They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.
“Gentleness that is adaptable but also penetrating is the outer form that should proceed from inner calm.” The Book of Changes.

So first thing: this is a terrifying time. If you just want to talk a while, let us know. Who knows what’s happening? Or what’s going to happen next? Book a time slot. Email sheilaashworthfengshui@gmail.com and we can set up a Skype, FaceTime or Zoom session. If I’ve drafted your ba zi, so much the better.
We ask for a contribution to cover our costs, but it’s okay not to pay at all.

Next thing: where and when we do stuff is quite important right now. And the healing tools of ba zi, feng shui and Qi Men Dun Jia work as well remotely as in the flesh. But differently. A remote survey is more intuitive, less linear and often more immediately life-changing. I remain available for remote consultation. You bring the compass. No need to make me tea.
We do charge for this.

Third thing: If this enforced stillness inspires you to learn, I’m here to teach feng shui and ba zi one-to-one online at dates and times to suit you. I’ve been teaching and mentoring online via Zoom and Skype for years now. My starter courses are purpose-built as online tuition. And we’re scheduling more online group workshops including a series on the Book of Changes and another on forecasting using the Stems and Branches of ba zi.

Fourth thing: what the hell is going on here?

On one level this is Gaia, the Earth Mother shrugging. Did you see the clean air above Wuhan last week, previously one of the most polluted cities on Earth? We are not able to destroy her. She’s been through worse than this. But we do have to realise that her resources are finite. If we understand that, there’s a whole new way of life peeping through. Did you see the fish in Venice’s canals, clean for the first time in a very long while? That the Earth can start to recover is the best of good news.

On another level this situation is the inevitable conclusion of our own stupidity and short sight. As Joni Mitchell wrote when “they cut down all the trees and put them in a tree museum and charge the kids a dollar and a half just to see ‘em”, it’s only a matter of time before a Big Yellow Taxi takes away your old man. We have bought low-cost tat without thinking about who is being underpaid to produce it ten thousand miles to the East. Cheap labour has travelled as far East as it is possible to go. The World is round. Time to buy renewable, sustainable and local. And to consider the bereaved cows and tortured pigs and chickens concealed behind the walls of the factory farms.

On top of this we’ve voted in a series of “strong” men to make “hard” decisions on our behalf. That is “hard” decisions that mostly affect the vulnerable, the weak, the dispossessed, the homeless and the powerless. Looked at through the prism of the tao, everything is its own reverse. And these are not strong men. Bolsonaro, Orban, Trump, Putin, Erdogan, Johnson, Duterte, these are terrified men; terrified of foreigners, terrified of freedom and above all terrified of women. Why else would they think to legislate away reproductive rights? Why else would their fans threaten women with violence on or offline?

All these weak men know is deceit, force, terror and coercion. And they’re terrified of women taking power. That is women liberated by Roe vs Wade and the contraceptive pill. They think it’ll be the same violent, competitive, consumptive nonsense only in skirts. It’s time to ignore them. It’s only by cooperating and owning the interests of all as our own that we will survive.

And finally: if I’m so smart why didn’t I see this coming? Well I did. Up to a point. I have been forecasting the 2020 meltdown for a dozen years. I didn’t see it as a function of a virus but the Feng Shui Diaries on my website are a matter of record. And right now Sheila and I are pretty much self-sufficient because we have been gently buying for several months all the things people are fighting over in the stores. We even have plenty of toilet paper because – for all the right reasons – we recently joined the “Give a Crap” environmental group. This is the Tao.

It may also be why ahead of all the government announcements we didn’t get on our plane to Gran Canaria for our first holiday in years last Saturday. Indeed our timing may have been perfect enough to have been covered by insurance. And now I’m unexpectedly both on holiday and under (voluntary) house arrest and have time to write this.

My point is this: as Nate Silver makes clear in “The Signal and the Noise”, a forecast is different from a prediction in that it needs only to be 70% correct. The value of forecasting the weather, earthquakes, financial collapse or plagues of frogs is in the 30%. It’s in what can be done to mitigate or prevent. That’s why we draw up a Qi Men Pan. That’s why we do ba zi and feng shui: to forestall difficulty not to predict it. Which can be easily forgotten.

We will get through this and the world will be a different place. The old normal is gone. Make way for the new one. It’s all too easy to predict accidents and hideousness, the Chinese Masters tend to revel in them. And frankly prediction is so close to creation; let’s not. We are so much more powerful than we think.
Richard Ashworth 17^th March 2020.
Back when things were normal – last week – I was due to be addressing the Feng Shui Society Conference in May. Normal is no more, so do stay in touch with them. Thanks.

Forecast Day for the Metal Rat Year 2020

2020, Who moved my Cheese?

The Watershed Year of the Metal Rat. 

“All shall be well and all manner of things shall be well.”

Julian of Norwich. 

On Saturday December 7^th & Sunday December 8^th I’ll be forecasting the Metal Rat Year online via Zoom. Very easy to join btw – we just send you a link and you click. No prior knowledge of Chinese metaphysics required.

2020, A Watershed Year.

A Master once said that feng shui is like poker; the trick is to capitalise when the force is with you and play safe when it isn’t. That is as true at home as it is at work, as true domestically as globally; as true in the sphere of relationship as in the sphere of health. And in the demanding year that beckons, especially so.

The saying goes that the only constant is change and during the workshop we will be discussing what changes are coming with the New Chinese New Year. Where should you locate for best advantage? Which Animals are set to prosper, which to consolidate and what is to be done about it? Also what is the likely trend of world events? How do we best respond?

So what’s on the cards?

Metal Rats are watershed years. You might remember 1960 when there was a brand new US President. They say that politics is showbiz for ugly people and all that glamour and youth in the White House was a new thing indeed. 1960 of course ushered in the “Swinging Sixties”, a new age of personal freedoms. Meanwhile Rachel Carson was writing “Silent Spring” the earliest account of the damage we are doing to the planet.

A Metal Rat year is a grinder, a melting pot. The archetype, Harry Harrison’s Stainless Steel Rat is possessed of sharp teeth and tongue, he’s cynical and opportunistic but ultimately on the side of the angels. These qualities pervade the year: much change, some drastic, all of which can add up to gains, given nimble feet. It’s unlikely to be an easy one for the most part but we’ll aim to point you in the right directions to make the best use of it.

We will be looking closely at the fortunes of each Animal; every year brings winners as well as losers: each of your Month, Day and Hour of Birth are ruled by a Zodiac Animal as is your Year, as you know. Dragons are mostly boosted in 2020 for instance but even if your birth was not in 1952, 64, 76, 88 or 2000, it may have been on a Dragon Day, a Dragon Hour or a Dragon Month.

We will look closely at this, so be sure to have all four of your Four Pillars to hand. As each Pillar relates to a different area of your activity, it may well be that a Horse of 1954, 1966 or 1978 say, who might otherwise expect a thin time was born on an Ox day which implies an increase in personal power.

We’ll be looking of course at the fresh patterns of energy; The New Year qi dictates new areas to work and sleep and create. The tai sui (that is the most powerful feng shui energy) will be coming in from due North this time. We won’t be facing that way even if it’s one of our personal best directions; that would be like wilfully facing a tempest. But we will be locating and facing in directions, month by month, where we can expect a following wind. 

What else will we learn?

