Eternal Chaos of the Monkey Mind – Monkey Month Bulletin 2020

Auspicious Dates and Places
for
The (7^th) month of the Wood Monkey, 2020.
(09:51 7^th August to 13:12 7^th September inclusive)
in the Year of the Metal Rat.
Public Bulletin

Pi
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Stagnating
 Hexagram 12

A 2 month                                   demands cooperation and compassion.
Typical Monkey Month         tricky, a Monkey confronted with decisions.
Where to be this month:            South West, South East.
Where not to be this month:    East, North East, North.
Favoured Animals:                      Monkey, Rat, Dragon, Snake.
Especially challenged:               Tiger, Pig, Horse, Dog.
The Hexagram (above):              12. Pi Stagnating. Heaven over Earth.

                                                  Prosecco, chocolate and TV.

Special attention this Month: from September 2020 I am teaching a ten week online Foundation Course on the basics of Feng Shui. This will be taught in a small group for one hour per week. Details here: https://imperialfengshui.info/healing-your-own-space/

Summary: Be ready to be wrong-footed. And trust.

S
1       6       8
9       2       4
5       7       3

Wood Monkey

The Month of the Wood Monkey, Animal by Animal:
These generic forecasts carry different nuances dependent upon whether this Animal rules your Year, Month, Day, Hour or Life House.

Rats (1948, 60, 72, 84, 96; births in December* 11pm-1am & on certain days#). The Rat is the accomplice of the Monkey, offering strategy and articulacy but generally only in a constructive context and under the eye of the Dragon. Monkeys tend to the flaky otherwise.
Hexagram 27: the corners of the Mouth – for a 3^nd month. Getting the message?

Ox (1949, 61, 73, 85, 97; births in January*, 1-3am & on certain days#) Slightly at a distance, your word is law but not easily enforceable during the time of the anarchic Monkey.

Tiger (1950, 62, 74, 86, 98; births in February*, 3-5am & on certain days#) Time for a break. Things are getting convoluted and there are many demands upon you. Take all the time you need to respond.

Rabbit (1951, 63, 75, 87, 99; births in March*, 5-7am & on certain days#) Monkey plays tricks on you and you tend to fall for them. Don’t be bored; stay on message and on track.

Dragon (1952, 64, 76, 88, 2000; births in April* 7-9am & on certain days#) You work well with the Monkey who is almost as unruly as you are. Throw away the manual, listen to your body and your inner voices.

Snake (1941,53, 65, 77, 89; births in May*, 9-11am & on certain days#) Your nemesis and true partner, Monkey times are maddening and stimulating but they will draw reluctant candour from you both.

Horse (1942, 54, 66, 78, 90; births in June*, around midday & on certain days#) Chaotic; too much Water may leave you demotivated. Seek the Sun and your own space to explore ideas.

Sheep (1943, 55, 67, 79, 91; births in July*, 1-3pm & on certain days#) A little bereft. Enjoy your own company, revise, review, study. You’ll be stronger if you can stand it.

Monkey (1944, 56, 68, 70, 82; births in August*, 3-5pm & on certain days#) Make hay while you’re unsupervised and nobody knows the rules. But stay focused or you’ll regret the wasted time.

Rooster (1945, 57, 69, 81, 93; births in September*, 5-7pm & on certain days#) Fewer let-downs. Things settle into some sort of manageable shape finally and routine returns

Dog (1946, 58, 70, 84, 96; births in October*, 7-9pm & on certain days#) Monkey wears you out usually. Accept, rest and be.

Pig (1947, 59, 71, 83, 95; births in November*, 9-11pm & on certain days#) Last month’s gains solidify. Avoid defending the indefensible on someone else’s behalf.

* Remember Chinese Months start a little later than European ones.
# You’ll need help and/or a Chinese Calendar for this.

Eternal Chaos of the Monkey Mind
This Wood Monkey Month – a few Notes.
This is the month of the decision maker; the two characters making up Wood Monkey look like almost the same, just a single stroke of difference.. Not easy to distinguish. To many Ba Zi Masters (of either gender) this implies a need for decisions to be made. When this Pillar (ie one character on top of the other) rules in the crucial Year or Day of a Ba zi (that is, for simplicity’s sake, a Chinese Horoscope) it implies a maker of decisions. This is a month when far-reaching decisions are made.

The 7^th of August also marks a turbulent change of season. It may be 30˚ outside but today is Lap Chow, the Beginning of Autumn. The transition from Summer to Autumn, ie from Fire to Metal is technically a clash. That is to say it is explosive; events in Beirut this week will have alerted you to that already, two World Wars have started at about this time.

The Monkey is as you’d imagine, tricky. Journalists call this the “Silly Season”. Watch the headlines for “Elvis found on the Moon” or “Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster”. The Monkey is the sign of the stand-up but also of a certain deception. He or she is a bundle of laughs but that laugh may be at someone else’s expense. With their close associate the-even-trickier Snake they bring a what-you-see-is-not-what-you-get to proceedings. Xi Jinping is currently the world’s most notable Snake.

This is a 2 Month. At the centre of August’s lo shu or magic square, you’ll notice a 2, representing Kun The Mother, relationship, empowerment and the Earth herself. Pay special attention to the tai chi, the geometric heart of your space that she is visiting briefly. With each gesture of respect you are offering the same to the only world we have. Yin is referenced in the Book of Changes as “gentle and thorough but ultimately adamant” but Kun like Shiva, is both creator and destroyer. It may be that at this critical time in history we can choose. There’s a question awaiting a decision.

The Annual San Sha, Three Calamities or Three Inconveniences traditionally foul things up where they land. In 2020 they are to the South. One traditional counter is extreme yang. Which would mean attention, occupation and activity in that sector. While it shines the Sun may be taking care of this but be very gentle with the South when the rain returns. Likely consequences otherwise are unwanted revelations and subsequent embarrassment and er…inconvenience.

This month’s Hexagram from the Yi or Book of Changes is Heaven over Earth, Pi, Stagnating. Heaven rises, Earth falls, which speaks of separation, withdrawal, prosecco, ice cream and binge tv. No change there then.

Where to be in August.
Summary: gain.
South West, Accumulation: Year Star 4 Month Star: 8.
8: attention upon gain. For a spark, move here or spring clean the South Western Rooms, perhaps even orient your bed South West for now. Not for children but suits most Horses (Southern third) and Dragons (Western third). Possible finger, hand & back problems – think of your body as a tree that needs to balance enough Water with all that summer sunshine without swamping – but locating here boosts business either way.
Enhance: Water – Fire if the weather fails. Gentle fountain is good anyway.

