarchy; it’s no longer a mountain as it seemed to be in 2018. In 2019 it’s a muddy plain. It’s easier for us to cross, but we risk getting stuck or going stagnant in our anger about the past.

When I was at Bryn Mawr the baby feminists (as freshmen were called) used to have long, unresolved arguments about whether the personal was political. Given the constant efforts of men to regulate our bodies we should have already known. The personal is political. #Metoo is another form of climate change.

It’s been a long journey to get here and like new mothers, many of us feel exhausted. But that same magic we’ve always used to make something out of nothing will win the day. We will find feminine ways to wield political power. We’re going to get more of it if we’re willing to take it.

The Earth Pig is also known as The Monastic Pig

Hopefully more revolutionary and loving than Vatican II in 1959 (the last Earth Pig year), some kind of religious or spiritual reform on a big scale is coming in 2019.

Organized religions have, for the most part, become corporations where the display of wealth is offered to the shareholders as a compensation for suppressing certain human tendencies. For example, there are rules about who you are allowed to love and how you are allowed to do it. The monastic life of physical denial proscribed for religious officials wasn’t meant to be permanent. It was intended as a tool to establish a connection with God but in going too far it led to the criminalization of women and sexuality. The sensuality of wealth, power, material goods, and rich food and wine were offered to clergy as substitutes for the experience of intimacy and family. Are we clear on the corrupting results of that now?

Perhaps by allowing religious and spiritual leaders to be let down from the pedestal a space will be made for not just accepting, but welcoming and loving every and any human: all genders, all sexual preferences, all belief systems, all races.

What to Do

In terms of Feng Shui, it’s often a good idea to follow the energy of the year. That said, there are two things I recommend in the Pig year.

Be Humble
The humble nature of the Pig has arrived to remind us of the value of humility. Humility is an acknowledgement from within yourself that everyone else is just as worthy of clean water, food, shelter, safety and love as you are. Maybe our Mother Earth is trying to save us by bringing this lesson home – all we ever really needed is what she had already given us. That’s a Mother’s mission.

Ask for Help; Be a Helper
Look for those who need help. Ask for help if you need it. The self clash of the Pig sometimes manifests as a failure to seek out much needed support. Offer it even if you think it will be rejected. It shows that you care. That could save us too.

A Dog’s Life

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

He makes friends wherever he goes. He is certain that everyone wants to make his acquaintance. When he’s out and about, women and children especially like him. Men are either charmed or afraid – he is a litmus test for men. He’s mostly well behaved and has a sense of humor, but if you enter his territory get ready for a big loud display that will rattle your eardrums. He has serious boundary issues.

He knows people get irritated with him but he just won’t stand down. He feels it’s important to enforce things. That is a bad habit he has yet to break – that and the humping. He doesn’t try to hump us any more like he did when he was younger, but when he is at the park with his friends it seems he can’t help himself.

I’m talking about Buck. He’s a 7 year old Giant Schnauzer. I’m not a huge fan of dogs but I’ve always loved and nurtured the ones that have come into my life. I guess I can’t help it. That’s not a statement about being put upon – I am the one who chose him.

It’s a Water Dog month in an Earth Dog year. I’m writing this on a Wood Dog day. Nikki Haley is resigning today. Her day pillar is a Metal Dog which is a reminder that protecting and defending are important to her. Her month pillar, Metal Ox is a reminder that her mission, however misguided she has been about going about it, is not that far off from that of Metal Ox Barack Obama. No wonder she has to leave. I would read her as a Rat year. If she’s leaving surely she thinks the ship is sinking but if you asked her she probably wouldn’t say so unless you said it first.

Each of the Chinese Zodiac animals is an archetype from which we can divine the nature of a person. Each branch has its positive and negative characteristics. They are labeled as such relative to who is doing the labeling and the specific situation. So when we talk about the Dog being loyal, trustworthy and vigilant we can also apply that to people who have a Dog branch in the ba zi. One of the negative aspects of the Dog is repetitive behavior. I say negative because sometimes it’s something you want, other times it’s not. A Dog can be trained but some Dogs have bad habits that defy correction. Sometimes the Dog’s habits are self destructive. Sometimes Dogs hurt the people they are supposed to protect. Sorry Marla Reynolds but it’s true. #himtoo

We are early risers at my house so it’s dark now during morning walks with Buck. No matter how careful we are, he always manages to find some disgusting thing to eat on the ground. We can’t see anything but Buck’s nose knows exactly where to find a rotten apple core, even from a distance. Every so often, Buck eats something that makes him sick, then he has to spend a few days recovering. Sometimes he has to go to the vet. During these times, he won’t eat his food, but unless he’s extremely ill he will still demand his treats. When he’s sick I find it very difficult to concentrate on other things. I worry about him.