We’ll consider what’s likely to happen where and when; Last year the map indicated trouble in the straits of Hormuz. That was on the button – for which I take no credit; it’s just careful drafting. This year we’ll look again. We’ll see how we are ourselves affected as well as what we can do to help.

We’ll trace the progress of the year by way of the Book of Changes; the Four Hexagrams of the year allow us to track the ebb and flow of the prevailing energy, week by week as it peaks and falls.

We’ll look at the indications of Qi Men Dun Jia, the cutting edge of Chinese divination, for some magical dates that you can employ.

All things are cyclical.

As rain follows sun, so light comes after darkness. Based on the Gan Zi Cycle which has been guiding Chinese Diviners for most of four millennia, I’ve been predicting financial collapse in 2020 for the best part of a decade. Now I’m not even outspoken. We are however additionally facing drastic environmental change as well as multiple extinctions and various forms of tyranny.

But the other side of collapse is renewal. All over the world resistance to careless authority and poor maintenance of the planet is popping up. Again, as I noted a decade ago. You won’t remember the Metal Rats of 1900, 1840, 1720 or 1660 (all of which offer indications) but the reassurance that the Gan Zi Cycle offers is that everything is cyclical. All shall be well and all manner of things shall be well.

We’ll see what we can do, personally, socially, at work and at play to emerge into 2020 with a bright future and a healthier planet. Join us.

Richard Ashworth. © 2019 

The Boring Bit:

The price is £100 for one day if paid by October 31^st and £125 after that. Please add £5 if paying via Zoom. Places are very limited.

Saturday 7^th will run approx from 10:00 until 17:00 GMT (with breaks)

Sunday 8^th will run approx. from 14:00 until 17:00 GMT (with breaks)

Please note that you will be given the facility to record via Paypal, we will not be providing a recording.

Please email sheilaashworthfengshui@gmail.com to book your place and for any more info you might need including help with Zoom.

Thanks.

 

 

Transformation with Richard Ashworth – Just a Few Days to Go!

Just a few places left…
If you are planning to attend the Transformational Workshop, there are only a few days left to take advantage of the £50 deposit offer.

The deposit will hold your place at £350* (details below).
After 1st August the cost will be £400.
Please email me at sheilaashworthfengshui@gmail.com to book.

Transformational Group Workshop with Richard Ashworth.
October 20^th/21^st, Godalming.

“One day when you conquer yourself and return to true order, the whole world will revert to humanity.” Liu I-Ming, “The Taoist I Ching” translated by Thomas Cleary.

Chinese healers have been using the ba zi or Four Pillars of Destiny to loosen stuckness, soothe emotional pain and re-set life paths for around two thousand years. I’ve only been doing it for around twenty.

Those twenty years however have enough for me to conclude that it’s the most powerful healing tool I have ever encountered. What I mean by “healing” is the solving of a spectrum with blockages, upset and stuckness at one end and performance enhancement at the other. Actual physical change is of course unusual, at least in the short term. But transformation, that is to say the road that was blocked suddenly and without reason becoming clear is common.

How is it done?

The answer is that the ba zi is a snapshot of the wu xing or Elements – Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Metal – prevailing at our moment of birth. Because these Elements are overlapping and changing all the time, their cycles can be tracked. It appears that if we can track the cycle, we can influence its course.

Which tends to reveal moments of decision. We are making tens of thousands of decisions every day. And my field work suggests that some of them are clunkers. We so often take a left turn when we might perhaps have gone right or straight ahead and sometimes there are massive consequences. Which is why I sometimes call the ba zi a map of our most likely mistakes.

From where I’m sitting – which you don’t have to agree with, of course – pretty much everything is a choice. And because the gan zhi Cycles of Elements can be in effect wound backwards or forward like the mileometer of car, the ba zi can identify moments of choice: both the helpful and the not so much. And if we can identify a choice we can very often re-choose and reclaim heartbreaks, forgive, mend and get out of our own way. Which can free us to aim for the stars.

You’ll know I expect that I have drafted thousands of these things. I’ve written tens of thousands of words on the subject. I have not however for some while hosted a group intent upon transformation by way of the ba zi.

I am inviting you to join just such a group for a weekend in October. No promises but I’ve got a bit of a track record in this area and the ba zi boasts two thousand years.

There are 20 places maximum in the group and like all our workshops it’ll only take place if the universe appears to want it. It’ll cost you £400 for the two days unless you catch the Early Bird Offer of £350 which expires August 1^st. A non refundable deposit of £50 now will be enough to secure your place at that price, the balance is due by the 20th September 2018.

It’s non-residential and will take place in or near Godalming but further details can be obtained from sheilaashworthfengshui@gmail.com

I hope to see you,

Best,
Richard.

My diary for the month of the Metal Ox

Enter the Turkey.
My diary for the month of the Metal Ox
(12:36pm Jan 5^th to 23:49 Feb 3^rd inclusive)
in the cusp between the Years of the Fire Monkey and the Fire Rooster.

Lin

—-  —-
—-  —-
—-  —-
—-  —-
———-
———-

Approach
Hexagram 19

The Ox Month
Animal by Animal
During this Metal Ox Month,
The Rat takes instruction,
The Ox stays in charge,
The Tiger is expectant,
The smart Rabbit is preparing meticulously,
The Dragon is ready to roll,
The Snake is rolling already,
The wise Horse draws back,
The wiser Sheep may retreat,
The Monkey takes greater care,
The rash Rooster risks mortification,
The Dog may break some ties,
but
The Pig is learning all the time.

Know your inner beast. How Ox are you?
Birth in the Ox Hour (1am-3am)~: late conversion of some sort.
Birth on the Ox Day#: empathetic, even psychic.
Birth during the Ox Month (January)*: at work a sticker.
Birth in the Ox Year: spiritual tradition.
~ GMT. # You’ll need a Chinese calendar for this. * Caution: Chinese months start later.

Where to do what, when and why
Summary: Here’s where to go in order to be known.
South East, Determination: Year Star: 9 Dragon Virtue, Month Star: 7.
Best front door and generally the best direction to face all year.
Dragon Virtue supports the good reputation of all, kuas 1 3 4 and 9 in particular as well as certain Monkeys, Rats, Snakes, Roosters and Oxen (Dragons may find it competitive – not that that’s necessarily bad). All year this is the place to locate in order to be noticed in a positive way although this month you may experience a little frustration due to the 7.
Enhance with: Clockwork devices (eg a music box).
Four Plants (eg bamboo stems) help all year.

East and West Groups: Everybody falls into either East or West Group by virtue of their birth date. The calculation is simple but if you do want to know where you belong, email me at richardashworth@imperialfengshui.info.
Readers Digest version: East Group people best face East, South, South-East and North and/or in buildings and beds backing onto these directions. West Group vice-versa. Sorry it’s fiddly, I’m not making this stuff up.

Special days unique to the New Year
Lunar New Year: Sat Jan 28^th 19:35 Wood Rabbit; Maiden, Full. A principle of date selection (or ze ri xue) is that what is done on the selected day echoes forward. This is doubly true on a Full day which may prefigure the whole year. This is not such a special day but for many including the traditionally-minded Chinese, it is the true New Year.

Solar New Year: Fri Feb 3^rd 23:49 Metal Rooster; Mound, Success. These are fine portents for 2017. The Solar New Year is about the physical world and practicality, and Mound implies the need for positive focused action such as placing a Water Dragon. Plans made today and the action following will tend to flourish. This is for many, the astrological New Year.
The Turkey cometh.
“If we meet evil before it becomes reality- before it has even begun to stir – we can master it.”
The Book of Changes Hexagram 19.