Where not to be in August.
Summary: nasty.
North East, Wealth Star: Year Star:1; Sun (Ox NE1) Month Star: 5.
The 1 and 5 Stars are a toxic combination, said to invite a variety of nasties – mainly relating to the stomach. The solution is Wood; line the windowsill with lush plants.
Salvage: Wood: ie plants; three is ideal.
Richard Ashworth ©2020
www.imperialfengshui.info

Richard Ashworth is among the most respected Western Feng Shui Masters. He was among the pioneers of feng shui survey & analysis at a distance (now of course pretty much the only way to do it) on MySpirit Radio in the noughties. A good taster of his approach may be found on Audible at https://adbl.co/2m92Es3.You can also see him at work on tv’s Housebusters at https://bit.ly/2lJWLBl Richard has worked from Lebanon to Bermuda, in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and with stars such as Kelly Hoppen and Gillian Anderson. Unusually for a Western Master, he has addressed the Grand Masters at the International Feng Shui Conference in Singapore. Every month we send (at a modest fee) retainer clients a more comprehensive monthly bulletin than this one, covering in detail right places to be (and when) as well as helpful days Animal by Animal and much more from the Chinese calendar. Subscriptions (and further info):  sheilaashworthfengshui@gmail.com Richard Ashworth© www.imperialfengshui.info

The Yielding: Water Sheep Month 2020

Auspicious Dates and Places
for
The (6^th) month of the Water Sheep, 2020.
(23:46 6^th July to 11:26 7^th August inclusive)
in the Year of the Metal Rat.

Dun
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Yielding
Hexagram 33

A 3 month                                        invites aspiration.
The typical Sheep Month            features greater mutual involvement.
Where to be this month:             South West, North.
Where not to be this month:      West.
Favoured Animals:                        Pig, Rabbit, Sheep.
Especially challenged:                  Rat, Ox, Dragon, Snake, Rooster, Dog.
The Hexagram (above):                33. Dun Hiding. Heaven over Mountain.                                                                                           Yielding

Special attention this Month: https://bit.ly/2lGr8ZA Learn Ba Zi in 2020/21
Summary: Allow yourself to be lifted. And trust.

S
2       7       9
1       3       5
6       8       4

Water Sheep

This month’s lo shu: wu huang 5 at West; san sha West

The Yielding
Back in the day I did quite a lot of feng shui work in Government Offices. Not on behalf of HMG of course who knew nothing about it. My client, Bernard would let me in around 5 in the morning and I’d tinker till the cleaners arrived. You can’t install Water features or windchimes too much but it’s amazing what can be achieved by re-angling a vdu here and moving a plant there.
Bernard’s main concern however was office politics. I don’t think you get to be a senior civil servant without that.
“That guy over in the corner, what’s going on with him?”
“Facing a wall South West, no back support, in a building on this orientation this year? Trouble at home.”
“What about this woman?”
“Screen at 180˚ to her neighbours? Doesn’t play well with others.”
And so on.
Equally every month of the year, of course is ruled both by a Zodiac Animal and a Hexagram of the Book of Changes. As is every year. And when there is so little else to work from, those six lines can tell us so much.
There were no especially messy scandals or resignations in that Ministry during that time and I guess I was on the button often enough that we worked together for 10 years or so. A brilliant, wise and good man, I trust he’s flourishing. He may even read these ramblings. I hope so.
Bernard’s Mother had came over in 1948 to work in the brand new NHS. His aristocratic surname – more Norman Conquest than Windrush – had probably been imposed on his forebears by a plantation owner in the 18^th Century. Truth be told he probably shared dna with much of the House of Lords.
More than once we travelled together into London from his Surrey home. I noticed how the ticket collector would just glance at my ticket but scrutinise his. His treat of course but when we lunched at his exclusive club behind Selfridges, the waiter would usually offer me his bill.
I once attempted to gain credibility by boasting that I had, back when I was a teen tycoon, seen Bob Marley and Wailers at the Speakeasy in 1972. Which is true by the way.
“As close as I am to you now.”
He smiled and looked me in the eye.”
“You know I was Fela’s road manager?”
Which if you understand these things, made him about a thousand times cooler than me. I should have known better.
He told me once of a time when he’d been staying in a posh hotel prior to a conference. Queuing for the cloakroom with his cashmere over his arm, several delegates added their own to his load as they passed by. His response was simply to hand them over to the person manning the desk. And go on to address the conference.
Bernard’s mother emigrated ahead of his Dad who as it turned out, never followed. She provided for him and made sure he received the education a man of his gifts deserved. I don’t know the details but I know the outcome.
The Hexagram that marks this Water Sheep month of July 2020 is Number 33, Dun, https://youtu.be/NsgsuKhhbzg sometimes rendered from the archaic Chinese as “Strategic Retreat” or “Hiding”, though I prefer “Yielding”. The names, devised by the semi-mythical King Wen of the Zhou Dynasty when he was socially distanced by the infamous Tyrant of Shang, are almost precisely three thousand years old.
King Wen appears to have seen in Dun – four unbroken lines above two broken – the scene of a melee. The lower broken lines are weak, as if an army or a body is shattered at the rear. It’s a panicky and chaotic withdrawal. We are retreating and there is no safe place. Indeed as we climb up the lines there is no handhold before the 3^rd line. And once there we are pressed in, chaos behind us, jammed into place. And we stay bound all the way up to the top line. We are bound and we simply have to trust.
The actual Chinese character Dun shows a piglet about to become a hog roast; horrific if you are fond of pigs rather than pork, not so worrying to those who are less fastidious; radical helplessness either way. Or radical safety. Resistance is pointless and only grace will bring change.
Another time Bernard told me, he arrived at breakfast and enquired across the coffee shop as to whether a colleague would like him to bring them a cup of tea along with his own, only for a guest to call out: “And while you’re at it, where’s my effing kipper?” He would smile as he told me these things but I saw the strength it took. I guess his mother did a good job.
Dun relates to situations where we recognise that we have little or no control. Newsflash: that’s pretty much the way things are. In a world where any one of us could be flattened at any time by a chunk of blue Water out of the sky, win the Lottery or be struck down by the virus du jour, what control is there? Full Disclosure: you need to buy a ticket to win the lottery and Donny Darko was not kitchen-sink realism. Also wear a face mask.
The fact remains however that we are each of us spinning alone in darkness on an imaginary ball of mud. To which the only sane response is to yield. By this I mean: let happen what must happen and trust that it works out. Not always easy, especially when you’re living out the dead hand of centuries of abuse. The above doesn’t mean we necessarily do nothing; the tao is not always the open door nor is it always not a blocked one.
Dun falls in the same month every year; the light retreats but we are pretty sure it will return. And every year these broken and unbroken lines mean different things. And every year the same. Just as darkness follows light, light follows the dark.
Right now we are being offered an opportunity to re-think the way we treat the planet and each other. And we’ll probably get it wrong. At this point in our evolution human beings appear able only to cooperate in opposition to something: this time against Covid-19 which has been called “apocalypse lite,” a dress rehearsal for the real thing, the coming climate crisis. Are we able to cooperate that much? Can we even treat each other properly?
As for Bernard, he rose improbably high in the civil service and all three major political parties approached him to be a candidate at one time or another. But he preferred to move to Jamaica and develop property. His mother died before she could glory in his success.
The dawn yields to the night and the light to the twilight of evening but in a billion years this may not be so. If we’re awake we allow ourselves to rise or fall knowing it can be no other way. We trust and we behave the best we can because supernovas come and go but light always follows the dark.
Richard Ashworth ©2020
www.imperialfengshui.info

The Month of the Water Sheep, Animal by Animal:
These generic forecasts carry different nuances dependent upon whether this Animal rules your Year, Month, Day, Hour or Life House.

Rats (1948, 60, 72, 84, 96; births in December* 11pm-1am & on certain days#. Technically a “Harm” or third-party intrusion, a proxy fight. The Rat’s tongue is loose this month, loquacious rather than eloquent. Bite it; avoid stimulants.
Hexagram 27: the corners of the Mouth – for a 2^nd month.

