My Diary for the Month of the Earth Ox – Too Much Monkey Business.

Where to do what, when and why.
The most fortuitous times for most action that is constructive and positive are the 18^th and 28^th. The first favours certain Snakes (born 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989 and 2001) and Tigers (1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998) and the second Oxen (1949, 1961, 1973 1985, 1997) Snakes and Dragons (1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000) but everyone gets a shake. Remember also that you are to a greater or lesser extent ruled by the Animals of your day, month and hour of birth as well as the year.

The Monkey ape-ears.
Here comes the Monkey year, just weeks away now. In the Chinese folk tale, the Monkey climbs to the Moon and steals the Akashic Record of deeds good and bad so as not to be judged for his own. Now that’s sneaky. The Monkey is a mischievous beast, the Fire variety especially so and that mischief runs through the coming Year.
Although the Monkey does not suffer the so-called self-clash – meaning that an Animal does not flourish in its own year – that puckish stuff can be overwhelming. It’s a year when it’s hard to respond proportionately. “Too much monkey business for me to get involved in,” as Chuck Berry wrote.
However the year is ruled also by the lo shu number 2, that is to say kun, the Mother; an interesting and complex tension, personally and internationally as well as domestically. In some senses – ecological and political, for instance – it’s as pivotal a year as there’s been. Do we succumb to the myopic naughtiness of the Monkey at his worst or open to the wisdom of the Mother? This applies as much to the bedroom and the office as to the outside world.
The downside of a Monkey Year is invasion and violence, risks both at home and away. But the Monkey is ingenious and the upside is the use of reason to benefit our families, acquaintance and the world. The worst of a 2 Year is the pursuit of right at all costs, the end sanctifying the method. The best is an opening to miracle and to lasting peace.

The Handy Monkey.
And there are things we can do. Chinese thinking separates the realm of tian (Heaven) from ti (Earth), a bridge being made by ren, that is Humanity. So we can recognise the sway of Heaven by being truthful about our own actions, deserts and responsibilities; mechanically we can ensure that we employ the best locations (which are broadly West, East and South East) and don’t overuse the worst (this year North East). This is ti – Earth ch’i. And we can choose intelligently and most of all benevolently.
As I’ve written before, nature doesn’t work in straight lines, so the Sheep year doesn’t close with a slap in an instant as the Monkey begins. There are between November and February, at least five possible dates (based on different traditional calculations) for the New Chinese Year. And right now we’re in the thick of that suspended time; a cusp, if you will, the worst energy spots of 2015 now relatively innocuous and the helpful ones for 2016 not yet much use.
Which makes the moment ripe for feng shui changes; around now we re-do the He Tu Journeys we have been making between locations in the house all year, we re-orient desks and bed, we quieten the Monkey’s tricky areas and we reclaim those places where the energy will once again assist. All of this information – as well as the one small spot to activate all year – is in my Tune-Up Drill which will be available soon. You can buy it do-it-yourself as a file, or alongside an hour of me by Skype or as part of a scheduled Tune-Up visit. You pays your money and you takes your choice.
As it happens the Chinese ideograph for the Monkey – shen – is actually a hand. And the Monkey is typically hands-on, practical and humorous as well as non-committal and capable of significant aggression. Kun, on the other hand represents Mother Earth, Gaia herself. She wields a power both subtler and less placable; her purpose is positive but her means may not be obviously so. Humankind may be likened to an unruly toddler who must be restrained by kun for his own good, lest (s)he hurt himself or worse. In the long run, his interests will be served but some privileges may have to be restricted.

Ox Pillars; know your Ox rating.
Birth in the Ox hour (01:00pm-03:00am): late fertility.
Birth in the Ox month (January*): consistent career path, monogamy.
Birth on the Ox day#: a kind of random stubbornness.
Birth in the Ox year: a spiritual or religious tradition.
* Caution, the Chinese month generally starts and finishes a few days after ours.
# Just ask.

Richard Ashworth ©2016 

Richard Ashworth©
www.imperialfengshui.info