Thus Knowing How is the maintenance of life.
Do not fail to observe the Four Seasons
And to adapt to heat and cold,
To Harmonize elation and anger
And to be calm in activity is in rest . . .
In this way having deflected the perverse energies
There will be long life and everlasting vision.
–from the Nei Jing Su Wen
The long-awaited Dog month is finally here. October 8th marks the start of the seasonal “pause” or in-between before we shift from the Autumn (Metal Element) into the Winter (Water Element) season. This year the Dog 戌 month carries so many important messages. So take this as a gift as you preview what the Dog energy will bring and have in store for you in the 2018 Dog Year. These next 30 days you will indeed witness—and experience—what it means to be in the total absence of Fire.
As you prepare to move inward to take stock on the year so far, explore some earth-related questions and give yourself the time to reflect on the answers (or observe where and how the triggers are prompting you to react very quickly).
- What brings you satisfaction and contentment?
- Who takes care for you?
- Does your partner or family understand you?
- Do you feel nurtured and supported?
- Do you excessively worry and obsess about problems?
- Are you seeing signs of self-absorption?
- How can you be supportive of others?
The Dog—an Earth Element—is closely aligned with the theme for caring, contentment, satisfaction, and your ability to develop a sense of bond and community. All of these are pre-requisites for your ability to cultivate courage to see beyond the surface of your experiences. It is the preview to change.
The subtle lull in the weather feels calm and melancholy—all indicative of the Metal’s encouragement for letting go. Once this cycle completes, the next steps you take will catapult you onto the next phase of your journey. Destiny is the fork road ahead. And as the world moves into the deepest Yin phase, stay attuned to the spirit aspect of “yi,” which translates as intent, recollection, reflection, and thought. Allow these terms to resonate within yourself as the mind and body slow down in preparation for retreat and hibernation . . .
BaZi
This month, Yang Metal sits on top of the Dog 庚戌 in a productive birth cycle. And since the Metal Element has support from the Dog, the Metal energy is also quite strong. With that said, the Dog month is also an eerie one. Its powerful connection between Mother Earth and human’s intuition and psychic senses will be especially heightened. For those who were born in the Year or Day of Dragon will sense this clash that awakens those senses. At a time that is full of uncertainties, your innate ability to foresee the outlying future will be important. The Dog month will already invite the energy of 2018. So if you do have a Dragon in your Four Pillars or Luck Pillar, or were born in the Dog Year (2006, 1994, 1982, 1970, 1958, 1946, 1934, 1922, and so forth), you may begin to carry the pendant of the Rabbit to help minimize the offense and clash energy of the Dog.
You must especially be careful if your BaZi does not favor the Earth Element and your BaZi birth chart is sensitive to the Earth penalty combination. This penalty is made up of three Earth animals: Ox, Goat, and Dog. You can click on this LINK to learn more about this dangerous combination. If your chart is already composed of any of these combinations, then you are more susceptible to the earth energy this month.
Famous people with this Earth penalty combination include Queen Elizabeth, Donald Trump, Emma Stone, Meryl Streep, Lady Gaga, Tory Burch, Julia Roberts, Lynda Carter, Mark Cuban, Malala, etc.
In BaZi, the Dog is never a symbolic star. Meaning, the Dog (just like the Dragon) can never be a Peach Blossom, Nobleman, Academic Star, or Traveling Horse. Its essence is deeply tied to the connection of heaven and hell. The spiritual and physical worlds colliding–the yin and the yang. The cycle for decay and dying (before rebirth) is here now.
Just look around you. The macroscopic events of the world are jolting all of us in every way. The “shock and awe” is begging us to change while also challenging our convictions, a kind of tug-of-war-see-saw-of-up-and-down-and-sideways. From Mother Nature’s wrath to the fury of manmade violence and disharmony. Even as you begin to look at the internal walls of your very own circles–your families, close friends, and self–you can see or even feel so much of the internal turmoils bubbling up. And the desire for serenity, composure, patience, and faithfulness is stronger than ever.
Because the Dog is an Earth Element, you can also begin to see earth-related disasters such as earthquakes, avalanches, volcano eruptions (i.e., Bali), landslides, and buildings collapsing. In October 2012, also a Yang Metal Dog month like this month, saw many such earth-related disasters including the landslide in Yunnan, China, that killed 19 people. Thus, the events in Mexico is already indicative of the Earth energy showing up, and you can anticipate more of these types of disasters to pop up now. TIME magazine recently published an article titled, “The U.S. is Overdue For A Catastrophic Earthquake.” You can read it HERE.
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The Earth Element also corresponds with fertility and pregnancy, which supports life through the placenta, or the Spleen energy. That’s why Earth also belongs to the uterus, ovaries, stomach, pancreas, as well as other digestive processes. They illuminate the positive qualities attributed to nourishment, contentment, harvesting what is needed for the self and others, stability, security, empathy, and caring. Look for signs of imbalances if you’re suffering from eating disorders, over-eating, upper and lower gastrointestinal diseases, sinusitis, frontal headaches, insulin resistance, adult-onset diabetes, and gynelogical disorders.
In the Chinese Five Elements cycle, Fire supports Earth. Now that the Fire energy is lacking, the stomach or central region of the body (and the emotions related to it) will also be weakened. Deliberately invite in and supply the body with more Fire to boost your physical and mental energy. Eat what Chinese Medicine considers to be red, such as beets, cherries, goji berries, red beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, red meat, and saffron. Otherwise, you can also consider taking COQ10 or other fire herbs such as ginger, ginseng, cayenne pepper, turmeric, etc. to help boost the Fire energy through food and supplements. But it’s always best to consult your acupuncturist or natural doctors for proper dietary treatments.
Flying Star
In Flying Star, Monthly Star 9 takes the center palace. If your house or office already has good Flying Stars to begin with, and this is a Yang space (e.g., front door, living room, dining room, kitchen, tv room, play room) especially in the SE and Center sectors, then you can greatly benefit from 9,8 and 1,9 in the SE and Center, respectively. You can place an active object here to help stimulate the connecting stars. You can read this article for more information => 8 Common Feng Shui Enhancements.
Monthly Star 4 in the South will aggravate the already unsettling 5 in the South (5,4) because 4 (Wood Element) will attack 5 (Earth Element), which will awaken the 5 related to misfortune and accidents. Please place a Fire and Earth Element cure here to neutralize the monthly star. The traditional approach is to place a red envelope because this simple object already incorporates both Elements and is quite subtle and economical.
Careful to the North with Monthly Star 5 (6,5). If your main door is located here, I hope you already have a cure for the 6 (Metal Element) as this relates to legal trouble and metal-related diseases. The 5 (Earth Element) will strengthen the energy of 6. So better place an additional cure to suppress 5. The traditional cure is Metal and (yin) Water so you can use 6 metal rod wind chimes, 6 metal coins, or 1 black fish.
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