Here we are in the sluggish nomanstime between years. A cusp, if you will, this is the time to be making major feng shui changes while the effect of the Monkey can hardly be felt and the Rooster is as yet not quite here. The North East can be opened up again now and the South has become delicate; on the other hand an activated South-East-facing building gets a turbo charge all year. These are among the differences between the years and most of my time right now is spent making those changes until about mid-February. We can guide you by Skype/Zoom, let you have written drills or I can visit; I have a few time slots left.

In January 2012 during this twilight time, I advised Britain’s favourite designer Kelly Hoppen, to paint her office wall red. Which to her great credit, she did. And remember, this is the queen of monochrome, the populiser of taupe. Whether connected or not, what followed is matter of record: Dragons Den, A-list status and more to the point, a happiness that had seemed to elude her before. We fell out in 2014 btw.

Much of the reasoning for this advice came from her ba zi, that is her Animal Fortune for that year. As for how 2017 is likely to affect you and me personally, you have your own annual Animal Fortunes for the year now: 2017: Year of the Turkey. If you’re uneasy with what you read, well that’s what the feng shui changes are for. Feng shui is often thought of as prescription where ba zi is diagnosis. If we fear a plague of boils or want to achieve against the odds, we get our feng shui right for the year.

As for the world……

Technically this is a Fire Rooster year with a 1 lo shu (or magic square). A Fire Rooster year is likely to be one of strutting and posing. 1 indicates a time of communication.

Under the Rooster the Dragon gets something of a free ticket; examples are Vladimir Putin, Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage, all of whom will continue to subordinate the facts to their various ambitions in this post-truth world. The Snake too; Bashar al-Assad is unlikely to face much music before his nemesis year of the Pig 2019.  But also the Ox; if you want to be up to date with the opposition to the forces of darkness, look no further than Metal Ox Barack Obama who is either a. not the man he has appeared to be or b. the focus of opposition.

And finally this is a year of compromise. A 1 year concerns negotiation. The forces of post-truth interestingly, fear disagreement and unpopularity more than anything. There is something about the Fire Dog – George W Bush, Bill Clinton, David Bowie and most particularly Donald Trump – that experiences the whole world as being against them. On some level they think of themselves as victims; this may be what drives them. The world to them is a bully that won’t acknowledge their greatness. A man who can’t sleep until he has redressed the injustice of a critical Tweet is very susceptible to the weight of public opinion. So popular opposition and public discussion will be very effective this year. Don’t hold back from demonstrating or marching (or voting) because you believe it makes no difference. It really does.

And ba zi-wise the closest comparison for Trump remains Elvis Presley; do with this information as you will.
 
Richard Ashworth © 2017

Distracted by Shiny Things:
2017, the Fire Rooster: the Year of the Turkey.
What to do next?
 
Tune-Ups, Bulletins, Studying Ba Zi & Feng Shui, Retainers
with Richard Ashworth in 2017.

A South-Eastern door looks helpful in 2017 – but how do you enhance it? Dragons and Snakes look set but what about Rabbits and the Roosters themselves? How do we capitlaise on the fresh energy? In answer to such questions, here are some ways we might work together this year:

 1. A Tune-Up survey brings your work or living space into the Year of the Fire Rooster. Richard identifies the spots that need attention and attends to them or tells you what to do. If we’ve mapped it already, this will take 2-4 hours and we’ll charge you less. Otherwise set the controls for ½ a day.

2. A subscription to our Monthly and Weekly Bulletins will tell you week by week and month by month, where to do what, when and often why. This can be very useful for planning such activities as travel and crucial meetings.

3. Studying feng shui or ba zi; we run starter courses on each which are available as a group “live” thing from time to time or (constantly) via Skype/Zoom. Both bought together will cost you less.

4. Hand-drafted ba zi and consultation, one to one. Ba zi of course plots the cycle of time as it applies to you and will tend to show major milestones, preferences and blockages. The ba zi is perhaps the very best device there is for identifying major moments of choice. And doing something about them. A follow-up session, if Richard has already drafted your ba zi is often a good way to start the year.

5. Soul Retainer. For a single annual payment, you receive a Tune-Up, Monthly and Weekly Bulletins and a further four hours one-to-one over the year as well as attendance at next year’s Forecast Weekend.
Prices (and further information): sheilaashworthfengshui@gmail.com

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

Richard Ashworth©
www.imperialfengshui.info

 

Little Red Rooster

Little Red Rooster My diary for the month of the Fire Rooster (Sept7th 13:48pm to 05:59 Oct 8th inclusive) in the Year of the Fire Monkey. Kuan ———- ———- —-  —- —-  —- —-  —- —-  —- The Watchtower Hexagram 20 “Everything that gives off light is dependent upon something to which it clings.” The Book of Changes. The Rooster Month Animal by Animal During this Fire Rooster Month, The Rat may feel disinformed, The Ox whistles nonchalantly, The Tiger is bemused, The Rabbit chooses his moment, The Dragon flies high, The Snake emerges, The Horse stamps, The Sheep’s support may go uncredited, The Monkey takes a back seat, The Rooster is surprisingly bashful, The Dog waits his turn, while The Pig seizes the initiative. Know your inner beast. How Rooster are you? Birth in the Rooster Hour (3-5pm)~: numerate kids. Birth on the Rooster Day#: pride that can go either way. Birth during the Rooster Month (September)*: work with design. Birth in the Rooster Year: flirtatious parents. ~ An hour earlier than the clock during British Summertime ie 8-10. # You’ll need a Chinese calendar for this. * Caution: Chinese months start later. Where to do what, when and why Summary: Two locations again South, Bright Future: Year Star: 6, annual san sha, Month Star: 8. To encourage a bright future, it’s best for East Group people to locate or face South again. South–facing windows and doors are favoured as is the South of your home/office. “Bright future” btw means plan, plot, visualise and wait; whatever Barthes and Derrida may think, the future is a little down the line. No complaints that nothing happened in the first three minutes following the change, please. Note: To sleep facing South means toes North, pillow South. West, Intervention: Year Star: 4 Year, Sun, Month Star: 6. For West Group people West (who’da thought it?) remains a top location. The single female could successfully seek company here. Positive intervention may bring windfalls too. Locating yourself West, facing West or occupying a West-facing building is pretty sound. Same with West-opening doors. Note: To sleep facing West means toes East, pillow West. East and West Groups: Everybody falls into either East or West Group by virtue of their birth date. The calculation is simple but if you want to know where you belong, email me at richardashworth@imperialfengshui.info. Readers Digest version: East Group people are best facing East, South, South-East and North and/or in buildings and beds backing onto these directions. West Group vice-versa. My actual Diary Little Red Rooster. I have a stopover in a dinky little hotel while I’m working on integrating a house and workshop into an ancient group of hills. I can’t tell you more about this right now, if ever. But staying away from home gives me a chance to read extra-curricular stuff; in this case Barney Hoskyns’ Trampled Underfoot about the infamous exploits of Led Zeppelin. Coincidentally (in the sense that there is such a thing) today the  redtops are reporting that a US court has let Led Zeppelin get away with yet another “inspiration” – this time having cut and pasted Taurus by Spirit into the introduction to Stairway to Heaven. And as it turns out, I’m listening to Nessun Dorma played by Jeff Beck. Beck is the most lyrical of guitar players. Check out his version of Somewhere over the Rainbow if you doubt me. Such an emphatic touch. Beck was with Jimmy Page in the Yardbirds of course. So it’s fair to say that Page was, far from being the greatest guitar player in the world, not even the best in the Yardbirds. As it happens, Willie Dixon’s Little Red Rooster is not on the rollcast of blues and folk artists plundered by Zeppelin: Howlin’ Wolf, Bert Jansch, Muddy Waters, it really is a long list . Anyway a red rooster is clearly Fire, not say Wood or Metal. This Fire Rooster month prefigures 2017. So obviously enough similar forces affect both and consequently, similar events can be expected. Both month and year are Fire Roosters: a boisterous bird that tends to be glamorous and charismatic. The Rooster is also logical to a fault. A balanced one is a valuable friend while you have her attention; out of control this is a bombastic show-off, mouth disengaged from mind and heart. Current potential and actual world leaders fit this bill pretty well, as did Led Zeppelin. The Rooster is inherently Metal and Fire attacks Metal. Own goals and friendly fire are likely this month. Along with plagiarism. The “Star” at the centre of the lo shu or magic square is a 4 which relates both to innovation and copying. The 4 is puckish but generally benevolent. It sits to the South East which means that some Western interpretations of feng shui limit its influence to “Wealth” which is over-simplistic. Wealthy or not, the Rooster is yin, (ie principally to do with the feminine) and it’s sometimes termed the por kwan. The por kwan or  “broken soldier” often possesses the “poison tongue”; words that can kill at fifty paces. But it’s not a time to hold your tongue. It’s actually a very good month to say in a new way things that need saying, as long as you’re truly well-intentioned. Anything can be communicated in a way that’s healing. Let me emphasise that this is not an appeal on behalf of pc central but a warning to consider the impact, accuracy and intention of words. In NLP theory “the meaning of a communication” is reckoned to be “the reaction it elicits.” It’s black and white, we don’t get to say “I didn’t mean that,” when we bruise with a careless phrase. On one hand then, this is the month of the apology, on the other it’s foot-in-the-mouth-Month. Watch the front pages. A dozen semi-literate black songwriters died in penury when a small cheque from Page might have pulled them out of the gutter and at this moment in time when there is more inequality than ever and more denial of the fact, we are at a er… crossroads, so to speak. The Monkey year has as predicted been chaotic. But nothing is written in stone. One man’s chaos is another’s opportunity.  Next year’s Rooster, like this month’s could go either way. And there is really nothing, no magic, no mumbo-jumbo, no recherché formula, more powerful than telling someone something nice that’s true. See Hexagram 27 perhaps. Richard Ashworth © 2016

