Transitioning from Feng Shui Age 8 to Age 9
To say 2020 has been eventful, intense and unpredictable probably is an understatement. It is a dramatic and scary time for humanity as a whole. Many people’s lives have been changed forever during the global pandemic.
From the perspective of Chinese Astrology, the messages and warnings within 2020’s energy have been there all along.
Throughout the passage of time, the Yang Metal Rat year (庚⼦), which comes along every 60 years, has always been considered a ‘Year of disaster’ 庚⼦之災 in Chinese history. It is infamous for catastrophic events, unrest and its destructive power, e.g. First Opium War in 1840, the invasion of China by the Eight-Nations Alliance in 1900 and the Great Chinese Famine starting in 1960, to name just a few.
SPONSORED
The prominent emotion of fear many of us have experienced during 2020, as well as the strong sense of the unknown, are very much the key qualities of the animal sign Rat. Sitting at the bottom of the Chinese Astrology wheel, it plunges us into the ‘deep end of the water’ and ‘the dark night of the soul’.
As our familiar world is reduced to ashes, 2020 indeed has started a wheel of a major evolution of human consciousness. The Year of the Rat, in fact, serves as an energy portal, transitioning us into the Age of the Phoenix: Feng Shui Age 9 (2024—2044).
In Feng Shui, every 20 years is considered a different age or period. Each age is governed by a prominent theme that ultimately influences us on an energetic level. Feng Shui Age 9 is governed by the I-Ching trigram Li 離 and it will mark the end of a 180-year cycle.
The trigram Li 離 is an image of a Clinging Fire, formless except the essence of fuel that keeps it burning. It is the red bird, the Phoenix, which symbolises a rebirth after destruction.
By nature, the Fire energy can be extremely volatile, unpredictable, intense and disruptive, which is exactly what we are experiencing at the moment. The massive scale of the Coronavirus outbreak and its sheer unpredictability has left many already-vulnerable social structures and systems crumbling. Extensive bushfires in Australia, the burning of the sacred Amazon forest and the burning down of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris can be seen as symbolic manifestations of the Fire energy within the Age 9.
On an individual scale, we see this Fire manifested in many personal crises with a sense of ‘the normal world is collapsing’, which stems from spiritual turmoil and an imbalance of the Heart & Spirit. The Fire energy is also considered our collective seat of consciousness. We are about to enter the Age of illumination, enlightenment and transformation.
In fact, this revolution has already begun. The Feng Shui Age 8 (2004—2023) has ensured our path is being blocked by the appearance of a mountain: the Earth trigram Ken ⾉. It challenges us the traditional sense of ‘moving forward, progress and achievement’ and calls for stillness and inner poise. It reminds us that the only ‘way out’ is in fact to ‘go within’.
During the last two decades, we have witnessed the accumulation of material wealth reaching its pinnacle, with a great increase in the prosperity of many earth-related industries, such as real estate, construction, interior design and property development. We have seen young men emerge as industry leaders creating major shifts: think Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook and Sundar Pichai at Google.
As we are moving towards the Age 9, moving away from consumerism, away from an economy-driven and ego-centric society to a heart-centred age in Feng Shui Age 9. This quantum leap will be led by intelligent middle-aged women who are resilient and who respect authenticity and truth. Think the NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin. They embody the new leadership style that offers promise for the new era. This is because the Li also represents ‘middle daughter’ in Feng Shui.
The trigram Li also represents beauty, culture and civilisation
During the next two decades, the fashion industry, cosmetic surgery and other beauty-related industries will thrive. Product displays and packaging will become even more crucial to marketing.
Entertainment and the film industry will continue to take centre stage. Innovation and development within the electronics industry will be faster than ever, changes occurring in the blink of an eye. High tech industries such as artificial intelligence, driverless cars and domestic robots will start to reshape the way we live in coming years. More government and private budgets will be spent on physics and other space-related sciences. Space travel will no longer be a dream for us.