Ox (1949, 61, 73, 85, 97; births in January*, 1-3am & on certain days#) Frustrating; you meet your match. Notice that what gets up your nose is in the mirror. You may feel left out but that’s Sheep times for you. Probably for the best. This remains very much your (2) year(s).

Tiger (1950, 62, 74, 86, 98; births in February*, 3-5am & on certain days#) Challenging; it’s in these sunny days that you make your mark. Opportunity lies in rising to the occasion. Study & service serve you long term. That’ll be more clear soon.

Rabbit (1951, 63, 75, 87, 99; births in March*, 5-7am & on certain days#) Refreshed and empowered, Sheep brings reinforcements to your yin Wood nature. Trust the facts, stay on track and risk vaulting ambition. Don’t get mired in parental stuff.

Dragon (1952, 63, 75, 87, 99; births in April* 7-9am & on certain days#) Big openings as long there is Fire around – so another month or so – then you change tack as the Monkey shows you new tricks. Flexibility remains the key. Wood Dragons: respect the law of return.

Snake (1941,53, 65, 77, 89; births in May*, 9-11am & on certain days#) less overwhelming but still a bit much. Stay cool, respect Truth as if it were Water following a trip across a desert and respect will follow you.

Horse (1942, 54, 66, 78, 90; births in June*, around midday & on certain days#) An embarrassment of support and open doors in what is one of your best months in a year that requires greater persistence than usual. Look – as ever – before you leap.

Sheep (1943, 55, 67, 79, 91; births in July*, 1-3pm & on certain days#) Everybody wants to include you right now. Exercise discretion as you accept or delay involvement – this may feel very FOMO but live with it. The key to miracles is starting from where you stand.

Monkey (1944, 56, 68, 70, 82; births in August*, 3-5pm & on certain days#) Generally impatient at this time of year, you’re still a month away from home. Any port in a storm.

Rooster (1945, 57, 69, 81, 93; births in September*, 5-7pm & on certain days#)
Almost everything and everyone appears to let the Rooster down in the Rat Year. Check those pronouns and call on good will. Rabbits may be your best bet.

Dog (1946, 58, 70, 84, 96; births in October*, 7-9pm & on certain days#) Sheep breaks you up; this may be sharing a joke or shattering a relationship that has stretched cellophane thin. Both are possible this month but notice that you are the common factor.

Pig (1947, 59, 71, 83, 95; births in November*, 9-11pm & on certain days#) A Great Leap Forward this month. Technically your Water becomes Wood – that means words are written down or vague hopes become action. The Force is with you.
* Remember Chinese Months start a little later than European ones.
# You’ll need help and/or a Chinese Calendar for this.

Where to be in July.
Summary: advancing.
North, Distant Future: Year Star 3 Month Star: 8.
The 8 brings Wood, that is to say movement, dynamism and upward growth. Empowered by the Water that is always North – ie in the dark and on lower ground – big strides forward can be made by the ambitious and those who can make use of Wood: typically Horses & Sheep, Dogs & Tigers but others also depending on the fine tuning of their ba zis. If in doubt ask. Good for writers, dancers, osteopaths, the aspirational and the ambitious.
Empower with: Wood – eg three robust plants. Mirror placed to face North.

Where not to be in July.
Summary: nasty.
West, Intervention: Year Star:9; Month Star: 5 Fortune Virtue (Rooster W2) Monthly san sha.
We don’t like the 5 of course or the san sha (the “Three Inconveniences”); and indeed the classic (as quoted by Stephen Skinner) says that occupation at this time may lead the incumbent to “take to drink or visit prostitutes”. If either of these activities are on your to-do list, this is the place. The rest of us might place a wind-chime temporarily – outside is good – or simply avoid. Poor behaviour comes to light here. So stay clear, it’ll be better next month.
To pacify: Metal: Metal stuff, 6 Pipe Metal Windchime – the rest of the year.

Richard Ashworth is among the most respected Western Feng Shui Masters. He was a pioneer of feng shui survey & analysis at a distance (now of course pretty much the only way to do it) on MySpirit Radio in the noughties. A good taster of his approach may be found on Audible at https://adbl.co/2m92Es3.You can also see him at work on tv’s Housebusters at https://bit.ly/2lJWLBl

Richard has worked from Lebanon to Bermuda, in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and with stars such as Kelly Hoppen and Gillian Anderson. Unusually for a Western Master, he has addressed the Grand Masters at the International Feng Shui Conference in Singapore.

Every month we send (at a modest fee) retainer clients a more comprehensive monthly bulletin than this one, covering in detail right places to be (and when) as well as helpful days Animal by Animal and much more from the Chinese calendar.
Subscriptions (and further info): sheilaashworthfengshui@gmail.com
Richard Ashworth©
www.imperialfengshui.info

Healing Your Own Space via Zoom

The ‘Healing Your Own Space’
Foundation and Introduction to Feng Shui course

Principal Snyder: Some things I can just smell. It’s like a sixth sense.

Giles: No, actually that would be one of the five.

Joss Whedon – Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Suddenly everyone wants to know how to heal a space. Hardly surprising when many of us have felt like Brie Larsen in Room these last few months.

How do you heal a space? Here is a very simple check list:

1. Notice how you feel about the space. Trust that feeling. Put it into words.
2. Which areas are attractive? Which are not? Again trust your preference.
3. What is right or wrong about these spots?

Are they too yin or too yang? That is to say too dark &/or too wet on the one hand or too bright & too dry on the other? Use your senses and trust them: what smells right? What echoes oddly? What’s uncomfortable? And so on.

4. Which of these areas are active ie bright, noisy or busy and which not?

Is this the way it should be? Again trust that you know.

5. Assess these spots relative to the Five Elements or Phases. Does one Element have more attention or space than another?
6. Assess the spots relative to the Compass Points. How should they be used? What is being exaggerated or suppressed? For instance the South is likely to be where most light falls; is there too much light there or too little?
7. Assess them relative to the Eight Trigrams; which members of the family are affected? Does this fit the facts? Refer to the He Tu & Lo Shu maps.
8. Assess relative to the Twelve Animals. Who is affected? And in what way?
9. Make corrections: make drier what should be drier, activate what should be active and alive, deactivate what should not be. Trust that you can tell the difference between how it feels before and after.
10. Be conscious of which members of the family and types of activity belong in which area and be very conscious of giving love to the corresponding individual as you make corrections.
11. Get rid of things you don’t like or need that take up space; charity, recycle or a skip maybe. Notice where they were. This is not about tidiness.
12. Notice how much you knew already.

The above is not comprehensive of course. And from here it gets a lot more complicated.

Which is why I will be teaching this simple material online in small groups as a Foundation Course leading to my Starter Ba Zi and Feng Shui Courses later this year.

This will also serve as standalone course course for those wanting a basic knowledge of feng shui. No previous understanding of Chinese mumbo jumbo or the world of woo woo required.

The Healing Your Own Space foundation course will start this September 2020 and consists of 10 one hour weekly sessions on a Thursday at 17:30 BST via Zoom. The cost for the full course is £1000 but we are offering an Early Bird of £800 if paid by August 1st. 

Spaces are limited.