I always wonder why Buck doesn’t make the connection between his snarfing up the smelly bits and being sick. He doesn’t seem to have a sense of consequences in this context. Maybe his primal scavenging instinct is just too strong to resist. He’s been having digestive issues again this week, moping around with ominous noises coming from his gut. Last night he threw up. I feel sorry for him but yesterday when I was walking him he tried to eat part of a donut that he found on the ground. It’s kind of annoying even though I realize Buck is just following thousands of years of conditioning.

Humans are not much different. We also make the same mistakes over and over if we’re not careful, by which I mean full of care. Not caring is giving away power. Caring restores our power to create change, however much it hurts.

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, thank you for your service. Thank you for caring. We’ve got it from here.

In any other year so far, the story of Brett Kavanaugh’s mistakes on his route to elevation would probably have had the same ending. He’s immature at best, but timing has been on his side for most of his career years. He’s not only been able to get away with stuff – he has been rewarded for it in certain circles. This is what some people call luck.

We’re just moving out of Period 8, also known as the era of the youngest son. Period 8 favored young men and the prevalent boys will be boys attitude. This is the time period that produced Brett Kavanaugh. As suggested by the term youngest son, this time period was dominated by an immature kind of masculinity. It was the age of cigars, binders full of women, wealthy psychopaths, dudebros, professional gamers, and brogrammers. Before #metoo when more of us were kidding ourselves, we were calling toxic masculinity the Peter Pan syndrome. It’s not the masculine principle itself that’s toxic. It’s the refusal of the masculine to grow into maturity.

Accordingly, Period 8 included the presidential terms of 1946 Fire Dogs George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Donald Trump, who was also born in 1946, is late to the political game, however his timing is perfect when it comes to stirring up the bitter dregs.

Cesar Millan, if you’re reading this do you have any advice? Because we will no longer remain calm and submissive. As we enter Period 9 feminine power is on the rise.

Since Trump’s election in 2016 I keep coming back to this fact: 53% of white women voters voted for Trump. How can it make sense that a creepy clown who is proud of his sexual harassment and oppression of women gets so many votes from them? It doesn’t make sense, nor does the fact that 45% of white women backed Kavanaugh’s confirmation. I still don’t get it. Except I kind of do – and that is because I can read Trump’s ba zi. His fate is to be supported by women. He has no idea how lucky he is.

Donald Trump is a Yin Earth person born in the Horse month of June. The Fire of the Horse supports his Earth element. In fact, every branch in the chart supports Earth. So we can say that in his life in general there are always women who support him.

Going branch by branch, you can also identify the specific women in his life. This can be done with anyone’s ba zi – I’m not just making this up.

The year branch, Dog, is Donald’s mother Mary Anne Trump. She is said to have remarked to Ivana Trump “What sort of son have I created?”. Many women may relate to this, for better or worse. We can try to teach our sons to treat women as equals, but if the men in our lives aren’t modeling that how convincing are we? Perhaps Mary Anne, like the Dog, was unable to use the past to change the future. Something tells me her father was very much like her husband. And her son.

Trump’s month branch, Horse, would include Kellyanne Conway, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Nikki Haley. These are women that Trump uses to “soften” his image. They are there to clean up his mess; a long standing tradition between men and women. As compensation they get a career boost, money, and power (at least temporarily) for defending his public image that he trashes in every moment.

First Trump wife and recently self proclaimed “First Lady” Ivana also belongs in the month branch as Donald’s ex wife. Donald used Ivana, discarded her, and yet she still publicly supports him; probably not because she likes him but because it serves her in some way. Ivana likes to stand out. Marla Maples, also an ex wife, is pretty much out of the picture because in Trump’s world, women who don’t go along with his program get jettisoned. By Marla’s own account their marriage was based on her illusion of who he was. I think many women are familiar with this – it seems to be one of our common errors. Another form of this is thinking that you can choose a partner and then change him into whatever you wanted him to be.

