Category: Feng Shui

Wood Snake 乙巳 2025 Feng Shui Basics

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

It’s time to start planning for for the year of the Wood Snake and moving things around to receive (or not receive) the new energies that are coming in 2025. How will this energetic shift affect you and your home? The information in this post will help you to set up and it is accurate, however, it’s somewhat generic because it doesn’t address the specifics of your situation. If you want to go beyond the basics, the application of Feng Shui must be tailored to you and your home.

As the energy changes, some of the areas of your house that you have been avoiding or keeping quiet in 2024 will be more favorable now. In 2025 the energy of the south is safer, while the energy of the east is a bit compromised. When is it time to clean and rearrange furniture and things? There are multiple markers for the start of any year – it’s not as if a switch is flipped and we’re in new territory.

The first marker that I observe is the winter solstice. The second marker (sometimes third) is the Lunar New Year. This year, the third marker is the Solar New Year at beginning of spring in early February. All this to say – January is often the best time to do a deep clean of the entire house without any negative effects. If you’ve already missed that window, you can still make changes. It will help if you use good timing. Let me know if you need help with that.

This next part is a bit complicated so skip down to the end for 2025 Feng Shui guidelines if that’s how you scroll.

太歲 Tai Sui, 歲破 Sui Po and 三煞 San Sha

The Year of the Wood Snake opens on February 3rd at 22:10. The Tai Sui or Year Boss is in the SE where the 巳 Snake is located because the Snake is the boss. Jupiter is in the NW and the Tai Sui sits opposite, mirroring.

Finally moving out of a Wood phase, we are entering a big season of Fire, meaning we have three years of Fire energy from 2025-2027. The Snake, Horse and Sheep branches (also years, months, days) relate to Fire and the season of summer. In a cycle of 12 years, we are beginning summer.

If you’re not already familiar with the concept of the Tai Sui you can think of it as the ruling energy of the year. In some years people born under the same Animal branch as the year are considered to be offending the Tai Sui. The Snake is not one of these signs.

Directly opposite the Snake in the SE, is the Pig in the NW. That means in 2025 the Pig is called the Sui Po or “year breaker”. The Pig is considered to be in opposition to the Snake. Their relationship is a clash, meaning they bring changes to each other.

Energetically the Snake sends force towards, pressures or stimulates the Pig. The clash between Pig and Snake is a clash of Water and Fire. To put it in the broadest terms, this clash might involve emotions, accusations, lies, truths, transportation and loss of mobility.

If you’re feeling worried about the clash because there’s a Snake or Pig in your BaZi, book a BaZi reading with me and I will help you find practical and applicable solutions. I can help you to navigate safely, mitigate and sometimes take advantage of a clash.

The San Sha or Three killings in 2025 covers the entire area between Tiger (NE3) and Dragon (SE1). The Rabbit, centering at 90 degrees in the east, is in a difficult position on the compass but we can’t ignore that Tiger might be even more in need of help. The energy of the San Sha this year is Metal element (west) vs Wood element (east).

Lest you get lost in the technical stuff, it’s important to remember that Feng Shui is all about relationships. You can take that perspective and work with Feng Shui every day. Stick to first principles: Wu Xing and yin/yang. If you want to know how the energy moves around, it’s elemental and elementary.

The annual calculations are expressions of the relationships of elements. They point out the Tai Sui, Sui Po, and San Sha: the relationships that may need more of your attention in any given year. You can think of them as representations of roles we may be called to play.

Flying Stars

Flying Stars is a system used to identify energy pockets within a building, city, country…The base energy for each area is indicated by the traditional Lo Shu where Star 5 is in the center. This arrangement is also called the Magic Square, partly because the numbers add to 15 in any direction.

Lo Shu or Magic Square

There are different layers to consider when working with Flying Stars. In addition to these base stars which are static, each house has it’s own collection of Flying Stars, which some would say is similar to a natal chart. The best results come when you’ve understood and dealt with these static and underlying energies first. There are dynamics in their interactions but they do not change.

Once you’ve done that, you can play with the dynamic stars, the ones that move and change. Those would be the stars of the time Period (currently we are in the 9 Fate), the annual stars, monthly Flying Stars and daily Flying Stars which you may be familiar with if you read my daily forecasts.

Each star corresponds to a trigram from the Later Heaven Bagua and so each one also has an elemental nature. Some stars naturally pair up. Some stars play well together and some don’t. Some are helpful and some not so much. I won’t try to explain it more here.

In 2025, we have the 2 Star in the center, setting the tone of the year. The map below will tell you the locations of the annual Flying Stars within your home for the Wood Snake year. They will interact with the monthly Flying Stars in a guest/host relationship. This interaction of the annual and monthly stars is used for Feng Shui, forecasting and other forms of divination.

Annual Flying Stars for Wood Snake 2025

As a general practice, we want to avoid the annual Wu Huang or 5 yellow.

