The Year of the Dog

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Feng Shui Times

would like to wish all our readers a very HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

 

The Year of the Dog

 

The Chinese calendar, commonly known as the Farmers’ Calendar, or the

Hsia Calendar, is a fascinatingly accurate system, which not only

records the passage of time, but is also a tool for fortune-telling. The

famous traditional fortune-telling system – The Four Pillars of Destiny

– is exactly referring to reading a person’s destiny from his birth data

as presented in the Hsia calendar format.

 

The unique feature of such calendar is that all information about time –

year, month, day and hour are presented in terms of the five basic

elements – metal, water, wood, fire and earth, which are believed to be

the basic components of everything in the Universe. The relationship

between the fire elements accurately helps one predict what is and what

is to come by way of one’s fortunes and thus, one can by using this

knowledge, multiply the good luck or minimize the bad luck in one’s life.

 

The Year of the Dog, 2006, in the Hsia calendar, is symbolized by two

elements – with fire sitting on top of earth. According to the cycle of

birth and destruction, which governs the inter-relationship between the

elements, fire will give birth to earth. Therefore, fire sitting on

earth is a symbol of support and harmony and this may bring a relatively

more peaceful year with less international conflicts than in the past

few years. In recent years, the last time such elemental relationship

occured is in the year 2000, the year of the metal dragon, which was the

year when the world was at peace to celebrate the Millienium,

immediately before the 911 incident in 2001. The fire standing on top in

2006 is yang fire which is compared to the Sun. This element symbolizes

openness, optimism, warmth, politeness and care. As such, it is

anticipated that there will be more open and honest peace talks and

settlements leading to a more harmonious atmosphere which the world has

been lacking for many years. The earth underneath, representing the dog,

has the implication of the “gate of Hell” and “storage of fire”. This

character often carries spiritual and religious implications, As such,

the year 2006 will also focus on seeking spiritual meaning and answers

and more people will be drawn to religious events and discussions.

 

The Chinese calendar year goes on 60-year cycle. This means that we have

experienced the same year of yang fire on earth dog in 1945 when the

Second World War is finally over and the world powers were concentrating

on recovering from the war and re-arranging a new world order. The

United Nations had its first meeting in 1946. Likewise, it is expected

that there will be more co-operation among countries in 2006 aimed at

setting up a more effective world order for the protection of global

interests, such as solving environmental issues, global warming problem,

religious differences, and the prevention of epidemics etc.

 

The yang fire – in the system of the Four Pillars of Destiny, is a

symbol of big fire, and the earth dog is a symbol of the storage of

fire. The pair of elements shows fire on top of a mountain, this could

bring serious volcanic eruptions as well as big energy disasters such as

nuclear explosions. The last such disaster is the Chernobyl nuclear melt

down which occurred in 1986. Yang fire, is big and powerful energy, so

the issue of nuclear safety will be in focus, Historical records show

the United Nations Nuclear Agency was also set up in the last year of

Yang fire Dog in 1946. With such a powerful fire element, besides the

possibility of nuclear disasters, it will not be surprising that the

yang fire will bring big explosions and fire disasters too. In Chinese

astrology, the Dog is in a clash position against the Dragon, and both

Dragon and Dog are powerful earth elements. With earth elements under

clash, it will bring very serious earthquake disasters. In the feng shui

flying star system, the star 3, representing earthquakes, is in the

centre in 2006. This could also imply a year of serious earthquakes.

With the star of misfortune 5 falling in the West in 2006, the areas

more likely to have such natural disasters will be more concentrate to

the central area, or areas bearing the name – central, centre, middle….,

or the western part of a country, or a continent. Besides earthquake,

other earth disasters and accidents could be more frequent in 2006.

These may include mining disaster, landslide, collapse of building ,,,etc

 

The Dog is the animal in clash against the Dragon, and forms an earth

penalty with Ox and the Goat. Therefore people born in such years have

to be particularly careful in 2006. As it is earth clashing against

earth, the danger could be associate with earth disasters such as

landslide and collapses of buildings or earthquakes, Therefore, for

people born in the year of Dragon, Ox and Goat, it is recommended that

they avoid going too close to massive earth areas such as mountain or

dessert. This is particularly important during the earth months which

occurs in April, July, October and January. For people born under such

animal signs, it is good to always carry the pendant of a Rabbit which

will help to attract away the Dog, so as to minimize the negative

influence of the clash or penalty. Anyhow, people who are born in the

year of Dragon will experience a more turbulent year with more movements

and traveling, changes. It is suitable to engage in such movements, such

as moving house or moving offices. Traveling is also good but one should

avoid going straight towards the Northwest direction as it is the

direction of the Grand Duke in 2006.