The day branch, Sheep, is currently Melania. Donald is a Yin Earth person and the Sheep is mostly Yin Earth. Donald will always be uncomfortable about a spouse because he wouldn’t want to be married to someone like himself and he worries that she is exactly like him. She’s not, however, I find that is a common fear men have about women: that women would think and do the things men think and do. Trump is nervous at the thought of acknowledging any equal though, regardless of gender.

Seductive and slithery Snake Ivanka occupies the hour branch, which represents children, younger people and employees. Ivanka aspires to be the sorcerer’s apprentice. She seems savvy enough to have had a solid career even without her father (represented in her ba zi by the Rooster) but obviously she can progress more quickly into power by supporting him. Trump is already grooming us to accept her as our UN ambassador.

Let us not forget spinner Susan Collins is here in the hour pillar too, as Trump’s underling. She represents the women who are afraid of the men in their lives; the ones who blandish bullies in order to stay safe. While compromise is important and valuable, going along to get along is a self harm that extends out into the environment like pollution.

So yes, women have been participants in promoting, nurturing and protecting powerful men who do bad things. There’s no question.

Now women are waking up to the idea that even men they love have some shocking ingrained prejudices. Men are waking up to this fact too. Women are realizing that supporting the status quo or being submissive is sabotaging their own expectations for the behavior of men. Men are realizing women are coming into a new position of power.

What men might not realize is that although women will make mistakes wielding it, we don’t do power the same way as men do. We think that better can mean better for everyone; better doesn’t have to mean worse for some.*

*Tip of the hat to Margaret Atwood

Of Calculators, Cusps, and the Uncommon Sense of Ba Zi

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

A calculator can’t deal with a cusp but a human can.

This thought has been hanging around since I had a series of conversations first with my son Joe, and then with my husband Peter, about the time it takes to draft a ba zi. It takes me hours to draft a full ba zi. You see, I draft by hand whereas many feng shui people use a calculator. I can’t come up with a fully drafted set of data as quickly as a calculator can but the more I draft the more I retain the methods of calculation in my brain. Once the calculation becomes familiar the mind is freed up for making new connections. It might not sound like much but it takes years to become adept with this kind of stuff.

Perhaps that is why Peter and Joe aren’t the first to come to the conclusion that calculating is better left to software and humans are only needed for the interpretation of the output. I’ve seen pages of data that cover a person’s entire lifetime generated by Chinese ba zi calculators that pinpoint lucky and unlucky ages, clashes, combinations, and other such minutiae. So why draft by hand?

I’m committed to drafting by hand because it arouses my curiosity and empathy. No matter what the ba zi says I begin to care about the person. Drafting by hand counters my linear and mechanical side and opens me to the Tao. When I make mistakes in my drafting I notice that they are usually calling attention to something important. To sum it up, I get better results when I draft than I do when I try to read from a calculator.

For a feng shui professional, certainly using a calculator scales better because you can make more money in less time. If that’s what you wanted you’d have to design one based on your own way of calculating. To be clearer, there are three possible charts when calculating my ba zi: one that acknowledges a cusp, one that doesn’t, and one that uses lunar months instead of solar. I’m sure there are other methods I haven’t learned.

That there are at least three different possible calculations for a ba zi might sound fishy in theory, but in practice the interpretation of each one is not dramatically different – what changes is the emphasis. People who read ba zi learn to use the method that emphasizes what they see as important. The clients they attract will probably have similar values. There’s nothing sneaky about it. No one is wrong when it’s a question of preference. My preference is to free your mind so the rest can follow. I want to help people get unstuck so they can be who they want to be.

The Cusp

Some feng shui people prefer not to recognize a cusp, maybe because the cusp is very much like the horns of a dilemma (from Greek meaning two premises). It’s a little uncomfortable to consider because no one can really have two different year branches. Ultimately, a decision has to be made and that may slow down the process. Calculators don’t raise that issue.

In mathematics the cusp can be defined as a curve that resembles each horn of the crescent moon. I don’t know how that hits you but to me it says there’s something hidden or yin about a cusp. Hathor comes to mind:

In Egyptian mythology Hathor, actually seven Hathors, would arrive at the birth of a child to impart the child’s fate, future and even the hour of death. The seven Hathors were also known to exchange a pauper born with a lucky fate for a prince born with an unlucky fate in order to protect a dynasty. Under the Greek rule of Egypt, the seven Hathors were identified as the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters. Not the ones in the Ivy League. My Bryn Mawr education in Classics still comes in handy at times for making bad jokes. But I digress.

