Grand Master Raymond Lo’s predictions have spanned a range of political, economic and social events. In this edition of Feng Shui Today he gives us an insight into some of the energies and influences heading our way in 2012. A must read for all those who wish to prepare for the Year of the Water Dragon.
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 Year of the Dragon – 2012 in the Hsia calendar, is symbolized by two elements; with water sitting on top of earth. According to the cycle of birth and destruction, which governs the inter-relationship between the elements, earth is the destroyer of water and so they are on the destructive cycle and have a conflict relationship. This aspect is the same as the year of the Rabbit in 2011, which is metal over wood, also conflicting elements. Such conflicting elements usually mean the year will not be peaceful with more international conflicts and struggles coming up.
However in 2011, the metal element can symbolize a weapon or a dagger, but in 2012 the earth and water conflict is just disharmony with less implication of war and fierce fighting. The yang water this year symbolizes the ocean and is an element of power, forces and strong energy. It could be the destructive force of nature, such as the tsunami or it can be the impulse and drive to press for social, political and economic changes. The yang water is also a symbol of intelligence, courage, generosity and charity. If the energy is guided in a positive direction it can bring a fast pace towards progress and reform. The earth element under the water is a Dragon, which is also considered as storage of water. So the two elements (water on dragon) is not as serious in terms of conflict as the last two years of metal over wood. In general we cannot expect a total peaceful world in 2012, but there will not be so much violent fighting and struggles like the previous metal wood years of 2010 and 2011.
But the more worrying aspect this year is natural disasters such as flooding and earthquakes. Yang water is powerful ocean water and Dragon is powerful earth, often associated with earthquakes. In history the most serious earthquake on record happened in the years of Dragon. Here below are the serious earthquakes of the last 5 Dragon years,1952 ( Water Dragon), 1964 ( Wood Dragon ), 1976 ( Fire Dragon ), 1988 ( Earth Dragon ), and 2000 ( Metal Dragon).
1952 Water Dragon year 21/7 California Magnitude 7. 5
4/11 Kamchatka USSR Magnitude 8.25
1964 Wood Dragon year 27/3 Alaska Magnitude 9.2
16/6 Niigata Japan Magnitude 7.6
1976 Fire Dragon year 28/7 Tangshan China Magnitude 7.8
1988 Earth Dragon year 21/8 Nepal Magnitude 6.6
7/12 Leninakan Russia Magnitude 6.9
2000 Metal Dragon year 25/11 Azerbaijan Magnitude 7
4/6 Sumatra Magnitude 7.9
The biggest magnitude earthquake ever recorded was in a Dragon year. It measured 9.2 on the Richter Scale and occurred in Alaska in 1964. The most devastating earthquake also occurred in a Dragon year in Tangshan, China in 1976 and killed over 250,000 people. As such it is quite logical to forecast that serious earthquakes will also occur in this Water Dragon year of 2012.
In Chinese Metaphysics the term Dragon symbolizes the massive mountain range, the powerful energy of the land and is strong earth element. So an active dragon indicates strong movement of the earth. Also Dragon and Dog are symbols of Gates to Heaven and Hell. Of the 12 animal signs the Dragon and Dog are considered as strange places or twilight zones where ‘Noblemen’ will not present themselves. ‘Noblemen’ are helpful deities that can rescue people from bad luck. However in Dragon and Dog years there is no such rescue angels coming forward to save people from tragedy and as such, the disasters usually will have higher death tolls or casualties.
There are other examples of serious disasters occurring in the hours of Dragon or Dog, such as the 2004 26/12 South Asia Tsunami which arrived in the hour of Dragon at 8.30 am. The 911 terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York in 2001 also took place at 8.40 am in the Dragon hour. The massacre of Hong Kong tourists in a bus in Manila in 2010 took place at about 7.30 pm; hour of the Dog. So Dragon years have a strange, spiritual meaning which may bring more serious casualties that are perhaps caused by natural disasters.