Guidelines for 2025

  • Don’t face SE, meaning the Snake who is centered at 150 degrees. You can spend time in the SE location of your house but don’t face that direction.
    Remember that the Dragon is in the SE too, centering at 120 degrees. It’s a fine line! If your head points SE when you are in bed, you’ll want to consider changing that. Having your back to the SE is fine. Be precise to avoid having your back to the E.
  • Avoid Rabbit (E2) and the areas directly adjacent. The scope of the San Sha covers Tiger-Dragon. Don’t have your back to the San Sha (east).
  • The energy of the Wu Huang or 5 Yellow is in the NE this year indicating volatility and upheavals. Now that we are in Period 9, in 2025 Star 5 is paired with Flying Star 3 which is the star of arguments and lawsuits. Avoid construction or other noisy activations in the NE.
  • Star 2 in the center is still a little tricky, meaning it could bring goodies or illness; probably minor illness but I don’t recommend you do activations there without some knowledge and/or guidance. Make sure you know the underlying Flying Stars of your home before you try this.
  • If your house faces SE or NW I recommend you have a Feng Shui survey of your home and mitigate any potential issues, especially if a door is located in the SE, E or NE.

Consult a professional if you want to activate or make major changes to either NE, E, or SE locations.

These locations and directions can be fine tuned further by applying Ba Zhai (8 House or 8 Mansions). In Period 9 I think East Group people may have an advantage over West group when it comes to helpful orientations.

When to Act

Moving things around the house, changing rooms, and placing Feng Shui cures and enhancements is best done between 冬至 Dong Zhi or winter solstice, and 立春 Li Chun which is usually around February 4th or 5th. The exact dates vary slightly depending on the year. The winter solstice occurs December 21st 2024 at 17:20. The Solar New Year or Li Chun begins February 3rd 2025 at 22:10.

You can maximize the results of your changes and adjustments by using date selection. If you want help with that, I invite you to subscribe to my monthly newsletter or, contact me to find a date that’s specific to you and your house. If you’d like to learn how to track these timings yourself, I recommend a copy of my Wood Snake 2025 Almanac.

If you’re familiar with applying Feng Shui you can use the information in this article to set up your house. You’ll also need to know your Ming Gua to make the most of the energy of 2025. Just compare your good directions with the “rules”. And of course I’m available if you want to enhance or mitigate rather than simply avoid.

Wood Snake 乙巳 2025 – Your Good Directions

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

Ming Gua, East and West Life Groups

The Ming Gua is a number that is calculated using gender and birthday in order to employ the Feng Shui method called 8 House, 8 Mansions or Ba Zhai. Each number corresponds to a trigram and an element in the Later Heaven Bagua. The Ming Gua is also known as the Natal Trigram, Destiny Number or Life Star number.

Do you know your Ming Gua? Send me your birthday and gender and I can tell you. Once you know your number you will be able to use your best directions for setting up your home and/or choosing a home that fits you.

The Guas fall into two categories in this system: East Life Group and West Life Group. If you already know your number, you can use the chart below to figure out which group you belong to.

East Life Group Numbers West Life Group Numbers
1 2
3 6
4 7
9 8

Your Ming Gua indicates the Life Group and the good directions for you. Each person has four, and they support in different ways, but all are considered beneficial. Use them to set up your desk, bed, computer, tv and other furnishings. If you’re remodeling your kitchen or moving house, you can use Ba Zhai to set up your stove as well. This requires a higher level of expertise.

Good Directions for East Group Good Directions for West Group
E W
N NW
S SW
SE NE

N.B. When you are lying in bed you are facing the direction your head is pointing. Think of your body as the compass needle.

What I haven’t addressed here is that there are also four house orientations that are appropriate for each Life Group. Do you know if your house supports your Ming Gua? Email me if you’re curious about your house.

And one more thing – you’re going to need to know if any of your four good directions are not so good in 2025. You may want to rule some out temporarily. This will apply to both East and West Group people. I’ll be explaining that in my next post.

Wood Dragon 甲辰 2024 Feng Shui Basics

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

If you’re setting up your life to work with the energy of the Year of the Wood Dragon, here are some things you may want to think about regarding the shift in your own home. You can use this information to set up, but keep in mind that while it’s accurate and helpful, by nature it’s generic. If your purpose is to go beyond the basics, the application of Feng Shui must be tailored to you and your home.

There will be areas that you will want to keep quiet in the Wood Dragon year. Since it begins in February, January is almost always a great time to do a deep clean of the house and avoid negative effects. If you’ve already missed that window, you can still make changes. It will help if you use good timing.

This next part is a bit complicated so skip down to the guidelines if that’s how you scroll.

Tai Sui, Sui Po and San Sha

The Year of the Wood Dragon opens on February 4th at 16:37. The Tai Sui or Year Boss is in the SE where the Dragon is located because the Dragon is the boss.

We’ve been in a Wood phase since 2022, meaning the Tai Sui has moved from NE to E and now to the SE. The Tiger, Rabbit and Dragon branches (or months, or years) are associated with Wood and the season of spring. In a cycle of 12 years, we are in the final stage of spring.