In astrology a cusp is a useful marker. Like that first late summer morning in Seattle where you can smell the ocean again tells you fall is coming, a cusp tells you the wind is shifting. You’ll probably need both sunglasses and a sweater for the following weeks.

A cusp is where one phase is ending and another phase is beginning. We mark the beginning of seasons with specific dates in specific months but the actual change from summer to fall occurs over a prolonged period. It doesn’t happen overnight. Still, there are years where it feels abrupt. That in itself illustrates what the cusp is like. A cusp signals two (or more) possible nuances. It’s about what is coming next but also about the immediate past.

But back to calculators vs. drafting by hand – what difference does it make if the person reading your ba zi uses a calculator or not? Let’s look at a real life example.

Emeline Miller

Recently you may have heard in the news about the tragic death of Emeline Miller, the 19 month old daughter of Morgan and Bode. Her birthday is November 5, 2016. Because her death was by drowning the first thing that came to mind was that the Pig was probably her Mong San. I also suspected there might be a Pig in her four pillars.

Mong San, also sometimes called the Hidden Star, Death Star, or Death Angel, indicates the hidden danger of an element (i.e. wood, fire, earth, metal, water) based on a person’s birth information. Mong San is not a predictor. I would call it a warning. There’s no reason to be scared of information that allows you to pursue what you want to have happen. If you have metal Mong San being a chef may not be a great idea. All those knives!

Knowing a child’s Mong San is just one of many helpful applications of ba zi. Who do we want to protect more than our children?

When a ba zi is expressing the same “theme” in different ways, that’s when you know you’re onto something. The year, month, day and probably hour of her accident trigger a timing factor in Emeline’s ba zi that changes her Metal to Water. A yin metal stem person in the presence of tons of fire with a water Mong San – looks like a possible drowning to me.

Emmeline Miller Ba Zi
birthday: November 5, 2016 hour unknown

Day Month Year
Yin Metal Yang Earth Yang Fire
辛 戊 丙
卯 戌 申
Rabbit Dog Monkey



It turns out that the Pig is her Mong San as I thought, but there’s not a Pig in her ba zi unless it’s in the hour. That seems unlikely as I’m pretty sure she was born in the morning. There’s no Pig in her Big Fate. So how does the Pig factor into this?

Emeline’s birthdate is only 2 days off the cusp between the Dog month and the Pig month. If you use the lunar month she is firmly in the Pig month. The dates that begin and end the Pig month vary depending on whether you are using lunar or solar months. When the birthdate is close to the cusp of the month, considering the lunar month in addition to the solar is helpful. A calculator only displays one or the other.

My point here is that an experienced feng shui person could have alerted Morgan and Bode to the magnitude of the danger of water in Emeline’s case. A human will note the Pig’s proximity in the month where a calculator would make nothing of it. A calculator can tell you that the next Pig year is 2019, the next Pig month is from November 7 at 20:54 – December 7 at 13:30, and the next Pig day is August 11. A calculator can even tell you that adjusting for daylight savings time the next Pig hour is from 10-midnight tonight, but it cannot deal with a cusp.

Again, why is this important? Because for Emeline, the Pig is the water Mong San. That means the perils of water are greater for her than they may be for others. When she is around small bodies of water such as hot tubs, bath tubs, and swimming pools she is at greater than normal risk of drowning. This means Emeline’s parents needed to take extra special care with bathing and swimming. I’m sure they used caution and common sense, just as any loving parent would.

What if Morgan and Bode could have used the uncommon sense that is hidden in the ba zi? Could Emeline’s death could have been prevented?

Nothing is certain, but I think her chances would have been better had her parents known how great the risk was for her. I think they would have wanted to know. Knowing in advance means you can choose what you want to do about it.

I wish I had known while I was still pregnant that my daughter Ella would need life saving surgery as soon as she was born and that there was a condition that would most likely lead to her premature birth. As it happened it was three days after she was born before anyone figured out that she needed surgery to survive. By that time her lungs were already damaged. In those hours, days, and months the worst moments came when I was considering how I could have prevented the situation and whether I should be blamed.

One morning, when I was in the hospital elevator on my way to visit Ella there were two women talking about the mother of another baby in the NICU.

“This is her fault you know. And now she doesn’t want to come and see the baby.”