 

The Dog is a “Gate of Hell” in the system of “Four Pillars of Destiny”.

So a dog year will bring more spiritual activities and strange

happenings. The Dog forms a penalty configuration with the Ox and the

Goat. Penalty means hidden danger. And the Dog, Ox and Goat together

formed very strong earth configuration causing hidden health problems

such as cancer. As such, this year cancer problems will get more serious

and it is necessary to take precautions such as taking anti- oxidant,

quitting smoking and drinking alcohol..

 

The Five basic elements also represent different parts of our body, fire

in general relates to blood circulation and the heart, and yang fire

also represents the shoulder area. Therefore in 2006 more people will

complain of shoulder pains. The Earth element is the symbol of stomach

or spleen, muscles and cells. Therefore strong earth years will bring

cancer problem. The combination of fire and earth will destroy the water

element. As such, it will also create health problems such as kidney

failure. It is necessary to take more fresh fruit and vegetables,

vitamin C, omega 3 oil etc, this year to enhance the water aspect. The

configuration of fire and earth will bring dry weather, and the lack of

water will also cause dryness of hair and many people will experience

faster loss of hair in this year.

 

The economy in the year 2006 showed yang fire on the Heavenly stem. Fire

is the symbol of the financial market and yang fire is optimism. It is

exactly such optimism that will create the positive trend for the stock

market in 2006. However, yang fire standing on dog – the grave of fire,

is illusory fire. But the stock market is often driven by illusion of

profitability. So there is still strong driving force to bring the

market to very high levels especially in spring and summer. However,

investors have to be cautious towards autumn and winter as there will be

substantial set back as the fire element will be weakening in 2007, and

such weakening could start as early as the second half of 2006. However,

in general, the strong earth year of the Dog favours fire industries, as

fire gives birth to earth, the strong earth element in the year

indicates productivity and strong activity in fire industries – this

include finance, stock market, energy, electricity, entertainment, and

airline businesses. As the Earth element is conquered by Wood, so the

wood industries see earth as money. As such the year of the Dog shows

strong money for wood industry which will enjoy a prosperous year with

fire symbolizing their productive activity, and earth symbolize their

money. Wood industries include textile, fashion, books, publication,

paper, forestry, furniture etc.

 

The property market is symbolized by the earth element. This industry

had stronger activities in the past two years of monkey and rooster as

the metal elements in these 2 years represent productivity of earth

industries. However, in 2006, the metal element is no longer there, and

that the water element, representing the money of the earth industry, is

also absent. Instead the strong presence of the earth element will mean

strong competition in the property market. Therefore, it is anticipated

that the property industry, and other earth industries such as mining,

insurance, hotel…etc will cool down and even suffer some setback in the

year of the Dog.

 

With respect to the hi-tech economy, as represented by the NASDAQ. I

have postulated that this industry is mainly represented by the metal

element. As such, the prosperity of this industry requires the strong

appearance of water and wood, which are symbols of productivity and

money of the metal industry. However, in 2006, both water and wood are

absent from the year. As such, it is anticipated that the year is not so

favourable for hi-tech or internet types of business.

 

In summary, the industries that will perform well in the year of the Dog

will be industries related to wood and fire elements – such as energy,

electricity, finance, stock market, textile, fashion, paper and

publications. On the other hand, industries relating to earth and metal

will not be doing so well. Earth industries include mining, chemicals,

property, hotel, and metal industries are cars, heavy industries, iron

and steel, and hi-tech and internet related business. The water

industries – such as shipping, drinks, communication, etc are into a

year with some superficial prosperity but not substantial.

 

In general, the yang fire Dog year, with fire on top supporting earth

below, is symbol of more harmony and optimism with more international

co-operation and more care about the future of humanity and global

well-being. The Dog is also symbol of spiritual achievement and the

world may pay more attention to spiritual health and enrichment as long

term solution to the hatred and religious differences which have been

causing disharmony to the world in the past decade. There will be more

international co-operation in solving environmental issues such as

control of nuclear power and global warming. The strong yang fire

appearing on top can also bring about serious explosion or nuclear

disasters. There will also be more chances of natural disasters

involving drought, earthquake, landslides, and volcanic eruption.

