Why I am a Diviner

Posted on March 13, 2020March 13, 2020 by Stephanie Stewart

I’m a diviner. I use BaZi (also known as Chinese Astrology), Feng Shui, Qi Men Dun Jia, I Ching and other methods to seek information that’s not available from deductive or inductive models. I love my job. Here are the main reasons I do what I do:

I want to helpfully inform you.
I don’t make predictions just to be right. Although I know I might be more impressive if I did, I don’t consider that mastery.

I want to contain fear.
I don’t make predictions intending to scare you into thinking you need to hire me so you won’t get wrecked. I also want you to know the feelings you don’t want to have are more difficult than the potential outcomes you imagine.

I want to create something with you. Sometimes it’s the future.
I have noticed that caring makes my predictions more accurate. There are more instances of positive/desired outcomes as well. That’s a co-creation with you.

I value truthfulness and respect.
I value honesty and will tell you what I see/receive. For weightier matters, if you don’t specifically ask I’m not going to tell. I respect both physical and metaphysical boundaries.

I want to encourage you.
I employ common sense above all. I know the difference between divination and affirmation, however, I believe there’s always something to look forward to even if it seems far in the future.

Fire Rat Month: For Faith’s Sake

Posted on December 6, 2019 by Stephanie Stewart

When Water is at its strongest, Fire is weak. This is yin and yang; a cycle without end. The Fire Rat month emphasizes these elemental interactions.

Water tends to dampen our faith in things turning out right. We lose optimism. Do we stick or split? Do we give up and start over or stay the course? In extreme cases there’s a temptation to give ourselves permission to force things. We are impatient to escape the pain of not knowing what the outcome will be or the possibility of being wrong.

These are questions and feelings we want to avoid, yet even in difficult times there is at least one thing that is going right. What is yours? Is there more than one? Finding these things, however small, provides the Wood that you can use to keep your Fire going. As I like to say in moments of frustration and/or celebration: sh*t adds up.

I think faith has to do with Fire: our faith in it coming back each day with the rising sun. We have faith that summer will come and we will be able to grow our crops again. There’s faith that comes from being warm; from being warmed by food, touch, light, art, performance, music and words. For better or worse, we want to reinforce our faith with things we can see. That’s not always an option.

In this cycle of years, Fire becomes scarce and therefore a valuable resource, but you can’t hoard Fire – can you? It’s a lot like Water that way. You can influence it but only timing might allow you to believe you can control it.

The imbalance of Fire and Water sometimes manifests in the free market as the scarcity principle or scarcity value. This demonstrates how we only need to perceive something as valuable to increase its monetary value. It is not required that the item have a value beyond being considered desirable and in limited supply. Most of us fail to see there’s magic in that phenomenon and use it to our advantage.

If we create the perception of value by assigning it, we can go assign value to whatever we choose. That’s influence.

There’s my divine madness – a vision of sugarplums to dance in your head. Blame it on the Fire Rat. An interesting way to explore these ideas might be through the use of pyromancy or divination from fire. Want to play?

Light the fire and get comfortable because pyromancy is probably one of the more lengthy forms of divination. It’s perfect for a cold winter night. Watch for shapes and images in the flames. Let the fire burn down to coals and throw on some salt, aromatic wood, herbs, evergreens, pinecones… Observe the patterns in the coals after the fire dies down again. See what comes up. Keep a record of your discoveries. It could come in handy in the coming Metal Rat Year.

Here’s to the return of the light…and enlightenment. Happy Winter Solstice.

Wood Pig 乙亥 Month: The Sty Ward

Posted on November 4, 2019October 19, 2021 by Stephanie Stewart

In the Metal Snake year of 2001 I became close friends with Rena who was born in a Pig year. At that time, as mothers of young children and budding entrepreneurs, we had a lot in common. We liked the same music and food. We both really loved to dance. Looking back now I realize she was a lot like another friend I had in the Earth Snake year of 1989.

The thing that was so attractive about Rena is that she had a million great ideas and the energy to carry them out. Having kids didn’t slow her down at all – she would take them everywhere and as she said “let them get used to it”. Rena would buy the rejected cans of paint from the hardware store and spend an entire weekend adding layers of paint to her living room walls to get the shade exactly right. She was an expert at transforming her career, physical self and her look too. She was always starting one new business or another and building her network. Beautiful and talented, Rena seemed capable of doing whatever she set her mind to.

