Your fortune for the year

It's November and I should be starting on the chart for next year but right now I'm completely occupied with updating the personal Ba Zi charts for next year.

What is a Ba Zi chart? You might also know it from it's more common name - 8 pillars of destiny. It's a Chinese system of 'fortune telling.' You basically study a person by assigning an element to the date, time, month and year you were born and you then study the inter-play of these elements.

The main aim is to balance out the chart because like most Eastern philosophies, it is believed that an unbalanced chart is the root of all problems. One way the chart can be balanced is through the environment that surrounds the person i.e. Feng Shui. [When I was younger, I went to a house in Kuala Lumpur with a huge swimming pool in the front. I later learnt that it was there for Feng Shui purposes. The person was weak wood so it needed water to feed and balance the person's chart.]

Right before Chinese New Year, most Chinese, be it in China, Hong Kong or Singapore, will go to their Feng Shui masters and ask for their 'fortune' for the coming year. What basically happens here is that we try and understand the elements the upcoming year brings and try to assess the impact of this on a person's personal chart. From this study, we can tell if next year will be a good one for a person in terms of career opportunities and money or even if it's a good year for romance.

It's not all good news though. It's also about the precautions one needs to take. One chart I came across for a male showed that he needed to be careful with his money this year as there might be a younger woman coming into his life and stealing his money. So the advice to him was to be careful of 'relationships' for the upcoming year.

For some people, if the next year is going to be especially bad for them, we tell them to lay low. Don't make any big decisions. Don't change jobs, don't take big risks, don't buy a property or invest large some of money. The year is against you.

Thank god for all the charts that I'm doing now, next year seems to be very good. Even for me. Yay!

JULY - A MONTH OF VIOLENCE & ACCIDENTS

It’s been a horrifying July. It’s been a month of accidents, violence, natural calamities and lots of death. I can't recall in recent times so many accidents and deaths all happening so close to one another. What is it about July 2014?

2013 WATER SNAKE FORECAST PART II

So how are the New Year preparations coming along? House cleaned? New clothes bought? Pineapple tarts, love letters all stocked up? We're having reunion dinner at my friend's place tonight. I can't wait to dig in to her Kong Bak Pau but that's for later. The question everyone's been asking is how's 2013 going to affect them? What's good for them? Where's good for them? And here my friends are the answers.

House on the motorway in China

Did you guys read about this house?

When it was first reported, they said the owners of the flat (an elderly couple) refused to sell their house and land so the government built the road around it. I remember thinking there's no way they would be able to hold on to this and true enough, they've capitulated and sold the house and land.

If you think of the house as a hill on a piece of land and the roads built around as a fast flowing river, what basically happens is that the river will slowly wear down the land, making it smaller and smaller and the hill would slowly erode as well. If this was a small, side road, the story would have been quite different but it is a motorway (a strong, ferocious water flow).

It's good that he sold the flat. To be situated right in the centre of things like that is precarious and makes the house very vulnerable. You want to live in a place with strong foundations, not something which makes you feel you are under siege. The inhabitants of the house would probably have fallen ill and finances would have taken a beating. Not something you would want if you were an elderly couple.   

Why is it always raining?



Do you remember my 2012 forecast? I mentioned that it was going to be a very, very WET year with lots and lots of flooding. 
bit.ly/Nj3lqX

And boy or boy, has it been a wet year. In early 2012, Queensland experienced flash flooding with roads and airports needing to be closed. For the UK, 2012 was a record year for rainfall as well. I remember watching in disbelief as weeks of relentless rain turned into months of relentless rain. Washout summer took on a WHOLE NEW meaning. So why so much of rain and worse, flooding in 2012?

Properties around the Broadway Market Lock

I was walking around the lock near Broadway market the other day and someone remarked that the people living around here must be rich as they are all near water. 