Special (almost) free bonus: Some years ago a guy rang me and asked if I’d like to record a cd about classical feng shui. I agreed and he arrived with his headphones and plugs, I ran very simply through the meaning of the Zodiac animals and where in my daughter Jessica’s words “to put stuff to get stuff.” It was clear, authentic and simple, he caught me on a very good day. Then he scarpered and I heard no more. Last month a new student told me she’d found me through a wonderful “podcast” which turned out to be this recording. I was never paid but you can get it from Audible for around £4. Now I know how Howlin’ Wolf felt. Here’s the link: http://amzn.to/2aGaDT8Footnote: my next ba zi Starter Course starts on the weekend of September 17th/18th. Details here: http://www.imperialfengshui.info/coursesAnd finally: a limited number of places are still available to study with me one to one via Skype. Email: sheilaashworthfengshui@gmail.com Richard Ashworth© www.imperialfengshui.info

Fire Monkey Month Diary

Still no Wise Monkeys
My diary for the month of the Fire Monkey
(August 7^th 10:39am to Sept7th 13:48pm inclusive)
in the Year of the Fire Monkey.P’i
———-
———-
———-
—-  —-
—-  —-
—-  —-
Standstill
Hexagram 12“If we wish to compress, we must first allow full expansion.”
Lao Tse.The Monkey Month
Animal by Animal
During this Fire Monkey Month,
The Rat gets the breaks,
The Ox follows – for once,
The Tiger crouches,
The Rabbit’s agenda may appear dictated,
The Dragon cruises,
The Snake has help controlling the damage,
The Horse should not wager,
The Sheep rests – in company,
The smart Monkey embraces chaos,
The Rooster beckons,
The Dog is consistent,
while
The Pig takes it easy.
 
Know your inner beast. How Monkey are you?
Birth in the Monkey Hour (1-3pm)~: ingenious and impious kids.
Birth on the Monkey Day#: resistance to early commitment.
Birth during the Monkey Month (August)*: sales ability.
Birth in the Monkey Year: mechanically minded.
~ An hour earlier than the clock during British Summertime ie 8-10.
# You’ll need a Chinese calendar. * Caution: Chinese months start later.

Where to do what, when and why
Summary: There is one stand-out location this month but you have to be gentle with it.
South, Bright Future: Year Star: 6 Month Star: 9.
The future wealth star 9 brings improved communication. As in every sector, this month’s star brings a cameo of the underlying energies. Which are double-edged because the South also holds both the monthly and annual san sha (otherwise melodramatically known as Three Killings). What does this mean? This: if you occupy the Southern area of your space or face South, prospects and especially vision should improve. If you hold loud parties there or in a South-facing house you may invite a plague of boils. So occupy but don’t over-activate, especially do not dig or drill. South door much the same effect.

Still no Wise Monkeys:
My diary for the month of the Fire Monkey. 
I’m looking over Karen’s smart Victoria flat for the second time. On the last brief visit her ba zi (or personal feng shui that travels with us, sometimes misleadingly called a Chinese Horoscope) took us into her heartbreak over her Father’s premature death. Gentle soul work and the few li xi pai tricks I put in place clearly made enough difference for her to want me back.
It’s a nasty 21^st century apartment block constructed without much apparent concern for people. So much of my work is compensating for thoughtless architecture. Is every bathroom in these premises without natural light?

Because her back hurts she has to stop and lie down every now and then. She has had several operations and dreads another. I explain that this may relate to the “spine” of the building which is undermined by a shopping precinct (pretty much at the sacro-iliac) that is in eternal shadow and beneath that an underground car park.  I suggest a virtual cure: a large rose quartz boulder as close as she can get it to the centre of the car park which will also approximate to the tai chi or heart of the building. Attention to the depths has effects that are profound but slow. The higher we go the more rapidly a difference will tend to show. Which is great given that she’s on the 8^th floor. If you subscribe to this mumbo jumbo.

We look in every room. The main problem is that the office from which she runs a small business is not only in the North East but holds the “Flying Star” or fei sin 5 long term. This means that it will always need feng shui assistance in order to be usable but that this year anyone who has been in there much risks chronic sickness. I give her the three dates in August when it’s safe to occupy. There’s some inevitable organisation to do.
“But don’t linger,” I warn.

Karen’s sister is here to do heavy lifting. We look in the bedroom where Karen’s head is totally wrongly oriented in keeping with the ancient ba zhai theories. Positioning her correctly looks awkward, it’ll put her under a window. Which is not ideal but it’s better. There’s often a trade-off between the various strictures. Better however to risk insomnia than further injury. Her sister argues fiercely for the change, bless her. I stand back, the last thing I’m going to do is bully her in her fragile state.

