December Energy Update

Hey guys welcome to the Learn Feng Shui podcast where you'll Learn Feng Shui from a classical point of view taking out the myth and Superstition so if you're interested in learning funu Chinese astrology all things Chinese metaphysics as well as the superstitions and myths that connect it all you'll enjoy learning funu with me hey guys let's get into the energy update for December let's see what the month has in store for us fun wise and which zodiac signs are most impacted bringing in the month of the rats starting us off here is the first solar cycle of energy called greater snow the jesi cycle um it starts on December 7th and goes through the 21st and it is a time of year where we start to see some snowfall maybe and uh December 22nd through January 1st is the winter solstice and of course we'll talk about the solar terms at the end of the episode and what we can do to stay healthy during this time so guys December can't believe it's already here oh my goodness the year is going by so fast so before though we get to the end of the year and everything that that entails which will'll be here probably before we can blink um let's you know shut this year out let's experience this time I really feel like this is the beginning of something new which uh we'll talk about in just a second so the month we do experience of course the shortest days and longest nights up to the winter solstice and the yin energy is overtaking the Yang energy and of course it's kind of reflected in seeing more dark than light in our days we know those nights are very long and of course in the winter solstice we do have the longest night of the the year so it does seem to be a time where we collectively decide to slow down and reflect Inward and it's kind of reflected in the dormy of nature everything is kind of slowing down you know the wood rat however is the very first in the cycle of the 60 zodiac signs and it does symbolize new beginnings and growth so if we look at the water element with wood sitting on top it's like a tree planted by a stream there's this NeverEnding resource right and we can kind of look at internal growth and inner reflection being supported this time of year it's also a good month for of course those New Beginnings making a change planning for 2024 um you can use your Shing Chi or your life generating direction to brainstorm work think of new ideas you know if you need a little bit of a breakthrough it's a good it's really just a good time to do that you know it's just that time of year where new things are happening you know symbolizing that new cycle New Beginnings um so I really do think that is very symbolic of what we'll experience this month and of course not everyone experiences it the same way because our energy is different our personal energy is different however if you are ready for a change ready for a new beginning you know think it's a good month to think about how you can start making that happen you know remember things don't happen you know to us right they're they're not we we can control what happens and so um although things do happen that are out of our control we can control how we react to it and if we feel like we've been a little bit stagnant you know you don't wait for things to come to you sometimes you got to take that first step and sometimes just kind of that brainstorming thinking um having a little bit of a you know a mind session where you're like okay let me you know how can I solve this problem whatever you know uh using that uh life generating um Direction in eight Mansions it really can help you to kind of think of some new ideas remember it's a thinking Direction so yeah feel free to try to use that let's get on to the Zodiac forecast all right guys remember when we look at the zodiac signs I only look at the signs that combine with the zodiac sign that is present for the month so I mentioned earlier of course that December is the month of the Rat U if you're new to botsa if you're new to Eastern astrology you have four zodiac signs most people are really familiar with the year they're born you know if you go to a Chinese restaurant you look at those placemats you may know you're born the year of the monkey you're the Year of the Dragon right and so you actually have a zodiac sign for the year month day and hour you are born and these are called your four pillars your bota or sometimes called the eight characters and it's because you have four different uh pillars there one for the year month day and hour the year represents your Social Circle community and friends the month represents your career and parental relationships sometimes Health can be impacted uh when there is some sort of combination or Clash there the day represents your health your relationship how you see yourself kind of who you truly are as a person of how you relate to your partner and the hour represents your thoughts feelings emotion your relationship with your children and if you are the boss at your work if you have people underneath you your your downline okay so it represents your subordinates okay so here we go uh the rat so um let's give for an example real quick if you have a rat in your your year for example you're born the year of the Rat um this month you can look for that to impact maybe your Social Circle friends and Community around you okay so that's kind of how that works you get it all right guys so looking first at the rat the energy that is governing the month you know I kind of talk about very frequently kind of stays on my blog post that it can look feel more stressful maybe you'll feel more visible or seen because you have the Grand Duke for the month so make choices carefully during these times and look for the shin Shaw stars to help guide you uh and guide your focus and so really one of the most notable