Most important cities (actually, a lot of capital cities if you think about it) have a river running through them. To a city, a river represents life - it's from here that trade, merchants and wealth come from. Not surprisingly then, a body of water is associated with wealth in Feng Shui. Water has other important functions as well but most of the time if you are trying to boost wealth in a property, one of the best ways to achieve this is through water.

But not all bodies of water are the same. Some are 'good' water and some are 'bad' water. This is usually determined by the type of water feature and also where it is located. So what about those living near the Broadway Market lock? Will the lock bring wealth?

Example of House with good Feng Shui structure

Image courtesy of freshome.com

So what's a house with good Feng Shui? It's hard to come across houses these days that seem to conform to classical Feng Shui principles but hey, just saw this on a blog. It's in Bukit Timah, Singapore.

The house is very symetrical and nestled by it's surroundings giving it a very strong foundation. The tall trees lining the edge of the house is also protective and very auspicious for the partriach of the property. There is also a lot of space at the back of the house which helps to store energy. There's no point in grabbing good energy if you can't store it.

But what I really like about this is the pool. It is a good size, not too overwhelming for the property and the glass windows at the back make it easy for the house to grab this water energy. Hopefully, the water is located in the correct direction (avoid having water in the West, Northwest and Southwest sectors of the property).

Protecting your job

Image courtesy of http://www.learning3pointzero.com/

A friend was just telling me that a couple of her husband's colleagues were let go on a Monday, this was after they worked the whole weekend on a deal. It sounds really inhumane and yet, this is a reality for a lot of people right now - working flat out with your fingers crossed that you are not going to be the next to go. 

The usual question I get is, is there anything "Feng Shui-wise" they can do to protect their jobs? Here are some general things that you can do:

Chinese Zodiac Signs for 2012

When I was young, I always marvelled at how majestic sounding the English Zodiac signs were compared to the Chinese ones. You had the twins of Gemini, the water-bearer, Aquarius and even the fish was called Pisces. They sounded so mystical and grandiose. THEN you have the Chinese Zodiac signs - very Asian, very practical. No mysterious names. The rat is just a rat. And the pig is, wait for this ... a pig. It reminds me of the very creative names of the Hall of Residences at NTU. You guessed it - Hall 1, Hall 2, Hall 3, etc

Image courtesy of buzzle.com

What should I do in 2012?

All-wallpaper-hd.blogspot.com

It's that time of the year when some Feng Shui practitioners start talking about enhancers, remedies and cures for 2012 Flying Stars. You might hear about hanging mandalas to ward off bad energy or wind chimes to blow away sick energy.


Classical Feng Shui doesn't operate that way unfortunately. If there is sick energy in your room for that year, there is sick energy in your room for that year. If you don't want to be affected by the sick energy, shift rooms. If you can't shift rooms, then you better hope that this is a good year for you. Otherwise, too bad - the sick energy is going to affect you. And all you can do is try and avoid spending too much time in that room and take care of your health.

Yes, I know, very harsh. But it makes sense though. Feng Shui reads and interprets energy but it doesn't have the power to make energy 'disappear'. It's like someone who reads the weather. He can tell you if there is a storm approaching when you are at sea but he won't be able to give you a fan to blow the storm away.  




So what are the rooms you need to avoid in 2012? Ranked in order:

1. Southeast
2. Northeast
3. North

If your bedroom or office desk falls in these rooms, please try and change rooms if you have the chance to do so. Also, DON'T START construction in these areas if you are renovating your property. Begin the construction elsewhere and gradually bring it to these areas.


If you can't change your office or bedroom though (like me), here's what you can do to try and minimize the effect:

• Try and avoid spending too much time in these rooms
• Try to shift your bed or desk to other sectors within your room (e.g. the eastern sector of your room)
• Keep the room quiet and don't introduce any red colours in the room in terms of paint or furnishings

If you are female and trying to conceive, it is also best to avoid sleeping in or spending too much time in a southwest room this year.