Nonetheless I’ve banned Karen from her office, and she has nowhere to work, so I locate the most helpful spot. We correct a shelf that protrudes at spine level and orient her to her sheng qi or “wealth” position, making sure she has literal and metaphorical back support.

Everything is changing all the time. We’re warmer in summer than in winter and more cheerful when we’re warm. It seems to me straightforward that certain orientations will suit certain people in certain ways better than others. That’s not metaphysics, it’s common sense. Isn’t it?

Finally I ask both of them to sit comfortably and close their eyes. Karen’s ba zi tells me that there was a major shift in her life around age seven. This is the beginning of what’s called her “Big Fate” or “Luck Pillars”. Someone’s Big Fate occurs at a moment that is sometimes traumatic, always significant. We build a picture of a Mother with mental health issues and a Father who retreats into his work. Karen is effectively orphan and Mother at seven. Back-breaking. We notice that all four are cracking up and we put them back together again.

My work here is done.

Then I sit in a corner – South, the external realm of the Father – take out my ipad and try to write up my notes. The Pages app won’t do what it’s told. The cursor leaps about. The font keeps changing. It’s been a long day, I get annoyed with it and turn it off. I’ll write this up on my laptop tomorrow. A lifetime in the world of woo-woo™ and it doesn’t occur to me that there might be something else going on with my ipad. What a turkey!
Richard Ashworth © 2016

Special (almost) free bonus:
Some years ago a guy rang me and asked if I’d like to record a cd about classical feng shui. He arrived with his headphones and plugs, I ran very simply through the meaning of the Zodiac animals and where in my daughter Jessica’s words “to put stuff to get stuff.” It was clear, authentic and simple, he caught me on a very good day. He scarpered and I heard no more. Last month a new student told me she’d found me through a wonderful “podcast” which turned out to be this recording. I was never paid but you can get it from Audible for around £4.
Here’s the link: http://amzn.to/2aGaDT8

Footnote: my next ba zi Starter Course starts in September, Early Bird offers are open until 8th August. Details here:
http://www.imperialfengshui.info/courses

And finally: a limited number of places are still available to study with me one to one via Skype. Email: sheilaashworthfengshui@gmail.com

Richard Ashworth©
www.imperialfengshui.info

Ba Zi: why the greatest generals never go to war.

To hear Richard talking Ba Zi click the pic.

Ba Zi: why the greatest generals never go to war. “Therefore measure in terms of five things: the way, the weather, the terrain, the leadership and discipline.”.  Sun Tzu. The Art of War. The story is told of three brothers all of whom were doctors. These three were reckoned to be the greatest healers in all China. So skilled was the youngest that his patients mostly recovered while those of the middle brother invariably returned to health. But the patients of the eldest simply never got ill. Prevention, as they say, is greater than cure. And as Sun Tzu wrote, the greatest generals never go to war. Probably the elder brother concerned himself with breathing, diet, hydration lifestyle and destiny. Holistic treatment has always been the underlying principle of traditional Chinese medicine. He would have known acupuncture and above all ba zi, which is reckoned to track destiny. Joey Yap, probably the most successful Master in the world, actually uses the term Destiny Code. The ba zi being expressed in terms of the balance of the wu xing or Five Elements, can assess whether we have too much Earth say – leading to sluggishness and a variety of other symptoms – and therefore that we need say Metal (ie focused activity) to remedy the imbalance. Whether we define healing as solving emotional blockage, enhancing performance or actual physical change, the ba zi is a healing tool. Not I hastily add, that ba zi of itself heals physically. It is diagnosis where feng shui or acupuncture (or tai chi or tcm) are remedy. But as a method of identifying tendencies, physical and other, it has no equal. All three brothers would have thought of it as a map of destiny. The doctor’s job like the general’s, was to see what was coming and the ba zi was how they managed to see it. In those days remember, the mediaeval times of Song and Ming, a doctor was paid by his patients only as long as they were healthy. Which may have been a motivating factor. When my Father returned from one of the first trade missions to modern China in the early 70’s, I remember him telling me that the Chinese were “the least likely Communists” he’d ever met. Nye Bevan would have approved. Be that as it may, I have always been wary of Sun Tzu because he assumes enmity and opposition; understandably perhaps given the cruel times in which he lived, but applying those assumptions to feng shui, ba zi or even Qi Men Dun Jia (the current hot divinatory method in feng shui circles) denies any progress during the ensuing millennia. The fact is that Sun Tzu is the guvnor on winning business in the teeth of opposition and when I first started studying The Art of War in the early 80’s, that was the context. Sun Tzu’s strategies – when your enemy expects you to be slow, move rapidly; when he expects advance, withdraw and so on – are brilliantly applicable if you think of your client as the opposition. Not so great if you want to be of service. Such a philosophy may be everything that is wrong with both politics and business and it runs through finance like the words in a stick of rock. But it doesn’t work and it works even less as a basis for feng shui or ba zi practice. Which is why it’s important to be aware that the ba zi depends upon benevolence. In 30-odd years in the world of woo-woo™ ba zi is the most powerful healing tool that I have come across. Being a snapshot of the prevailing Elements at the moment of birth it shows potentials, preferences, abilities and above all moments of choice. From where I’m sitting – a position you don’t have to share by the way – everything is choice and if we can identify moments where decisions were made we can un-make them. Consider how a life might be changed that way. Ba zi lays open the soul to the sensitive practitioner. There is calculation involved and deep learning but at heart it’s an empathetic, instinctive thing. The trick is to know the building blocks so well you can apply them without thinking. And to trust the fact that to think and feel simultaneously is an art but quite possible. Above all to care; as I tell my students, it is unprofessional not to love your client. And perhaps surprisingly easy. Of course ba zi teaching sooner or later turns transformational. Learning the twenty-two Chinese characters necessary (only twenty two!) requires application but it’s not rocket science. There are rules to be followed, the Animals have traditional relationships, for instance: Horses such as Angela Merkel and David Cameron are deeply challenged in a Monkey Year like 2016; Pigs like David Bowie and Alan Rickman are at risk and Dogs like Prince and George Osborne may miscalculate drastically. But the teaching always goes transformational. Because the student’s curiosity and crucible is their own ba zi. I’ll use example ba zis to make points – if you looked closely at Gary Glitter’s for instance, you’d tend to feel a great deal less contempt – but everyone wants to know about themselves. Once a Monkey (born 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980 or 1992) learns that Wood and Metal are in eternal opposition and that Tiger and Monkey are respectively yang Wood and yang Metal, they’ll tend to understand more about conflict with a Tiger parent or boss. A Dragon fixated on glamour may recognise the expression of a “secret friendship” with the Rooster. And so on. The point of this is not to be run by ba zi but to master it. I am myself a Water Dragon and traditionally therefore particularly irked by Earth Dogs of 1958. As it happens, some of my best lady friends are Earth Dogs, some of them very successful business-people. I think they can be a bit dense, they think I go on a bit. We know this about each other. We contain it and rub along. Where’s the problem? One source of trouble can be being too literal; some trainees and indeed some experts fail to factor in humanity. This tends to put the ba zi rather than the practitioner in charge. The main pitfall however is seeing the world as Sun Tsu does, as a jungle of threats and competition. Some New Age teachers would call this a belief in shortage, others a lapse of faith. We all possess free will. We are all complex individuals and no woo-woo™ analysis can adequately define us. The ba zi is a guide not a dictator and put simply, the practitioner’s job is to give. Master Sun, the great teacher of strategy whose wisdom as James Clavell once suggested, might have prevented war in Vietnam and Afghanistan, would not have known the truism that those who can do and those who can’t, teach. Sun himself was prematurely retired from active service by the amputation of both feet (a punishment for telling the hard truth to a minor king probably rather than a mishap). He would have known of Qi Men Dun Jia which dates from his era (the so-called Age of the Warring States 475-221BCE). He might well have approved of the use of his words as part of this very powerful tool of divination (which I don’t yet teach) in a world defined by greed and violence, that is to say shortage and competition. There are things in the world that I would sooner weren’t in it but Sun’s is not the world I choose to live in. And so I try to practise and teach both feng shui and ba zi as gifts of love rather than as ways to steal a march. Abundance is about much more than wealth and healing is more than band-aids. I’m not teaching dogma and above all I’m not teaching how to win the game of life against stiff competition. What I offer is a method of touching and perhaps understanding the soul. And that’s why the greatest generals never go to war. In the teeth of Orlando, Iraq, Syria, Burundi, Afghanistan, I try to remember that although Sun Tzu is still in print after all this time and the younger brothers of the story probably got the most approval, it was the eldest that made the most positive difference.