ones that I noticed or I thought about when looking back through that system of symbolic stars is the red Matchmaker and a salty pool so it could be a possible love match but be cautious because it could be a shortterm flirty fling so if you're married please be connecting and focused on your partner because you can um you know make that uh you know work in your favor kind of connect with your partner a little bit if you're married don't be you know flirting with other people you know just just uh if you're if you're uh not uh if you're taken you know if you're not not single then you know keep that to your partner but yeah it could be a good month for you to connect with your partner or if you are single and you're looking um it could be a time where you maybe can find a holiday date but usually the salty pool does indicate a shorter term relationship usually a fling so hey if you're ready for that this month enjoy it all right combining usually these are called three Harmony combinations the monkey and the dragon do make the three combination to the rat so if you have a monkey or Dragon the presence of the Rat will um come in and form a partial combination you know so if you don't have a rat in your zodiac um you won't see that combination until the rat comes in if that makes sense okay so the monkey may feel more supportive this month if you feel a little bit stressed overwhelmed look for a mentor or parental figure to talk to sometimes we all need a little nurturing if you have the dragon look for hidden opportunities sometimes we have to make our own opportunities but other times we have to be ready to grab as soon as the opportunity presents itself sometimes volunteering yourself can open you up for things up later you know we might think that we're um just volunteering you know oh it's a volunteer thing I'm not going to get paid or you know I'm just wasting my time but remember that whenever you volunteer your time and you're helping somebody out you know um if you think of you know something being reciprocal you know just think of it as hey if I help somebody out then uh that means they may owe me you know uh but on the other side too you don't want to expect anything but remember that sometimes volunteering um it just it's one of those things where it it gets people you know thinking about you they know that you're open to helping and um it could open up opportunities for you later on you know um of course don't volunteer all your time and take time away from yourself and only do it if you feel like you have the time for it um of course this month I know I always used to love to take my kids during the holiday to volunteer at like food kitchens and stuff like that because I always felt like I wanted them to understand you know not everybody is as blessed as us and if we can serve then you know be of service especially during the holiday season so if you have a ox in your zodiac sometimes this is called the secret friend usually refer to as the Harmony and the sign of the Rat does help bring the oxom ability to make connection so December is typically a time to slow down and connect and spend some time with your family and friends so do find some time to do some holiday activities and enjoy yourself if you're born under the sign of the ox it could help also you feel a little bit more stable for the month if you felt a little ungrounded um usually the aux I think typically stays pretty grounded just because you are that Earth Energy and of course combining with the can add some of that extra stability for you so just take the time to connect this month a seasonal combination means that the zodiac signs that make up the season of winter are they're going to be Pig rat and Ox so if you have the ox or the pig you will have the seasonal combination and it is the strongest out of all the combinations and it combines to form the element of water and so the presence of all of these together just means you can have a very strong Water Element so remember that water is not necessarily beneficial to everybody and so it's hard to say that if you have the the ox and a pig that you're going to have this automatic you know amazing month um not necessarily you know and it's not going to be necessarily bad either but uh what I would consider though is the presence of a lot of water energy can make you feel a bit stressed and sometimes unstable so um you know enjoy your month make sure you also grounding yourself you know and and that you are just kind of taking that time to uh you know to take some of that stress away um remember that the seasonal combination does come with some opportunity and sometimes opportunity can create some stress you know especially when we're doing a whole lot so again just kind of take the time this month um if you feel stressed out just to kind of uh ground yourself do some breathing um you know it doesn't have to be a whole meditation thing I'm I I don't I'm not a meditator and so what I need to do when feel a little bit stressed out really just take a second to um breathe I usually take a second to breathe do deep breathing and um just kind of walk away for a second you know if I feel like something is not working for me walking away for a few minutes will help and then you'll be able to kind of clear your mind and then make some progress everybody wants to know about the clashing energy that comes up for the month so the clashing energy is a zodiac sign that directly opposes the governing energy of the month and so this month it's the rat is the governing energy and it's a water element and the opposing energy is the horse and it's a fire element so it creates that fire water Clash um remember that when you see a clash it's not always necessarily bad um most so I will tell you true clashes don't occur very often if you have any