Email: sheilaashworthfengshui@gmail  if you want to reserve a space.

New One Day Workshops – July 2020

JULY ONE DAY ONLINE WORKSHOPS

We are running two more one day workshops prior to taking a  break in August.

These are:

A Second Workshop on interpreting the Book of Changes in 2020: we ran he first one earlier this week and a it filled so quickly we are running this for the waiting list and anyone else who may like to join us. Details here:
https://imperialfengshui.info/interpreting-the-book-of-changes-in-2020/

A Forecasting Workshop: this one has a pretty full waiting list so please contact me promptly if you would like a place. Details here: https://imperialfengshui.info/forecasting-workshop-2020/

Newsflash: our ongoing trainings: Discover the Secrets of the Four Pillars of Destiny, learn Ba Zi with Richard and The Wind that Stops at the Water, Richard’s Feng Shui course together are now certified by the  International Feng Shui Guild (IFSG)

LASTLY, THERE IS A SOLAR ECLIPSE THIS SUNDAY JUNE 21st, PLEASE STAY INSIDE, THE CLASSICAL CHINESE WORD FOR ECLIPSE IS THE SAME AS THE WORD FOR REGRET.
BE VERY CAUTIOUS.

Galileo Galilei

“Measure what is measurable and make measurable what is not so.”
Galileo Galilei

Lockdown Day 61.

“May you live in interesting times” goes the first of three ancient Chinese curses, the assumption being, I guess, that the happiest lives are the least eventful. Or maybe the least interrupted. Life is pretty uninterrupted right now. And pretty interesting. I find myself looking at The Book of Changes a lot. Whether in effect I’m consulting myself, Spirit, Higher Mind, God or what-have-you, the Book has a remarkable hit rate. The trick is to frame the question right.

The other two curses were: “May you come to the attention of authority” and “May Heaven grant you all you pray for”. I’m not so sure about the latter two but it may well be that those of us who craved time to contemplate are to blame for dreaming the current unpleasantness into place.

Boris Johnson of course like his role model across the Atlantic, seems to have dreamed of heroism without risk, recognition without achievement; chips without potatoes. He btw is a 1964 Wood Dragon. A classic weakness of that particular mythical beast is a reluctance to check facts. True of most Dragons actually. Who’da thought it?

So as I listen to Jimmy Nail’s “Big River” today, I’m preparing for two imminent online Workshops. Both draw upon the Book of Changes, that is the Yi, or I Ching, the chief among oracles. One is the monthly session where we are using the Yi to track the year. The other is a one day fast track on interpretation.  Students bring a Hexagram they have recently cast – if they don’t know how to cast I’ll show them – then we’ll look at what the Yi has to say about it before the student reveals the question. Then we’ll go deeper.

In a sense this is actually best done at a distance; via Zoom we’re not actually in each other’s faces. The workshop is on June 17^th and we still have three spaces. No previous knowledge of Chinese or other metaphysics, the esoteric, mumbo jumbo or the world of woo-woo required.

The Yi has been guiding Chinese thought for at least three thousand years. It’s probably the oldest book in the world though what it actually consists of at its heart is just sixty four six-line diagrams known as Hexagrams. Each of these describes a moment in the human condition: increasing, decreasing, descending, doubting, misbehaving and so on. And each offers six ways to proceed. A sincerely cast Hexagram can be spookily descriptive and its “What if?” advice embarrassingly apt.

Most of my work was online long before the first covid cough and I’ve been doing remote surveys on and off for 20 years or so. Lockdown is er…interesting – we only get to see the kids onscreen which is painful and there’s no one delivering a decent Thai Green. Indeed when Doug the plumber our first visitor in two months, came last week while we hid in the garden, it was as if we were being invaded, like we were suffering from some variant of agoraphobia. But day to day life is not that different. I teach, I consult at a distance.

And a remote survey of course is a very different thing from being physically present, more intuitive, less mathematical. I doubt it could be called even pseudo-scientific let alone scientific. And yet.

Today I’ve been installing a trick to dispel sickness in Moira’s home. She is an astrologer with a unique take, a seer if you will. She’s not well and she’s no longer that young. But her very particular vision is important and she’s in a race with Heaven to share it.

At first she and her devoted husband appeared a bit panicked by the prospect of doing their own placement. But a regular compass is pretty easy to read. Even a Chinese luo p’an is relatively straightforward; it looks kind of complex but that’s mostly repetition and complex is just lots of simple anyway. And most of the work for Moira was in the calculation.

Belt and braces is always a wise precaution so I prescribed some Qi Men Dun Jia to complete the procedure. A principle of QMDJ is that events occur on at least four different levels. Moira will need to address the highest of these, the level of her Qi Men Deities. These Deities are summoned in specific locations at specific moments by way of the alpha state, that is to say meditation, prayer or whatever. One traditional approach is to count down backwards through the 64 Hexagrams. I find I linger over different ones each time, learning new angles, as if the Yi were many different books. That’s oracles for you.

Now Jimmy Nail’s paean to his Father and the lost docksides of the Tyne is fading along with Mark Knopfler’s guitar licks curling around the melody like a red kite riding a thermal. Hexagram 20, Kuan the Watchtower.

I’ll check in with Moira over the next few days; courtesy both of Vodafone and the world of woo-woo. Perhaps you’ll join me on this last level. Blessing knows no distance. And do join me via Zoom on the 17^th June too if you feel inclined. Stay safe.
Richard Ashworth 28.05.20 ©2020.

Richard Ashworth is among the most respected Western Feng Shui Masters. He pioneered feng shui survey & analysis at a distance (now of course the only way to do it) on MySpirit Radio in the noughties. A good taster of his approach may be found on Audible at https://adbl.co/2m92Es3

Richard has worked from Lebanon to Bermuda, in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and with stars such as Kelly Hoppen and Gillian Anderson. Unusually for a Western Master, he has addressed the Grand Masters at the International Feng Shui Conference in Singapore.

Every month we send (at a modest fee) retainer clients a more comprehensive monthly bulletin than this one, covering in detail right places to be (and when) as well as helpful days Animal by Animal and much more from the Chinese calendar.

All courses are online: https://imperialfengshui.info/courses/
Subscriptions (and further info): sheilaashworthfengshui@gmail.com

Richard Ashworth©
www.imperialfengshui.info

Auspicious Dates and Places for The Month of the Metal Snake, 2020.

Auspicious Dates and Places
for
The (4^th) month of the Metal Snake, 2020.
(09:08 5^th May to 13:49 6^th June 2020 inclusive)
in the Year of the Metal Rat.

Qian
———-
———-
———-
———-
———-
———-
 The Creative
 Hexagram 1

The Metal Snake Month, Animal by Animal
The Pig is dubious,
Rats may feel less boosted,
The Ox is restored to power,
Tigers make heavy weather,
Rabbits are above it,
The Dragon receives fresh and respectful attention,
Snakes are comforted,
The Horse is not at full power,
The Sheep may feel extended,
Monkeys may be both pushed and pulled,
Roosters are mostly respected,
and
Every Dog is claimed.