 

The animal sign which is most unfavourable is the Dragon which is in

direct clash against the Dog. Such clashes will usually will bring about

turbulence, movements, accident or changes.. So people born in the year

of the Dragon will anticipate more traveling , or movements such as

changing jobs or moving house. It is necessary to carry the pendant of a

Rabbit as protection to attract the Dog away. For the Dragon people, the

clash against the Dog could bring accidents related to the earth

element, such as earthquake, landslide, falling from a building, For

people who are under clash with the year, it is ok to travel more,

making changes such as moving house, or change job. However, for people

born in the year of the Dragon, it is recommended not to travel directly

towards the direction of the Grand Duke, which is the northwest

direction, and it is also not recommended for them to travel to areas of

strong earth, such as high mountains, deserts, or region of possible

serious earthquakes. The other animals signs facing unfavourable

positions are the Ox and the Goat, as these animals will form Three

Penalty relationship with the Dog and cause very powerful earth

influences. Such earth penalties will usually bring earth diseases such

as cancer, diabetes, and stomach and spleen problem. As such, it is

necessary to take heavy dosages of anti-oxidant which is good protection

against cancer and other earth disease. For people born in the year of

Dog, the year 2006 is offending the Grand Duke and is also considered

not favourable. As such, all people born in years of earth animal signs

– the Dragon, the Dog, the Ox, and the Goat all have to take precautions

in 2006 and the minimum preventive measure is to carry a pendant of the

Rabbit to attract the Dog away.

 

The animals combining with the Dog year are the Rabbit, the Tiger, the

Horse. These animals are into a year of harmony . However, such animal

astrology is not totally reliable as the system is not recognized as a

formal type of fortune-telling. For more reliable assessment of ones

fortune in the year of the Dog, it is recommended that one checks the

full Four Pillars of Destiny, which requires full birthdata information

of the Year, Month, Day and Hour of birth. As the animal signs can

appear in all four pillars in a person’s birth data, the clash and

penalty relationship with the Dog will not only impact people born in

the year of Dragon, Dog, Ox, and Goat. Such clash and penalties can also

impact anyone who has such animals in the birth month, or day or hour.

 

Feng Shui energies also change from year to year. Therefore, it is

necessary to watch for the re-allocation of good and bad energies at the

beginning of each year, so that we can take necessary precautions if

some bad energy happens to arrive at important locations of our

residence or offices. In the year of the Dog, the bad energy called

“Five Yellow” – symbolizing obstacles and misfortune, arrives at the

West. If your west of the house is an important area such as bedroom or

entrances, it is recommended that one hangs a metal windchime there to

dissolve this bad energy. The worst months will be in April, July,

September. Another bad star number 2, symbolizing sickness, will arrive

in the Southeast in 2006. The traditional method to dissolve this 2 is

to hang a string of six metal coins in the affected area in the

Southeast of the house The Grand Duke this year is in the Northwest,

hence it is not favourable to “move earth” or make substantial

construction work in this direction. It is also not recommended for one

to sit with back against exact North as you will be sitting against the

unfavourable energy called “Three Shars” or “Three Killings”. The bad

star 3 is a star of conflict and robbery. This is present in the centre

of the house. It is necessary to put a piece of red paper in the centre

to minimize such a bad influence. Also the bad star 7, representing

scandals is in the South, the traditional solution for this bad star 7

is to place 3 or 4 of bamboo plant grown in clear glass vase of water in

the South location.

This article is brought to you by

Raymond Lo

Raymond Lo, also popularly known as " Fung Shui Lo " , is a professional

Feng Shui researcher and practitioner. His expertise also covers the

Four Pillars of Destiny and the prediction of the I Ching Oracle.

 

Having graduated with a degree in Social Sciences from the University of

Hong Kong, Mr Lo's interest in Feng Shui led him to seriously study the

ancient art. He used his skill to write a popular Feng Shui column in

the Hong Kong Standard between 1988 and 1991. In this Column he made

several forecasts about world events, including the outbreak and the

result of the Gulf War, the fall of Mr. Gorbechev and Mrs Thatcher's

resignation, all of which have later proved to be accurate.

 

Mr Lo is the author of seven Feng Shui titles in both English and

Chinese. He frequently contributes his Feng Shui knowledge to various

media publications. In 1990 he made a live appearance on the popular BBC

program " Whicker's World " . In 1994, he also introduced Feng Shui to

American audiences in the ABC program " Good Morning America " . In 1996,

Mr Lo was interviewed by TV stations of many countries including

Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Switzerland, Germany and Poland.

 

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