Maybe it was because we became friends in a Snake year that it didn’t last. The thing I came to learn about Rena is that she had a pattern of starting over from scratch. When things went wrong she would try to do a 180° turn but Rena was already too overextended to pull it off. Luckily, Rena’s charm and appearance of helplessness compensated for her lack of a back up plan. Because she was so accomplished and fun to be around, people would volunteer to give her money and other material goods. I was one of those people; not a victim but an enthusiastic participant. This has been a pattern of mine with friendship. You could say I think people will like me more for my resources than myself.

If you are reading this then you already know my last name is Stewart. As Richard Ashworth likes to remind me, my name comes from combining “sti” or “stig”, meaning sty, with “weard”, meaning keeper or ward. I am the Sty Ward. That makes me the pig keeper. I’m Stephanie Stewart so perhaps that makes me a pig keeper who wears a crown. Queen of Pig Keepers?

The Pig is my Sap Gon Luk; my Star of Fame. There’s something about the Pig branch that is linked to what I’m known for. Since I don’t have a Pig in my BaZi, the Pig year has brought good timing for directing my efforts at increasing my audience. Writing the Animal forecasts for the first time, completing a year of providing daily original content and redesigning my web site were all ways to take advantage of the Pig year energy. I’ve worked more hours this year than any other for that very reason. The sign of the Pig has other meanings for my BaZi but I think they all relate to reputation. I will also own up to wanting perfection more this year. Stay away from that stuff – it will kill your creativity.

The position of pig keeper held a certain status in medieval times because pigs were considered to be the most valuable livestock animal. The well being of the pigs was crucial to the community’s future. In Chinese culture, the pigs could be kept under the floor to generate heat in winter. Dreaming of a pig dying on its own (as opposed to being slaughtered I suppose) is an ill omen according to popular Feng Shui man Peter So. It’s not hard to understand why that might be if your winter survival depends on eating one. Winter calls for trust; trusting that you will help those who need it and that they will help you. Winter calls for back up plans.

To some extent I am joking, but this theme of being the Pig keeper plays out in my BaZi and my life: I am trusted to care for other people’s valuables. That includes people. I am responsible for, and trusted with wealth, but it’s not always my wealth. That includes money. I know what it’s like to lack it but I also know what it’s like to have it. I feel responsible.

Recently I corresponded with Iris, a very charming and creative person. Iris reached out with a question (everyone gets a free one) and then backed away when I offered a more personalized answer. That’s legit. Not everyone wants to be “read” and I respect that. But if you ask me a question as Serious Feng Shui I’m assuming you already know what I do.

Through the nuances of our interaction it became clear to me that Iris was born in a Pig year. When she shared her birth data it turned out I was right, and Iris’ question turned out to be about money – how to get it. I could feel her pain and desperation coming through as a demand for me to fix things. That always makes me worry because more than anything else, desperation puts us at risk of making a bad situation worse.

One manifestation of the self clash I’ve seen with the Pig branch is that money is spent as soon as it comes in. I don’t mean to make the Pig sound selfish though. It’s just as likely they are spending on someone else as themselves. I think the Pig is maybe the least likely branch to have a savings account, at least until later in life when lessons have been learned.

The thing about Pigs is that they are possibly too charming and versatile for their own good. That’s how they get stuck doing jobs they are “good at” as Iris was. Often what they mean by that is they stick to what they think others will pay them for, rather than work that is satisfying. The unhappy Pig becomes less and less interested in going along with the program which may lead to self sabotage, i.e. getting fired. Here’s my message to Pigs: you could easily get paid for the work that satisfies you if you pay the dues of training and preparation. It’s that simple.

Or maybe it’s not. I suppose that when you are naturally good at so many things it is difficult to see the value in committing time to preparing for one job or skill. It’s also hard to decide which one to choose.

It’s rare for me to communicate with someone and not care about the outcome so I gave Iris more than a few suggestions as to how to bring the timing for money in early but she continued to ask how she could get “cash today”. My mojo works but not like that. I can’t change your fate but I can help you negotiate with it. I can help you play along.

And just so you know: I don’t have any methods where you can just sit back and do nothing while the money rolls in. If anyone claims to have that ability I’d say it’s a scam. Even magic requires some effort and preparation.

Peaks and Valleys

Posted on April 19, 2019September 20, 2019 by Stephanie Stewart

I started writing my daily forecasts, the #SeriousDailies, last October. To make them relevant and ensure accuracy requires using multiple systems. I had been studying date selection for awhile and finally reached the point where I felt I could have something coherent and hopefully helpful to say. Besides, the only way to get better at something is to practice.