Online One-Day Workshop: Interpreting the Book of Changes in 2020: https://bit.ly/3bgeuVi

A 5 month                                 brings trouble to the heart of things.
The Snake Month                   is about truth and its alternatives.
Where to be this month:     North East. Where not to be: tai chi, East.
Favoured Animals:                Snake, Rooster, Ox, some Monkeys – in any Pillar.
Especially challenged:         Pig, Tiger, other Monkeys.
The Hexagram (above):        Qian The Creative. Heaven over Heaven.
.

S
4       9       2
3       5       7
8       1       6
Metal Snake

This month’s lo shu: wu huang 5 at tai chi ; san sha East

The Slime of No Reply.
I’m worried about the slugs. Yes I’m concerned about Covid-19, testing, vaccination, cabin fever and Brexit – though this last has receded a tad from my list of worries since Lockdown began – also incompetent government and dumb leaders and so much more.

I used to worry constantly about the environment. I would wake suddenly at three in the morning with a mind full of orang utans and pangolins. But right now as the Month of the slithery Metal Snake opens, I’m worried about the slugs and snails.

You see my sunflowers are doing too well. I start them indoors in February and I usually plant maybe three times as many seeds as I expect to survive. They go out in the garden when I think the frosts have ended: usually late April. Once out, their chief predators have always been slugs and snails. Over the years I’ve tried to discourage them with moats of beer around the pots, following the folk wisdom that gastropods like nothing better than a sip of Hogs Back Ale of a spring evening; I’ve experimented with sprinkling dry cat food among the saplings on the grounds that snails prefer them to sunflowers, only to make the predictable discovery that cats do too. Own goal: cats show no mercy to the little plants as they dig out the tidbits. But it’s lap ha, the Beginning of Summer today May 5^th, and usually at this time I have a garden rich with fat slugs and the sunflowers have thinned out. But this year no slugs; a veritable forest of Russian Giants may be burgeoning.

The month that’s coming is a Metal Snake, the most deceptive of the Celestial Animals. The Metal Dragon just past signalled a tussle with authority: Americans desperate to get out into the open and shoot each other; over here bat-crazy new age dabblers confusing political business as usual with rococo conspiracy theories. Governments lie, that does not mean we’re controlled by eight foot foot lizards from the planet Splong. If we were they might be a bit more efficient.

Such wild paranoia btw is simply what’s known as “level confusion”: we live simultaneously in several worlds, one material, others not. Tian Ti Ren is the Chinese term for this: we inhabit Heavenly, Earthly and Human realms at one and the same time. This confusion technically known as the Mind-Body Problem, is literally as old as the word “philosophy”. We seek control and explanation, but we know underneath it all that we’re each spinning alone on an imaginary ball of mud. Elegant feng shui can work on all these levels. But the fact is that there is pretty much nothing we actually can control.

Lies and the consequent confusion will come thicker and faster in May. They don’t actually come much thicker than some of the politicians involved actually but the power of the patriarchy is waning. May is a month to question everything, especially truisms like the one that everyone is chafing to break lockdown at any cost. Mostly that’s the employers, “wealth makers” and “job creators” chafing, I think, not the bus drivers and ICU nurses.

Or the idea that everyone hates having their children at home. And the one that working couples – what other sort is there? – would rather be at work than together. The Dragon is a teacher, and social media and my Zoom calls are full of parents relishing the time spent with their offspring, learning or playing. Fact is there is not enough playing in the world. In these days when most families need two full-time breadwinners to er….win enough bread to keep a family, such an opportunity is rare. And of course juggling small children, schooling requirements, the need to make money and a full in-tray is an art. No business meeting live or virtual is as demanding as caring for a toddler. And home-education is no picnic. But it’s so much more worthwhile than scouring the iPhone for notifications. I write as the father of six miraculous children and like you, I never had dummies to practice on.

The Hexagram for the month or so leading up to Mid-Summer is Qian, the Father, Authority, extreme yang. That’s true every year but the ruling Hexagram for 2020 is number 42, meaning Increase. The structure of that Hexagram is Wind over Thunder, Eldest Daughter holding sway over Eldest Son. The conjunction of these two suggests the need for a turnaround in gender politics. The Earth’s response to mass extinctions is letting us know that she is round and that therefore economic growth cannot be perpetual. That’s what dolphins in the canals of Venice and lions on the golf course in Pretoria indicate. The Earth is not threatened by the fragile pink primates who have recently elected themselves dominant species but she may shrug them off if they don’t play just a bit nicer. Right now New Zealand appears to be the only nation paying attention.

Recently I’ve had variable results with tomatoes. Those at the front flourish where I place them to receive sunlight from dawn to mid-afternoon. But ones placed behind the house where the light patterns are at least as helpful, have not fruited for several years. Same with the wild raspberries and strawberries – they flourish at the front, languish to the rear.

A wealth of buddleia and other bee-magnetic bushes face the house. My guess is that the bees pollinate strawberries and tomatoes while about their buzziness among the buddleia, hence things blossom outside the living room window and not on the decking. God bless the honey bee. And of course I worry about bee numbers. My tomatoes and berries are telling me the bees are in trouble too.

I’m worried about slugs and about so much else. It grieves me to only see my kids on a screen. I’m worried by the gullibility of electorates that have brought morons to power worldwide. I’m worried about the families of the victims of Covid-19. I’m worried about the bovine hysteria of the mob that has brought us Bolsonaro, Orban, Brexit and Trump. But storks are nesting in West Sussex for the first time in centuries and some of my sunflowers are already a foot high. Blue whales – the largest creatures ever to breathe on the Earth – are venturing South and in Florida manatee nuzzle alligators.

The slugs’ll be back like the dolphins. I’m not worried about the Earth anymore. She’ll be fine.
Richard Ashworth © May 2020

Where to be in May.
Summary: creative.
North East, Wealth Star: Year Star: 1 Sun (Ox NE1), Month Star: 8.
The communicative  1 Star is enhanced by the visiting 8, the best place to be this month by a long way. Suitable for writing, learning, also alpha-rhythm activity, prayer, meditation, visualisation, when tangible outcomes can be expected. A crystal journey NE-NW-N might bear further fruit.

Enhance: occupation is the most powerful activation but a little Metal such as Metal objects and colours (including white) may stimulate creativity.

Where not to be in May.
Summary: things fall apart, the centre will not hold.
Tai chi, Home: Year Star: 7 Month Star: 5
Capitals, inner cities and headquarters are all treacherous this month. The tai chi of your own space is implicated as well as rulers and principals (not principles obvs) of all sorts. This is not, repeat not, the time to trust authority but a time to take responsibility for our own free choice.
Like so many of us, the Stars are in their home locations. Returning to the hearth is the main theme of the month. Which unless we are royalty or government is the wisest plan: aim to be away from the seats of power which will prove seriously polluted throughout May and, as I said most of the year. Avoid the tai chi in every sense.
Tame: t’ang lung.
Richard Ashworth ©2020. http://www.imperialfengshui.info

Richard Ashworth is among the most respected Western Feng Shui Masters. He was among the pioneers of feng shui survey & analysis at a distance (now of course the only way to do it) on MySpirit Radio in the noughties. A good taster of his approach may be found on Audible at https://adbl.co/2m92Es3

Richard has worked from Lebanon to Bermuda, in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and with stars such as Kelly Hoppen and Gillian Anderson. Unusually for a Western Master, he has addressed the Grand Masters at the International Feng Shui Conference in Singapore.