If you’re not already familiar with the concept of the Tai Sui you can think of it as the ruling energy of the year. In some years people born under the same Animal branch as the year are considered to be offending the Tai Sui. The Dragon, which is one of the four self clash signs, is one of them. It’s good to be a Dragon in a Dragon year but not as good as it is to be a Rooster.

Directly opposite the Dragon in the NW is the Dog. That means in 2024 the Dog is called the Sui Po or “year breaker”. The Dog is considered to be in opposition to the Dragon. Their relationship is a clash.

Energetically the Dragon sends force towards, pressures or stimulates the Dog. The clash between Dog and Dragon is a clash of two yang Earths. To put it in the broadest terms, it involves land, borders, boundaries and disputes about such matters. Differences of opinion are magnified.

If you’re feeling worried about the clash because there’s a Dragon or Dog in your BaZi, booking a BaZi reading can provides practical and applicable solutions. I can help you to navigate safely, mitigate and sometimes take advantage of a clash.

The San Sha or Three killings in 2024 covers the entire area between Snake (SE3) and Sheep (SW1). The Horse, centering at 180 degrees in the south, is in a difficult position on the compass. The energy of the San Sha this year is Water element (north) vs Fire element (south).

Lest you get lost in the technical stuff, it’s important to remember that Feng Shui is all about relationships. Stick to first principles. If you want to know how the energy moves around, it’s elemental and elementary.

The annual calculations are expressions of the relationships of elements. They point out the Tai Sui, Sui Po, and San Sha: the relationships that may need more of your attention in any given year. You can think of them as roles we may be called to play.

Guidelines for 2024

  • Don’t face SE, meaning the Dragon who is centered at 120 degrees. You can spend time in the SE location of your house but don’t face that direction. If your head points SE when you are in bed, you’ll want to consider changing that. Having your back to the SE is fine.
  • Avoid Horse (S2) and the areas directly adjacent. The scope of the San Sha covers Snake-Sheep. Don’t have your back to the San Sha. The 7 Star is also in the S indicating potential illness.
  • You may be able to tap into the energy of the Wu Huang or 5 Yellow which is in the W this year by using Feng Shui methods or by being there. Now that we are in Period 9, in 2024 Star 5 is paired with Flying Star 2 which is becoming more timely. Avoid construction or other noisy activations in the W.

Consult a professional if you want to activate or make major changes to either SE, SW, S or W locations.

  • If your house faces SE or NW I recommend you have a Feng Shui survey of your home and mitigate any potential issues, especially if a door is located in the W or S.

These locations and directions can be fine tuned further by applying Ba Zhai (8 House or 8 Mansions). In Period 9 I think East Group people may have an advantage over West group when it comes to helpful orientations.

Flying Stars

Flying Stars is a system used to identify energy pockets within a building, city, country…The base energy for each area is indicated by the traditional Lo Shu where Star 5 is in the center:

SE S SW
4 9 2
E 3 5 7 W
8 1 6
NE N NW

In addition to these base stars which are static, each house has it’s own collection of Flying Stars, which some would say is similar to a natal chart. The best results come when you’ve understood and dealt with these static and underlying energies first.

Once you’ve done that, there are the annual stars which move each year to play with. There are also monthly Flying Stars and daily Flying Stars which you may be familiar with if you read my daily forecasts.

Each star corresponds to a trigram from the Later Heaven Bagua and so each one also has an elemental nature. Some stars naturally pair up. Some stars play well together and some don’t. Some are helpful and some not so much. I won’t try to explain it more here.

In 2024, we have the 3 Star in the center, setting the tone of the year. The map below will tell you the locations of the annual Flying Stars within your home for the Wood Dragon year. They will interact with the monthly Flying Stars in a guest/host relationship. This interaction of the annual and monthly stars is used for Feng Shui, forecasting and more.

Annual Flying Stars for Wood Dragon 2024

SE S SW
2 7 9
E 1 3 5 W
6 8 4
NE N NW

As a general practice, we want to avoid the annual Wu Huang or 5 yellow, however, this year could be different as I mentioned above.

When to Act

Moving things around the house, changing rooms, and placing Feng Shui cures and enhancements is best done between 冬至 Dong Zhi or winter solstice, and 立春 Li Chun which is usually around February 4th or 5th. The exact dates vary slightly depending on the year.

You can maximize the results of your changes and adjustments by using date selection. If you want help with that, I invite you to subscribe to my monthly newsletter or, contact me to find a date that’s specific to you and your house.

If you’re familiar with applying Feng Shui you can use the information in this article to set up your house. You’ll also need to know your Ming Gua to make the most of the energy of 2024. Just compare your good directions with the “rules”. And of course I’m available if you want to enhance or mitigate rather than simply avoid.

Wood Dragon 甲辰 2024 Your Good Directions

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

Ming Gua, East and West Life Groups

The Ming Gua is a number that is calculated using gender and birthday in order to employ the Feng Shui method called 8 House, 8 Mansions or Ba Zhai. Each number corresponds to a trigram and an element in the Later Heaven Bagua. The Ming Gua is also known as the Natal Trigram, Destiny Number or Life Star number.

