January Birthdays
How to Avoid "Mis-Elementing" Yourself
If you’ve read My Feng Shui for YOU! Story, you know that I was “mis-elemented” by my first feng shui consultant. She failed to take into consideration my January birthday when determining my personal feng shui element. I was told that I was a Mother Earth element because females born in 1978 are indeed Mother Earth.
But I was born on January 12th. This means that the year for me to look up is 1977, not 1978. Which makes me a Water element.
There was a time, a few years ago, when I removed The 8 Elements charts from my website. I was getting reports of too many occasions of “mis-elementing” the people in their lives. Later, I put the charts back with very clear instructions on how to use them properly. If you don’t already know your personal feng shui element, you can discover it now! Just take any January and early February birthdays into consideration. Please.
I like to use myself as an example because this happens often to people who were born during the first five weeks of the year. And I share my story, not to defame my feng shui consultant, but to bring awareness to this critical step in determining your personal feng shui element.
I thought I was a Mother Earth for a good four years before finding out I wasn’t. Initially, I was a bit upset by this revelation. Not so much because of the elements themselves, because honestly, at the time, I didn’t know enough about The 8 Elements to recognize the many and vast, yet nuanced differences. The source of my unsettled feelings was from having believed something about myself for so long that turned out not to be true.
That experience of discovering the truth for myself, after having been told lies that I blindly believed, became a theme over the next 20 years of my life. Sometimes, lies are just honest, although perhaps careless, mistakes, like in the case of being told I was a Mother Earth element. In many other cases though, people just repeat what they were carefully taught by their parents, teachers or authority figures, who were also lied to from birth. And instead of questioning the things they were told and doing the work to determine the truth themselves, they just uphold the lies by passing them on to the next generation.
Recently, I prepared a Personal Prosperity Guide for a friend and loyal client. It includes the Wealth & Prosperity enhancements for your personal feng shui element, as well as, the Chinese zodiac animal associated with your year of birth. Upon reading the guide, she said that the Chinese zodiac animal in the guide was different from the one she thought she was. Her text was the inspiration for this blog.
Westerners are conditioned to believe January 1st is the first day of a new year. And although that’s what our Gregorian calendars say and how our lives in Western countries are set up, January is a mid-winter month and at the end of an annual cycle, not the beginning of a new one.
Admittedly, the Chinese calendars and systems can be very confusing. Chinese zodiac animal signs are based on the Chinese lunar calendar and the Earthly Branches system. The 8 Elements and their personal feng shui Creativity & Prosperity sectors are based on the Chinese solar calendar and the Heavenly Stems system.
Chinese Lunisolar Calendar
The Chinese use a brilliant lunisolar calendar system that is based on the orbital rotation of celestial bodies in the heavens and the cyclical seasons of nature on the Earth.
There are two complimentary Chinese calendars that were designed to support farmers in their agricultural efforts. As you might imagine, one is yin and one is yang. The yin or lunar calendar is based on the phases of the moon. And the yang or solar calendar is based on the solar longitudes that determine the cycles of the seasons.
The ancient Chinese attempted to synchronize the lunar and solar calendars by adding an extra month 7 out of every 19 years. This additional month, also known as a leap month, is the reason the 1st day of the 1st month of the Chinese Lunar New Year varies from year to year between January and February.
The Chinese Solar Calendar
Classical feng shui and The 8 Elements are based on the Chinese solar calendar. This calendar is divided into 24 solar terms each lasting about 15 days. The Chinese Solar New Year is the first day of the first solar term. This first day falls midway between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, usually the 4th or 5th of February.
Note: The reason the first day of the Solar New Year varies between the 4th and the 5th of February is because of the Western calendar’s irregular extra day during leap years.
For classical feng shui and the personal feng shui elements, the Solar New Year has been standardized to February 4th. This is the date to place your important feng shui remedies and to turn on your water fountain to activate the wealth energy for the year ahead. It’s also the “cut off” date used to determine both your personal feng shui element, as well as, the Heavenly Stem that determines your Personal Prosperity sector.
Note about February Birthdays
If your birthday is during the first week of February, it would be best to have your feng shui consultant look up the Li Chun date for the year of your birth to verify your personal feng shui element. I have a “10,000 year Chinese calendar” and I’m happy to do that for you! Just send me a request on my website using the Contact Dara form.
Chinese Astrology
Chinese astrology uses a system called the Heavenly Stems and Earthy Branches. The 10 Heavenly Stems provide the Yin or Yang and the Five Elements And the 12 Earthly branches provide the Chinese zodiac animal sign.
Your Chinese zodiac animal sign is based on the lunar calendar. Unlike the solar and Gregorian calendars, the lunar calendar varies from year to year. So, people born in January and early February need to be especially conscientious about finding out the Chinese Lunar New Year date for their birth year when looking up their animal sign.
For example, 2023 is the Year of the Yin Water Rabbit. But just because you were born in the Year of the Rabbit doesn’t mean you are a Rabbit. This year, babies born before the Chinese Lunar New Year on January 22, 2023 are not Rabbits. They are Yang Water Tigers.
Chinese astrology is based on the year, month, day and hour of your birth. These Four Pillars of Destiny in your BaZi natal chart reveal what the Chinese consider your Human Luck. Feng shui, an earth science known as “Earth Luck”, is used to remedy or enhance your Human Luck.
To find out how feng shui can activate and enhance your personal prosperity, read about my newest offering, the Personal Prosperity Guide. In celebration of the launch of my new website, your personalized guide is just $44 for the first 10 people! This limited time offer expires May 1st, 2023.
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For personal energy or relationship dynamics coaching, contact me! Or, read about my coaching packages.If you’re ready to get professionally feng shui’d, read about Virtual Feng Shui Consultations.To read more about The 8 Elements, subscribe to the Feng Shui Yourself blog. Learn about my other Inner Chi Mastery offerings. Subscribe to Feng Shui Yourself on Substack.If you enjoyed this publication, please like, comment and share!