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2008, THE YEAR OF THE RAT
By Master Raymond Lo
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 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 Rat,
2008, in the Hsia calendar, is symbolized by two elements –
with earth sitting on top of water. According to the cycle of
birth and destruction, which governs the inter-relationship
between the elements, earth is the conqueror of water. .
Therefore, earth sitting on water is a symbol of control. But
the water of the Rat year is very strong and the earth floating
on top of water has no foundation and cannot control the ocean
of water. As such, instead of conquering water, it is more like
confrontation between earth and water elements. The Earth on top
is Yang earth which symbolizes a mountain, and mountain gives
sense of stability and firmness. But such floating earth in the
ocean is weak in foundation and the stability appears to be
fragile. This elemental relationship will bring a year which
apparently is more stable but there are a lot of underlying
tensions and confrontations.
The Chinese calendar
year goes on 60-year cycle. This means that we have experienced
the same year of yang earth on rat in 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;
this is the predecessor to NATO. In May this year, the State of
Israel was established and also the confrontation between Israel
and Arabian countries began leading to the Arab-Israel war. .
The Chinese character
for “Yang Earth” represents a big mountain. . It is associated
with the quality of a firm and steady person. People born in a
day of “Yang Earth” .is often calm and steady and faithful,
practical and “down to earth”. . Some examples of famous earth
people born on a “Yang Earth” day are Hillary Clinton, Danzel
Washington, David Beckham, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Michael Jackson,
Dick Cheney, Eric Clapton and Ben Affleck .
The Rat belongs to the
strongest water element and it is the first of the 12 animal
signs. So it also represents the beginning of a new 12 years
cycle. As such, the Rat year can bring a new beginning of
international relationships and social order; this could bring
new regimes with new government in some countries. Indeed, there
will be many major elections happening between 2007 and 2008
with change of leadership in many countries including U.S.A.,
United Kingdom, Russia, France, Taiwan…..The rat is also
considered as a “Flower of Romance”. So years of the rat will
stimulate more romance and sex scandals. The Rat is in clash
relationship against the Horse. . This is a clash between water
and fire elements and will often bring accidents related to both
fire and water, air and the sea. The Rat is the most powerful
ocean water and it will bring heavy flooding or even tsunami
disaster. The most famous water disasters in history, such as
the South Asia tsunami on 26/12/2004 and the sinking of the
Titanic on 14/4/1912, both incidents happened on a date with
prominent appearance of the Rat. Looking at past history, in
1228 a year of Earth Rat, there is big flood in Holland killing
100,000 people, and in 1588 another year of Earth Rat, the
Spanish Armada encountered storm in Ireland and 5000 people died
in this heavy storm. In 1888, year of Earth Rat, there is “Great
Blizzard” in the east coast of the USA and 400 people died. The
clash between fire and water will also bring accidents related
to fire and the airline business is in the category of fire
element. As such, it is observed that the year of the Rat seems
to experience more air disasters. A typical year with many
aviation disasters is the previous Rat year in 1996. During this
year, there are over 20 major airplane crashes including the
U.S. TWA Boeing 747 crashed in July, 1996 killing 230. Looking
at the immediate last Earth Rat year in 1948, there were also
quite a numbers of airplane crashes including the hijack of a
Cathy Pacific airplane in June, 1948.
Yang earth on the rat
also symbolizes unstable earth, this will also bring earth
disasters such as earthquake, landslide, collapse of buildings.
The Earth element is also associate with homosexuality. It so
happens many famous homosexuals is born on the day of earth –
this includes Leonardo Da Vinci, Michael Angelo, Tchaikovsky,
George Michael, Boy George, Andy Warhol, Tracy Chapman, K.D.
Lang. Rosie Odonell etc. As such, there could be more issues in
this aspect in 2008. It is not really clear how earth element is
linked with homosexuality. Perhaps earth is an element of more
neutral nature, compare against the other four, water and fire,
wood and metal.
The clash between the
Rat and Horse is a serious clash between water and fire
elements. This will often bring injury and bloodshed. Therefore
people born in years of Horse have to be particularly careful in
2008. As it is water clashing against fire, the danger could be
associate with water and fire disasters such as traffic
accidents in the air or at sea. Therefore, for people born in
the year of Horse, it is recommended that they carry the pendant
of an Ox which will help to attract away the Rat, so as to
minimize the negative influence of the clash. Anyhow, people who
are born in the year of Horse 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 North direction as it is the direction of
the Grand Duke in 2008.
The Rat also forms a
penalty relationship with the Rabbit. Such penalty may cause
disharmony, worries and irritations, or hidden sickness.
Therefore people born in the year of the Rabbit is also
recommended to carry the pendant of the Ox to minimize such
penalty influence in the year of the Rat.