If those women had known how much I also wanted to avoid feeling the pain of seeing my baby daughter suffering they might have said the same about me. I was luckier than Bode and Morgan because Ella survived. I hope they will be able to forgive themselves and each other. To be honest I’m not sure if I could.

I do know that when our hearts are breaking it’s our nature to look for a target to blame. But if healing is what we want then blame is taking us in the wrong direction. My feng shui studies are an ongoing lesson about that.

The Softest Thing in the Universe

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

Courtesy of Hexagram 40 (Thunder over Water) and Wu-Jing Nuan’s edition of the Yi Jing, I recently came across this quote from the Tao Te Ching:

“The softest thing in the universe overcomes the hardest thing in the universe.” ~ Chuang Tzu

How does this idea of yin and yang play out in your life?

This quote really struck home for me because every day I think about how we can counteract the toxic and frightening actions of our current Commander in Chief. Non-violent and humorous forms of protest are really helpful but that’s not going to be enough. Intellectual arguments will not be enough. The law will not be enough. Politics will not be enough. Being louder and meaner will not be enough. Exposing his corruption has not been enough. Ignoring him would be his worst nightmare but it’s too dangerous for the rest of us. So what’s left? Caring.

I think caring is the softest thing in the universe. Caring creates the impulse to pay attention and sparks our curiosity about what is needed by those we care about. By responding to our natural curiosity we learn compassion. Publicly showing that you care is one of the most daring and dangerous social actions you can take. Don’t confuse being soft (yin) with being gullible. If you think that people who care too much are chumps you might want to ask yourself why you think that.

My definition of caring: Small daily actions, inspired by curiosity and compassion, that support the kind of world you want. These actions count and accumulate regardless of whether or not they are witnessed. Caring is an invisible force of nature.

If caring is the softest thing then what is the hardest? Control.

Caring without trying to control? That’s radical resistance.

Horse Month : The Competition

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

Welcome to the Horse month. The Horse has an impulsive nature that can be joyfully spontaneous and warm. It’s the Horse in each of us that makes us want to be known and seen; to be the apple of someone’s eye; to be in whatever our spotlight is; to move things forward quickly. A Horse not showing these qualities may be in an unhealthy state.

A balanced Horse is the one you want at your party. The unbalanced one is getting attention at your expense. In the presence of a Horse month, Horse year, or another Horse, the Horse is susceptible to what is called a self clash. This is especially true if you have a Horse branch in your ba zi. The nature of the self clash is revealed by the ba zi. If the Horse is in the day branch, it might have something to do with your partner. For a person born on a Water stem day the clash will have to do with money and success. For a person born on an Earth stem day the clash has to do with parents, support, and learning. Donald Trump is an Earth stem person born in a Horse month by the way.

I think the core issue here might be faith. The Horse often labors under competitiveness taken to extremes for the sake of false causes. In wanting to be first in line for the unlimited buffet the Horse does rude things like pushing aside those he considers to be less. The Horse fears that he won’t get his fair share unless he is first. This means being acknowledged as “winning” in every way. The spontaneity of the Horse may exacerbate this bad behavior.

Outside the window I see the two Robins that live near my back door chasing away a Steller’s Jay that is trying to invade their nest. I go outside to stand guard until they return, just to make sure the Crows don’t take advantage. They are uncanny in their perception of vulnerability and the Jay is a member of their corvidae family – an accomplice maybe. I know the Crows will break eggs and kill baby birds to get food for their own young. I think they also do it to eliminate the competition for resources. The Crows don’t trust that there is enough food and water for all the birds in the garden.

The next day I watch the Robins flying down from the nest to gather food and return to deliver it. They are trying to avoid being seen from the air. I think there’s only one chick because I can easily see the nest, parents, and baby through a small gap in the foliage. By nesting so close to the back door they have requested my protection. I feel responsible just because they chose to be near me. I make sure there is water in the birdbath and go in and out quietly. Since I don’t use pesticides I know there is plenty of food (bugs) for them in my garden.

Although we don’t often acknowledge this, the importance of material things is solely to sustain the physical body. We need food, water, shelter, and clothing. In America, we have an abundance of money, material goods and other types of wealth. In terms of sustaining the physical body, if managed properly there is enough of everything for everyone in our country, including health care and education. The idea that there is a shortage, and therefore you need to be first to take, is a Horse thing.