Every month we send (at a modest fee) retainer clients a more comprehensive monthly bulletin than this one, covering in detail right places to be (and when) as well as helpful days Animal by Animal and much more from the Chinese calendar.

All courses are online: https://imperialfengshui.info/courses/
Subscriptions (and further info): sheilaashworthfengshui@gmail.com
Richard Ashworth©
www.imperialfengshui.info

Auspicious Dates and Places for The month of the Metal Dragon, 2020.

Auspicious Dates and Places
for
The (3^rd) month of the Metal Dragon, 2020.
(15:48pm 4^th April to 09:08 5^th May 2020 inclusive)
in the Year of the Metal Rat 

  Kuai
—-  —-
———-
———-
———-
———-
———-
Breakthrough
Hexagram 43

The Metal Dragon Month, Animal by Animal
The Pig is less certain,
Rats may feel boosted,
The Ox is a little reduced,
Tigers usefully challenged,
Some Rabbits are ambitious,
The Dragon may feel crowded,
The Snake can study,
The Horse is a trifle less (but still) abashed,
The Sheep may feel excluded once more,
Monkeys may be flattered,
Roosters are usefully conscripted,
and
Dogs left outside.

Special attention this Month: Everything is online: study groups, surveys, individual tuition, ba zi consultation: https://bit.ly/2m5ktrS for perspective.

A 6 month                                        promises authority.
The Dragon Month                       makes for sudden change.
Where to be this month:            West, North East.
Where not to be this month:    South, South East.
Favoured Animals:                      Monkey, Rat, Rooster – in any Pillar.
Especially challenged:               Dog, Rabbit, Dragon, Tiger, Horse, Ox.
The Hexagram (above):              Kuai Breakthrough. Lake over Heaven.

S
5       1       3
4       6       8
9       2       7
Metal Dragon
This month’s lo shu: wu huang 5 South East  san sha South

My Corona
Back at the turn of the century I did a whole string of surveys on radio. Punters would ring up and tell me they had a problem with say, their Father. And so I’d ask them what was happening in the North West of their home, the North West of course being the domain of the Father.

Some would not know how their homes were oriented, let alone how to operate a compass.

“The South is where there’s most light most of the time,” I’d say. “The East is where it rises, the West where it sets.”

“Oh yes, I know where the sun sets, outside the kitchen window.”

“So point just a little to the right of the kitchen window. That’s North West. What’s happening there?”

“It’s kind of missing. The house is L-shaped.”

“Aha. And your Father?”

“Pretty much out of my life.”

“Missing?”

“You could say that.”

And so on.

And of course these consultations were less about precision, more about symbolism, more intuitive, less calculated. And often life-changing.

Obviously it’s easier if I know the house. Which is how I’ve been able for some time to perform Annual Tune-Up Surveys via Zoom and Skype. It’s a popular alternative because it’s both quicker and cheaper. And now with us all overshadowed by Covid-19 it’s safer and er…legal.

So when I worked this last week with Monica, it brought those radio sessions flooding back. And this time working at a distance was the only option.

The task was to install a Water Dragon. A complex undertaking at the best of times, my typical Water Dragon consists of an arrangement around the outside of a house including one or more fountains, statuary or stones and sometimes mirrors. A precisely placed and timed Water Dragon is reckoned to hold and distribute health, wealth and wisdom.

Monica lives out in the countryside with a substantial garden which meant that it was harder to make a mistake placing the Dragon correctly. I know the place quite well and I’d measured it up already. So she carried her tablet outside while we examined the places where the Water, statuary and mirror needed to be. At one point we reversed the process and I showed her on my iPad one of the Water features in my garden to illustrate how Water flow can be directed. Our Jack Russell Red helpfully illustrated how to drink from it.

There was much more but she’s a very smart woman so it was relatively straightforward. And as it happened she coughed several times too so I was glad for all of us that we’d done this remotely.

These are obviously not ideal conditions but I’m confident we got it right. We’ll see. When all this nonsense is over I’ll go and inspect.

The radio sessions were a very different process from the painstakingly measured angles and positions of Monica’s Water Dragon. But we live in several worlds simultaneously and the most elegant feng shui works on all three levels of Tian, Ti and Ren: Heaven, Earth and Human. There’s physical material and the laws of physics but there’s lots more. And laws were made to be broken.
Richard Ashworth © 2020

Where to be in April.
Summary: song and celebration.
West, Intervention: Year Star:9; Month Star: 8. Fortune Virtue (Rooster W2).
This month the annual 9 is host to the benevolent 8, bringing song and celebration. Relationship may be honoured, respected and renewed by locating, facing or activating here.
To accelerate: add Fire – bright light.

Where not to be in April.
Summary: perilous
South East, Determination: Year Star: 6, Month Star: 5.
The Metal is made dangerous by the 5 and in the worst location for such an incursion: aggravated male aggression in the home of the 1^st Daughter. Steer clear for now. A person in authority located here may be prone to unforced errors: ego.
Mitigate: fresh Water changed daily mitigates but only t’ang lung pacifies the 5.
Richard Ashworth ©2020.
www.imperialfengshui.info

Richard Ashworth is among the most respected Western Feng Shui Masters. He has worked from Lebanon to Bermuda, in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and with stars such as Kelly Hoppen and Gillian Anderson. Unusually for a Western Master, he has addressed the Grand Masters at the International Feng Shui Conference in Singapore. His day job remains “walking round people’s spaces being enigmatic”.

Every month we send (at a modest fee) retainer clients a more comprehensive monthly bulletin than this one, covering in detail right places to be (and when) as well as helpful days Animal by Animal and much more from the Chinese calendar.
Subscriptions (and further info): sheilaashworthfengshui@gmail.com

Richard Ashworth©
www.imperialfengshui.info

The Alarm goes off: Earth Tiger Month, 2020.

Auspicious Dates and Places
for
The (1^st) month of the Earth Tiger, 2020.
(17:18pm 4^th February to 11:03am 5^th March 2020 inclusive)
in the Year of the Metal Rat.
 
 Tai
—-  —-
—-  —-
—-  —-
———-
———-
———-
Peace
Hexagram 11

 
The Earth Tiger Month, Animal by Animal
The Pig recovers,
Rats bend further,
The Ox is still in charge,
The Tiger grounds her prey,
The timid Rabbit hesitates,
The Dragon bottles up,
The Snake wises up,
The Horse pulls up,
The needy Sheep butts the wrong gate,
All three wise Monkeys are in evidence,
The Rooster perks up briefly,
and
The Dog hunts and finds.

Special attention this Month: the Metal Rat Year: Animal Fortunes, Animal by Animal: https://bit.ly/389fIAZ

An 8 month                                   provides respite.
The Tiger Month                         can demand extra space.
Where to be this month:          West, North West, tai chi.
Where not to be this month:   North, East, South, South West.
Favoured Animals:                     Tiger, Horse, Dog, Pig – in any Pillar.
Especially challenged:               Monkey, Snake, Rat, Dragon.
The Hexagram (above):             Tai Peace. Earth over Heaven.

S
7       3       5
6       8       1
2       4       9

Tiger

This month’s lo shu: wu huang 5 South West ; san sha North

 
The Alarm goes off: Earth Tiger Month, 2020.
What to expect, what to do.

In the UK more people turn in sick on the first Monday in February than any other day. That’s some start to a year.