At the time I didn’t realize that committing to writing the dailies was a commitment to stay aware of the particular usefulness of each day. Not every day is a good day but every day is good for some purpose. I have faith in that.

Around the end of March I was talking with my teacher Richard Ashworth about my unpreparedness for the challenges of the month despite my analysis. I look at the month in advance to do forecasting. I don’t write the dailies each day. I asked Richard about it and he added important nuance to the elemental interactions. Then he gave me some general parameters for the calculation for homing in on a similar point in time in the past. I worked with the calculation and there was March of 1999. It seemed so obvious – how could I need a calculation to point out the connection? Emotions and feelings I thought I had completed were live again, brought on by similar events. The distinction between similar and same is crucial I think.

“No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream.” – Shirley Jackson

Many people who go beyond the surface level of Feng Shui are ultimately deterred from continuing by the excessive amount of reality to which one is exposed. This might be a lack of comfort with examining and assigning different levels of meaning. Sometimes you can bring a more helpful meaning into existence by proceeding through calculation into something like a dream state. If you want to find a different meaning you can’t just rely on what you already know. Not everyone is comfortable with that.

To have a successful career in Feng Shui means realizing that, in practice, it is an attempt to shape fate; to hasten human evolution. The paradox is that the right time will come but you may have to wait. That’s always my approach in my work. It’s usually my last choice to go against the prevailing energy.

The Rabbit month that just ended was a peak of Wood. I’m talking about the elemental Wood pattern: Pig Rabbit Sheep. The order is important. The Pig begins the cycle. There’s something different about the timing of this year’s reveal. It seems like there are endings in the middle. Earth day stem people and those with an Earth heavy BaZi know what I’m talking about. Wood’s peak is their valley.

There’s an argument to be made that this year began back in the Pig month of November. That’s when my dog Buck first started limping. Then he became very ill. He was so sick he wouldn’t even eat a treat and was obviously in pain. The vet said he had hookworm so we treated him and he bounced back. His limp disappeared and we guessed it had been a muscle strain. Buck has eaten many nasty things in his 8 years so a problem in his digestive tract was nothing new.

If the Pig is the beginning of the Wood pattern that makes the Rabbit in the middle the peak. March would be the appropriate month to celebrate Mother’s Day, but in this year’s Rabbit month, mothers and the Mother were under attack. In the U.S. we celebrate Mothers in the month of the Snake. That says something doesn’t it?

In terms of date selection, timing indicated March would be a difficult month for many. Even Rabbits who were having breakthroughs got a bit tattered. Events with women, religion, our planet and the world in general seemed to mark a peak of Wood attacking Earth. March is when Buck started limping again. His digestive upset came back too. Back to the vet. The Dog branch is Yang Earth. These metaphors are hard to ignore.

Since November there have been many signs of impending endings. If date selection has taught me nothing else, it’s that whatever is happening now, either endings or beginnings, is just preparing me for what I’m supposed to learn/do next.

The vet does a biopsy high on Buck’s chest where the hard swollen mass seemed to appear almost overnight. She finds a mast cell on the slide from the biopsy. This is not good news but we have to wait for more definitive results from the lab. They give us painkillers and antibiotics to take home. We start giving him Benadryl for the inflammation. Still, Buck can barely get around for the next two days. I bring his water bowl to his bed and hold it while he drinks. He’s so thirsty but it hurts too much to get up. He says thank you with his eyes.

I will tend to pick up the feelings, physical and otherwise, of whatever or whoever I’m around. That means people, animals, trees, locations, houses…When there’s pain or sickness I fail at compartmentalization. I can’t ignore it. If your stomach hurts so does mine. I feel compelled to try to do something to alleviate suffering. I can’t rest. I can’t stop thinking. It’s in my nature to cook and clean in these times. I become very focused on the practical and pragmatic. These characteristics are my kun – my challenge and my power. For better or worse I’m a great nurse. I’ve been through this process before.

The power of Yin is resilience. Those operating within Yin principles are always working on a comeback – either their own or someone else’s. They are always getting broken, broken into two, coming back, doing it again. That’s the power and purpose of Yin.

We get the lab results back and a referral to the oncologist along with stronger pain medications and instructions to continue the Benadryl. The aggressive tumor in Buck’s chest is flooding him with histamines and creating lots of inflammation. We have to wait a few days for the next appointment. Sometimes all you can do is wait with someone and hope that somehow it makes things better. Sometimes that’s the hardest thing in the world.