Richard’s next starter Ba Zi Course opens in September 2016 in Godalming but he has a (Friday) slot now vacant to learn via Skype pretty much right away. For more details go to: http://www.imperialfengshui.info/courses Some Early Bird Discounts still apply. Richard Ashworth© www.imperialfengshui.info

Hoarse With No Name: My Diary for the Horse Month 2016

Hoarse with no name
My diary for the month of the Wood Horse
(June 5^th 14:09 to July 7^th 00:33 inclusive)
in the Year of the Fire Monkey.
 Kou
———-
———-
———-
———-
———-
—-  —-
Meeting
Hexagram 44“Too much Monkey business for me to get involved in.”
Chuck Berry (1956)

The Horse Month
Animal by Animal
During this Wood Horse Month,
The Rat may simply wait,
The Ox may be (way) behind the Rat,
The Tiger sees the breaks,
The smart Rabbit rises to the occasion,
The Dragon reins in,
The Snake could be overawed,
The Horse might pace herself,
The unwary Sheep is under a shadow,
The Monkey demands to be noticed,
The Rooster takes time out,
The Dog obtains a boost,
while
The Pig strikes back.

Know your inner beast. How Horse are you?
Birth in the Horse Hour (11am-1pm)~:      performing children.
Birth on the Horse Day#:                           a tendency to the reckless.
Birth during the Horse Month (June)*:      an extroverted vocation.
Birth in the Horse Year:                            spontaneity in the bloodline.
~ An hour earlier than the clock during British Summertime ie 8-10.
# You’ll need a Chinese calendar. * Caution: Chinese months start later.

Follow Twitter (@FengShuiDiaries) LinkedIn or
like my FaceBook page for further news.

Where to do what, when and why
Summary: The peak of Fire ignites the hunters of the Zodiac: Dog and Tiger (for whom it may be the best month of the year, so fill your boots) as well as the faithful Sheep. It is generally less helpful to Rat and Ox. A 7 month tends to harass some more than others of course and those with 3, 2, 6, 7 and 8 kuas are least vulnerable.

West, Intervention: Year Star: 4 Year Sun, Month Star: 9.
The visiting 9 makes for a magical 9:4 he tu combination in the West right now while the romantic power of the toe far or “plum flower” Star is still there, along with the restorative Sun.

Locate to the West of your home, face West or occupy a West-facing building; these are transformative stars.

Along with superior examination results, 9 brings future plans closer. 4 bamboo stems in 4 glasses of Water can help.

Note: If this is all er…Chinese to you, email me your birth details or more drastically, come and study with me.

Hoarse with no name.
Wood Horse month, Monkey year, the turbulence continues while the Solstice approaches. Notice the creeping yin to the foot of the Hexagram at the top of this page; the qi is already descending. As indeed it was at this time of year, three thousand and seventy four years ago.

At that time, May of 1058 BCE, as it happens a Horse year, the Zhou family rose up against the ruling Shang and wrested from them the “Mandate of Heaven,” that is to say the right to rule China. The Zhou were to hold onto the mandate for the following seven hundred years or so. What inspired rebellion against the tyrants at that exact time was the conjunction of the five visible planets in the night sky. This conjunction happens only once every five hundred and sixteen years. Michael Wood illustrates this with a computer simulation in the first episode of his excellent BBC series “The Story of China.”

As above, so below. So much of feng shui is rooted in astrology. You can for instance, find the group of Stars that are reckoned to have inspired the ideograph of the Monkey to the South West of the night sky. They’re part of the constellation shen, that is Orion. The star formation (whose name I’ve not mastered) making up the character for Horse lies to the South.

Bloodless kou
As does this month’s Hexagram, Kou. As you know, these six-line figures are themselves composed of three-line figures called Trigrams. And each Trigram apart from signifying a member of the Confucian family, a state of being, a location and a million other things, describes a phase of the Moon. Identifying the homes of the Trigrams in the night sky is known as na jia or “assigning the Wood.” Qian (Heaven) for instance with its three unbroken yang lines, stands for the Full Moon and Kun, Earth (three yin lines) for the New Moon. Sometimes these things are hard to observe because of street lights, late-night parties, cats’ eyes and headlamps.

When I was in Menorca writing and researching a couple of years ago, the night sky was almost free of light pollution. And so with feet in the pool and beers in hand, my daughters Jess and Hen and I confirmed that the Moon rose and fell precisely where the na jia indicated. It was, if you will, a sobering moment; there above us was physical evidence of the connectedness of Heaven and Earth. It was as if a huge finger had drawn lines across the Moon.

Just behind the full Moon, the 2016 Solstice falls on June 21^st at 06:57, shortly after sunrise. Full Sun and full Moon, full yin and full yang, on a Dog day in a Horse month, it’s almost alight with Fire. And yet the qi is falling. In the Year of the Monkey (who generally stands cautiously clear of the Horse) this makes for quite a chaotic pattern. The Monkey is of course talkative, but this is no month for discussion. Rather it is one of action; some impetuous, some not so well thought-through. Hold tight.

In the desert you can’t remember your name
And this year as I predicted, is definitely shaping up like a Monkey; Paris barricaded, US Presidential nominations haywire, we pretty much already have the Earth Monkey of 1968. All we need is Russian tanks rolling West and British boots on the ground in the Middle East and it’s the Fire Monkey, 1956. Oh and peaking markets. “Déjà vu all over again,” in the words of John Fogerty. As above, so below. My own father’s boots were among those on the ground in the Sinai Desert in 1956.

This Horse month favours Dogs and Sheep and Tigers as ever, although they may present just a little hot-headed. Along with the Horse, they are the hunters of the Zodiac and often the life lesson of the hunter is that life is not as simple as a hunt. The Horse doesn’t much like her own company or talking things out and may fall victim to unforced errors. Let things come to you as they will. The Ox is best lying low but his intimate the Rat, may find that originality is at a rare premium; the smart Rat sticks to their guns. Caution is counselled to Dragons, Snakes will find certain days offer a boost but Rabbits are probably stretched.

As a Dragon, I’ll be tapping the ongoing but quirky support of the Monkey and remaining wary of the rampant Horse.
Richard Ashworth © 2016

www.imperialfengshui.info

Knowing Your Onions: feng shui and Tomatoes, part 2

Knowing your onions: the yin and yang of feng shui.