This February’s Earth Tiger favours Horse, Dog, Pig and the Tiger itself. Tiger is fierce and patient and possesses great vision, they never forget – a grudge , a slight or a defeat. On the other hand they may also recall a kindness. This is the door by which we enter what is often reckoned the saddest month of the year as well as how we might approach the most obdurate Tigers (born 1950, 62, 74, 86, 98).

As you might expect, the above four Animals should find the ball on the penalty spot today. The fiery Horse, Tiger and Dog may well actually kick it too. These Animals can usefully seek attention at this time. The Pig too, though you may still be recovering; the so-called “self-clash” may have made 2019 wearying. Time to get back on the pitch just the same.

Fact is that now is the time to stir, whatever your ba zi. Human beings are engineered to hide from the cold until the buds start to rise with the marginally longer days of February. But re-emerge we must. This is true even for the fun-loving Monkey and Snake whose Metal may be rusted from the long Winter; seek stability, warmth and a gentle re-birth. You may have to be serious a while.

The Rat is literally in his element all year and the months will tend to pass without much change to that. Ox too – by an Elemental quirk, the Ox rules Rat times such as the duration of this year. You Oxen can bank on the whip hand returning to you time and again. Others: stand back.

Outliers include the Rabbit who is likely to do fine but may fail to appreciate. Gratitude is your watchword. Rooster too – you are called to communicate more deeply than ever; those words you have been thinking but not given voice, they’re going to be aired very soon. Make sure that is you bringing them to light by speaking sooner rather than later. This is, I emphasise, the month of emergence.

The Sheep seeks a solace in the warm, a place at the table. You may not find it before March however.  Dragon – you are a law under yourself. Act accordingly and stop pretending you’re not.

And as ever let’s remember that no astrological analysis can never do any one of us full justice and the above words are pretty skimpy in any case. If you want more you know where to come.
Richard Ashworth 2020

 
Where to be in February.
Summary: regain direction in the North West.
North West, Authority: Year Star: 8 Month Star: 9
The North West houses genuine leadership and 8 hosting 9 is as helpful as it gets. If we are rejecting home offices and capital cities, this is where we go instead. For clear direction this year seek the North Western path where the Rebel Alliance is gathering. And there’s prosperity here meanwhile.
Enhance for wealth and success: Fire – bright light.

Where not to be in February.
Summary: fraught.
South West, Accumulation: Year Star: 4 Month Star:5.
The 5 shuts this, the place of the Mother and on some readings, relationships, down for a while. 5 hindering the 4 suggests ailments and fragility for women of all ages. Facing this way is fine but avoid the location itself if you can for now.
Mitigate: t’ang lung and/or Metal eg 6 Pipe Metal windchime.

Richard Ashworth ©2020.
www.imperialfengshui.info

Richard Ashworth is among the most respected Western Feng Shui Masters. He has worked from Lebanon to Bermuda, in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and with stars such as Kelly Hoppen and Gillian Anderson. Unusually for a Western Master, he has addressed the Grand Masters at the International Feng Shui Conference in Singapore. His day job remains “walking round people’s spaces being enigmatic”.

Every month we send (at a modest fee) retainer clients a more comprehensive monthly bulletin than this one, covering in detail right places to be (and when) as well as helpful days Animal by Animal and much more from the Chinese calendar.

Richard currently has one space for a new student. Details can be found here: https://imperialfengshui.info/courses/

Subscriptions (and further info): sheilaashworthfengshui@gmail.com

Richard Ashworth©
www.imperialfengshui.info

The Mute Cry: the Month of the Wood Pig 2019.

 

The Mute Cry: the Month of the Wood Pig 2019.
Public Feng Shui Bulletin for November 2019
(02:42 November 8^th to 19:20pm 7^th December 2019 inclusive)

Kun
—-  —-
—-  —-
—-  —-
—-  —-
—-  —-
—-  —-
Earth – the Receptive
Hexagram 2

Who moved my cheese? Metal Rat 2020 online Forecast Day
Dec 7th (Europe) Dec 8th (Global)
https://bit.ly/2OEhQJI

 

The Wood Pig Month Animal by Animal
The Pig has some awkward moments,
The Rat is best not jumping the gun,
The Ox is ahead of the game; caution,
The Tiger is firing on all six,
The Rabbit remains in charge,
The Dragon settles,
The Snake contends,
The Horse loses the 50/50 ball,
The Sheep: the best part of breaking up,
The Monkey rebels
The Rooster chooses between profit & ego
and
The Dog may be opposed.

 

A 2 month                                     signifies increase of all sorts.
The Pig month                             can be about the mute cry for help.
Where to be this month:          East.
Where not to be this month:  North East
Favoured Animals:                    Rabbit, Sheep, Tiger.
Especially challenged:              Snake, Monkey, Rooster, Ox, Pig.
The Hexagram (above):             Kun The Receptive. Earth over Earth.

S
1       6       8
9       2       4
5       7       3
Wood Pig

This month’s lo shu afflictions: wu huang 5 North East; san sha West

The Mute Cry for Help: the Wood Pig Month, 2019.

“There are only two communications: love and the cry for help.”
Dr. Chuck Spezzano.

Pig Month, Pig Year, double Pig. We approach peak porker. Whatever your year has been like to date it’s about to be more so. If you’re a Rabbit, Sheep or Tiger that might sound pretty good; whether that’s the Animal that rules your Year, Month, Day or Hour, you have to a greater or lesser extent been in pole position all year. Fill your boots.

To the average Snake or Monkey however the prospect is of further frustration; to the Dog more gip sat; that is to say opposition and robbery. And to the Pig him or herself, who may have seen every two steps forward followed by one backwards in 2019, pretty daunting. Traditionally Pigs don’t rub along too well with other Pigs. That’s called the “Self Clash” and it’s uncomfortable. The Chinese character for “home” is a Pig under a roof; just the one. In short the Pig Year is unlikely to be a Pig’s best year, Pig Month just piles it on.

What’s to be done about this? Not only for the above unfortunates but also those Oxen & Roosters whose plans may have not entirely fallen into place either? Again if your Year, Month, Day or Hour fall to these or the Pig, you may resonate.

The Pig is yin Water. And Water is communication; not represents, symbolises or stands for; Water is communication. Brooks babble and oceans roar and we are all 80%+ Water; the human being is a communicating creature. We are if you like, all pools in the same sea. And all Water is in downward pursuit of all other Water at any given time; Water above our heads – loft tanks and aqueducts as much as pregnant storm clouds – are inherently awkward. We suspect them because we know what the Water wants to do: to travel downwards as long as there is a down to travel to.

So it’s about communication this double Pig month; it brings an opportunity to disclose. Self-disclosure of course is the route to intimacy; when we share our profoundest fears we are to an extent relieved of them. Which is a healing process but often not an easy one. Many of us are programmed to mistrust vulnerability. Pigs more than most.

As I say, the Pig is yin Water and where yang is great, yin is small; where yang is rapid, yin is more stately; where yang is effusive, yin is more reserved. So where the inherently Yang Water Rat is often an effortless communicator, the Pig may have to learn to speak out. Unsurprisingly Pigs are sometimes not so good at asking for help.