I put Buck’s bed in the tai chi of the house because it’s the best place to be. That’s not only because of the Flying Stars. I purposefully make it awkward for us to move around the house without paying attention to him. He’s right in the middle. If you want to know where to put the elephant in the room that is probably the right place this month. Take a good look at it and watch your step – or trip over it again. Buck starts feeling much better and even regains his playfulness.

If the Rabbit month is the peak of Wood in the Pig year then in a sense the year begins to fade in the Sheep month of July.

Buck will have been gone for some time by then, but right now it is hard to believe he is really dying. Then again there are things he just can’t do any more and he has to rest most of the time. He seems to know his pain medication schedule which tells me he’s in more pain than I realize. At the maximum Buck has months to live. The tumor is inoperable. Chemo and radiation are not an option.

We will be sending Buck on to his next assignment soon. Looking into his eyes I think he knows. The softness and presence in Buck’s eyes were why I first fell in love with him. He’s going to be a human on his next round, no question. Maybe he’s ready to get on with it.

There’s a selfishness in waiting to let him go and a selfishness in just wanting it to be over. I’m impatient.

This month’s Hexagram, number 43 (Lake over Heaven), tells me it’s too late to stop the transformation from happening. And why would I try? It feels like a moment when, as Richard says “things that have always been one way suddenly have always been another way”.

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

Posted on August 1, 2018September 19, 2021 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 July 17, 2018September 20, 2019 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.

Here We Are Again!

Posted on December 31, 2017September 20, 2019 by Stephanie Stewart

Here we are again! Try saying that out loud in different cadences and tones. Make it sound celebratory or mournful. Energized or exhausted. Comedic or tragic. You can hear in your voice that it’s a fine line, right?*

One more trip around the sun. Here we are again where the daphne is just starting to bloom.

Unthinkingly, I neglected to water my Yuletide camellia (which is just outside of the window where I usually write) this fall and so there are no flowers. It really bothers me. I’ve tried keeping the curtain closed so I can’t see it, but it’s so dark at this time of year that letting the light in is preferable even with the disappointment. On the bright side, I’ve accomplished more this year than I have in some time and so a few things have fallen by the wayside. Yang and yin.

It’s that time of year where we do the counting up. What goals did we accomplish last year? Or perhaps more in sync with our current state as a nation, what were the failures? As a culture we’re good at tooting our horns, but not at celebrating our achievements privately – for our private selves. We also dislike acknowledging our failures. Americans like to emphasize the surface. At my house we call it the Narrative. The Narrative doesn’t include emotional disclosure. If my meaning is unclear look to our current President for an example of living the Narrative.

“I don’t like to analyze myself because I might not like what I see.”
Donald Trump 2014

That’s quite a deep and honest statement coming from him, don’t you think? It reminds me of a woman I knew who actually stopped wearing glasses at the point in her life where she didn’t want to see the outcome of her choices any more. No matter if she couldn’t drive ever again. As Dr. Phil would say: how’s that working for you?

This time of year is also where we set goals for the coming time cycle whether that’s a month, three months, a year or an even longer period. Everyone has the most goals in January. The list diminishes as the priorities of the year emerge. Aspirations are like the seed in the wet, cold ground; just waiting for the right moment to push through the surface. Some seeds won’t make it and others will emerge too weak. If you’ve ever planted seeds you’ll know that it’s a good idea to plant 20 when you want 10 good healthy plants. The caveat is you can’t hold back on thinning them out or they’ll choke each other. Yin and yang.

Speaking of thinning them out, this coming year of the Dog has been on my mind. The phrase that comes to mind is “culled from the herd”.

Every time I see one of those wildlife shows where an animal is hunted down by a predator I think of that phrase “culled from the herd”. I have the same response with those ubiquitous commercials on television, especially during the winter holidays, where they show dogs, cats and other animals that have been tortured in various ways by humans in order to solicit donations. I cannot watch that stuff without crying. I can’t go to animal shelters either because I feel like I need to adopt all of the animals. I’m that “emo” (as my kids would say).

While 2018 is not going to be that grim, there will be breakups, stoppages, bullies and the bullied. A feeling of restlessness might even make these ideas attractive. For many of us this year may be about a separation from others. If that is so, it is also true that it is about uniting with others. Yang and yin.