If the Dragon and Dog appear together in a person’s Four Pillars of Destiny then this person often possesses a sixth sense. In fact this is a very common phenomenon when we observe the birth data of athletes, as a sixth sense can often give them the winning edge in a sporting match. Famous people who have such a Dragon and Dog quality include Bruce Li, Jet Li, Maria Sharapova, Li Na, David Copperfield and Putin.
The Chinese calendar year goes on a 60-year cycle. This means that we have experienced the same year of yang water over Dragon in 1952 and was in fact the year when the Korean War was at a stalemate after it started in 1950. In November 1952 the newly elected President Eisenhower visited Korea looking for ways to end the war and negotiate an armistice. The cold war continued however with more nuclear weapon tests by the United States and in February the United Kingdom also announced that they possessed the atomic bomb.
There were also several serious natural disasters in 1952. Besides the two major earthquakes in California and USSR (as listed in the table above) there were also water disasters such as serious flooding and casualties at sea. A serious earthquake occurred on 4/11/1952 at Kamchatka, U.S.S.R. which actually triggered a big tsunami which went as far as Hawaii. In March, 73 inches of rain fell in Cilao Reunion, which was the most rain ever recorded in one day. In April, 78 seal hunters and 5 Norwegian seal hunting ships perished without a trace. In December killer fog was reported in London and in January 1953, which is still year of Dragon in Chinese calendar, there was North Sea flooding which killed 1835 people in the Southwest of the Netherlands. 307 people died in the United Kingdom and 133 people died in the Irish sea with the sinking of a ferry called the Princess Victoria. There are other mysteries such as the reporting of a UFO over Washington DC in July and 58,000 cases of polio reported in the United States.
Such events seem to match the nature of yang water Dragon – conflict but smaller scale, water disaster and serious earthquakes. There were more U.F.O sightings reported in 1952 and the killer fog in the United Kingdom …such mysterious events could be associated with the Dragon – opening of the Heavens gate. . .
The Chinese character for ‘Yang water’ represents a powerful ocean and can also symbolize the quality of an enthusiastic, energetic, courageous, forceful and somewhat impulsive person. Water in general is associated with intelligence and skill. Such qualities are often found in people in the performance arts, as well as people who love to explore new and innovative ideas. People born in a day of ‘Yang Water’ often show an image of courage and power.
One typical example of a famous Yang Water person is Ludwig von Beethoven. He was a strong Yang water person and his powerful symphony music exactly reflects the energy of the ocean water. Another famous Yang Water person is Mr. Bill Gates. Without his intelligence, courage and enthusiasm to innovate, we may not enjoy such convenient computer tools today. Other examples of famous people born on a ‘Yang Water’ day are Tom Cruise, Warren Buffet, Paul McCartney, Kate Middleton, Prince Harry, Gwyneth Paltrow, Michael Douglas, Freddie Mercury, Joan Jett and Ai Wei Wei……..these people all portray a courageous, innovative and trend setting image.
Besides innovative businessmen and famous artists, I also found Yang water people are often enthusiastic in studying the Chinese science of Feng shui and metaphysics. Many of my successful students are ladies born in Yang water day. They usually have very impressive enthusiasm and drive to explore the true knowledge, as well as amazing courage to overcome all kinds of difficulties and barriers to master the skill of Feng shui.
As I have already mentioned, the Dragon is a powerful earth element and is also regarded as ‘storage of water’. Its powerful earth quality often triggers massive earthquakes and earth related disasters such as collapse of buildings, mining disasters, landslide, avalanches…etc. Being storage of water it can also release a massive amount of water, especially when it is under clash against the Dog, or forming a big cycle of water with Monkey and Rat. As such the Yang water Dragon year creates the potential danger of big flooding and tsunami. The positive quality of the water dragon is that yang water is a generous element and a powerful driving force towards progress and social changes, so it will be an energetic year with new movements, changes, reform in politics and social establishment. Also there could be generous donations towards charitable goals and the well being of the community. 2012 is also an election year so there will be Presidential election in the United States, Russia, Taiwan, France and India, as well as election of the Chief Executive in Hong Kong. Such elections also provide drive for progress, changes and courageous reforms.
