February’s full Snow Moon announces that it’s almost here: the Year of the Goat/Ram/Sheep is less than two weeks away. This means that Lunghu’s faithful readers must be eagerly awaiting his quirkily idiosyncratic perspective on feng shui prospects for the coming year. Various soothsayers in the Sinosphere have already reviewed the impending alignment of Stems, Branches and Flying Stars … and made predictions or interpretations of their own. Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore, Manila, and Sydney have spoken. Now, crouching on the shoulders of these feng shui giants –who shall remain nameless here– Lunghu humbly proffers his meager visions of what 2015 will reveal to us all.
Feng shui forecasts are often presented in three main themes:
- the interaction of Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch, each with its associated Element
- the implications suggested by the Animal associated with the Earthly Branch
- the role of Flying Stars in affecting particular locations in particular types of ways
Depending on their target audience, different feng shui soothsayers emphasize one or another of these aspects when making New Year’s predictions. Economic or investment predictions tend to focus on the interaction of the five elements and their impact on various industries. Celebrity forecasts often rely on discussions of the Animal which rules the current year. Geomantic remedies for life choices and one’s personal environment usually refer to the power of feng shui Flying Stars. But the Tao is endlessly interconnected, so the possibilities are multifarious and mysterious.
With a nod to this tradition, therefore, Lunghu has three key things to say about the Year of the Goat:
- Yin Wood is above Yin Earth (Wood consumes Earth)
- The Goat is in clash with the Ox
- The Number 5 Flying Star is in the West this year
In this blogpost, Lunghu will limit his remarks to a brief (and superficial!) discussion of the Goat’s influence on 2015. Interplay of the Five Elements and the influence of Flying Stars will have to wait for another time, hopefully before New Year’s Day itself. For now, suffice it to say that what really matters for some people is that The Goat is in clash with the Ox … and that their cosmic risk is accordingly heightened. Who are these people? To make a long story somewhat shorter, they’re Ox people and (to a somewhat lesser extent) Goat people. In the case of Ox people, this is because the Ox is located opposite the Goat –180 degrees apart– in the 12 animal cycle. The Ox and Goat are facing each other across the cosmos, staring each other down. This is conflict, and since 2015 is the Goat’s year, things won’t go well for the Ox.
Thus, feng shui soothsayers like to point out that people born in an Ox year such as 1949, 1961 or 1973 will have a rough time in 2015. Blatant namedroppers point fingers at people like Barack Obama, Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Anna Wojcicki as Ox-(wo)men who will suffer this year. You could also include folks like Ingrid Betancourt, Boy George, George Clooney, Nadia Comaneci and Kristen Wiig in this motley crew. Paul Begala and David Brooks should beware as well. You can probably think of numerous other examples yourselves. But the Goat has influence beyond mere individual woe; institutions and organizations associated with the Ox may also suffer. Professional feng shui technicians would probably extend this warning to any corporate body founded on the Day of the Ox, in the Month of the Ox, and (especially) in the Year of the Ox, but Lunghu is gonna stick with the obvious: any company or organization with an Ox in its name or logo is at enhanced risk in the Year of the Goat. If it looks like an Ox, walks like an Ox, or sounds like an Ox, trouble may lie around the oxbow bend. So for our purposes the Ox category thus includes cows, bulls, steers. First, a few oxen:
An unOrthodox year
Cambridge victory in The Boat Race?
That ribbon is also an inverted oxhead.
Exports slashed by strong franc
Bumpy road ahead?
Hearing loss
Wait until next year
Next, a visit to the bullpen:
Thai clashes & F1 crashes
Playoff prospects don’t look good
Would Lunghu steer you in the wrong direction? Go ahead, mess with Texas this year:
Don’t be cowed by portents of danger, unless …
You mad, bro?
Finally, there’s an entire nation symbolized by the (sacred) cow —India. Danger lurks near Goa(t), because the Number 5 Flying Star has settled in the West this year. Prime Minister Modi needs to be careful of Kerala state as well: don’t disturb the Tai Sui in his South-Southwest home.
Disguised as a Rooster
But Wait, There’s More!
As if the Goat-Ox clash weren’t enough, feng shui specialists also remind us that the Goat may encounter “self penalty” in his own year. The effects are usually not as bad as the clash with cosmic opposites, but it’s still grounds for concern –and countermeasures. Therefore, any organizations with a Goat, Ram or Sheep as their emblem should take note:
Shetland Woolbrokers
Total Recall?
Pontiac’s classic hotrod: the Goat
Kicked by the Mule in 2015?
Tags: Audiovox, beef industry, Borden, Brown Cow Software, Chicago Bulls, Dodge, feng-shui, Goa, India, Kerala, Merrill Lynch, Navrenda Modi, Oxfam, Oxford University, Pontiac, Red Bull, Red Sox, RockShox, Russian Orthodox Church, Shetland Islands, University of Texas, US Navy, Victorinox, Year of the Goat, Year of the Ram
Waking the Dragon 