The First and the Last: Auspicious Dates and Places for The (12th) month of the Water Ox 2023
The First and the Last:
Auspicious Dates and Places
for
The (12th) month of the Water Ox 2023.
(23:35 5th January to 10:47pm 4th February inclusive)
as the Year changes from Water Tiger to Water Rabbit.
Public Edition – fuller version available by paid subscription
————
—– —–
—– —–
————
—– —–
————
Adorning
Hexagram 22*
A 9 month demands attention.
A typical Ox Month is hard to move off a position.
Where to be this month: South East, North West.
Where not to be this month: North, East
Favoured Animals: Snake, Rooster, Ox, Rat.
Especially challenged: Horse, Sheep, Pig, Rabbit.
The Hexagram* (above): Bi Adorning, Mountain over Fire; prioritising.
Summary: a time of dreaming.
8 4 6
7 9 2
3 5 1
Water Ox Lo Shu
*From this month I am listing the Hexagram corresponding to the particular month in question rather than the more generic Tidal Hexagram. Put simply, Bi corresponds specifically to a Water Ox rather than to just any Ox.
The Month of the Water Ox, Animal by Animal:
These generic forecasts carry different nuances dependent upon whether this Animal rules your Year, Month, Day, Hour or Life House.
Ox (1949, 61, 73, 85, 97; births in January*, 1-3am & on certain days#) Most influential month of the year for you; use wisely.
Tiger (1950, 62, 74, 86, 98; births in February*, 3-5am & on certain days#) Some last little prey.
Rabbit (1951, 63, 75, 87, 99; births in March*, 5-7am & on certain days#) Small gains which are probably quite enough.
Dragon (1952, 64, 76, 88, 2000; births in April* 7-9am & on certain days#) slow and steady.
Snake (1941,53, 65, 77, 89; births in May*, 9-11am & on certain days#) A time to calculate; respect precision and planning.
Horse (1942, 54, 66, 78, 90; births in June*, around midday & on certain days#) Still for now but very visible.
Sheep (1943, 55, 67, 79, 91; births in July*, 1-3pm & on certain days#) Opposed, blackballed for now.
Monkey (1944, 56, 68, 80, 92; births in August*, 3-5pm & on certain days#) Some flexibility, no hurrey.
Rooster (1945, 57, 69, 81, 93; births in September*, 5-7pm & on certain days#) Fascinated.
Dog (1946, 58, 70, 84, 96; births in October*, 7-9pm & on certain days#) Reconciliation.
Pig (1947, 59, 71, 83, 95; births in November*, 9-11pm & on certain days#) Small & temporary blockages.
Rats (1948, 60, 72, 84, 96; births in December* 11pm-1am & on certain days#). In thrall, this is no time to struggle.
* Chinese Months start later than European ones.
#You’ll need help or a Chinese Calendar for this.
A Helpful Day
Thurs 12th January, Metal Horse, Horn, Initiate (7) ***** discernment.
A great day to start things. Metal Horse is the seeker after justice, the Horn of the Dragon is associated with sudden change and fertility – of ideas, prospects and much more. Today’s the day to challenge the status quo. Especially if you’re an Earth(98) or Metal(50) Tiger, Fire(46) Earth(58) Dog, Fire(67) or Earth(79) Sheep.
Activity: Dog NW1 (WNW around 295º) for perseverance.
Not So Helpful
Tuesday 10th January, Earth Dragon, Wings, Balance (5) ***** drastic.
Potentially destructive. Check self-righteousness at the door. A day to be stepped through lightly. Lower expectations for now. Justice unlikely to be served.
Activity: Not today.
Disrupts: Dragon, Dog, Rabbit & the inflexible.
Favours: nobody much.
Where to Locate
North East, Wealth Star: Tai sui (Tiger) or Year Star: 8 Month Star: 3.
3 & 8 together make Wood; at least 1/3 of the North East is also Wood: where the Tiger sits at the gateway to Dawn. Wood represents a certain strain of creativity, often the written word but also nurturing – of others, beasts and plants. Add Fire and you may achieve brilliance here. Add Wood or Water to sustain it. Aim to face your most helpful direction also.
Hint: where Water is talk, Wood is action and Fire display.
Support: Fire/Wood/Water: take your pick.
Where to Avoid
East, Ambition: Year Star: 3 Month:7. Sun (Rabbit E2), Month san sha
Not so great. Such qi can attract conflict along with the more useful. In relationship this speaks of January-May hook-ups. In business it suggests money to be made as the Wood rises early in February. This applies mostly to Eldest (& 4th) Son, also Dogs, Pigs and Sheep as well as Rabbits themselves. It’s unlikely to be a comfortable perch even for them.
Enhance: Wood eg three leafy plants. No Fire!
Water Ox Month: the First and the Last.
Human beings are hibernating creatures, like bears we are inclined to stuff ourselves at midwinter and sleep till spring. Equally it’s a given in certain walks of life that nothing gets done between the 3rd week in December and the 2nd week in January. Everyone’s phone seems to be set to “Do not Disturb”. Following the flurry of the various solstice celebrations we return to our routines, sometimes quite sluggishly. Sometimes, like this bulletin, a little late.
And of course there is no direct relationship between time spent and productivity. As you know, the best work is often done swiftly in between bouts of inertia. So the first lesson to have in mind may be not to try to achieve too much this month. You may find that simply dreaming gets more done in the long run.
Predominantly Yin Earth, the Ox is the Animal of dreams. That is to say that the Ox Month is a time of stillness, of small blockages and of sensitivity. It is the time before the buds emerge, before everything comes alive once more, a time of conception rather than birth. This perhaps illustrates the connection between the Ox and fertility.
There are five distinct Ox Months: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water – like this one which will naturally share features with Water Ox Days, Hours and Years. The last Water Ox Year was 1973 when oil prices peaked and Roe versus Wade restored women’s reproductive rights to the women concerned. Expect further echoes this month: issues often the same but outcome often opposite, the broader world reflecting our smaller lives and vice-versa.
This January’s Hexagram is Bi, Mountain over Fire, To Decorate, Number 22. Sometimes this image suggests window-dressing, tarting up rather than getting to the roots of things. It might be smart to watch for the distraction of the superficial in your life around now: as likely to be about finance as love although the Book of Changes refers explicitly to a change of wardrobe as a door to transformation. These concerns may be concentrated in the time between the 13th and the 18th.
Bi harks back to primitive practices such as the offering of white silk to the departed. And the Ox Month like the Ox hour, the witching hour between 1 and 3 in the morning, is traditionally when the film between the worlds is slightest. As we dream we may find ourselves travelling back and forth in time. The trick is to own and learn from our errors but also to celebrate the good. Gratitude is a pretty good idea too.
Forgive me as ever for telling you what you know already but that of course is how we recognise truth. This and the above principles of course will become even more clear as the Water Rabbit of 2023 stretches into a shape that reflects 1963, the last Water Rabbit year. That year, notable for a very cold winter by the way, proved excellent for the Beatles and not so great for American presidents.
© Richard Ashworth 2023
Richard Ashworth is one of the most respected Western Feng Shui Masters. He was among the pioneers of feng shui survey & analysis at a distance on MySpirit Radio in the noughties. A good taster of his approach may be found on Audible. You can also see him at work on tv’s Housebusters Or read his collected Feng Shui Diaries. 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. He is now also a Founder Committee Member of the IFSA UK Chapter.
Every month we send subscribing 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 & much more from the Chinese calendar.
Subscriptions (and further info): Sheilaashworthfengshui@gmail.com
Richard Ashworth©
www.imperialfengshui.info