The Early Heaven of Li 離 is the Trigram Qian 乾, which symbolises the head, our thinking and thoughts
We have entered a special time of heightened awakening and consciousness evolution. Feng Shui Age 9 will bring a complete revolution on our thinking where we respect the pioneers and thought leaders. The old frameworks and beliefs will be challenged.
We are moving into a future where we will (or be forced to) see that our greatest strength will come from aligning within and allying with those who are able to amplify our talent, craft and light in order to grow our human self. Expansion become a must instead of a choice.
The Fire element of the Age 9 teaches us fusion and interconnectedness
The global pandemic is the unique prelude where the mother Earth is teaching us to see the fundamental truth – we are all one. We are part of the Earth. We are Earth. It teaches us the interdependence and connectedness. This theme will continue to show up in our world as we are moving towards the Age 9.
Once we master this individually, the collective healing that is ready to happen will be unstoppable. These are exactly the skills we will need to meet the times to come.
It asks us to seek joy and connect with the heart
Joy is the feeling when you deeply connected with your soul. In order to reach expansion like the Fire, we first need to come back to Centre – our heart.
Feng Shui Age 9 will continue to bring up the question again and again until you answer it – “What makes you feel alive?”
It is literally asking each of us – are you willing to truly honour your heart? To learn these skills of self-care and self-compassion? To find the place within you where the knowledge of your essential goodness is unshakable?
In tough times we can sometimes lose sight of why we are here, or what we truly have to give. Seeking what enlivens our spirit, our heart is how we enter back into our sacred contract with the very life-force that animates the world.
Trigram Li 離 is also about Clarity, the shining light of inspiration. It encourages us to observe and listen to Nature’s intelligence
The living world will always remind us just how much benevolence and love exists on Earth. The plants will tell you how by sitting still you can follow your inner guidance and flower – the Wood energy. A river will tell you to go with the flow and take the path of least resistance – the Water element. The presence of a mountain is an everlasting reminder of trust and loyalty that you are being upheld unconditionally – the Earth energy. Wherever you look, you see poetry in nature.
When we recognise that we live in a world of inherent sentient beings, each filled with their own life-force and wisdom, where rivers have rights and rocks are our elders, there is no framework for things like human hierarchy, racism or oppression. They simply dissolve and return to soil.
This way of seeing the world has saved me many times from undue comparison and egoic ambition, enriching me with wisdom and gifting me boundless creativity.
The Age 9 is a source of great creativity, providing a quantum leap of insight and clarity. Li is the shining light of inspiration that marries your inner and outer worlds into Clarity.
Li 離 is also an image of an eye. The Vision. It helps us to see beyond the illusion.
During the Feng Shui Age 9, more and more people will start to truly see ‘what is seen is connected to the unseen’. This is because Fire is the only one of the Five Elements which is intangible and non-physical. It is a symbol of the sacred.
We are entering an age of energy. You will hear words like ‘energy medicine’, ‘symbolic sights’ and ‘mystic’ more than ever.
When you speak the language of energy, you see beyond the physical. You start to be in touch with what is of a higher force, seeing a multi-dimensional nature rather than a one-dimensional reality. You see beyond the illusion. You see what others don’t.
You will no longer get intoxicated on the heights of the praise, chase fame, wealth or power. You will give up worrying about pleasing, accolades, and applause. Win or lose becomes irrelevant.
You will draw the nectar of peace, joy and serenity from the equilibrium of your soul, feeling content at the humble wheel of life. You will stay on the ground in the rich soil of your own imperfection, and smile. You will smell and touch your wild root and remain in a forest of grace. Your relationships with others will be filled with mutual trust and honour. You will see yourself so clearly that you no longer need any further validation. You will be completely and utterly free.
As we take flight into the Age of the Phoenix, breathe deeply, splendid souls. Know that you have a chance to be the one in your own lineage to pick up the light of freedom. Humanity is bursting into its new paradigm. Be the light at this luminous time.
This article was originally published in the Feng Shui Journal Volume 7 in December 2020; it is now republished here on FSML with the author’s permission for everyone to enjoy.
SPONSORED