Rooms to occupy


Image courtesy of imagejuicy.com


To tap into money/career energy present next year, try and locate your office to an East or West room or try and shift your desk to face these two directions. Try to spend as much time within these rooms in your home or office as well.
Placing four Chinese bamboo plants in the east of your property will also encourage the career and money energy to flourish.


Stocks
Petroleum stocks will prove to be quite volatile but agricultural, dairy, vegetation stocks should prove strong.




Career and business
The money energy for next year is in the East. If there is a business opportunity in the East, go for it. Next year, job opportunities will be hard to come by as well and if you are considering moving abroad for more opportunities, the East would be the place to consider as well. 

A Feng Shui Forecast for 2012*

Yes, it's the time of the year again. A new year, new beginnings, a clean slate. Don't know about you but I'm really looking forward to 2012, the year of the water dragon. On a personal level, 2011 was not the best year for me. 2012 looks more promising and I can't wait for it to begin.

Lots of people will ask me why I'm sending out the forecast now and not during Chinese New Year in January. In the Chue school of Feng Shui, it is believed the new year is born after the time of greatest yin - the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice. So according to our school, the energy of the water dragon starts at 13:18 hours on 22 December.

Just a note about Feng Shui forecasts. Like a person's BaZi, it is not a prediction of what will happen. Rather what we are doing is reading the energy present. The final outcome is dependent on the energy of the year plus people's own efforts and mindset as well. The principle of Feng Shui has always been, learn the energy and make the best use of it. 



Image by artbackwash.blogspot.com

So what does the energy of the year of the water dragon look like? 

If we look at the water dragon pillar, the dragon branch crashes the water stem which is not the most auspicious. You always want a branch to support the stem. So there is a bit of a clashing energy there. And when you examine the BaZi of 2012, two other stems are being drained. Only one pillar is supported. This is an indication of unclear energy. 

The other significant feature is that there is A LOT of water in the chart but absolutely no fire. Fire connotes action, power.  To put it in perspective, if a person's BaZi lacks fire, it's usually an indication of a lazy person - a couch potato. 

Using the Chue Yik method, again you see a very yin hexagram with no fire. And it's a clashing hexagram which also points to a lot of domestic conflicts and disasters.



SO what does this all mean? 

1. Economically, it doesn't look like there will be much progress in the world stage. We will still pretty much be in recession
2. Politically, there will still be a lot of turmoil. There is a distinct lack of leadership and people are unhappy and they will agitate and want a change (and more money). The governments aren't going to be in for an easy time. This will most likely take place in the West or the Northwest countries or the Western and Northwestern parts of a country
3. It's a very wet chart. There will be a lot of rain with instances of flooding. There will be a higher chance of flooding in October, August and December 

It'll be a wet, wet, wet year

So there's an overview for 2012. Yes, it does seem dire but now that we know the energy for the year, what are the best things we can do for 2012? Watch out for my next blog where I outline some of the actions that we can take.

* This forecast is based on the analysis we did under Grandmaster Chan's tutelage in his 2012 predictions class but it contains my own interpretations as well  

    

Don't buy a house this year

In Singapore, or even in Asia, its not uncommon for people to consult an astrologer about which year they should get married, when they should buy a house, start a new business or even name their baby. I grew up around this and I find nothing weird about this. It never occurred to me how strange this could sound to some people until I TRIED to advise my European friends on such things based on their Ba Zi chart.

And yes, the TRIED in CAPS as the resistance I faced was immense. Most don't get the concept but more importantly, most don't like the idea as well. Why should a key decision of life be dictated by someone else? It does come across as quite disempowering and I have to admit, sometimes in Asia, this can be taken to the extreme. I've seen people who will not and sometimes even cannot do anything without a consultation with their astrologer.

But the idea of disempowerment stems from a misunderstanding of this concept. Lets say you would like to ask the boss for a raise. Obviously, you can ask him any time you want to but wouldn't you mostly like wait until he or she is in a good and 'giving' mood? Preferably at a time when he or she thinks you have done a good job on a recent project. This not only makes asking for a raise easier but also increases the chance of you getting it!