“He not busy being born is busy dying.”

Bob Dylan.

Yes we have no tomatoes.

Some ungenerous people say that Bob Dylan made a career out of just two songs: a slow one and a fast one. And one way to look at feng shui is that it is about only two things: the qualities of yin and yang. In a sense the feng shui Master’s task is to limit yang and encourage yin – perhaps by placing stones – or to boost yang by building a Water fountain, thence health, wealth and wisdom.

The Taoist principle is that existence starts with precisely two qualities or essences: yin which is smaller, still, quiet, dark and subtle, essentially feminine and yang which is larger, outgoing, illuminated, unsubtle and broadly masculine. All that there is, hats, hills, oceans, football, turtles, elephants, Donald Trump’s hair piece, your frying pan and the Chuckle Brothers, are made up of some combination of yin and yang.

You’ll recall that in an earlier blog I compared feng shui to salad; planting lettuce in January against a North-facing wall is not only not bright, it violates the laws of feng shui. Now I have to confess: this is not the whole story. The roots, if you will, are much deeper. Having looked at the wu xing or “Five Elements” we need now to consider yin and yang.

Knocking on Heaven’s Door.

Feng shui of course would not be a thing at all if its laws were not universal. The idea that it works in China and not elsewhere is as silly as the idea that its fundamentals are a Chinese thing. Waving Cats belong in Chinese restaurants not your front room. Laws are laws. The builders of  Stonehenge, for instance – whoever they were – respected the rule that there is a Ghost Gate North East and a Heaven Gate – a Tiananmen – North West. And the Valley of the Kings straddling the Nile as its celestial counterpart straddles the Milky Way, reflects the Chinese story of the Maiden and the Ox Boy, forever separated by the river of stars between them. And so on. Wherever we travel we find theories of the management of space that map onto one another.

In England I often come across buildings that betray Masonic design. I’m no expert on Masonry but the long eccentric passageways and irregular floor plans are pretty distinctive, quite apart from the symbols over thresholds and fireplaces. Masonic architects are said to have built many of the great mediaeval cathedrals and one stage whisper across the nave at Chartres reveals mastery of acoustics that confirm their designers knew something we still don’t.

Perhaps two things actually: one, that the only constant is change; two, the physical universe is a duality, that is to say made up of two.

Shell Shock.

And as it happens, classical feng shui comes down two lines of descent; one, as discussed before, by way of early observers who noticed that the cycle of the hours of the day mirrored the cycle of the seasons which led to them giving Animal names to days, hours, months, years and indeed locations. The other branch of the family tree proceeds from the discoveries of the diviners of the Zhou Dynasty. I examined the first group or “school” (known as sam he or “Three Harmony”), in my previous article which also had nothing to with tomatoes. Or to jump the gun, turtles.

Thousands of years ago it was the practice of the Zhou diviners of Northern China to bake river-turtles. Not for nourishment or even for entertainment you understand, but for information; they grilled them if you will, and noted the patterns of cracks created by the heat. Inevitably the river turtle became extinct by the way.

The cracks seem to have fallen into two types – long and short. And the diviners appear to have taken short to mean no and long to mean yes. This probably evolved by trial and error. Before the advent of fast food, microwaves, refrigerators or even farming, if diviners could direct the community to where deer or water lay, they would probably have been well rewarded; the Chinese character for divination – xiang – is actually a picture of an elephant or perhaps a mammoth. Now there’s a square meal. In the great tradition of Chinese history, if the diviners called it wrong they probably lost limbs or disposable organs. In time they clearly got it right. A relatively short time probably.* The turtles of course were beyond caring.

*The 4^th Century BCE military thinker Sun Tzu, author of the Art of War, was reduced to theory rather than practice after his feet had been cut off for some now-forgotten offence. A little later, the Han historian Ssu Ma Chien was sentenced to death for begging the Emperor to show mercy to a hapless defeated general. This sentence was commuted to the greater (ie more dishonourable) one of castration because of Ssu’s value to the Emperor.

At some point these discoveries map onto ideas about light and dark and become the concepts of yin and yang which are at the core of Taoism. In the beginning, goes the theory, was the mou chi or “great nothingness” and then at some point, it is said the “myriad things” come into being; that is to say, all that exists. The mou chi is not unlike Stephen Hawking’s great “singularity” that (allegedly) precedes the universe; it is followed by the simultaneous birth of two things: yin and yang. One could not logically precede the other because the existence of the “myriad things” requires contrast; we cannot have a depression without a surround, height without base or light without shade. They would not be “myriad” if they weren’t different.

And like so many Chinese ideas, yin/yang theory is an acorn that holds a variety of oaks. It implies for instance the concept of infinity (since contrast is by definition endless) and of relativity (everything is bigger than something and smaller than something else). Chinese thinkers were clear that there are no fixed points long before Newton saw it in the night sky. As Neo says in The Matrix: “there is no spoon.”

Obviously if yin and yang referred to light and shade, they related also to time and place. The night is yin, the day yang; winter yin and summer yang and so on. In time then, inevitably a yin/yang theory of time and place emerged. From this comes the Book of Changes, a work as central to Chinese culture as some combination of Shakespeare, the Bible, Immanuel Kant, Einstein and the Brothers Grimm might be to Western thinking.

What also emerges is a system that identifies the nature of each part of a building. That is to say about half of classical feng shui practice. A skilled sam yuen practitioner can tell you things about each member of the family, what their strengths and weaknesses are and their activities and so on simply by examining your floor plan.

You’re Fired.

How? Well, somewhere along the line, the diviners’ vocabulary of incisions gave rise to the idea of the Trigram (or three-line figure) and Hexagram (six) which allowed them to offer a spectrum of “maybe” answers beyond the stark yin and yang of yes and no. Perhaps this saved lives and limbs. Perhaps it cost them. Your Alan Sugars are pussycats to bearers of ambiguous counsel compared to mediaeval Chinese Emperors*.

*consider the Ming Emperor Hong Wu whose chief claim to the throne was that he’d slain all his male relatives.

Three unbroken lines absolute yang, clearly meant a big Yes and thus daylight, power, authority, Father and the South. Similarly three broken lines implied the opposite: night, darkness, winter and the North. As well as Woman by the by but let’s not go there. In between these extremes were the various Trigrams that mixed yin and yang. This is called today the “Early Heaven Arrangement” of Trigrams and it’s reckoned to date from the moment of creation. In time a Later Heaven Arrangement emerged which relates to the present.

Accordingly the eight possible Trigrams made up of yin (broken) and yang (unbroken) lines each came to represent not only a compass point but also a member of the Confucian family and the qualities associated. Put simply, every space consists of eight locations or “palaces” each of which represents a member of the family and a type of experience or qi. This applies equally to your bedroom your home, your street, neighbourhood, nation and planet. We can literally say that if there is something happening at say the South West, it relates to Mother, Relationship (with a capital “R”) and associated ideas. We can, as you will be surmising, do a great deal with just this information. Lillian Too built a whole career on it. And let me hasten to add, she’s a dozen sorts of genius. As is Bob Dylan btw.

You put one Trigram on top of another and you have a Hexagram. There are sixty four possible Hexagrams made up of yin and yang lines. Put the sixty four together and you have the Book of Changes,

Fast forward to the 10^th Century and we have kan yu or di lin practitioners (that is proto-feng shui Masters) practising both “schools” of thought. A further thousand years and by the early 19^th century the modern luo pan (or Chinese compass) is incorporating both theories.