Do you know your Ming Gua? Send me your birthday and gender and I can tell you. Once you know your number you will be able to use your best directions for setting up your home and/or choosing a home that fits you.

The Guas fall into two categories in this system: East Life Group and West Life Group. If you already know your number, you can use the chart below to figure out which group you belong to.

East Life Group Numbers West Life Group Numbers
1 2
3 6
4 7
9 8

Your Ming Gua indicates the Life Group and the good directions for you. Each person has four, and they support in different ways, but all are considered beneficial. Use them to set up your desk, bed, computer, tv and other furnishings. If you’re remodeling your kitchen or moving house, you can use Ba Zhai to set up your stove as well. This requires a higher level of expertise.

Good Directions for East Group Good Directions for West Group
E W
N NW
S SW
SE NE

N.B. When you are lying in bed you are facing the direction your head is pointing. Think of your body as the compass needle.

What I haven’t addressed here is that there are also four house orientations that are appropriate for each Life Group. Do you know if your house supports your Ming Gua? Email me if you’re curious about your house.

And one more thing – you’re going to need to know if any of your four good directions are not so good in 2024. You may want to rule some out temporarily. I’ll be explaining that in my next post.

Water Rabbit Year Part 3: Wild Speculations

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

In the past, using Wild Speculations in the title of a year forecast might have been too over the top even for me, but not this year. Who ever thought there could be more wild conspiracy theories than there were in 2020? We should have asked the Water Rabbit of 2023. Our taxed brains would like to make sense of all this chaos, to see a pattern or to impose one. I want to see it too. Let’s take a look. I think you’ll find my speculations are not that wild after all.

This is the year of the Rabbit Running out of the Forest. I imagine this means coming out into a more open terrain. It’s easier to see what’s coming, but it’s also easier for predators to see you. We’ve been in darkness for some time now, and it’s darker in the forest, so let’s move into the light even if it feels a bit risky. We can find strength in numbers.

It’s a Water Rabbit year, also known as the year of the Black Rabbit. That’s because sometimes the color of Water is black. Keep that straight. The Lap Yum (shorthand description) is Gold Foil or Bronze Mirror. You’ll notice both of these names have to do with Metal and the “foil” seems to indicate continuing inflation. Money is weak. I’m still looking for the silver lining. It won’t have to do with money.

Rabbit Year or Cat Year?

Since the Water Rabbit might be a Black Rabbit, and some people would call it a Cat, or a Black Cat, it’s got me thinking: what if the Water Rabbit is actually a mink? After all, there is speculation that mink farms may have been involved in spreading Covid into human populations in 2020. That was a year of the Ingratitude Penalty, as is this year. We’re still thinking about what we might want to do about 2020 and what happened that year. We’re still talking about the origins of Covid, every day.

I’ve been observing the Cat vs Rabbit debate, and the “long cat” memes on Twitter, and I have to say, maybe the mink is the bridge to understanding the confusion between Rabbit and Cat, at least in this year. Minks are water rabbits. They don’t live in the water, but they like to live near it and they are comfortable with the cold. Of note, the mink seems to be one of the first mammals this year to be infected by H5N1, also known as bird flu. This was first noted in January I think, so I definitely relate this to the clash of Rabbit and Rooster.

Bird Clashed

In a Rabbit year, it’s the Rooster that is clashed. This is not to say that Wood can defeat Metal, but in this year, Metal will want to pack a lunch. Maybe your Metal is strong, maybe it’s not.

For divination, whatever system you are using, start with common sense and symbolism. In terms of daily life, things we might expect from the clash of Rabbit and Rooster seem pretty obvious.

I mean, the Eagles were never going to win the Super Bowl.

Here are some other examples:

  • Gas Lighting
  • Bird flu
  • “Euthanasia” of bird populations to prevent spread of disease
  • Promotion of MAID as an alternative to lack of care for humans
  • Egg shortages and/or inflated prices of eggs
  • Inflation
  • Criminalization of books
  • Fertility becomes currency; growth market for surrogate mothers
  • Sex workers, trans people, LGBTQ+ and Asian people are a focus of attacks
  • Commodification of the healthy body/brain for labor or other purposes
  • Travel systems get major overhaul due to dysfunction; people stay home
  • Trouble for business with a bird logo (!) or bird name
  • Christopher Bouzy, creator of the most robust Twitter alternative, was born in a Wood Rabbit year

There are quite a few airlines with bird logos. If you need to fly, maybe you’ll want to choose an airline without one.

Stars Go Flying

It’s a star 4 year so it will be a year of innovation and invention, led by women scientists, healers, researchers and explorers. Lunar patterns are calling for more attention than usual, matching with solar patterns and with natural events such as earthquakes. Rabbit is often associated with the Moon and yin kinds of power.

Alternative medicine practitioners will be on the leading edge of helping people with long Covid because they have already been treating it since 2020. Those who can recognize the imbalance of elements in the body don’t need a new term for diagnosis. They already know how to treat it. Chinese medicine specifically will become known for its effectiveness. Acupuncture will be instrumental in mitigating symptoms as well as restoring health to the extent that it can be restored.

