Here’s what you need to know to get ready for the Year of the Metal Rat.
Tai Sui, Sui Po and San Sha
In the Year of the Metal Rat, which opens on December 22, 2019 at 13:04 to be exact, the Tai Sui is in the north. If you’re not already familiar with the concept of the Tai Sui you can think of it as the boss of the year. In some years people born under the same Animal sign as the year are considered to be offending the Tai Sui. In my opinion this isn’t one of them.
Seeing as how a Rat is associated with the water element, it seems fitting to say that the strongest energy of the year is akin to a firehose shooting out water from north towards the south. Being in the south on the receiving end of the firehose is an unfavorable situation.
The Animal sign opposite the Rat in the north is the Horse in the south. So for 2020 we can call the Horse the Sui Po or “year breaker”. The Horse is on the receiving end of the hose. Horses: Don’t let the metaphor freak you out. There’s so much more to this than the lowest level of understanding.
To continue with the firehose metaphor, obviously that blast of water is not just going to affect the Horse – it will also splash over to the areas on either side. The area between SE3 (Snake) and SW1 (Sheep) is called the San Sha or Three killings. I’m talking about the entire area between and including Snake and Sheep. The San Sha covers the area on the compass from 142.5-217.5 degrees.
So here are the rules:
- Don’t face north. You can spend time in the north location of your house but don’t face that direction. If your house faces north or south it would be helpful to consult a professional to evaluate your home and mitigate any potential issues.
- Don’t spend time in the south location of your house. That’s the Sui Po. Avoid as much as possible.
- Also avoid the areas directly adjacent to the south where the Horse is. That’s the San Sha. Avoid digging, drilling or other activations in this area. Keep it quiet if possible. If this is not possible, consult a professional (like me) who can recommend the proper timing.
Flying Stars for Metal Rat Year 2020
Flying Stars is a system used to identify energy pockets within a building, city, country…The base energy is the traditional Lo Shu where 5 is in the middle. In addition to the base stars which are static, there are the annual stars which move each year. 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 as it’s quite complicated.
The map below will tell you the locations of the Flying Stars within your home for the Metal Rat year.
Annual Flying Stars
| San Sha SE3-SW1 | ||||
| SE | S | SW | ||
| 6 | 2 | 4 | ||
| E | 5 | 7 | 9 | W |
| 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| NE | N | NW |
- As a general practice, we want to avoid the Wu Huang or 5 yellow, so don’t spend time in the east location of your home. Keep it as quiet as possible. Facing east is fine just don’t be in that area.
- The 7 star is in the middle (the home of base star 5) making the tai chi or center of your house another no go area for hammering, drilling or other such activations that cause disruption and noise.
I’m particularly interested to hear from people with Period 7 houses this year since I suspect the 7 in the center may make these houses more timely during 2020. What the heck is a Period 7 house? It’s a house of a certain age. Maybe. Get in touch if you want to ask about yours.
When to Act
Moving things around the house and placing Feng Shui cures and enhancements is best done between December 22nd 2019 and February 4th 2020. For best results find a good date. I recommend them in my newsletters and/or I can find one that’s tailored to you.
By using the information in this post and knowing your Ming Gua, you can probably figure out how to set up your home in a way that will help you make the most of 2020. 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.