MAKING WAVES WITH FENG SHUI

The Year Of The Rat - Will You Peak Or Merely Squeek?

 by Dennis Fairchild

There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself. Henry David Thoreau

Whatever your background or interest in Feng Shui is (pronounced “fung schway,” the ancient Asian esoteric philosophy about environment, your home and horoscopes), now is the time to marinate and reflect on what Feb 7th’s Year of the Earth Rat may deliver. Will you be a proud Pied Piper or meandering Mickey Mouse?

The annual influences of Feng Shui astrology are like the seasons. Time and order-wise, seasons are predictable but are uniquely different every year. For example, knowing that spring is on the way, begin preparation and take advantage of it now. If you know your front door is weak and what’s left of winter isn’t, you simply get ready for it.

After the two turbulent fire years of 2006 and 2007, life will swim in calmer, clearer waters more often than not throughout our new earth year. However, stay on your toes (or paws), as the rat never stops moving – especially when it comes to mental activity. Alas, earth has a destructive relationship with the rat’s fixed element, water. Although not disastrous, this does mean you should not gamble or rely too much on luck this year.

On the other hand, the combination of earth and rat means this is extremely positive year for achieving results and eliminating unconstructive habits and hangers-on. The rat tends to take a lot of risks, while earth is associated with practicality and stability. This creates balance and can lead to good profits, an awareness of spirit, increased productivity and many other positive accomplishments.

The power of the rat is one of protection, passion, communication and dynamism, sobriety, prosperity, calm as well as a deep care and concern for others. The rat is the first sign of the Chinese zodiac and signifies new beginnings. That makes 2008 an appropriate time for new ventures and breaking new ground. This includes innovative ideas, directions and ways of doing things. It is a time to experiment and implement plans, as there will be plenty of opportunities to achieve success. Remember that things begun during this year will have long term consequences, so choose your actions wisely.

2008 will also be an excellent time for intellectual endeavors, writing, lectures and learning. Planning, scholarships and research, for example, gets props. It is also an auspicious time for the arts; although, under earth’s influence, applied arts such as design and graphics fare best. Earth favors those who love the land, do routine work, deal with practical matters or perform tasks of a spiritual nature. Based on the characteristics of both earth and rat, it will be an auspicious year for those the careers of business, clergy, construction, engineering, academia as well as planning.

Flying Star-wise, industries that will perform well in the year of the rat will be industries in sync with earth and metal elements – such as property, hotel, mining, insurance, machinery, engineering, health, computer and high tech industries. The sectors relating to water and fire – i.e., shipping, communication, drinks and fire industries, stock market, finance, energy, electricity, entertainment business – will not prosper.

This year’s astro-energies will hang around in every southeast (money, money, money) area of your home and property. To invite extra income into your savings account, make sure all southeast spots in your domicile are de-cluttered and remain clean. Provided this area is not your bedroom, introduce healthy plants or water features to feed that wood ch’i (pronounced “chee”; meaning energy) for this particular year. If southeast is your boudoir, always keep it clean (marvelous yoga for your entire home!) and either display a realistic painting of greenery or create a one-of-a-kind silk flower arrangement highlighted with pinkish peonies, pastel toned chrysanthemums for money luck.

Please make note that also during this time, what is cosmically called the Five Yellow Star – symbolizing obstacles and misfortune – vacations in the South segment/s of your place. Don’t get too nervous, but the Five Yellow Star is synonymous with danger and big boo-boos. If your front door faces South, hang a small 5-piped metal hollow wind chime just inside your front door to repel unwelcome aggravation asap. This is especially necessary during the stinky stars’ worst months of right now: February, August and November.

Not done, yet. The cyclic sad sack star number two – symbolizing sickness, despair – haunts all Northwest areas of every room in your home during 2008 too. The traditional Feng Shui fix to blow the nuisance nose of and dissolve this terrible 2 is to hang a string of six metal coins* in the affected area in the Northwest of your home. Also this year, it is not recommended to sit with your back against exact South as you will be sitting against the unfavorable energy called “Three Killings.”

Almost finished but not quite. Note that what is called the not-so-nice cyclic star three – one of both conflict and robbery – will wander throughout all west sectors of your dwelling. To counteract caa-caa and crime, either display a poster/painting that features something red (like an apple, tomato, red rose) or simply put a piece of red paper or red ribbon in the west and minimize any such bad influence. Lastly, the sneaky solipsistic star seven – representing scandals and gossip and unkind words – will be scooting into all southwest sections of your home. Here, the traditional solution for this crossed star is to place three or four sprigs of live bamboo plants in clear glass vase of water in the southwest location. No need for them to be huge. Tiny works just fine.

Globally, the Chinese calendar year is on 60-year cycle. This means that we are likely to experience similar situations this year as we did during the yang earth rat of 1948. This was a year when the confrontation between USSR and the west intensified with the Blockade of Berlin started and the formation of the Western Union by the Brussels Treaty to confront the threat of USSR. Hmmm.

The rat belongs to the strongest water element and it is the first of the 12 animal signs. As such, the rat year is likely to herald a new beginning of international relationships and social order, bring new regimes with changes of leadership to many countries. In the US, John Edwards and Mitt Romney’s stars shine brighter than others this autumn.

Headlines during rat-times have been horrid, yet life continued to move forward. This year’s cosmic clashes between water and fire elements is likely to deliver ongoing news of accidents related to both fire, water and air. Remember the expression about rats and sinking ships? Interestingly, the most powerful ocean (water) disasters in history, such as the South Asia tsunami on 12/26/2004 and the sinking of the Titanic on 4/14/1912, occurred during prominent rat times. It’s also acknowledged that the year of the rat seems to experience more air disasters. A typical year with many aviation disasters was the previous rat year in 1996. During that year, there were over 20 major airplane crashes including the TWA Boeing 747 crash of July, 1996 killing 230 (which I predicted live on my radio show 15 minutes that evening before the disaster, by the way).

Combo yang earth-rat energy also emphasizes earth disasters such as earthquakes, landslides, collapsing of buildings. As a concluding note of intimate interest, the earth element is also associated with homosexuality. It so happens many famous homosexuals are born on what are called days of earth – this includes Leonardo Da Vinci, Tchaikovsky, George Michael, Boy George, Andy Warhol, Tracy Chapman, K.D. Lang and Rosie O’Donnell. As such, there will be many and ongoing same sex issues in the news throughout 2008. It is not really clear how or why the earth element is linked with homosexuality. Possibly because earth is a neutral element when compared against the other four, water and fire, wood and metal?

*Looking for some traditional, unusual and inexpensive Feng Shui “cures” like strung metal coins or hollow metal wind chimes for 2008? Try www.fengshuiemporium.com. While your waiting for the mailman to deliver your remedies, check out your individual celestial stuff and enjoy a free Nine Star Ki forecast at www.9starki.com/fengshui.htm.

Dennis Fairchild is a Royal Oak psychic-astrologer and author of several books. For information about his services, e-mail  DenFairchild@aol.com or call (248) 546-6912.