Feng Shui and Chinese Astrology: December 2023
December 7 takes us into the month of the Wood Rat as the sun enters 15° Sagittarius. We’re now in the eleventh month of the Water Rabbit year and the middle of winter according to the Chinese solar calendar. In the Feng Shui Flying Star chart, monthly star 7, associated with the Lake trigram, “flies” to the center, its influences setting the tone of the month.
The Wood Rat as the first of the 60 pillars starts a new 5-year cycle, with Yang Wood in the heavenly frequency of the month strengthening the energy of the upcoming Yang Wood Dragon year. Many of us have felt the Dragon’s influences since October 8, the first day of the Water Dog month, and we will feel the incoming Dragon even stronger as the Wood Rat month arrives.
As the first of the ten heavenly frequencies, Yang Wood supports new beginnings and a growth mindset, while the Rat’s active Yang Water, associated with powerful oceans and seas, helps us visualize a future as far as the eye can see and the mind can imagine. This month, start visualizing what you’d like to grow and manifest in the next 5 years. With Wood energy dominating in 2024 and especially strong in the next four months, what we begin in the coming months can grow quickly.
As one of the four “Peach Blossom” stars in Chinese astrology, the Rat brings social and networking opportunities. It’s no wonder that the Rat month is traditionally a time of family gatherings and holiday parties – such is the social nature of the Rat. After a fast-paced month of the Water Pig, we get to slow down and enjoy more of life’s little pleasures in the month of the Wood Rat.
Guidance from the Chinese Five Elements Oracle:
For December, I did the Sacred Triangle spread from The Chinese Five Elements Oracle for messages from Heaven, Earth, and the collective soul. The Rabbit shows up twice, reinforcing the ongoing themes of the Rabbit year as we near the end of the year, while Fire element highlights a season of joy.
Message from Heaven: "Welcome the Muse"
The Fire Rabbit invites us to open the heart and the senses to experience the beauty around us. With Yin Fire in the heavenly frequency, make joy your first priority. Cultivate inner joy by following your muse. Be you. The Rabbit as a Peach Blossom star emphasizes the social nature of December.
Message from Earth: "Co-create with the Universe"
Yang Fire reminds us to keep stoking the fire within by following a path of joy. If you find it difficult to find inner joy, "borrow" it by celebrating the joy of others to tune in to their joy frequency. The Dragon empowers us to believe that prayers, visualization, and spiritual work combined with perseverance and grounded, strategic actions can lead to miracles.
Message from the collective soul: "Follow Your Curiosity"
The Wood Rabbit as a double Yin Wood card, associated with the height of spring, reminds us that spring is just around the corner. Start working on your vision for the new cycle ahead. The Rabbit invites us to explore this wonderful world - travel, read, study, and listen.
*Thanks so much to the many of you who ordered the deck! I hope you can leave a kind review on the retailer's site, as that will help the oracle find its way to more people who are in need of guidance. In the coming weeks I’ll be sharing how you can use the cards in The Chinese Five Elements Oracle, which are embedded with auspicious symbols, as a Feng Shui remedy or a personal amulet. For example, the Earth Bird card features the Phoenix, which brings luck and protection in 2024 the Wood Dragon year. The Earth Bird pillar itself is the Yin to the Wood Dragon’s Yang. You can order your copy of the oracle here and claim your bonus gifts, which include the 10 archetypes of the Chinese five elements.
What’s ahead for the signs
Signs that get along with the Rat are secret friend the Ox and allies the Monkey and the Dragon. Those with these signs in their charts can generally expect a more harmonious, supportive month ahead.
A Peach Blossom month is usually more social and relationship-oriented, especially to those with the Rat as their Peach Blossom star (born in year or day of the Pig, the Rabbit, or the Sheep / the Goat) or those with the Rabbit as their Peach Blossom star (born in year or day of the Dog, the Tiger, or the Horse).
If you were born on Yin Earth or Yin Wood day or year, the Rat month is a good time to ask for help or schedule consultations or coaching sessions as the Rat brings you Divine support and guidance. *Yin Earth and Yin Wood years are years that end in 9 and 5, respectively. For example, 2019 was a Yin Earth year. To find your archetype / self-element (the element of the day you were born), use this chart calculator.
Take it easy if you were born in the year of the Horse, the sign opposite the Rat. With both signs being Peach Blossoms, the Horse may simply exhaust themselves from going to too many holiday parties. Those born in the month of the Horse (which means your Sun is between 15° Gemini to 14°59 Cancer in the Western zodiac) will especially need to take care of their lower energy level and rest as needed during the Rat month.
Feng Shui for the Wood Rat Month (December 7, 2023 - January 5, 2024)
IIn the Flying Star Feng Shui chart for December 2023 above, the numbers in green are the annual stars for the current year (good until February 3, 2024), while the numbers in blue refer to December monthly stars (good from December 7, 2023 to January 5, 2024).
The stars in the center of the Bagua chart, represented by the numbers, form the energetic foundation of the particular periods, whether annual or monthly. Each number (with the exception of number five) is associated with a trigram. The symbolisms of the trigrams can provide us with messages and guidance to issues that arise during the specific period.
Monthly star 7, a Yin Metal star, is associated with the Lake trigram (☱), the mouth, the lung, and the emotion grief. Metal, like a mirror, encourages self-reflection. The Lake trigram itself is almost like the Heaven trigram (☰). In the Heaven trigram, there are three solid Yang lines, whereas the Lake trigram has one broken Yin line on top of two solid Yang lines, illustrating how Heaven is within us. We only need to look beyond the surface and dive within to find our inner guidance, the spirit within.
Keep the center of your office or residence free of loud noises and bright colors to avoid activating the 7’s hostile effects, which include violence, betrayal, and fire dangers, and take care when handling sharp objects.
This month’s most vibrant sectors are the West, Northeast, and Southwest, with monthly star 9 of joy and upcoming prosperity in the West strengthening annual star 6 of power, monthly star 1 of wisdom in the Northwest, and romance and creativity star 4 joining annual star 1 in the Southwest. Activate the positive energies by spending your time and doing your daily activities in these sectors of your residence or office.
The sectors afflicted by the annual or monthly star 5 of misfortune and star 2 of illness should ideally be kept quiet, but if you can’t avoid them, use them mindfully – no loud noises or banging the doors. This month, these sectors are the East, South, and Northwest. The East is an especially sensitive area with annual star 2 of illness amplified by monthly star 5 of misfortune. The South sector still benefits from having annual star 8 of prosperity, but be mindful of the presence of monthly star 2 of illness. The North sector, visited by monthly star 3 of argument amplified by the annual star 9, should also be used cautiously.
A version of this post is also published on my other website at Functional Feng Shui.