of the other combining signs the monkey the dragon the ox or any of those seasonal zodiac like the pig you're actually not going to experience The Clash the the combining energy takes a clash away and a lot of times the combining energy will create more uh EV an more of an eventful time than the clashing energy and because a lot of stuff is combining together okay and so I know I'm in the middle of taking my uh bot classes again uh we started back up with our study group and so I'm just kind of reviewing everything I love to to kind of get insight where I hadn't got Insight before and that is one of the things that it always strikes me so a lot of people are worried about that Clash but again it's not always the clashing energy that can be the most impactful and a true Clash doesn't occur very often so don't be too worried about it but remember um that since water can put out fire it can mean maybe you feel defeated maybe you feel stressed out maybe you feel pressure but you know chains is usually in store when you see a clashing energy so if you create a change for yourself usually that takes away The Clash Also let's take a look at flying stars for the month of December all right guys some of these sectors are a little bit challenging for the month and so we have some that are just kind of neutral they're not g to do much unusable you know just kind of keep quiet and there's a couple that are good and there's a couple that we really want to have those the red flags are flying for okay so the Southwest or if you're a GU 2 you do have a one four Flying Star combination and um that could mean a good month for studying in the sector you know quite good not not too bad you know if you're single and looking for love you can actually place a bamboo in water or a plant that sets in water in that sector for the month and try to make some love matches and go on some dates so that can be quite good and again um the four star is for academic Pursuit so if you need a little bit of a boost or if you st student needs a little bit of a boost to finish out their finals for uh the break you know before Christmas break here then um set them in the southwest you place a little fan there um yeah and so take advantage of those flying stars this month at the Northeast so if you're a guat eight the number one Flying Star visits for the month making it a 1 s combination this shows us that we have the ability to connect with others if we use that sector so use the sector for marketing sending emails General work uh if you think of the the just the 17 it really does represent um the ability to communicate and speak with somebody so if you're needing to communicate speak if you have any kind of public things going on um you know write a speech there uh stuff like that so definitely good for talking and of course um you can work there I so I don't think I'd recommend putting um a fan there for the time being but yeah working in the sector should be quite uh useful some of the neutral sectors for the month I really didn't put this on the blog so if you're listening you get uh get a nice little a little listen Okay so Northwest you know has that eight wealth star but we can't use it because we do it does have that five uh disaster star there for the month that 85 combination usually can indicate a loss of some s of economic you know you don't want to lose your wealth you don't want your wealth to be impacted so um yeah just keep the Northwest quiet for the month should be quite okay uh not not too big a deal there um the six luxar is moving to the southeast that's just kind of a neutral sector you know not not too big a deal one thing they say to be careful is injury to your legs if that's if that's the case there um so if you're sleeping in that sector kind of just be cautious of that and then the number three in the north you know we don't really want to mess with that it does uh come into uh the com combines with the Flying Star nine uh for the month so um but not too impactful and should be quite fine um you know but keep the area quiet and remove anything that's overly activating the area to avoid arguing so that's if you are in the North or if you're a GU one and there is two areas we really want to take note of for this month fing star combination in the East so um fua 3 also take caution the presence of the five star is there and of course this does combine with the yearly star number two which is considered an illness star so you're going to want to cure the area um keep it quiet you know you can put your saltwater cure you can Place some metal objects there I don't love to put metal in the East because you don't want to put metal in Wood energy kind of you know it clashes each other so you don't really want to put met you can place the metal coins there the six metal coin charm but I really the one I recommend the most is placing a saltwater cure and you can place that um anytime from now and leave it up until January 5th and the south is another kind of a red flag here it's you know the GU n um if so if you're a guine individual c number eight Flying Star does comeb by with a monthly number two and it can indicate some Financial issues if you're a GU n if it falls at your front door or your bedroom you can cure with a saltwater jar and remember this energy moves in on the 7th so as I'm putting this out it should be uh you know just in time in addition to our yearly no r ation sectors which are the South Southwest West and Northwest and of course the East which has that yearly Grand Duke we're going to want to avoid Renovations in the north which has the monthly Grand Duke or the Ty soy and of course you can check those out on my blog which is linked below all right guys let's go ahead and go to our folklore Friday segment we're going to be talking about those solar cycles of