Both Star 4 and the Water Rabbit agree that we are all offered to learn lessons that go deep this year. These will be lessons about ability, disability, fertility, women, rights, resources, the environment and – wind. I would think we will have more unusual wind events this year in the midwestern US. In 2023 inhaled medications will be further developed to prevent viral and other infections; an innovation in medicine involving “wind”.

I do expect more earthquakes this year than in other years, but I’m writing this a little late, am I not? We have already seen a 4.2 magnitude earthquake near Los Angeles in January and two major earthquakes in Turkey in February, a magnitude 7.8 quake and a 6.3 magnitude quake. A turkey is a bird too right? Like a Rooster.

For the US, I think there may be more earthquakes to come, maybe in March, likely off the coast of California. There are some other likely months that I won’t list here.

Regarding the PNW, where the 5 star is in the United States this year, we may also be due for some shifting plates. June suggests something, um… volcanic? Here in the upper left we also have a new trend where people regularly attack the power grid with guns. They are shooting power substations and transformers to disable them. This seems to be both an attempt to further reduce people’s domestic comforts, incite hate against certain groups by blaming them for the destruction, as well as being self sabotaging. Maybe it’s a Rooster thing? A Dog thing?

Then again, the Rabbit is just as likely to be involved with what certain people might call domestic terrorism this year. The problem with 2023 is it’s hard to say who’s the Rooster, who’s the Rabbit, and who is giving the orders. That’s an odd thing to say, but this is a year that will tempt people to try to win at any cost. Getting caught up in that energy makes us too much the same. Try to be different.

You can’t win if you don’t play.
You can’t play if you’re destroyed.

Part 1: All Roads Lead to Mom
Part 2: Little Bunny Fou Fou

Water Rabbit Year Part 2: Little Bunny Fou Fou

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

In this year of seeking acceptance and endorsement, or suffering from the lack of it, the idea or portrayal of obsessive love will be widely used as an excuse for harmful behavior. Watch for intentions that are not as sincere, pure, or straightforward as they are purported to be.

Down the Rabbit Hole

If you’re familiar with the song Little Bunny Foo Foo, maybe you’ve read the title of this post and thought I’ve made a typo, but no. I meant to write fou fou, because frankly, this year is going to be/already is crazy. This song has been stuck in my head since I started writing the Annual Animal Fortunes back in November. At first it was annoying, but then, because I find so much meaning in the strange intersections of life I asked myself, why? Why is this song so persistent right now?

As the lyrics say, Little Bunny Fou Fou is certainly showing some uncharacteristic behavior, e.g. scooping up the field mice and bopping them on their heads. Maybe you can already see where this is going. It seems that Little Bunny Fou Fou is a song about the Ingratitude Penalty – 2023 edition.

What has made this Rabbit go mad? I want to talk about March Hares marching in the streets, madness and mayhem. Okay maybe I’m being overly dramatic with mayhem (am I?), but it sounds great, doesn’t it? And after all, as the Cheshire Cat says, by now “We’re all mad here”. Why not enjoy it when you can?

I find it strange that no one has thought to identify a Gallic origin of Little Bunny Fou Fou. Surely someone has, have I missed it? How is foo foo not a corruption of fou fou? These are important questions.

When my children learned this song in kindergarten, they sang it to the tune of Alouette, a French Canadian children’s song which might be about food prep: plucking the feathers from head of a lark? In a Rabbit year, my mind immediately goes to the Rooster.

So, with Little Bunny Fou Fou, we’ve got a song about a Rabbit (Bunny Fou Fou) going against their usual nature and hurting the Rat (field mice). There’s also a fairy (Horse?) who threatens to transform the Rabbit into a “goon” if they don’t stop their bad behavior. Little Bunny Fou Fou has three chances to change. That’s it.

Incidentally, the origin of the word goon is gony, meaning a large clumsy bird. Is the fairy threatening to turn Little Bunny Fou Fou into a Rooster? That would be a fate worse than defeat or death, right? I think this is a portent of how it may be hard to tell who is the Rabbit and who is the Rooster in 2023. Maybe we’re all prepared to go to extremes to make things right, whatever that means to us.

Rabbit, Rat and Rooster are the protagonists this year. Horses too, but Horses who want longevity will play and stay under the radar. This year you can do that and still get all the attention you want.

The Ingratitude Penalty of Rat 子 and Rabbit 卯

In a Ba Zi, the Rat is called the 桃花 Tao Hua (Peach Blossom) of the Rabbit meaning they are irresistible to the Rabbit. It is said that Rabbits get into difficult situations or may be penalized in the context of their relationship with Rat. At the same time, however, the Rabbit seems to crave the Rat’s attention, no matter how badly they feel the Rat treats them. Should we blame the Rabbit for being attracted to the Rat and wanting their approval? I think not. Should the Rat be blamed for having the whip hand in this relationship? Not necessarily. What a conundrum – unless each party has the capacity to take responsibility for themselves.

The root of the problem here is a power inequity, which in a Ba Zi is called the Ingratitude Penalty. The term penalty here is a shorthand for elemental imbalance, but to be clear, we are talking about being attracted to something/someone that is inevitably going to be in a position to hurt you. Notice I didn’t say they will do it. That’s always up for discussion.