The following day around noon I hear the distress cries of the Robins and I know without even seeing that the Crows have found the nest. The Crows are much bigger and more aggressive than the Robins and there is nothing the Robins can do to stop the Crows other than throwing their own bodies in front of them and calling for help. I can see that one of the Robins has a wound on its head from a sharp Crow’s beak. I think about why other Robins don’t come to help them. Maybe they are more like humans than we know: scared to expose themselves because they may become targets of the powerful too.

I run out of the back door and over to the side of the house where I unwind the hose and attach a sprayer. I turn on the tap and shoo away the Crows with a few bursts of water. But the Crows keep coming back and I can’t tell whether or not the chick is still in the nest. I go back into the house but soon I hear the Robins beseeching again. I go out over and over, each time I hear them cry out. After about an hour of this the Crows give up. I can hear them in the distance cawing and harassing some other poor birds. I go out to see if everything is okay with the chick but I don’t want to get too close to the nest. The parents are still in distress but with the Crows gone I can’t figure out why until I see the nearly featherless chick on the ground at least 8 feet from the nest. I think of my daughter who was born at 32 weeks and how vulnerable we both were.

I feel a huge adrenaline rush as I bend down to look at the baby and realize it is still alive and looks unharmed. People always say you shouldn’t touch a baby bird that’s fallen out of its nest because the parents will abandon it. But really, how would they ever get it back into the nest? I decide to put it back. At least that way it will have a better chance of not being eaten alive. I pick up the baby bird in both of my shaking hands and it turns up its head with its closed eyes and opens its beak wide, maybe in hope that I was there to feed it or maybe in self defense. It is pulsing with life, radiating heat, and I can see each breath it takes in its entire body. I am terrified of hurting it but I manage to get up on a small step stool and gently place the bird back in the nest. I don’t see the parents visit the nest for the rest of that day. I worry that they aren’t coming back. I think about the parents and children who are being separated from each other by ICE right now and wonder how they will maintain hope of being reunited.

The next morning I notice the Robins are going back and forth in their food gathering pattern again. Later in the day I see the silhouette of the baby in the nest, basking in a beam of sunlight inside the tree. I think about how fast baby birds become fledglings and how if I could just buy the Robins one more week of time everything would be okay. I feel hopeful. That is what parents cling to.

Even if we disagree with each other about almost everything, couldn’t we agree that we all have the same hope that our children at least be allowed enough time to grow up being loved in health and safety? Is there any cause worth ruining them?

In the afternoon the Crows come back again. Now each time they hear the back door open they fly away because they know I am coming. I keep going out for as long as I can, until I have to leave for a few hours. When I return I don’t see the Robins or the Crows for the rest of the day.

The following morning I stand outside staring at the now empty nest and thinking about everything that is going on in the world this summer. We don’t need to witness a crime to know that it happened. Evidence can tell the story. A young eagle is soaring overhead and around it a murder of Crows are pursuing, protecting their babies from the predator. I think of children who will die of being taken from their parents before they are old enough to survive on their own.

I send up a request to whomever will hear for the safety of our parents and children. Yours and mine alike, whoever and wherever you are.

Notes from the San Sha

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

Way back in February I wrote about my new office and the risky business of being in the north in 2018. I’ve been acting as my own guinea pig, partly out of year-related doggedness and partly to see how much it is possible to mitigate the negative energy. As you may recall, the Wu Wang (5 Yellow) and the San Sha (3 Killings) are in the north in 2018. The standard advice is to stay out of the north but if you need to use it for some reason the effects of the Flying Stars are important to track month by month.

Tiger Month (February 4th-March 4th)

You may recall I was planning to move into my office in February, but I didn’t move in until March because the date I had chosen for February wasn’t good enough. My husband thought I was crazy not to get in there right away, and it’s not like me to wait patiently. I only did it because I know the importance of lining up the timing so that it works for both the person and the house. Occupying the north is a choice that goes against the energy of the year – it’s important to acknowledge and respect that.

Before I officially moved in, I loaded the room up with metal indoors and out, locked up the Wu Wang, and put a t’ang lung on the windowsill. Even then I avoided spending too much time in there. It’s not that I don’t think these remedies work. It’s that there’s only so much mitigation you can expect.

Since being courageous is one thing and foolish another, I decided not to spend any significant time in my office until April. The Flying Stars in my office would be the best then.