How the year of the Dog manifests for you will be related to the presence and particular position of the Sheep, Ox or Dragon in your chart. For example, if it’s in the month pillar it may be about the job or workplace. If it is about work, consider that maybe now is the time to go for the career you really want rather than settling for the one you have. How the situation plays out is up to you.

I recommend taking the approach of the Dragon. Be magical. Rather than choosing one of your tried and true solutions, come up with an approach that is different than what you would normally do – it might even be the opposite. If thinking outside of the box is not your strength, align yourself with someone who seems to find success in disregarding or changing the rules. Try envisioning the outcome you want, however unlikely or outrageous, and trace your steps backwards to see how you got there. You might be surprised at what you can come up with.

*Tip of the hat to Dan Leno and Peter Ackroyd’s Limehouse Golem

Empty Nested Phoenix, Itchy Footed Dragon

Posted on December 4, 2017September 20, 2019 by Stephanie Stewart

One of the traditional ways to make predictions about the coming year is to look at past years that share the same animal branch. The Dog is what is called an Earth branch. The branch is to the year as a flavor is to ice cream. Each year branch has its own particular taste, texture and consistency. The stems would be the topping that gives the nuance to the sundae. To continue with this metaphor, there are 5 possible stems (or toppings) which correspond to the Five Elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water. 2018 is an Earth Dog year; a sundae consisting of Earth topped by Earth.

Given that 2018 will be a Dog year and there are 12 Chinese Zodiac Animals, you can subtract 12 if you want to know when the last Dog year occurred. That would be 2006 which was a Fire Dog year.

What were you doing then?

I moved house in 2006 with my husband and these two cuties:

I try to deny my nostalgia* but the Dog brings it out in me. I have a distinct memory of the day that photo was taken – as if it just happened. But it’s 12 years down the road and my daughter Ella is out of state attending Cal Poly. My son Joe is going through the college application process and will most likely be leaving as soon as next summer to study Arabic in Morocco. This is a time for endings to make way for beginnings. My career as a stay-at-home mom is almost over. I feel privileged, and grateful to my husband Peter, that I was supported in my commitment to our family.

In 2006, my husband Pete and I were both feeling restless. We explored remodeling the house we were living in. We thought about moving to Bainbridge Island. Then we decided wanted to stay in the same neighborhood but live in a different house. We took our children out of private school and put them into public school. Those are just some of the big changes we made that year.

I can feel that same restlessness returning as we ease towards 2018, but it’s much stronger this time. To use the Chinese terms for it, I’ve got chang sang and yik ma under my Big Fate. Don’t worry I’m not contagious and it will pass, but for now it’s extremely uncomfortable – which I see as a message that change is needed.

Actually these words come from Ba Zi analysis and chang sang is a kind of rebirth while yik ma means unsettled or “time to move”. As to the Big Fate part, that means I’m in the midst of a 10 year period of this type of energy. I find it difficult to sit down. Sleep is more of a challenge than usual.

Studying Chinese Metaphysics has given me a clarity that confers an unexpected power on my choices. I don’t have to move if I don’t want to. As a Feng Shui professional, I could take measures at home to alleviate this urge to be in constant motion, but I don’t really want that. I am ready for a new phase and I see my discomfort as a reminder that change is how I’m going to get from here to where I want to be. It’s actually pretty good timing which is mostly what luck is about.

What I’m not saying is that my choice to just live with this stir-crazy feeling is the “right” one. If you were in my shoes you might want to choose differently. I respect that. I can help.

Feng Shui and Ba Zi are meant to be tools to help us navigate both good and bad times. Being stuck means you have time to consider deeply what you really want. That’s one of the reasons you might want to book a Ba Zi reading; to see how the influences of timing and your current choices are lining up with your heart’s desire.

*The word nostalgia comes from the Greek language: nostos meaning “a return home” and algos meaning “pain of body or mind”. Something like homesickness.

A (Re)Productive Cycle

Posted on November 29, 2017September 20, 2019 by Stephanie Stewart

The Pig Month, which covers most of November, marks lap dung in the Chinese almanac. This is the beginning of winter. The winter season also includes the Rat (December) and the Ox (January). In terms of 5 elements, winter is the season of water. Think ice, snow, cold, rain, sleet, hail, flooding, slipperiness, clouds, downward movement, darkness, birth. These are all qualities of water.

Historically, more than any other season, winter was the time when our very survival was in question. Scarcity of food, cold, poor shelter and illness were common hazards. In modern times, our survival is threatened by flu-ridden airline passengers, too many parties, too much alcohol consumption, ennui and seasonal depression. And the weather.

