Feng Shui and the Year of the Tiger

Influencing Your Destiny

I had my first brush with Feng Shui during my first trip to Hongkong.

We were taking the cursory city tour and the tour guide very carefully pointed out the building in the distance with a hole through it. She said that a Feng Shui expert was consulted when it was built and she said that there was a dragon that lives in the mountain behind the building.  To keep him happy, there should be a hole in the center of the building so that he can easily go in and out whenever he wanted.  It became the site of the former Repulse Bay Hotel and known as Repulse Bay’s famed “building with a hole”.

I was fascinated.  A dragon!

On her website, Lillian Too explains that the Feng Shui practice is described in colorful dragon metaphors and that that Master Yang Yun Sang’s (Founder of Feng Shui) emphasis was “…on the shape of the mountains, the direction of water courses, and above all, on locating and understanding the influence of the Dragon, Cha’s most revered celestial creature.”

However, I was not to progress at Feng Shui at that time.  Maybe, I was too young, and Feng Shui has yet to capture the imagination of the rest of the world.

Several years later, while I was in the United States, I met a self-proclaimed Feng Shui master.  He regaled us with his Rachmaninov pieces and wit.  He invited my husband to be the designer of his Feng Shui book which was to come out in the US.  He cooked for us and charmed us, but before anything had come to fruition, we were aghast to find out that he fled the country because he was actually a con artist extraordinaire (I was wondering why my mom did not like him and her instincts were right!).  The Feds were called in as charges were brought against him by people whom he swindled for thousands of dollars.   He remains at large, I think, to this day.

That experience was quite disconcerting because it was then that I realized that human nature is fallible and that people will take advantage of other people’s gullability – sometimes through things they do not understand, like Feng Shui – to usher them to their bitter end.

However, I was not completely disheartened but remained fascinated with Feng Shui (albeit a little cautious with the people who practiced it). I think there is some truth that we are born of the stars and are thus subjected to the movement of the heavens and the earth and to qi (“chi” or energy flow).  And what is Feng Shui but merely a “harnessing of energy forces” and “living in harmony with the land to derive the greatest benefits, peace and prosperity”.

With the waning of the Year of the Ox and the coming of the Year of the Metal Tiger on February 14, 2010, Feng Shui again takes center stage as people take interest in the fortunes that the year will bring.

Feng Shui practitioners say that:

Hot passion meets cold steel with the arrival of the year of the Metal Tiger. This combined sign signifies both the energy to begin activity and the determination to follow it through to the end. Forget about last year’s slow plodding. Events set in motion now will pick up speed and continue until either the objective is attained or the whole endeavor crashes and burns.

Bold, cold Metal rules in contrast to last year’s pragmatic, calculating Earth. This difference will be all the more dramatic as 2010 is a dynamic, Yang year. Metal’s Yang aspect is extremely aggressive and does not tolerate opposition.

Unfortunately Metal has a destructive relationship with the Tiger’s fixed element, Wood. In fact this is the fifth in a run of six years governed by an unlucky conflict of elements. This should come as no surprise given the recent history of US and world financial markets, massive numbers of foreclosures in the housing sector, and the terrible tragedy that is Iraq today.

However, the combination of Metal and Tiger represent the kind of force necessary to accomplish the most difficult tasks.

Here are some things to remember to have luck on this Year of the Metal Tiger:

1. Yellow is the lucky color.
2. Put a water fountain in the east side of your house or office (use a compass).  It is preferable if you can put an aquarium with a silver aruwana in it.
3. Wear metal – silver is preferred.
4. Those born in the year of the dragon, rabbit and rooster are the luckiest this year.
5. Don’t hang a painting or put a figure of a tiger in your house or office unless you are a politician.  It might devour you.

Then there are the usual but powerful things that you can do: de-clutter (throw things that you do not need or give it away), cultivate good karma, be generous, have a thankful heart, pray.

A happy and prosperous New Year to all!

Be rich,

Issa

PS.  Thanks for the tips, ate.

Article by Issa. Art by Danvic. Copyright 2010.
Website: www.YouWantToBeRich.com
Email: issa@youwanttoberich.com

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