壬辰年, 2012, The Year of the Dragon

Dear friends,

Time flies and it is another New Year

I wish all of you a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.

We have just celebrated 冬至 (“Dong-zhi”, Winter Solstice) on December 22. With that we are coming out of the deepest of Winter (not necessarily temperature) and the Yang energy is rising towards Spring to create the state of Tai (“泰”, a condition favourable for growth and birth).

In just over 3 weeks’ time, we will be celebrating 春节, “Chun Jie”, Chinese New Year) on Jan 23. How time flies. (Strictly speaking, in the old custom before 1914, 春节 was on 立春, and the first day of 1st month is called “元旦”. After 1914, the ROC government renamed January 1 st as “元旦” and designited 春节 on the first day of 1st month). For the purposes of accurately determining which animal sign one is born, 立春 is the correct benchmark, not current 春节, which is a misnomer.

The Dragon will take over the baton from the White Rabbit for the coming New Year.

For matters relating to the cosmic forces of 壬辰年 (Ren-chen Year), it will start from Jan 21,2012 and ends on around Jan 20, 2013.

壬辰年 (Ren-chen Year), is governed by the main cosmic force of Strong Wind Wood, supplemented by Cold Water (H1) and Damp Earth (H2) as two additional sub-forces.

In general 壬辰 年 is more damp than an average year, though due to Wind factor, this wetness will come with volatility.

*** Wetness, amongst other things, provides a more fertile environment for the appearance of lesser elements such as H5N1 etc, especially in the South China region. This risk is highest in March-May period.***

Given efficient air-travel, any epidemic will soon spread to a much wider region. So take measures to boost your body defence and avoid the crowd whether such lesser elements appear.

The element Strong Wood represents the group which includes Wind, Eastern direction, colour green, growth, mood swing and liver system etc.

Many fengshui people will group 壬 under water and therefore classify 壬辰年 as Water Dragon (or Black Dragon since Water is represented by black colour). I prefer to look at its main characteristic of Strong Wood Wind and group it under Green Dragon.

In human body, Wood corresponds to the Liver Qi (which controls mood swing, blood cycle, eyes, digestion (especially meat),joints and tendons etc). The other two sub-forces affects the Kidney system and the Digestive system respectively.

In general, 壬辰年(Ren-chen Year) will be :

1. Where the weather will be somewhat erractic throughout the year,
2. Colder/wetter in H1 and and Wetter in H2 compared to an average year.

In a Chinese calendar of 60-year cycle (一甲子, “Yi Jiazi”), the 12 animal signs will each appear 5 times, each 12 years apart, each having a different characteristics, pending on its combination with the main cosmic force of that year.

2012 will be Strong Green Dragon. Generally Strong Green Dragon is moody, it does things at its own timing and may cause collateral damages. Given Dragon can live in the sky, land and the sea, and with the temper of Green Dragon, it is likely to be more active therefore causing much splashing all-over the place, creating a wetter environment.

The characteristics of the 5 different Dragons are, generally (they are all of a “Strong” type):

Green Dragon : emotionally/mood swing driven Dragon,

Yellow Dragon : most peaceful of the 5 dragons, manage to control water

Black Dragon : water all over the place throughout the year

Red Dragon : supposed to be an active dragon, though toned down by water element and more matured in its behaviour

White Dragon : this dragon prefers to stay below the ground, so less wet and volatile then most dragons

Which Dragon arw you?

The 4 major directions in the Chinese universe is represented by the following auspicious animals (you can imagine them from the group of stars that appear in the corresponding part of the sky):

East : Green Dragon (青龙), Wood

South : Red Phoenix (朱雀), Fire

West : White Tiger (白虎), Metal

North : Black Turtle (玄武), Water

So this year our “Strong Green” is also in the “Eastern” direction. More specifically, it is skewed more towards South-East, perhaps ESE and these are the regions more exposed in 2012.

Note that the East is also represented by 震卦 (zhen-gua), which amongst other things, including phenomenon of vibration. Fasten your seat-felts !!!

Now, in general “Wood” suppresses “Earth” and “Metal” suppresses “Wood” when they are in equal strength.

In “Strong Wood” case, it overwhelmes the “Earth” and liberates itself from the suppression by “Metal”.

“Wood” in the human body corresponds to the Liver System (which includes the GallBladder, eyes, control of blood, control of emotions etc). Given the Strong Wood overwhelms the Earth (which represents the digestive system and water drainage system) and revenges on the Metal (which represents the Lung system and the expelling system), such functions will be impacted as well, all else being equal.

Therefore in 2012, ALL ELSE BEING EQUAL, given the main cosmic forces is “Strong Wood” supplemented with Cold and Dampness, in health terms, the Liver,Kidney and Digestive systems are more exposed, with Liver system under more pressure throughout the year, the Kidney system in the H1 and Digestive system in the H2 (for those living in Northern Hemisphere). For Liver system, it means emotional swings, increase risk of strokes etc (for those that resonates with the main cosmic force of Green Dragon). For women, blood cycle will be more prone to disturbance (of course it differ from person to person, pending on their resonance with the external environmeny).

Have a Happy and Wonderful , 壬辰年.

Take great care too of the unpredictability and volatility of the Green Dragon.

Remember the most important thing, strengthen your immunity and perhaps practise some Yoga to stay calm the volatile Green Dragon year.

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