Which means this month offers a big opportunity to listen. The solution to the Dragon’s characteristic angst has always been to heal and teach, to put the attention outwards. But in this lies the month’s prescription for us all. Within this missive you have some sort of guide but I’m suggesting something further: this month is the one to be aware of the cries for help. Some may be mute and some insistent, some near and some far. But let’s listen. It’s quite possibly not about you.
Richard Ashworth 2019

Where to be in November.
Summary: get your attention out. It may not be about you.
East, Ambition: Year Star: 6 Month Star: 9.
Stars 6 and 9 jockey for supremacy. Could mean good clean competition (and maybe not clean). Best to keep the East strong with Wood. Turbulent but assertive. Young men (who belong to the East of course) may like this just as it is. Not for boozing or schmoozing but perversely creative.
Assist: Wood: three solid plants.

Where not to be in November.
Summary: unhealthy, hazardous
North East, Wealth: Year Star: 2 Month Star: 5. Wu huang.
2 and 5 Stars connote minor ailments, loss and crisis. When they coincide at the so-called Ghost Gate of the North East, they’re also full of unhelpful surprises. Steer clear. If this is your roost, clear out; just for now, the following months look pretty good.
Mitigate: Add t’ang lung charm. Other than the saltwater cure which is in my experience both hit-and-miss and messy, t’ang lung is the only counter that works

Richard Ashworth ©2019.
http://www.imperialfengshui.info

Richard Ashworth is among the most respected Western Feng Shui Masters. He has worked from Lebanon to Bermuda, in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and with stars such as Kelly Hoppen, Naomie Harris and Gillian Anderson. Unusually for a Western Master, he has addressed the Grand Masters at the International Feng Shui Conference in Singapore. His day job remains “walking round people’s spaces being enigmatic”.

Every month we send (at a modest subscription fee) retainer clients a more comprehensive monthly bulletin than this one, covering in detail right places to be (and when) as well as helpful days Animal by Animal and much more from the Chinese calendar.

These days Richard’s teaching is almost exclusively one-to-one online. If you’d like to study classical feng shui or ba zi with him or crave other enlightenment including details of subscriptions, contact: sheilaashworthfengshui@gmail.com
Richard Ashworth©
www.imperialfengshui.info

Look & Listen: the Month of the Water Rooster 2019

Look & Listen: the Month of the Water Rooster 2019.
Public Feng Shui Bulletin for September 2019
(07:24am 8^th September to 17:36 October 8^th 2019 inclusive)

Kuan
———-
———-
—-  —-
—-  —-
—-  —-
—-  —-
The Watchtower
Hexagram 20

Animal by Animal
During this Water Rooster Month,
The Rooster is challenged to rise to the occasion,
The Dog takes up others’ challenges valuable,
The Pig remains delicate.
The Rat may only be at half-power,
The Ox receives as she gives,
The Tiger returns,
The Rabbit searches his heart,
The Dragon is back in the hot seat,
Support for the Snake may remain double-edged,
The Horse can see the breaks,
The Sheep holds back,
while
 Monkey finds it all a bit anti-climactic.

A 4 month                        brings intelligence, curiosity & invention.
The Rooster month      is primarily concerned with the visible.
Most helpful location:  North, South.
Least helpful location: North West
Favoured Animals:       Snake, Rooster, Ox, Dragon.
Especially challenged: Rabbit, Dog, Sheep, Pig.
The Hexagram (above): Guan Wind over Earth. Watch & wait.

S
3          8          1
2          4          6
7          9          5
Water Rooster

For action this Month: There are literally one or two places left on my on-line live Book of Changes Workshops 19^th & 20^th October. Contact us on if you’d like to join. sheilaashworthfengshui@gmail.com.
No prior knowledge of Chinese  Metaphysics, folklore or other mumbo-jumbo required.

Look & Listen: the Water Rooster Month, 2019.
“A superior personality will have a view of the real sentiments of the great mass of humanity and thus cannot be deceived.” The Book of Changes Hexagram 20.

Message to Rooster: when the superficial seems enough, dig deeper.

A Rooster Month in a Pig Year is likely to bring some sort of relief following the antics of the Monkey Month. Wilful foolishness was the keynote then but this month is likely to bring both doubling down and apology. Awareness of error is a good place to start rebuilding and the Rooster brings some consciousness as to what sort of figure we have been cutting.

Such a revelation can be mortifying and offer a choice between repeating ourselves shamelessly or waking up. These kinds of trends have been clear in public life but possibly more subtle at home or at work. Opportunities to heal may present themselves in a similar way. This may prove easiest for Dragons and hard for Rabbits – perhaps you have been pampered or blinkered. The rest of us are somewhere in between.

Follow the suggestions about where you locate particularly carefully this month (pp5&6) and pay special attention to the days when you have a special edge (p4); if any of the Animals of the Four pillars of your ba zi are here you have an opening. Use it – these dates take hours of calculation and I’m not making this stuff up.

Interestingly one aspect of this and the 4 at the heart of September’s magic square may see female candidates for US President falter; it’ll be the end of the road for several. But not all. Western woman, as the Dalai Lama suggested, will save the world yet.

Note: this is all very simplistic. No astrological analysis can do you full justice and always having choice, you are as a wise man once said to me, the camera not the crisis. Nothing I nor anyone else can advise frees you from the need to make decisions.

The best way to wring value from these brief prognostications, remains to identify Month, Day & Hour Animal as well as that for your Year. Your ba zi is a unique cocktail of these and it’s as unlikely that all four are compromised at any given time as it is that they are all blessed. If in doubt seek an expert.

Where to be in September.
Summary: growth and gain.
South, Bright Future: Year Star: 3 Dragon Virtue Month Star: 8.
3 & 8 make Wood enabling a late resurgence of Summer Fire. So if you locate here or face South, expect attention. Such attention may have to be earned but be ready for it; consider perhaps how you’ve ducked it before. Even if you think that’s the last thing you’ve been doing; attachment gets in the way for most of us. East Group kuas 4, 3, 1, 9 such as 1988 Earth Dragons & 1952 Water Dragons (I’ve written about these elsewhere) get breaks against the odds but anyone can earn approval here.
Encourage: Wood (ie plants) also open space.

Where not to be in September.
Summary: all sorts of unhelpful
North West, Authority: Year Star: 9 tai sui Month Star: 5.
The 5 Star in the North West implies the abuse of power; the complaisance of the patriarchy. And the shiny red 9 just makes it worse. Humour is required; a patriarch in this location or entering by such a door needs to take himself less seriously; if he doesn’t others may do it for him. That actually would be the role of a woman seated NW this month; if that’s you, go for it, you will make a worthwhile difference. The 9 is androgynous so gender issues are likely to arise.
Mitigate: Water: external Water butt – just for now. Avoid Wood
Richard Ashworth ©2019.
www.imperialfengshui.info

Richard Ashworth is among the most respected Western Feng Shui Masters. He has worked from Lebanon to Bermuda, in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and with stars such as Kelly Hoppen and Gillian Anderson. Unusually for a Western Master, he has addressed the Grand Masters at the International Feng Shui Conference in Singapore. His day job remains “walking round people’s spaces being enigmatic”.

Every month we send (at a modest fee) retainer clients a more comprehensive monthly bulletin than this one, covering in detail right places to be (and when) as well as helpful days Animal by Animal and much more from the Chinese calendar.

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