The last two years of 2010 and 2011 were years of metal attacking wood. As wood element is a symbol of trees and the environment, there have been serious destruction to the environment such as BP oil leak in the Mexican Gulf in 2010 and the nuclear radioactivity crisis from the Fukushima Nuclear power stations in 2011. Finally these two metal wood years are over and in 2012 the water and earth elements are not so damaging to the environment. Actually both water and earth are beneficial to the growth of trees, so we should have progress in environmental protection.
However water sitting on earth shows muddy water and it creates circumstance for virus and epidemic spreading. In the last water dragon year in 1952, 58,000 cases of polio were reported in the United States. In the coming year we may expect sicknesses such as malaria, food poisoning, stomach and kidney problem, as water in Chinese medicine is representing the kidney. The Dragon is an earth element which symbolizes muscles and cells and an excessive amount of earth element is a signal of cancer. The absence of fire element in the year is also unfavorable for people who have health problem related to the heart.
Airline business is in the category of fire element, so when fire element is very weak or absent there could be problems in the airline business. With this understanding we should also expect disruption to airline business and environmental problems in 2012 as the pair of elements (water on earth) shows a total absence of fire. So it is not very favorable for airline business and we may have more airline accidents when fire is under attack in months such as June, July and October.
The clash between the Dragon and Dog is a serious clash between powerful earth elements and such a clash will generate powerful earth disasters such as earthquake, landslide and collapse of buildings. Therefore people born in years of the Dog have to be particularly careful in 2012 and should take extra care against any mountain related activities. It is recommended that they carry the pendant of a Rooster which will help to attract away the Dragon, so as to minimize the negative influence of the clash.
People who are born in the year of the Dog will experience a more turbulent year with more movement, traveling and changes. It is suitable to engage in movements such as moving house or re-locating offices. Traveling is also good but one should refrain from traveling to high mountains, potential earthquake areas, deserts and beaches. If water is an unfavorable element one should also avoid going near the ocean in December when water is most powerful. For people born in the year of the Dog they may avoid travel directly towards the South East direction as it is the direction of the Grand Duke in 2012. Also if possible, it is also good for Dog people to minimize activities involving high speed sports, such as skiing and car racing, etc.
The Dragon is also a self penalty animal which means that a Dragon year also forms a penalty relationship with people who are born in a year of Dragon. Such penalty is hidden danger and may cause disharmony, worries, irritations or hidden sickness. People born in the year of the Dragon are also recommended to carry the pendant of the Rooster next year to minimize such penalty influence.
The Five basic elements represent different parts of our body and water in general relates to the kidney, immune system, sexual organs and the urinary system. As such health issues related to a Water year could include kidney problem, kidney stone, sexual organ problem, inflammation of urinary tract, virus and bacterial infection. The Dragon earth is cells, muscle and stomach and as previously mentioned, an excessive amount of earth is the cause of cancer. Both water and earth elements will also weaken fire which symbolize blood circulation and the heart. These kinds of health problems will be more acute in the coming year and therefore it is important to take more COQ10 and anti –oxidant as a preventive measure.
Recently there was a lot of public concern about the doomsday theory surrounding the Mayan calendar. There is speculation that devastating global disaster will occur about the date of winter solstice on 21/12/2012. This theory is publicized in the Hollywood movie 2012 and caused more alarms. In this movie John Cusack met a man in the Yellow Stone Park and this man claimed such doomsday prediction was found in the Bible, in the Mayan calendar, and in the I Ching.
The relationship between the I Ching and 2012 is publicized in a book called The Invisible Landscape: Mind, Hallucinogens and the I Ching and is written by Terence McKenna who died in 2000. In his book he was inspired by the 64 hexagram arrangements in King Wen’s I Ching (Book of Change). In the I Ching King Wen has a special sequence in arranging the order of the 64 Hexagrams; putting them in the order with Heaven (The Creative) and Earth (the Receptive) as first and second Hexagrams. After going through the 64 Hexagrams which are arranged in 32 pairs it ends with the final pairs of Water on Fire (After Completion) and Fire on Water (Before Completion). This sequence is taken to represent different stages of development of the world from the beginning with Heaven and Earth to the end with Fire on Water.