We've all heard nightmare stories about closing a deal on a house. You think you have the house, then you can gazumped, the seller withdraws the offer, after exchanging the contracts you realize there is substantial damage to the property, etc. And yet we meet people who have negotiated and exchanged contracts smoothly with no drama at all. And I think that's the difference a good or bad period makes.

A Ba Zi reading enables a Feng Shui practitioner to study and tune in to the rhythm of your life and to gauge the favourable and unfavourable time periods to make certain decisions. You can buy a house anytime but if you do so in a period that's favourable for you, there will be less of a struggle and honestly, can't we all do with a little of that?

Salt to taste

A phrase you will come across frequently in most recipes. The amount of salt to be added is never specified as it varies from dish to dish or person to person.

I am not really a fan of salt so I never add too much to the dishes I cook. The last time I cooked a pot of chicken curry for my friends, one of them tasted it and promptly proceeded to pour in the contents of half a bottle of soy sauce. Yes, he’s THAT annoying but that’s not my point here. 

Adding salt to a dish is a bit like what Feng Shui practitioners do.

A good cook tastes a dish first before adding the salt. If a dish is already too salty, you wouldn’t add more salt to it. Instead you’d be looking at adding cream or even more water to take off the edge. But if there’s very little taste, you would up the salt content by, oh, I don’t know, pouring in some soy sauce perhaps.

Houses and people are the same. Some houses are stubborn – people living in such houses would find it hard to introduce changes in their life. Other houses are too yang – those living here always complain that life is never still. Something is always happening. While you would try and stir things up in the former, you’d want to create a more settled energy for the latter property.

Some people are hot-tempered. You don’t want them sleeping in a red-coloured room which is going to only add to the fire that is already in their charts. Some are just lazy and it’s important that their houses are not overly damp or dark which will hardly serve to energize them.

Feng Shui, like cooking is an active almost alchemistic (is there such a word?) process. You take what you have and you try and balance it, keeping in mind what you are trying to achieve. Which is why when I read certain books and they say things like to get a husband put a rose quartz crystal near your bed stand as you sleep or to get a windfall, ring a bell three times around your work area, it troubles me.

No one would ever say for the perfect chicken stew, always put in 3 tablespoons of salt because it just doesn’t work that way. You need to taste the dish, understand it and then add just the right amount of salt to taste.

What's Feng Shui got to do with Mickey Mouse?

Did you know that the animators who created Mickey Mouse deliberately put gloves on his hands? This was to prevent children from being turned off / scared by his claws. He is a mouse after all and mice do have sharp little claws. Its really hard to imagine soft loveable Mickey with these harsh appendages. 

Mickey Mouse image is copyright of Disney

When we see claws, we think vermin or even evil - think of the fingers of the wicked witch. Sharpness and pointedness make us uneasy and we associate it with unsavoury elements. Even the nose of the witch is ... you guessed it, sharp and pointed. It's almost like we have an unconscious aversion to anything sharp and pointy and we've used these elements to signify evil.

It could be because we know sharp, claw-like objects have the ability to injure us and over the years we have developed a uncanny ability to be distrustful of anyone or anything with these features. 

And this is where Feng Shui comes in. One of the key principle of Feng Shui is always to ensure that no sharp corners or objects are pointing right at you as you sleep or work. Think of them of knives being pointed at you. Some people might say that these things don't affect you but I think our body responds to these features without us even being aware of it. There might be a feeling of unease, not being able to concentrate or even disturbed sleep. Sometimes this can even manifest as illness and that could easily be a result of your body being in a heightened state of alert all the time without you even knowing about it. Perhaps, that's why most of us while thinking the Gherkin is cool, feel uneasy about The Shard. There's just something in us that makes us mistrust these shapes. 

So watch out for these corners. Ensure nothing like that is aimed towards you while you need to rest or concentrate fully. If you can't move out the way, try and shield them with plants or put a large vase of water with cut plants to provide some barrier.