The Year of the Fire Rooster: A quick guide on how to use the energy of the new year

The Year of the Fire Rooster: A quick guide on how to use the energy of the new year

Are you in the flow, moving in tune with the energy of 2017, or will it feel like you are swimming against the current? Taking a broader view, and looking at the overall elemental energy of the new year, we can see how our own energy may be impacted. The twelve zodiacal animals are a fun, and often illuminating way to gain awareness around the type of energy coming your way. These predictions are way to shine a light on a blind spot, reveal an issue that may need attending, never a cause for fear or worry. The energy of the year may be like the wind at your back, giving you a gentle push in the right direction. Or it may reveal a shadow or venerability that needs to be addressed. Rather than using a good/bad binary scale to review the year, let’s look at how each animal is flowing in this year’s elemental energy. Are you in sync with this year’s energy or will you need to do a little extra work to get in the flow?

The basics: There is an energetic interaction between your birth year and the current year. To quote the Chinese saying the animal assigned to your birth year “is the animal that hides in your heart.”1 Your birth year has a branch (animal) and stem (element), and so does the current year. This year it is the Year of the Fire Rooster, yin fire is the element/stem for 2017.

The five factors: I as I have mentioned before, it is important to understand that the animal or earthly branch associated with your birth year only accounts for part of your overall astrological destiny (you still have the hour, day and month pillars). Also, please remember that your destiny, that which is predetermined by the cosmos i.e. your astrological chart, is only one part of what influences your path and success in life. In the tradition of Feng Shui that I practice it is firmly held that by using Feng Shui, good deeds, hard work and education you can shift the balance. By using all five factors of life you can take control of your life through action, hard-work and compassion.

The animal and the elements have specific attributes and qualities that affects the energy of the year. The official astrological year of the Ding You or Fire Rooster begins on February 3rd and the Lunar New Year celebrations take place on January 28th.

Rooster year qualities and energy:

Yin Fire year qualities and energy:

The Rooster is a bit of a task-master, a much different energy than the mischievous Monkey. The yin fire’s warmth will hopefully be enough to soften the Rooster’s verbose and cocky nature. You can read more about the overall energy in last month’s blog post The Year of Rooster: Get organized, have a plan and spread the love.

Start planning your year using feng shui

The Twelve Animals and the Year of the Fire Rooster

Before you scroll down to find your own animal remember that these astrological predictions are part of a much larger picture. Never forget that your mindset, hard-work and resolve can swing the pendulum more powerfully then letting the cosmos dictate how your life will turn out.

Find out if you are in sync with this year’s energy or will you need to do a little extra work to get in the flow?

References:

  1. The Handbook of Chinese Horoscopes, Theodora Lau 2007
  2. Each year at this time I begin to plan and prepare for the year to come. I have been reviewing the 2017 Ding You Classic Chinese Almanac by Edgar Sung. I pore over the pages, making plan using auspicious dates. I highly recommend that you purchase your own copy of Edgar’s book which comes in both digital and hard copy editions. Again this year, like last, I will share my own quick reference cheat-sheet that I have created, with reference to Mr. Sung’s wisdom and predictions.