The Five basic elements
also represent different parts of our body, earth in general
relates to stomach, pancreas, muscle and cells. As such, the
health problems related to earth could be stomach problem, food
poisoning, and diarrhea. Disorder of earth elements can mean
problems of muscle and cells, this can bring obesity, diabetes,
and cancer …these are all sicknesses caused by imbalance of
earth elements. Diabetes is a sickness caused by disorder of
insulin which is produced by the pancreas which is also
symbolized by earth element in Chinese medicine. . So diabetes
problem is also caused by imbalance of earth element. As such,
these kinds of health problems will also come in focus in the
Earth water year of 2008.
In recent years the most
imminent issue threatening the survival of human race is Global
warming. The polar ice caps have been melting down in an
alarming speed and there are forecasts that many coastal
populated cities will be submerged under the sea by the year
2050. In 2007 we have experienced dramatic change in climate and
there are more weather triggered disasters. It is expected such
serious impact of Global warming will intensify in 2008. The
pair of elements, yang earth sitting on the rat can be
interpreted as the image of floating mass of ice on a big ocean.
And this is an alarming sign that the melting of Arctic and
Antarctic ice will become more and more alarming in 2008. If we
examine the fateful moment of one of the biggest water disaster
– the Titanic, we can see the Titanic collided with a floating
iceberg at mid night of 14th April, 1912. and when we translate
this fateful day and time into the Chinese calendar, we can see
the mid night hour on this day is actually Yang earth over the
Rat, with yang earth representing the floating iceberg. And this
is identical to the elements of 2008. It is anticipated there
will be more flooding and water disasters associate with climate
change in 2008. Such alarming signal not only shows up in the
Chinese calendar, it is also reflected in feng shui. In 2008,
the feng shui flying star number 1, symbolize water element, is
in the centre. This centre number often reflects the focus of
events prevailing in the year. Take for example, in 2005 we have
Flying star 4 in the centre and the number 4 symbolizes the
chicken. So this the year the threat of avian flu began. In 2006
the star 3 in the centre represents conflict and earthquakes,
2007 the number dominate the centre is 2 which is sickness and
it has brought the alarm of avian flu in focus again. So we have
to assume the number 1 in the centre in 2008 will bring more
problems with flooding and water disaster. Global warming is an
issue concerning the entire human race and every one of us has
the duty to take up effective measures to preserve our
environment and support the move to reduce CO2 emission.
Regarding the economy,
fire element is often the driving force behind the stock market.
In the year 2008 there is yang earth on the Heavenly stem with
water underneath. The dominating element is water. As such, it
is a year of cooling down after the heated economic atmosphere
in 2006 and 2007. Fire is the symbol of the financial market and
strong fire will stimulate optimism and speculative mentality.
Without fire investors will play cool and conservative. However,
the strong water element is the symbol of money to the earth
industry. With strong water showing up, the property market is
still active and profitable. Despite the absence of fire element
in the year 2008, the spring and summer months still shows
strong wood and fire influences bringing upward surge in the
stock and property market. But investors will be more cautious
and practical and there will not be dramatic fluctuations such
as in the magnitude of yin fire year in 2007. In general 2008 is
a year of cooling down with more stability and calmness in the
stock market. .
The strong water of the
Rat year favors earth and metal industries, as earth conquers
water, so the Rat is a symbol of money to the earth industry,
which includes property, mining, hotel, chemicals, insurance… As
for metal industries, metal gives birth to water, so the strong
water element in the year indicates productivity and strong
activity in metal industries – this include machinery, computer,
high tech industries, skincare, health business. The Wood
industries, which include textile, fashion, books, publications,
paper, forestry, furniture is also into a profitable year as
wood conquers earth, so the earth showing up in 2008 symbolize
the money of wood industry. But the profit will only be
superficial as the earth element is weak.
The less prosperous
industries in 2008 will be businesses of water and fire
elements. Water industries refer to shipping, communication
drinks…etc. The strong water appearing in the Rat year will
bring stronger competition in the water areas and this will very
much weaken the profitability. Fire industries refer to finance,
stock market, energy, electricity, entertainment, and airline
businesses. As fire conquers metal and produces Earth element,
so to Fire industry, metal represents money and earth represents
productivity. In 2008 metal element is absent and earth element
is weak. . That is why it is a relatively weak year for the
industries related to the fire element.
The property market is
symbolized by the earth element. This industry had stronger
activities in the past years of monkey and rooster in 2004 and
2005 as the metal elements represent productivity of earth
industries. There had been some slowdown in 2006, as the fire ad
earth year brought stronger competition and eroded
profitability. However, in 2008, the water element of the rat
will bring some money luck to the earth industry, despite there
is no strong activities in the property market owing to absence
of metal element.