Rabbit Month (March 5th-April 5th)

In planning for March, I knew there would be a a magnification of the Annual 5 Yellow that I took to mean I might get burned. Take that as a metaphor or not.

My other concern about the feng shui of my office was that I would be shortsighted – maybe not seeing what was right in front of me. Doesn’t it sound funny to say that I was keeping an eye out for my own potential blind spot? How do you even do that? And how do you know whether you are affected by the negative energy?

When I have advised clients not to spend time in a certain location and they do it anyway but “don’t notice” any effects, I think it’s because they don’t make the connection with the events that occur. They expect something big and spectacular to happen to them while they are in that particular area and when it doesn’t, they tend to think I was wrong. My experience is that what happens may be big or small, but it will fit the metaphor whether or not you are open to that idea. Watch for patterns – maybe something like this:

One evening before bed I mistook a tube of body wash for a tube of lotion because they both happened to be on my dresser, they are the same size, and they smell/feel the same. I wasn’t wearing my glasses so I couldn’t (and didn’t) read the label. Since I put it on at night it was on my skin until the next morning and I ended up with a nasty case of contact dermatitis. My skin was painful, red, itchy and peeling for days. It took me a couple of days to realize what I had done, during which I was feeling sort of superstitious.

Finally, when I understood that through my own bad choice I had given myself contact dermatitis, I thought “Okay, message received; this happened because I didn’t see what was going on and yes I did get burned”. But I wasn’t ready to stop working in my office. As I said, if there was any time that would be good in that room it would be in April. Me being obstinate.

Dragon Month (April 5th-May 5th)

In the Dragon Month I started spending at least 4 hours a day in my office during the week, sometimes more. You would think that much time in the office would result in lots of productivity, but to sum it up it was just too “earthy”. I really didn’t get much done. I felt slow and stupid. There are calculations that I can do in my head that I was getting wrong. My computer kept having strange issues that required time consuming solutions. Everything I was trying to do seemed to take longer or defy even the most careful planning.

I felt both disappointed and stubborn. Disappointed because I had fixed up this space for myself that I will mostly be using for storage until next year. Stubborn about moving my books/papers/computer to another part of the house to work because I would have to clean up after whoever was there last before I could get started. In terms of feng shui all of these experiences are related to the presence of too much Earth. The solution for that would (wood!) be flexibility.

In spite of what I already knew, I tried to tweak things to make it better. I oriented my desk to a specific degree of SW and felt like I was dreaming all the time. Then I changed it to a specific degree of NE which at first brought some sharp insights, but as the month progressed I found myself feeling quite lazy – constantly thinking about napping even though I wasn’t really tired. If you study feng shui you might read this as having to do with the hidden stems of the Dragon month in the Dog year. Anyhow, I kept coming back. Being stuck in the same pattern like this might be construed as dog-like behavior. Once you’re in it it’s hard to shake it off because you’re in it. Some might experience it as depression.

Snake Month (May 5th-June 6th)

Now it’s May which is the Snake month (May 5-June 6) and I’ve been moving my stuff to the SW each day to work. The Flying Stars are good here now, especially with a little encouragement from the basin of water I change each day and the bright light that I leave turned on day and night. I’ve been tackling some boring but necessary tasks with ease – tasks that I have been putting off for a long time. I am smarter here right now than I am in my office. I’m facing my special NE direction which I find really helpful for writing, working and just getting things done. But the Snake month is almost over.

Horse Month (June 6th-July 6th)

In June I’ll move to a new spot for working. I’ll go where the good stars are. I’ve learned my lesson for now. Famous last words…

As in many other aspects of life, those who have the most choices are the ones who can be flexible. Would you rather have no choice or a choice? One choice or many? Because that’s sort of the whole point of feng shui.

If you want to chase the good energy (and choices) around your house but don’t have time to figure it out, you might be interested in a monthly subscription to my newsletter where I also share auspicious days and other helpful feng shui info. Let me know if you’d like a free sample. I promise not to make you a guinea pig.

But We REALLY Want a Fountain!

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

I was sitting here in my new office listening to the rain this morning, while working on calendars for date selection. The sound of the water and the idea of “a good date” got me to thinking about a couple that I worked with around ten years ago. They found me via my website. At that time my business name was Double Fire Feng Shui. I had only been consulting for about 5 years and was making the transition from Black Sect to Traditional Chinese Feng Shui.