Some masters see the Penalty as a very, very bad “romance” while others see it as intergenerational conflict. I see it as the place where power inequity meets love and the possible abuses of that situation. Amor fou. The Ingratitude Penalty is about power, and plays out in the context of love or family relationships. Of course, it can happen at work too. It can happen wherever there is inequity and disregard for others capacity.

What did the Rat do that made the normally peaceful Rabbit angry enough to become fierce and bad? What does the Rabbit intend to obtain through their “bad” behavior? Revenge? Reparations? The expression amor fou carries a sense of impending doom of one or both parties. I’m hoping it doesn’t have to go that far, as much as I realize it just might.

Why now, in 2023, will there be protests regarding every kind of freedom and right that we feel we’ve lost, are losing, or never had? Why do we have to reclaim rights over our own bodies? Why do we need to revive unions? Why would there be protests in academic environments? These are all topics related to the energy of the Rabbit.

In this context of the Ingratitude Penalty, we might also think of the Rat as people who hoard wealth and resources. The Rabbit is cast in the role of everyone else. Now the Rabbit is in charge. Will we be bold enough to drive change as far as it needs to go?

It’s a Water Rabbit year, and from the Rabbit’s perspective, the Rat has gone too far, for too long. The Rat has been relying on the Rabbit to keep the peace due to their smallness, their love of nurturing and growing, and their disinterest in fighting. The Penalty is an illustration of the tension between the concept of being provided for in every way* vs having authority and using it to manage your resources.**

For a real life example of the Ingratitude Penalty, we might look to the lockdown of China’s Zero Covid Policy that began in early 2020, a 庚子 Metal Rat year. The lockdown ended on December 7, 2022 which was the start of the 壬子 Water Rat month, just before the year of the Rabbit began to phase in.

Although the original intentions may have been good, the lockdown went on too long and the regulations were too strict. People actually lost their lives because of the Zero Covid Policy. The government went too far with restrictions, but like a rebound effect, when all precautions were abandoned, the population rapidly saw high rates of infection. It was hard not to see the complete abandonment of regulations as not done out of spite for the ingratitude of the Chinese people, if you see what I’m saying. See also, USA.

The Windsor Family is another well known example of the Ingratitude Penalty, and let’s not forget, no one has been crowned yet. Unfortunately, 1948 戊子 Earth Rat Charles III is trying to kick off his reign in a year of Ingratitude Penalty, and 1947 丁丑 Fire Ox Camilla (on her second round of Covid) is along for the ride. What could go wrong?

It’s hard not to make the same mistakes your ancestors did. I wonder if Charles and Camilla have noticed that people don’t feel as enthusiastic as they used to be about the monarchy with their lives of material privilege and joy deprivation. Perhaps 2023 is not the right climate for asking people to celebrate their ancestral wealth and royal pageantry. We have “royal families” in the US too, in case you didn’t know.

In terms of date selection, I’m not sure I would have chosen the first day of summer in the Chinese calendar for the coronation, and I’ve got some ideas about where their line may fail that relate to this timing. But what do I know?

I know that we all have peace to make with family and others right now, and that’s true regardless of whether you actually have a Rabbit or a Rat in your Ba Zi. Don’t wait. Balance the power.

*I don’t think this is a possible reality.
**I think this is a possible reality.

Next up, Part 3: Wild Speculations

Water Rabbit Year Part 1 : All Roads Lead to Mom

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

Mary, Untier of Knots

A Rabbit year is one where maybe all roads lead to Mom, mothers. or concepts of mothers and mothering. The Earth is a Mother too. Maybe you’ll be thinking of your mom more than usual this year. I know I will be thinking of mine.

To put it bluntly, as a child would, I want my Mom. Moms can’t solve everything, but they can sometimes make you feel that it’s possible. I want to feel like it’s possible to figure out this big mess we’re in, don’t you?

I’m dedicating my work this year to my Mom, who passed away in 2022. She was always my biggest fan and encouraged me to explore and pursue anything I wanted to learn. Both my Grandma and my Mom were big believers in how education would change your life and, feeling the lack of formal education, they taught themselves many things beyond the domestic. They were always hungry for knowledge. Me too.

My Mom attended the county spelling bee with me as a participant, just as my Grandma did with her. She took me to the library every week until I was in middle school. She told me nothing was out of my reach, which wasn’t true, but it certainly served me better than telling me nothing was within it. I’m not saying she lied. I think she truly believed I could do anything. You know how moms can be.

My Mom gave me her belief that I could do things that no one else in my family has done, and I have. Now my children have too.

I hate it when people pretend that dead people were perfect, simply because they are dead, so I will admit that my Mom and I had our bad moments with each other too. Maybe those bad ones were just as important as the good ones, because they taught me I needed to learn how to work with my fraught emotions. It was safe to do that with her, although it was quite unpleasant. Neither one of us was good at conflict. Ultimately, we chose to become best friends and enjoyed each other in that way for many years. But our relationship wasn’t always like that. And, yes I do know that not everyone wants to be friends with their mom. I get it.