With respect to the
hi-tech industries sector, as represented by the NASDAQ. I have
postulated that this industry is mainly represented by the metal
element. As such, the prosperity of hi-tech industry requires
the strong appearance of water and wood, which are symbols of
productivity and money of the metal industry. In 2008 the water
element, meaning activities to hi-tech industries is very
strong. As such, it is anticipated that the year is favorable
for hi-tech or internet types of business. But the absence of
wood in this year could mean there are more activities without
real substantial money gains.
In summary, the
industries that will perform well in the year of the Rat will be
industries related to 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 will not be doing so well. Water industries
include shipping, communication, drinks, and fire industries are
stock market, finance, energy, electricity, entertainment
business. The wood industries – such as textile, publications,
fashion, furniture, etc are into a year with some superficial
prosperity but not substantial.
In general, the yang
Earth Rat year, with earth on top failing to control water
below, is symbol of apparent calmness on the outside but such
calmness lacks a solid foundation and the mountain can tumble
and devoured by the ocean of fierce water. Some kind of new
world order began to emerge but it will take time to consolidate
into stability. . Still there will be international conflicts
and uprisings and unrest but such events may be less turbulent
than 2007. The new beginning of the 12 animal cycle led by the
Rat will be first step to cool down or slow down the
acceleration of Global warming problem.
The animal sign which is
most unfavorable is the Horse which is in direct clash against
the Rat. Such clashes will usually bring about turbulence,
movements, accident or changes... So people born in the year of
the Horse will anticipate more traveling, or movements such as
changing jobs or moving house. It is necessary to carry the
pendant of an Ox as protection to attract the Rat away. For the
Horse people, the clash against the Rat could bring accidents
related to the water and fire element, such as explosion, fire
disasters, and air and sea traffic accidents. 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 Horse, it is recommended not to travel
directly towards the direction of the Grand Duke, which is the
north direction, and it is also not recommended for them to
travel by sea. The other animal’s signs facing unfavorable
positions are the Rabbit and the Rat. When Rabbit encounters Rat
year will form “Two Penalty” relationship. . Such penalties will
usually bring disharmony, irritation, worries and frustrations.
Also people born in year of the Rat are offending the Grand Duke
which is also not auspicious and it is necessary to carry Ox
pendant to minimize the negative effect. The imbalance of fire
and water elements brought about by the Horse and the Rat may
bring fire and water diseases, such as high blood pressure,
heart burn, irregular heart beat, inflammation, diabetes, and
kidney problems. As such, it is necessary to take heavy dosages
of anti-oxidant, omega 3 oil or COQ10 which is good protection
against cardiovascular diseases, hyper-tension and inflammation
problems. .
The animals combining
with the Rat year are the Ox, the Monkey, and the Dragon. 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 Rat, it
is recommended that one checks the full Four Pillars of Destiny,
which requires full birth data 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 Rat will not only cause impact on people
born in the year of Horse and Rat and Rabbit. Such clash and
penalties can also impact any one who has such animals in the
birth month, or day or hour.
Some examples of famous
people born in the year of the Horse and under clash in 2008 are
Paul McCartney, Danzel Washington, John Travolta, Condoleezza
Rice, Richard Li, Angela Merkel, Victor Yuschenko, Kiefer
Sutherland, Warren Buffett and Katie Holmes. There are people
who are not born in the year of Horse, but they are also under
clash because they are born on the day of Horse, so they will
also face a challenging year. Some examples of these people are
– Chris Martin, Lura Bush, David Furnish, Elizabeth Taylor…...
People born in year of
the Rat is said to be “offending the Grand Duke” and it is also
recommended to carry pendant of the Ox. Examples of Rat people
are Prince Charles, Prince Henry, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cameron Diaz,
John McCain, Olivia Newton-John…..
For people who are born in the year of the Pig, the Rabbit, and
the Goat, the Rat year will bring “Flower of Romance” so one can
anticipate a more sociable year with more opportunity to develop
friendship with the opposite sex...
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 Rat, the bad energy
called “Five Yellow” – symbolizing obstacles and misfortune,
arrives at the South. If your South of the house is an important
area such as bedroom or entrances, it is recommended that one
hangs a metal wind chime there to dissolve this bad energy. The
worst months will be in February, August, and November. Another
bad star number 2, symbolizing sickness, will arrive in the
Northwest in 2008. The traditional method to dissolve this 2 is
to hang a string of six metal coins in the affected area in the
Northwest of the house The Grand Duke this year is in the North,
hence it is not favorable to “move earth” or make substantial
construction work in this direction. It is also not recommended
for one to sit with back against exact South as you will be
sitting against the unfavorable energy called “Three Shars” or
“Three Killings”. As well as the “Crash position” against the
Grand Duke. The bad star 3 is a star of conflict and robbery.
This is present in the West of the house. It is necessary to put
a piece of red paper in the West to minimize such bad influence.
Also the bad star 7, representing scandals is in the Southwest,
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
Southwest location. |
