The Deer Hunter: Times & Places for the Water Pig Month

Auspicious Dates and Places for
the (10^th) month of the Water Pig 2023.
(02:00am 8^th November to 18:38 pm 7^th December inclusive)
in the Year of the Water Rabbit.

An 8 month is essentially benevolent.
A typical Pig Month is kind of suppressed.
Where not to be this month: South West.
Where to be this month: at the heart of things.
Favoured Animals: Rabbit, Sheep, Tiger.
Especially challenged: (in order) Dog, Snake, Monkey.
The Hexagram* (above): Bo Splitting, Mountain over Earth,led astray.
Summary: Parting.

S
7       3       5
6       8       1
2       4       9
Water Pig lo shu

The Deer Hunter
the Month of the Water Pig.

“What can men do against such reckless hate?” The Two Towers

Bo*
———–
—– —–
—– —–
—–   —–
—–   —–
—–   —–
Splitting, Peeling
Hexagram 23

I’m out walking Red. We’re halfway up the slope to the rewilded area where he can run free. From time to time he stops and sniffs the ground either side of the narrow path. As he’s still on the lead, I am able to dissuade him from eating whatever nameless crud he finds in the undergrowth. Then I see something he appears not to have noticed: it’s the lower eighteen inches or so of a deer’s leg, the foot intact but the leg stripped to the bone like some prop from the Predator franchise.

God knows how it got there. I sometimes claim to have glimpsed the Surrey Puma out here in the woods but I am notoriously poor at estimating the size of cats at any distance so best not to trust me on that. And I’m actually less concerned with the leg’s provenance than what it may mean. The universe is always talking to us: a whisper of overheard conversation, a pattern of clouds, the final chord of a song emerging from a passing car, something in our path that we can’t ignore. I stop and tune in. Images swirl through my mind, some Chinese, some folklore, some biblical, some none of these.

In my monthly Yi (that is Book of Changes) Classes we are studying the Hexagram corresponding to the month Animal as each arises. The Hexagram for this Water Pig Month of November is Number 23: Bo.

Bo – meaning “Stripping” or “Peeling” is about cutting and reducing. The underlying idea appears to be that there’s only so much cutting back, sacrifice or economising anyone can do. Working full time and still having to choose between feeding your children and keeping them warm may be the kind of thing King Wen was getting at. The Yi can be startlingly apt. “Mie zhen zhong”: “(To) disregard (this) divination, misfortune.”

It’s not much help to the deer but stripping can only go so far.

October’s Hexagram was Number 45 Cui “Gathering Together” which was about leadership and the mayhem that poor leaders can invite. And like clockwork, on October 7^th just as the month opened, the images became real. Thousands of children later, November’s oracle suggests we’re still at least weeks from sanity. “Ji zi ti ti wu jiu,” “Send a despatch with tears and weeping. No error” is how the final line reads.

Some may find readings such as those above fanciful of course. But one of the aims of this class is to learn to trust the meanings each of us may variously draw. I talk to camera for half an hour followed by open discussion where I invite individual glosses. You’ll be able to find the first half on my You Tube Channel eventually, the rest is restricted to the class. We plan to explore all sixty four Hexagrams as they arise month by month. Which is probably about eight years’ worth. Students can register for a year at any time.

Red returns from the top field, pausing only to bark up at the trees from where the occupants do the squirrel equivalent of scarpering and giving him the finger. We return, again passing the stripped bone. The image in my mind as we pass is Samson, shorn and “eyeless in Gaza,” pushing apart the pillars to bring the temple down.

The Hexagram relating to the Wood Rat of December is Number 2 Kun, usually called “The Receptive”, the darkness before the light, appropriately allocated to the time around the solstice. Her message is: An zhen ji: “Be peaceful, the divination: good fortune.” Join us.
© Richard Ashworth 2023

*I am now listing the Hexagram corresponding to the particular month in question rather than the generic Tidal Gua. Put simply, Cui corresponds specifically to a Water Pig rather than to just any Pig.

About the tai chi: the tai chi or Great Tentpole is generally reckoned the geometric centre of a space. Many of us find it by measuring the longest length and the widest width and where the two lines join is the tai chi. Some consider it to take up the centre of the Nine Palaces that any space can be divided into; others think of it as a location without dimensions and still others that the geometric centre is simply the place that is most frequented. Some Masters refer to it as “the heart” which implies of course that if it is missing there’s something wrong. Some teach that an L-shape is an unfortunate “Hatchet Shape” and if you think about it, an L-shape may often put the geometric centre outside. I have found that when the tai chi is outside so, often is the heart. One such client impressed me (and his wife) by taking 2-hour runs which turned out to be 40 minute running with an 80-minute visit to a neighbouring divorcee built in.