Inspired by this sequence McKenna assigned mathematical value to each of the 384 lines (jao) of the 64 Hexagrams and he came up with a curve which he claimed reflected the timing of important world events. Every peak and bottom point of the curve seems to coincide with an important stage in human civilization and he called this a Time Wave Theory.
Indeed it seems that if we translate the 384 lines of King Wen’s 64 Hexagrams into time, according to this theory, we will find the time interval between big events on earth. His most significant point is that if we put the end date of the curve at 21/12/2012 then all the peak and bottom points of his curve match with significant events in human history. Hence he considers the date 21/12/2012 to be the ending day when the curve reaches the bottom.
As such the I Ching itself actually did not predict the world will end in 2012. At best one can only say it provided inspiration for McKenna to invent his Time Wave Theory. The original meaning of the last two Hexagrams; After Completion and Before Completion; do not imply the end of the world. To the contrary it implies there is no ending, as the change is not yet completed. It is like many cyclical changes in nature as when one year’s four seasons finishes, another new years four seasons begins. So therefore this theory is inaccurate and it is certainly not fair to say that the 2012 doomsday is predicted in the I Ching.
Is there anything in the I Ching that can be associated with such end of the world ideas? I think the most relevant could be the ‘Supreme World Order Principles’ invented by Shao Yong of the Sung Dynasty. Shao Yong also divided World Ages into 64 stages according to the King Wen sequence of 64 Hexagrams, but the number of years he assigned to each stage is very long. According to his system our current time is only in the 8th Hexagram, Water on Earth (Holding Together), which altogether lasts 129,600 years. Currently we are only in middle of this stage, with another 60,000 years before we finish this 8th Hexagram of Human civilization. (For more information on Shao Yong’s theory readers can refer to my article I Ching and 2012 on my website www.raymond-lo.com).
So 2012 is definitely not even near the end of the world. However the winter solstice date of 21/12/2012 is a day with a strong presence of powerful water elements.
Date – 21/12/2012 Hour – 1913
Hour Day Month Year
戊 丙 壬 壬
Earth Fire Water Water
戌 辰 子 辰
Earth Earth Water Water
The combination of elements on this day shows powerful water as well as Dragon and Dog clash and it will not be surprising if earthquake and flooding occur. However there is absolutely no indication that this day will be the end of the world.
In 2012 the Feng shui flying star number 6 is in the centre and symbolizes the metal element which relates to the breathing organ, the father, heaven and the law. This centre number also often reflects the focus of prevailing events for the year, so it will not be surprising if the 6 in the centre brings about more epidemics in 2012 such as flu and viruses affecting the brain and breathing organs. 6 also relates to the law, the government and the father figure. It is a year of elections and as such will certainly bring about changes in many governments throughout the world.
Regarding flying star Feng shui, the current twenty year period from 2004 to 2024 is called ‘Age of 8’ and this number 8 represents the Trigram of Mountain and is also a symbol of young children. Therefore since stepping into the Age of 8 in 2004 it seems there are more disasters and misfortune affecting children. The latest incidents include the big earthquake in China in 2008 which killed a lot of school kids and also the disaster of contaminated baby milk powder which caused serious kidney stone problem to many children.
In 2011 the famous Jasmine Revolution brought about big changes in North Africa, riots in the United Kingdom and the massacre of young people in Norway. These are all examples of the types of problems affecting young people which are most prominent during the Age of 8. The number 8 (representing children) will remain present in the centre of the flying star chart during the 20 years from 2004 to 2024, so it is always important to pay attention to the safety and well being of children in this Period of 8.
With regard to the economy, the fire element is often the driving force behind the stock market. The five elements also affect people’s mood. In general fire is joy, water is fear, earth is meditation, metal is sadness, and wood is anger. As such a fire year often generates optimism and drives up the stock market, such as in 2006 and 2007. However in 2008 the water arrived and obviously people began to have fear regarding the worsening of the USA sub-prime and following recession.