Sometimes I felt my Mom was insensitive. I think she learned to be thick skinned because so many people she loved made fun of her. They made fun of her excess of fear, and although I felt it too, I did my share of teasing along with them. I regret that. Regardless, my Mom thought I was brave and so, I was. Now I know how much my courage had to do with knowing she was always there.

Within the scope of any parent’s (or child’s) mistakes are doses of both medicine and poison. In life we will need to learn how to work with both. I don’t think my Mom was perfect but, apparently, she was just right for me. How else would I be so lucky as to be friends with my Mom in spite of our mistakes?

I miss my Mom, but I know I don’t really want her back, even though sometimes I think I do. I feel relieved that she is beyond physical suffering. I want her to be wherever she is supposed to be and I know she is everywhere now, always with me. I can feel her. It’s not my Mother that I want back, but the feeling of the beneficent Mother taking my side no matter what. The feeling that everything will be okay because She said so.

I would like that for all of us this year.

Part 2: Little Bunny Fou Fou

12 Animal Fortunes for 2023 ~ Water Rabbit Year

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

How To Use The Animal Fortunes

If you already know your Four Pillars click on the animal name in the table to go straight to your forecast. If you don’t know your Year Animal, click on your birth year. You’ll want to read the fortune for all four of your pillars. If you don’t know your Four Pillars, please ask me.

The position of each pillar will tell you how the fortune relates to your life.

Year Pillar

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

Month Pillar

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

Day Pillar
Yourself and your partner; relationship.

Hour Pillar
The innermost you, your children, future, dreams.

The interpretation of elements in a Ba Zi rests on the day stem, therefore, these forecasts cannot take into account the dynamic interaction of your particular natal chart, your elemental flow or favorable elements. Do you want to learn more about how to use your BaZi for timing and other purposes? Visit my Services page if you’re ready for a reading. I’ll be opening my schedule again in April.

Are you setting up your house for the Year of the Water Rabbit? You may also want to read about Your Good Directions in 2023 and 2023 Feng Shui Basics.

Happy New Year!

2023 Animal Fortunes

Rabbit 1939 1951 1963 1975 1987 1999 2011
Dragon 1940 1952 1964 1976 1988 2000 2012
Snake 1941 1953 1965 1977 1989 2001 2013
Horse 1942 1954 1966 1978 1990 2002 2014
Sheep 1943 1955 1967 1979 1991 2003 2015
Monkey 1944 1956 1968 1980 1992 2004 2016
Rooster 1945 1957 1969 1981 1993 2005 2017
Dog 1946 1958 1970 1982 1994 2006 2018
Pig 1935 1947 1959 1971 1983 1995 2007
Rat 1936 1948 1960 1972 1984 1996 2008
Ox 1937 1949 1961 1973 1985 1997 2009
Tiger 1938 1950 1962 1974 1986 1998 2010

Water Rabbit 癸卯 2023 Feng Shui Basics

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

If you’re preparing for the Year of the Water Rabbit, here are some things you may want to think about regarding the shift of the energy in your own home. You can use this information to set up, but keep in mind that while it’s accurate and helpful, by nature it’s generic. If your purpose is to go beyond the basics, the application of Feng Shui must be tailored to you and your home.

There will be areas that you will want to keep quiet in the Water Rabbit year. Since it begins in February, January is almost always a great time to do a deep clean of the house and avoid negative effects.

Even this general stuff is a bit complicated so skip down to the guidelines if that’s how you scroll.

Tai Sui, Sui Po and San Sha

The Year of the Water Rabbit opens on February 4th at 10:47. The Tai Sui or Year Boss is in the E where the Rabbit is located because the Rabbit is the boss.

Although the Tiger and Rabbit are associated with wood, the Rabbit is yin to the Tiger’s yang. Will it be a better year? I think it will at least be a gentler one.

If you’re not already familiar with the concept of the Tai Sui you can think of it as the ruling energy of the year. In some years people born under the same Animal branch as the year are considered to be offending the Tai Sui. I think that is true in some years, however, I don’t think that applies to the Rabbit.

Directly opposite the Rabbit in the W is the Rooster. That means in 2023 the Rooster is called the Sui Po or “year breaker”. The Rooster is considered to be in opposition to the Rabbit. Their relationship is a clash.

Energetically the Rabbit sends force towards, pressures or stimulates the Rooster. The clash between Rabbit and Rooster has the potential for jealousy, competition where winning is the only point, as well as attraction. A clash means matters regarding Rabbits and Roosters can change more easily and rapidly.

If you’re feeling worried about the clash because there’s a Rooster in your BaZi, or because there’s a Rooster in your life, booking a BaZi reading can provides practical and applicable solutions. I can help you to navigate safely, mitigate and sometimes take advantage of a clash.

The San Sha or Three killings in 2023 covers the entire area between Monkey (SW3) and Dog (NW1). The Rooster, centering at 270 degrees in the west, and the Dog are in the most difficult positions. The energy of the San Sha this year is Wood element (east) vs Metal element (west).