And so today the modern practitioner belongs to both “schools”; the sam yuen theories of Flying Star and Eight House (which are centrally expressions of yin and yang) as well as the sam he or Three Harmony theory of the celestial Animals. Bingo.

Richard Ashworth © 2016.

www.imperialfengshui.info

The Fire Pig Diary for November 2015

The Fire Pig
My diary for the 10th month, 2015
(Nov 8th 03:25 to Dec 7th 20:01 inclusive)Kun
—-  —
—-  —-
—-  —-
—-  —-
—-  —-
—-  —-
Earth
Hexagram 2

“Nature creates all beings without erring.”

The Pig Month, Animal by Animal.
During this Fire Pig month:
The Rat may become impatient.
The Ox may gain from another’s loss.
The Tiger may feel emboldened.
The Rabbit may be accompanied.
The Dragon is relieved.
The Snake is more wary than usual.
The Horse may be pre-emptive.
The Sheep may take time out.
The Monkey may speak up on another’s behalf.
The Rooster may be fragile.
The Dog sits it out.
and
The Pig needs extra space.

Every little bit helps.
A powerful day: Metal Horse, five Dong Gong Stars, suitable for Water placement. I’m a Dragon, particularly stretched this year and the Pig month promises relief, but today is a Horse day and the Horse is above all about visibility; such a day often concerns acknowledgement. Dragons – the most egotistical of the Chinese Zodiac – can be poor at this.
The guy on the till at the Co-op till is telling me that all transport should be nationalised. As ever I’m there for milk and dog food but it’s nice to shoot the breeze. Only last week he shared with me his recipe for vanilla cheesecake; Mary Berry, eat your heart out. Now he tells me, he’s churning his own butter.
I’ve been a devoted Co-Op shopper ever since a Tesco Metro opened only yards away – just along the road from the fishmongers’ and the wine shop. In a packed field as you will know, Tesco are among the most corrupt companies and indeed worst employers on Earth: they bully suppliers, encourage near-slavery and fiddle their books to present bigger profits to their shareholders.  And anyway the Co-Op gives me money-off vouchers.
There are those who reckon that new-age healers should remain ignorant of that sort of topical information as all news is bad news. After a lifetime of hugging trees and trusting the Goddess, I have concluded that mastering the facts is not negative. Only by knowing it will we change the world.
“Yup, in the words of Burt Bacharach” I respond to his proposal, “Trains and Boats and Planes””.
He nods agreeably but I realise I have made a cardinal error: those are not Burt Bacharach’s words. Bacharach wrote the melodies to “Anyone who had a heart”, “Do you know the way to San Jose”, “I just don’t know what to do with myself,” and a couple of dozen other classics (including the above paean to public transport) but Hal David wrote the lyrics. Credit where it’s due. As Mrs Ira Gershwin once remarked: “George wrote ‘duh-duh-duh;’ my husband wrote ‘Summertime’”.
Fortunately the guy behind the counter is no 60’s music anorak and I make off with my (goat’s) milk and budget animal food without being rumbled. Once in the car I look at my ipad; these things are as addictive as smack, not that I’ve tried opiates other than under medical supervision. But ipads are so handy.
Alexandra has responded to my email asking how things are going. Alex’s husband is a seven-figure-bonus banker. With a heart – which my research indicates is an unusual combination; I may be the only feng shui man who can tell you the precise orientation of Goldman Sachs’ unmarked office on Fleet Street. And I may not be. Which is more worrying.
Several years ago he, Alex’s partner, was on the wrong end of a deal that went sour and they had to sell their house, put the equity that was not needed onto deposit and rent; at a rental that would make your eyes water. She loves the rented house. He says they need to get back on the ladder but she hasn’t located a home that compares with the one they’re in. I must have inspected close to a dozen houses for them so far and she has a point.  But last month there was one that was kind of alright. And he’s putting his foot down.
So we agree it’s time for some mumbo-jumbo.
Reaching for my little pink book of formulae, I prescribe two auspicious days: one to flood the Water Star and another to install GrandMaster Raymond Lo’s formula for Five Ghosts Bring the Money to the House. And Bingo; next door is on the market. A bit pricey but we’ll see.

Dragon Dance.
I am invited by Tracey, my daughter-in-law ,who is a miraculous healer and incidentally a genius drama teacher, to her half-term show. Between Monday and Friday she and the kids in her charge, have as usual devised, cast and rehearsed an entire playlet. Over the years she has included in her teaching, kids with A.D.D, with M.E, in gender transition and with a variety of the difficulties that have parents throwing up their hands in defeat. Many have been excluded from school, some with threatening behaviour. And many are regular talented kids. All love Tracey. Many emerge as fine performers, writers, dancers and so on.
As if in proof of her commitment, the current show includes her son, my grandson Mr Levi. I am greeted by him at the door, dressed in a garish outfit – him not me – as a pig called Geoff.
“A name of your choice?” I ask him. He is nine years old.
He nods and outlines how he has insisted on a little expositional dialogue. I remind him that he comes from a long line of hams and congratulate him on observing the three cardinal rules of stardom:
1. Accept only named roles.
2. Build up your part by whatever means necessary
3. Wear silver lamé.
He is as you might guess an ostentatious Rooster. His mother is a 1964 Wood Dragon.
There are some good gags in the show which appears to be related to Game of Thrones. But not very much. There are some talented kids here. And Geoff the talking Pig is if not a standout, an arresting curiosity.
Tracey, like all Dragons, is acquainted with darkness; the trap of the Wood variety (1964) is of disappearing. The Dragon can waste years in shadow. The solution is generally healing or teaching. Often we return from darkness with a great deal to impart. On the other hand, a typical alternative is what I call middle-class angst: “Why do we only have one SUV?” “Aren’t there other colours than green for welly boots?” “Just the three holidays, this year, darling?” Watch for these enquiries of despair. So often they speak of a lost Dragon. So many kids owe so much to the fact that this one has her attention out.

Where to do what, when and why.
Abundance encompasses a great deal more than literal wealth of course but the North East is the wealth spot this month; be there, work there, keep it busy. If you can’t do any of these things and your building doesn’t open North East, you can simply and effectively face NE. This works best for members of the West Group (ask); East Group can, if they choose substitute North for North East and wealth for other forms of abundance.

Pig Pillars; know your Pig rating.
Birth in the Pig hour (21:00pm-23:00pm): laconic kids.
Birth in the Pig month (November*): varied work.
Birth on the Pig day#: economical with words.
Birth in the Pig year: possible boundary issues.
* Caution, the Chinese month generally starts and finishes a few days after ours.
# Just ask.

A World going Bananas: 2016, The Fire Monkey: a Year of Turbulence.
A day with feng shui man Richard Ashworth
The Pepperpot, Godalming.
10 till 5, Saturday December 5^th 2015.
What to expect and what to do about it.

Cost for the day: £125
Early Bird: £85 – paid in full by November 21^st.
Places are of course limited.

Richard’s Ba Zi Training starts the weekend of 16/17th January

For both events please email: sheila@imperialfengshui.info

Taylor Light Creates
Anna Taylor is a wise, powerful and benevolent woman. I commend her events to you if you live in a GU postcode. Or further out if you’re adventurous.