Andrew and Kay* were an up and coming young couple, working in tech companies and living in the suburbs. They were a little competitive with each other about their careers and Andrew seemed to feel Kay was winning.

Before they hired me, I had multiple telephone calls and emails, mostly with Andrew. Each time he wanted to know more about my methods, by which he meant an explanation of what I would be doing at their house. Since I hadn’t been there yet, I could only explain it in the most general terms. He wanted to see my curriculum vitae. I am always happy to provide that.

Andrew’s approach was very consumer driven, like “What do I get for the money?” and “How do I know your stuff works?” At that time there were so many people who had hung out a shingle after a weekend course in Feng Shui that I don’t blame him for being suspicious. Kay was more concerned about whether or not I would take a look at the whole situation rather than just beds, stove and the front door. She was looking at it as a holistic remedy. I felt honored that they were so meticulous and yet they still wanted to hire me. Finally it came down to me and another consultant they had in mind.

During the final phone call from Andrew, he asked me whether or not I meditated. This was not a question about my Feng Shui skills but rather about my spiritual practice. The question came up because meditation was a selling point for the other consultant they were considering. Her value add was that she would meditate, specifically about your house, before she arrived to do the survey. To me, that sounds like divination or prayer – not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s not Feng Shui. I told Andrew that while I do think it’s important to have a spiritual practice to go with almost any skill set, it was probably best to just go with the person who he considered to be the most competent, and left it at that. I got the job.

At that time Andrew and Kay had not revealed that the main reason they wanted Feng Shui was to assist in having a baby. They were ambitious in their careers but also anxious to start their family. They felt it was taking too long to conceive and had already investigated the medical side of things. They discovered there were no physical obstacles to conception for them.

The first thing that came up when I arrived at the house was that Kay and Andrew not only wanted to have a baby, they also really wanted to have a fountain. It was actually Andrew that wanted a fountain to accelerate his career. He felt it was stalled out and things were going too slow. I think he wanted to catch up with Kay career-wise but probably was also thinking about being the single breadwinner in the near future. Purely based on divination, I pointed out that they lived in a cul-de-sac and that if you looked at it from above, their house resembled a snail on a turtle’s back. To me that means progress will be SLOW.

Based on Feng Shui principles their double doors on the front needed some adjustment, as well as the lot which was shaped like a badly cut piece of pie. The house was shaped like a key; very irregular with lots of glass on the back side. There were other issues that I won’t go into here. Still, Andrew was not as interested in implementing my suggestions as he was in placing a fountain.

I really wanted to help them, and to place the fountain as Andrew wished, but at that point in my studies I only knew enough about water placement to realize it is probably the most powerful implementation of Feng Shui. If you do it wrong your result will be something like Aunt Clara’s spells on Bewitched: a muddled and unhappy surprise. In short, I didn’t know how to place water and if I had known they wanted that, I would have admitted it before they hired me.

During and even after the survey I had to refuse over and over to place the fountain or give the idea any sort of approval because I was concerned that placed incorrectly it could thwart or delay Kay and Andrew’s dream of making a family. Andrew called me two or three times asking what kind of fountain to get, did I think it would be okay by the front door, etc. In retrospect refusing to place the fountain is probably one of the kindest things I could have done even though he was disappointed. My understanding of my own ignorance was a benefit to them. I happen to know the person who was my competitor for the job didn’t know how to place water at that time either, but I’m not sure she understood that.

Kay and Andrew did make some of the changes I recommended and Andrew got a new job, Kay got pregnant and they had a healthy baby girl. I know I was helpful to them, but some of the success probably has to do with timing. Timing was another aspect of Feng Shui that I didn’t yet understand then except in the most general terms. Even so, three years later they did ask me to come back a second time when they were trying to conceive, and they were successful again. I must have done something right.

I found out on my second visit to their house that after Kay got pregnant the first time, Andrew went and bought a fountain and placed it by the front door because he had read in a book that it would help his career. He pointed proudly to the fountain and asked for my opinion while I tried not to shudder. My answer: “It’s very pretty”.

The end of my story? Feng Shui is a lifetime study and I’m sixteen years in. I will still refuse to do things that aren’t knowledge based, both for your safety and mine, but if Andrew called me back today I could tell him when and where to place the fountain. I could also tell him that while putting thing A in position B at time C might get him a promotion, it might also create “side effects” he doesn’t want. I think it’s important to consider the choice.

*not their real names