Lest you get lost in the technical stuff, it’s important to remember that Feng Shui is all about relationships. Stick to first principles. If you want to know how the energy moves around, it’s elemental and elementary.

The annual calculations are expressions of the relationships of elements. They point out the Tai Sui, Sui Po, and San Sha: the relationships that may need more of your attention in any given year. You can think of them as roles we may be called to play.

Guidelines for 2023

  • Don’t face E, meaning the Rabbit who is centered at 90 degrees. You can spend time in the E location of your house but don’t face that direction. If your head points E when you are in bed, you’ll want to consider changing that. Having your back to the E is fine.
  • Avoid Rooster (W2) and the areas directly adjacent. The scope of the San Sha covers Monkey-Dog. To include the location of the Wu Huang or 5 Yellow, add in the Pig. So the entire area to be avoided covers 232.5-337.5 degrees on the compass. Don’t spend time there. Avoid digging, drilling or other activations in this area. Keep it quiet.

Consult a professional if you want to activate or make major changes to either E or W locations.

  • If your house faces E or W I recommend you have a Feng Shui survey of your home and mitigate any potential issues, especially if a door is located in the W or E.

These locations and directions can be fine tuned further by applying Ba Zhai (8 House or 8 Mansions). In 2023 East Group houses and people seem to have an advantage over West Group houses and people.

Flying Stars

Flying Stars is a system used to identify energy pockets within a building, city, country…The base energy for each area is indicated by the traditional Lo Shu where Star 5 is in the center:

SE S SW
4 9 2
E 3 5 7 W
8 1 6
NE N NW

In addition to these base stars which are static, each house has it’s own collection of Flying Stars, which some would say is similar to a natal chart. The best results come when you’ve understood and dealt with these static and underlying energies first.

Once you’ve done that, there are the annual stars which move each year to play with. There are also monthly Flying Stars and daily Flying Stars which you may be familiar with if you read my daily forecasts.

Each star corresponds to a trigram from the Later Heaven Bagua and so each one also has an elemental nature. Some stars naturally pair up. Some stars play well together and some don’t. Some are helpful and some not so much. I won’t try to explain it more here.

In 2023, we have the 4 Star in the center, setting the tone of the year. The map below will tell you the locations of the annual Flying Stars within your home for the Water Rabbit year. They will interact with the monthly Flying Stars in a guest/host relationship. This interaction of the annual and monthly stars is used for forecasting and more.

Annual Flying Stars for Water Rabbit 2023

SE S SW
3 8 1
E 2 4 6 W
7 9 5
NE N NW

As a general practice, we want to avoid the annual Wu Huang or 5 yellow, so don’t spend time in the NW of your home. This is part of the San Sha this year so the instructions above have already warned about this area. Keep it as quiet as possible.

When to Act

Moving things around the house, changing rooms, and placing Feng Shui cures and enhancements is best done between 冬至Dong Zhi or winter solstice, and 立春Li Chun which is usually around February 4th or 5th. The exact dates vary slightly depending on the year.

You can maximize the results of your changes and adjustments by using date selection. If you want help with that, I invite you to subscribe to my monthly newsletter or, contact me to find a date that’s specific to you and your house.

If you’re familiar with applying Feng Shui you can use the information in this article to set up your house. You’ll also need to know your Ming Gua to make the most of the energy of 2023. Just compare your good directions with the “rules”. And of course I’m available if you want to enhance or mitigate rather than simply avoid.

Water Rabbit 癸卯 2023 Your Good Directions

Posted on by Stephanie Stewart

Ming Gua, East and West Life Groups

The Ming Gua is a number that is calculated using gender and birthday in order to employ the Feng Shui method called 8 House, 8 Mansions or Ba Zhai. Each number corresponds to a trigram and an element in the Later Heaven Bagua. The Ming Gua is also known as the Natal Trigram, Destiny Number or Life Star number.

Do you know your Ming Gua? Send me your birthday and gender and I can tell you. Once you know your number you will be able to use your best directions for setting up your home and/or choosing a home that fits you.

The Guas fall into two categories in this system: East Life Group and West Life Group. If you already know your number, you can use the chart below to figure out which group you belong to.

East Life Group Numbers West Life Group Numbers
1 2
3 6
4 7
9 8

Your Ming Gua indicates the Life Group and the good directions for you. Each person has four, and they support in different ways, but all are considered beneficial. Use them to set up your desk, bed, computer, tv and other furnishings. If you’re remodeling your kitchen or moving house, you can use Ba Zhai to set up your stove as well. This requires a higher level of expertise.

Good Directions for East Group Good Directions for West Group
E W
N NW
S SW
SE NE

N.B. When you are lying in bed you are facing the direction your head is pointing. Think of your body as the compass needle.

What I haven’t addressed here is that there are also four house orientations that are appropriate for each Life Group. Do you know if your house supports your Ming Gua? Email me if you’re curious about your house.

And one more thing – you’re going to need to know if any of your four good directions are not so good in 2023. You may want to rule some out temporarily. I’ll be explaining that in my next post.

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