The Month of the Water Pig, Animal by Animal:
These generic forecasts carry different nuance dependent upon whether this Animal rules your Year, Month, Day, Hour or Life House.

Pig (1947, 59, 71, 83, 95; births in November*, 9-11pm & on certain days#) Uncomfortable, spoiled for choice activity-wise. Profile rising just the same.

Rats (1948, 60, 72, 84, 96; births in December* 11pm-1am & on certain days#). Quieter for now, a time of consideration before the rapid activity that’s coming next month.

Ox (1949, 61, 73, 85, 97; births in January*, 1-3am & on certain days#) Time to plan before you inevitably find yourself in control.

Tiger (1950, 62, 74, 86, 98; births in February*, 3-5am & on certain days#) A free hand, use it wisely as a karmic loaded gun ought.

Rabbit (1951, 63, 75, 87, 99; births in March*, 5-7am & on certain days#) Teamwork, mostly domestic, is your priority whatever it may look like.

Dragon (1952, 64, 76, 88, 2000; births in April* 7-9am & on certain days#) Puzzling; you really don’t understand Pigs. It’s mutual.

Snake (1941,53, 65, 77, 89; births in May*, 9-11am & on certain days#) Be on the alert for bamboozlement.

Horse (1942, 54, 66, 78, 90; births in June*, around midday & on certain days#) A time of unruly impatience is likely. You have some control over this.

Sheep (1943, 55, 67, 79, 91; births in July*, 1-3pm & on certain days#) Work with Rabbits and Pigs on the most creative task on the back burner.

Monkey (1944, 56, 68, 80, 92; births in August*, 3-5pm & on certain days#) Playful, tricky not so productive. Not all tricks of yours either.

Rooster (1945, 57, 69, 81, 93; births in September*, 5-7pm & on certain days#) Displays could fall flat. Be ready not to take it too seriously.

Dog (1946, 58, 70, 82, 94; births in October*, 7-9pm & on certain days#) A low profile keeps you out of trouble.

* Chinese Months start later than European ones.
#You’ll need help or a Chinese Calendar for this.

A Helpful Day
Sunday 12^th November, Wood Dog, Star, Bow (5) **** quite helpful.
An open door; letting in odd but minor complaints. Such complaints can be usefully turned around with a little kindness. A day to set targets while the difference between what is realistic and what is fanciful is quite clear.
Activity: Horse due South for visibility. Favours: Tigers, Horses, Dogs, Rabbits.

Not so Helpful
Wednesday 15^th November, Fire Ox, Carriage, Full (2) ***** contrary
Fire Ox – a small but significant blockage – often coincides with profound change. You may have to express explicit support in order to gain any traction today. Once expressed the gains sustain.
Activity: Sheep – may not be possible until very late.
Caution: Horse, Sheep.

A Helpful Location
Tai chi, Home, the centre: Year Star: 4 Month Star: 8.
Most would reckon the 8 the most helpful Star. This year it suggests a pause in the mayhem that seems to have enveloped the world. In your home that disruption may have taken a different shape but the conundrum is the same: will you take advantage of this month’s energy to change your life in a positive way or will you just enjoy it while it lasts? An implication of the 4 alongside the 8 is that if you don’t, your kids may not easily get the opportunity.
Adjust: free-flowing Water at the tai chi may boost resolve.

Not so Helpful
West, Intervention: Year Star: 6 Month Star: 1. Sui po, Annual and Month san sha,
Still hazardous while the Rabbit Year lasts as it is in constant contention with Roosters as they arise. Approach with caution but……a little Earth might stabilise the West and open it briefly to opportunity especially early in the month – 8^th, 9^th, 11^th, 12^th best contenders.
Profit: by adding Earth, e.g. a sizable crystal or crystals.

Note: Directions are from the tai chi (ie heart of the property) Feng shui is a very personal thing, so generic advice needs to be applied with awareness of the underlying energy.

Richard Ashworth is one of the most respected Western Feng Shui Masters. A good taster of his approach may be found on Audible . You can also see him at work on tv’s Housebusters Most Thursdays and Fridays he is to be found teaching both feng shui and ba zi one-to-one online (times by mutual arrangement) with students from Seattle to Belgium,

Richard has worked from Lebanon to Bermuda, in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and with stars such as Naomie Harris, Kelly Hoppen and Gillian Anderson. Unusually for a Western Master, he has addressed the Grand Masters at the International Feng Shui Conference in Singapore.

Every month we send (at a modest fee) retainer clients a more comprehensive monthly bulletin than this one, covering in detail right places to be (and when) as well as the most helpful days Animal by Animal and much more from the Chinese calendar.
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