You, me and 2025, the Year of the Wood Snake

You, me and 2025, the Year of the Wood Snake

They say that if you ask two lawyers for advice, you’ll get at least three opinions. Much the same is true of Feng Shui Masters.

Back in the day I’d visit Singapore at the end of each year to find out what the Masters saw coming up and I was struck by how much they disagreed. I’d listen to what they had to say at the IFSA Conference and I’d buy all the home-produced books and pamphlets of prognosis on the newsstands at the MRT by Temple Street. And then I’d make up my own mind.

So since 2007, around this time of year. I have been drawing up a summary of what the year appears to have in store, Zodiac Animal by Zodiac Animal. This year’s will be appearing on my FaceBook, Blue Sky, Instagram and Linked In pages as well as posted on my Substack from today (19th January).

Like pretty much everything in Classical Feng Shui there is a technical aspect to this as well as something else that’s hard to pin down: you might call it intuition, though few Chinese Masters would be happy with that. The fact is that their interpretations do themselves differ widely. Explain that as you will but what it means is that the implications, forecasts and advice you’ll find there are my takes. You don’t have to agree with or believe any of it but each piece is designed to soften blows and help sustain times of clarity and strength. And pretty much nothing is written in stone.

If you were for instance to inspect this year’s Almanac or T’ung Shu – currently piled high in shops all over every Chinatown in the world*, you’d find that the Rat is blessed with three helpful Stars in this Wood Snake Year and two not-so great. Traditionally these Stars vary in power and remit which might explain why despite the Bao Bei Calamity Star (see below), many of the Grand Masters reckon Rats are about to be the luckiest of the bunch.

If you happen to be a Rat (or a Rabbit or a Tiger or a Dragon) it means you were born at a particular point in the Gan Zhi Cycle, the Chinese Cycle of Sixty Years. What is less well known is that you may be a Rat not only because you were born in 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, or 1996 but if your birth was between December 6th and January 5th, in the hours around midnight or indeed on a particular day for which you would need a Chinese calendar. When the Animals of your Year, Month and Hour and indeed Day, are plotted together it is called a Ba Zi – sometimes translated as Four Pillars of Destiny, that is four Zodiac Animals, each relating to a different aspect of life. And here’s the thing: when we put all four together we start to get a nuanced picture.

Let’s be clear that no astrological take will ever do you justice, that you are a unique human being and you always have free will but…we might draw at least three conclusions from this:

1. It makes sense to read the prognosis for all four of your Animals as they appear over the next couple of weeks in order to get a balanced picture.

2. It is as unlikely that all four Animals have a hard time coming up in 2025 as that they will all have an open highway.

3. There are things you can do to maximise support and minimise opposition.

4. Pretty much nothing is written in stone, you are much more than any astrological view and you always have free will

This might be the time to have a full Ba Zi drawn up, in which case perhaps follow this link. The Ba Zi is in its broadest sense, a healing tool and above all, tends to identify moments of choice, past, present and future, when an overview might be important.

Links to each animal for the Year of the Wood Snake:
If you are a Rat (born in 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984 or 1996, between approx December 5^th & January 4^th, in the hours around midnight, or on days you’ll need a Chinese Calendar for) here is my take on what the year may hold for you and what you might do about it:
https://imperialfengshui.info/animal-fortunes/the-rat/

If you are an Ox (born in 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985 or 1997, between approx January 5^th & February 4^th, between the hours of 1 & 3am or on days you’ll need a Chinese Calendar for) here is my take on what the year may hold for you and what you might do about it:
https://imperialfengshui.info/animal-fortunes/the-ox/

If you are a Tiger (born in 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986 or 1998, between approx February 3^rd & March 5^th, between the hours of 3 & 5am or on days you’ll need a Chinese Calendar for) here is my take on what the year may hold for you and what you might do about it:
https://imperialfengshui.info/animal-fortunes/the-tiger/

If you are a Rabbit (born in 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987 or 1999, between approx March 5^th & April 5^th, between the hours of 5 & 7am or on days you’ll need a Chinese Calendar for) here is my take on what the year may hold for you and what you might do about it:
https://imperialfengshui.info/animal-fortunes/the-rabbit/

If you are a Dragon (born in 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988 or 2000, between approx April 5^th & May 5^th, between the hours of 7 & 9am or on days you’ll need a Chinese Calendar for) here is my take on what the year may hold for you and what you might do about it:
https://imperialfengshui.info/animal-fortunes/the-dragon/

If you are a Snake (born in 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989 or 2001, between approx May 5^th & June 6^th, between the hours of 9 & 11am or on days you’ll need a Chinese Calendar for) here is my take on what the year may hold for you and what you might do about it:
https://imperialfengshui.info/animal-fortunes/the-snake/

If you are a Horse (born in 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990 or 2002, between approx June 6^th & July 7^th, between the hours of 11am & 1pm or on days you’ll need a Chinese Calendar for) here is my take on what the year may hold for you and what you might do about it:
https://imperialfengshui.info/animal-fortunes/the-horse/

If you are a Sheep (born in 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991 or 2003, between approx July 7^th & August 7^th, between the hours of 1 & 3pm or on days you’ll need a Chinese Calendar for) here is my take on what the year may hold for you and what you might do about it:
https://imperialfengshui.info/animal-fortunes/the-sheep/

If you are a Monkey (born in 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992 or 2004, between approx August 7^th and September 7^th, between the hours of 3 & 5pm or on days you’ll need a Chinese Calendar for) here is my take on what the year may hold for you and what you might do about it:
https://imperialfengshui.info/animal-fortunes/the-monkey/

If you are a Rooster (born in 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993 or 2004, between approx September 7^th and October 8^th, between the hours of 5 & 7pm or on days you’ll need a Chinese Calendar for) here is my take on what the year may hold for you and what you might do about it:
https://imperialfengshui.info/animal-fortunes/the-rooster/

If you are a Dog (born in 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994 or 2006, between approx October 8^th and November 7^th between the hours of 7 & 9pm or on days you’ll need a Chinese Calendar for) here is my take on what the year may hold for you and what you might do about it:
https://imperialfengshui.info/animal-fortunes/the-dog/

If you are a Pig (born in 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995 or 2007, between approx November 7^th and December 6^th, between the hours of 9 & 11pm or on days you’ll need a Chinese Calendar for) here is my take on what the year may hold for you and what you might do about it:
https://imperialfengshui.info/animal-fortunes/the-pig/

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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