In an attempt to stay healthy and optimistic, in winter we humans like to bring the Wood element indoors in the form of evergreens: wreaths, pine boughs, fir trees, holly, mistletoe. We also like using our fireplaces, twinkly lights and candles. This is how we employ the Fire element.

Santa Lucia, a third century Christian martyr whose feast day used to be the winter solstice (now December 13th), went so far with these ideas as to wear a crown made of evergreen boughs and lighted candles. I know what you’re thinking – and don’t try that.

Santa Lucia is an iteration of Lucina; Roman goddess of light, the moon and childbirth. Here again we see the relationship of the ideas of survival and light, or Fire. The Greek version of Lucina is Eileithyia. The Egyptian version is the goddess Nekhbet. Obviously this creative, birth-like cycle of Water, Wood and Fire go way back conceptually. The peril of giving birth is that while it is happening the survival of both mother and child is at stake. For both, there is light at the end of the tunnel so to speak. In the same way, if you make it through winter, into the light, that’s where life is renewed. It takes Wood, by which I mean growth, to get there.

In winter we crave the Wood and Fire for a reason. We are trying to simulate a cycle of productive energy to help us stay alive through the winter. Don’t get me wrong – holiday decorating is not in itself about Feng Shui, but using Five Elements is.

And is there something psychological about it? Of course. As the ch’i of the year descends, you may find it helpful to draw your attention to the promise of the eternal return that is Wood; the precursor of the light that is Fire.

Fire Rooster : Fire Under Mountain

Posted on November 15, 2017September 20, 2019 by Stephanie Stewart

Well, here we are a little over a year after what many people thought was a stunning upset in our Presidential election history. Whichever side you’ve chosen, you’ve got to admit that the Presidential campaigns and election of 2016 marked the dawning of a new era.

The Lap Yum for the Fire Rooster year, which is sort of a summary of a pillar, is Fire Under Mountain. Sounds potentially explosive, right? What was simmering for ages has finally burst through the surface. This applies to all of us everywhere. It’s not just about Donald, Hillary and Vladimir.

This has been a year to come out of the closet but perhaps not in the usual sense. All year people have been coming out, through public remarks and past actions, purposefully or not, as: hateful, damaged, an abuser, a rapist, ignorant, bigoted, misogynist, a traitor, a cheater, racist, homophobic, privileged, fearful, hurt, bullied, a victim, an accuser… It seems like the brakes are off when it comes to what we are willing to say this year. There’s a backlash against political correctness and going along to get along. Maybe this outpouring of disclosure will help clear the decks for next year and make for new ways of wielding power. Obviously it’s going to take more than disclosure. This is just the beginning.

These are the major themes I will remember about 2017

Gaslighting
Lying
Denial
Can’t remember
Pretending everything is okay when it’s not
Vulnerable to being taken advantage of
Disclosure that you feel crazy and of what made you “crazy”
Stand off
Playing chicken

Trust issues
The exposure of lying
No recollection
Blame others
Gullibility
Weathervane – constantly changing direction/opinion
Jealous demands and demonstrations of jealousy
Demands for loyalty and demonstrations of loyalty
Outbursts of honesty

Truth
Name calling
Fake news
Denial
Open disloyalty and covert disloyalty
Covert loyalty and open loyalty
Questions of why after x number of years did so and so come out with that truth/accusation?

Many of these themes have to do with the clash of the Rooster with the Rabbit. On the Luo pan (Chinese compass) they are opposite each other. If you’ve got a Rabbit or a Rooster in your chart* the themes above may resonate more than for others. The Rooster branch is also associated with both a craving for attention and a short attention span. In a Rooster year we are all more inclined to bring attention through our words. The question is – is it the kind of attention you wanted?

Most conversations I’ve participated in this year have revolved around these core ideas whether or not they were spoken of openly. I am usually fairly perceptive about others’ opinions, but this year I’ve found myself surprised by my lack of discernment. Where I thought there was common ground it had either fallen away or was never there in the first place. While following my own path I had assumed that the people in my life had been learning the same lessons. Maybe they thought the same way about me. It’s been very helpful to dispel this illusion. I’ve found I can still love and accept if that is my choice.

If I was to create my own summary for the Fire Rooster pillar it would say “There will be explosions. First react, then respond”. The feelings and the reaction are just as important as what you do with them. What you choose to do is the response. Doing nothing is a choice too. Take that however it hits you.

*Contact me if you’d like to know what your Four Pillars are.