The Ox in 2019 ~ Earth Pig Year

Posted on January 14, 2019September 20, 2019 by Stephanie Stewart

Who is an Ox?

Years: 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009.
Month*: January
Hour: 01.00-03.00am
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 an Ox?

The distinctive quality of the Ox is insistence, not persistence because the Ox’s yin Earth makes for a certain fragility, more of a curtain than a rampart. The Ox is in many ways, the most sensitive year animal. This is often expressed in what looks like obstinacy but is better understood as puzzlement at being disagreed with. In discourse you may find that an Ox has firm principles that on examination are not principles at all but more like prejudices or assumptions. They are often nonetheless firm as well as correct for all that. As a rule, don’t expect flexibility of mind from an Ox; they know what they know and are often not keen to venture beyond.

The Ox’s gifts are very often practical rather than intellectual. The intellectually gifted Ox is extraordinarily powerful. Because of her position between the Rat and the Tiger, the Ox can sometimes vacillate between a fierceness that does not suit her and a Rat-like charm that she may not be able to sustain.

With her allies the Snake and the Rooster, she forms a team which is of the metal element. That is to say that the alliance is linear, judgemental and competitive. Where the ground rules are clear, this is an unstoppable combination. These three make a great legal team with the Rooster charming the jury, the Snake unearthing information that no one else could find and the Ox sticking to the point. When the rules are unclear however, the metal alliance can falter. Then the Ox can become judgemental in a more covert sort of way, being less liable to argue than to judge silently. Without the Snake and the Rooster, the Ox is more barrack room lawyer than barrister.

Working in such a team, the Metal, that is the qualities of logic, reason and competition, is less important than consistency. In dealing with the Ox, it is important to remember not only that the Metal is there but also that the Ox may deny this fact even to herself.

The hour of the Ox (01-03.00) is the time that the worlds of spirit and flesh are closest. She has a deep spiritual agenda. The gifts of mediumship and divination are essentially Ox gifts.

The Ox may be attached to ancestral dogma. Fundamentalism of all sorts – political and social as well as religious – is a common trait. She is not always good at questioning tradition or second-hand wisdom that has come down on good authority. She will often quote great men not because their words are wise but because they are great.

With the Dragon, Dog and Sheep, the Ox forms the Literary Alliance. Some call this confluence the Four Earths and think of it as negative. The fact is that it is a demanding combination. If the Dragon is missing for instance, many think of it as poisonous but to see this as an assembly of the vehicles of expression without anything new to say is probably more like it. The coincidence of these animals is a challenge to a strong ba zi and can be the ruin of a weak one.

Barack Obama may be the world’s most famous Ox and a good example. He actually has a Sheep in his month pillar. This makes for a home-loving and secure man. This is heightened by his day stem (the character that rules the day he was born) which has a special affinity both with the Ox and the Sheep. This like so many Oxen, is a man who loves his babies. Both UK Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn and Presidential contender Elizabeth Warren are Oxen also. Watch this space.

The challenge to the Ox in 2019 is to make up for last year’s Dog. Three of the last four American Presidents (Clinton, W. Bush, Trump) have been 1946 Fire Dogs. The Fire Dog is past his peak now; time to make way. The current chaotic world order may represent this shift of power. 1958 Earth Dogs are now in their 2nd cycle of 60 years – it’s all revision now. But for the Ox, although there is a foreshadowing right now in the Ox month, real power beckons from early 2020.

The Ox has a love-hate relationship with the irritatingly spontaneous and extrovert Horse to whom she can not help nonetheless being drawn. Nor is she that keen on the Rabbit who can help herself to the Ox’s fresh vegetables or the Tiger who somehow often manages to exploit her.

Richard Ashworth© 2019
www.imperialfengshui.info

The Ox in 2019

The Ox is a rule follower. She’s willing to help but not an indiscriminate joiner. The Ox navigates through the darkness by feeling her way. Perhaps that made it possible for her to hide out in plain sight in 2018, unlike the Sheep with whom she shares the bullying punishment. In a Dog year there’s always someone waiting to cash in on your mutual disempowerment. It’s hard not to be bitter about that.

In 2019, Ox and Sheep are looking at each other and thinking “You mean all this time we could have been friends?” It’s not too late.

Appropriately then, the Ox’s job in 2019 is to be the Tin Yute. Her to do list includes coming to the rescue of those in an emergency state. You probably already know who it will be. And you will help even if they also blame you for their crisis. Your deep empathy makes it hard to say no, but you dislike having to come in at the chaos point of the last minute. Time to put aside your judgment. Not everyone shares your common sense.

The term “dark horse” is more fitting for the Ox than the Horse. You’re always working but you’re a plodder. After toiling away in obscurity for years like Water Ox Tarana Burke (1973), you burst forth and startle everyone with the accumulation of your power. You can already feel the early stirrings of your fruition – a foreshadowing of 2020. Have you noticed Barack Obama, 1961 Metal Ox, is out and about again? His influence will be formidable in 2019 and 2020.

With your yin nature perhaps you don’t know your own strength. A brief preview comes during December and January, but it’s not quite your moment yet. I can tell you more about that if you’re interested.

An Ox is more sensitive than flexible. You’re the person in the room who gets confused as to which emotions are yours. You cry more than others because feelings demand expression to bring relief. Spending time in groups exhausting. Get your alone time; balance with expressing your care.

In the first quarter of 2019 the lingering Earth of the Dog makes you feel you’re taking two steps forward, one step back. The end of April brings a more lasting relief from the fear that in putting your ideas forward, you’ll be attacked. People in power are paying attention and they feel a connection. If you want a promotion, pave the way in April and ask for it in December

The Ox uses her increased productivity in May to help the Snake out of a jam. You warned her about using the truth as currency but the Snake didn’t listen because she usually gets away with it. The Rooster will show up with similar issues, probably about relationship, in September.

The intense emotions of November are nothing to worry about. This flood of feelings is meant to prepare you for the watershed that’s coming in December. All of the work you’ve been doing behind the scenes is about to pay off. At the end of 2019 you’re almost there.

About My Teacher

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 Rat in 2019 ~ Earth Pig Year

Posted on January 11, 2019September 20, 2019 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?

The Pig in 2019 ~ Earth Pig Year

Posted on January 10, 2019September 20, 2019 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

Coming Soon: 2019 Animal Fortunes

Posted on January 7, 2019September 20, 2019 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 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 December 6, 2018September 20, 2019 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.