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.