A date with destiny

FENG SHUI, BaZi (or Four Pillars of Destiny), and face reading, according to Iverson Lee, are tools in Chinese Metaphysics to help people improve their quality of life.
Other tools in Chinese Metaphysics include Qi Men Dun Jia, Yi Jing, and date selection.
“BaZi is a science to forecast [your future], like the weather,” said Lee, who is a speaker and trainer with the Joey Yap Consulting Group.
“Knowing what to expect could help you to plan and strategise for what is to come.”
Lee said this at his recent talk on Feng Shui and Astrology Outlook for the Year of the Dog event, hosted and sponsored by Borders The Curve.
Using a personalised natal chart, Lee helped those at the talk to identify opportunities and obstacles coming their way this Lunar New Year.
He said that in Chinese astrology, each year is represented by one of 12 animal zodiac signs.
However, many people take these animal representations literally.
“For example, those who are born in the Year of the Dog are characterised as loyal, but there are such things as wild dogs too,” Lee added.
He said the question he is asked the most is: “Is 2018 a good year?”
“What they mean is whether 2018 is a lucky year. And by luck, they mean getting the maximum outcome from [the least] effort.”
According to him, of the 12 animal signs, five will experience a ‘good’ year. They are the Horse, the Goat, the Snake, the Ox, and the Boar.
“If any of these five animal signs appear in your natal chart, be it in the hour, day, month or year column, that is a good thing,” Lee said.
“The year column represents industry and experience, the month represents career and job, the day represents health and relationship, and the hour represents investment and ideas.”
Giving an example of how to read a natal chart, Lee said if the Horse appears in the month column of your chart, it signifies property luck, and your assets’ value will appreciate.
If it is a Goat sign on the month column, it signifies an increase in revenue, and the chance of living a luxurious life.
On the other side, he listed the Rooster and Dragon as having a ‘tough’ time, while the rest will have an ‘average’ year.
“We focus on the positive,” he said. “However, if a ‘bad’ animal sign appears on one of your columns, you plan accordingly.
“For example, if it looks like this is not a good year for ideas for you, look for someone who has a better animal sign in his or her hour column, and work with that person instead.”
Lee added that wearing animal charms to change your reading is merely fashion, and will do nothing other than perhaps make you feel good.
He explained that knowing your BaZi allows you to take action and strategise based on the forecast, not to manipulate it.
“However, for those who want results with little effort, there is feng shui,” Lee said. “Feng shui harnesses the power of proximity to encourage harmony.”
He added that it is best to avoid ‘disturbing’ the North sector this year, and instead favour the Southeast sector.
Don’t make any changes in the North sector of your home or business, so as not to activate the negative energy there. Instead, work harder in the Southeast sector.
Lee is also not in favour of using decorations to change the feng shui of a place, calling it mere interior decoration and not part of feng shui at all.
He also reminded us that the zodiac year cut-off date is Feb 4 and not on Chinese New Year, which falls on Feb 16 this year.