February 4 2018-February 3 2019 Year of Yang Earth Dog

So how is 2018 going for you?

Hopefully it is calm and peaceful just like this fella. 

Or is it more like our friend below?

Nobody said this year was going to be easy.  Yang Earth is the Earth of the mountains, still yet powerful; unmoving yet dominant.

Here is a reminder of what the BaZi Chart for 2018 looks like.

The year pillar confirms the presence of strong Earth.  The Day Master shows Yin Fire which is strengthened by the presence of strong Wood in the month pillar.

In the Five Elements Wood and Earth are conflicting elements and even though Yang Earth is more difficult for Yang Wood to control (imagine trees trying to grow in large rocks and boulders) the struggle remains present. Fire, strengthened by Wood, controls Metal – Dog is an Earth element animal yet it remains part of the Metal season and is known as Metal Earth Dog.

With the Wealth element of Ding Fire being Metal for 2018 you may find that wealth opportunities are hard to come by this year.  This is because the only presence of Metal is buried in the Sub-Qi of the Hidden Stems in the Year Pillar.

Ok, enough of the background stuff, what exactly has been happening so far?

There is no doubting this year is proving challenging in so many ways.

There have been natural disasters in abundance and the influence of the Dog has resulted in a lot of barking between countries from West to East and vice versa.

Earlier in the year a bridge collapsed in Southeast Miami, Florida; in recent days a platform collapsed during a festival in Vigo, Northwest Spain and a bridge in Genoa, Northwest Italy collapsed.

Many parts of the world are experiencing extreme weather conditions.

Japan experienced its highest rainfall in decades during July resulting in landslides and flooding.  Australia in the Southern Hemisphere has seen drier weather than normal during its winter period resulting in parched Earth. Europe and beyond have experienced hotter temperatures that usual during the Spring and Summer seasons.

One of the biggest stories of the year thus far was the young Thai football team and their coach who, after training one night in June, went to explore one of their favourite haunts down in the Tham Luang Cave system.  This resulted in them becoming trapped by rising water following a flash flood.  After more than two weeks of searching and planning and over a period of several days the boys were brought safely to the surface with the last of them finally rescued on July 10.

This shows how the Cosmic Trinity of Heaven, Earth and Man in Feng Shui can work…Heaven produced the unexpected rainfall and resultant flood, Earth trapped but at the same time kept the boys safe, and finally Man.  The determination of the youngsters to stay focused and refuse to be overwhelmed by their ordeal and the strength, commitment and dedication of the rescuers who stuck to their task even when things were looking bleakest showed how strong the human spirit can be.

Was the arrival of the Autumn season in August going to calm things down?  Not likely!  There is a raging fire in California said to be the largest single fire in the history of California which currently shows no sign of slowing down.

Down to a personal level, there are almost six months of the year to go so it is worth a reminder.  Pay attention to the main negative sectors of the year and ensure you do not activate them.

NW1 is in the location of the Grand Duke.  Remember the Grand Duke resides each year in the location of the animal of the year.  Activating this sector of your home or office may result in misfortune befalling you by incurring the wrath of the Grand Duke.  It isn’t all bad however – you can use the Northwest which has positive Stars present for the year but sit with your back to the Grand Duke rather than facing him to receive his support.  The Dragon born (SE1) among you have the misfortune of facing the Grand Duke so remember to keep your head down and do not cause too many waves.  Do not activate SE1 as this can sometimes result in a worse outcome than activating the area of the Grand Duke.

The worst location of the year remains the North with both the dreaded 5 Yellow Earth Star and Three Killings in residence.  Earth in a Water location is never pretty.  Earth controls Water and illness can result.  If you inadvertently activate this negative area this illness could be serious.

If you want a reminder of the other negative Stars check out the annual updates for Feng Shui.

For more information on Feng Shui visit our website at www.fengshui8mansions.com.