energy what that uh month is going to bring us you know what to expect and and how to stay healthy during that time so I know we're kind of winding down for the holidays oh one thing I wanted to share with you is that I heard somebody the other day say uh if you take January 88th off you have the possibility of having four 3day weekends in a row so Janu uh sorry December 25th Christmas and New Year's Day both fall on a Monday so we'll have a 3day weekend that week but if you take the eighth off you can have that as a 3-day weekend and then the next week is the 15th which is Martin Luther King day and of course the federal holiday so you can possibly get uh four 3D weekends in a row over the next few weeks there so little Pro tip maybe you need some recoup time after the holidays maybe you want to take it a little bit slower you're just you know draging because it's so cold outside um yeah consider cashing in one of your sick days or putting in some time off for the eighth and get you extra 3day weekend in there so Pro tip um yeah winding down for the holidays I know um one thing I'm doing to get through is taking my magic mind productivity shot I feel like I hit that midday slump about 3:00 maybe and so I've been doing um about 2:00 taking the productivity shot about then that way it kind of deaz and it really has helped with the energy slump that I experience and that's um caffeine from the Macha te I really do feel like it also doesn't take my sleepiness away so um in regards to like you know I love to go to bed this time of year it's dark at 5:30 because of the daylight savings time and um of course you know we have these long nights and so 6 p.m. I'm ready to go lay in bed and so you know there's definitely a difference between the groggy sleepy and just feeling lazy sleepy and I do feel like it doesn't take away that you know going to bed early you factor and so um it's supposed to be a long extended but it's not um the type of energy where it's like you feel like you can't go to bed you know at night so I really like that and of course um one other thing that I've kind of been considering too is that I'm kind of going through that time of life where you experience What's called the change of life you know most of my audience is female and can probably definitely relate you know to um you know those premenopausal symptoms which are brain fogging iness the mental fatigue and I do feel like over the past maybe year I've really experienced strange hormonal symptoms and so I'm really hoping that you know that mushroom supplement that is in the magic mind the Lion's man and the cortis that mushroom um they're both supposed to help with that cognitive function also inflammation I have inflammation issues so I'm hoping it'll kind of help with that I think I need to take it longer term to kind of determine but I do feel like it helps with that mental Clarity um and even if you just have those energies um not really energy slumps but those mental slumps where you're like I just I can't think I'm so mentally tired I definitely feel like it helps with that and I feel like um us as women we experience that more just because we have such a big mental load on us you know and so really hoping it helps with those brain function and those cognitive uh symptoms that I experienced so yeah if you experienced that too you want to check it out go to magic mind.com fun use C fun2 for up to 56% off of your first subscription 20% off of your onetime purchase that's code fun 20 highly recommend it of course um if you're going to uh you know have be having to juice stuff for the you know your holiday season having to run around and be busy and get all your shopping done you know do all the stuff I kind of talked about this last week too do do your mom stuff you know highly recommend magic mind who is today's show sponsor magic mind.com fun using Code function 220 for that discount all right guys let's go ahead and go to the next segment all right so looking at the jet cycles for the month here I'm uh switching it up just a little bit I'm actually reading from the Asian medicine.org website which I'll link to you below um we of course you know we want to look at what's going on in the season but we also want to know how to stay healthy during this time and I think of course when we look at those jety Cycles it does tell us what we can do to kind of stay healthy this time of year so it states here that it is the last seasonal node or last cycle before the winter solstice the micro season the seasonal node as it is called here represents the final stage of the most Yin energy time of the year symbolized by the title hexagram of which is Earth it's composed entirely of broken lines and does represent the most Yen you can get you know if you do the yijing and so again just kind of symbolizing that Yin overtaking the Yang it's the most Yin time of year everything's dormant it's cold and greater snow is the time when we start seeing snowfall so especially if you're in a Northern State we actually haven't been super cold in Texas so I don't know they're still predicting a super cold winter but uh we'll see you know we'll see and uh here it does say weather is cold and dry and the days are getting shorter before we transition to the birth of the Yang energy represented by the solstice so if you know of course on the solstice we have the longest night of the year and after that the young energy changes and it does uh start you know building and of course we we build up to the longest day of the year represented by the summer soles and then we switch again and that's in infinum for the rest of you know the existence of the world you know anyhow uh the ancient Chinese character for winter is called dong and its image is of the sun locked in an inverted bottle at this dark time of year feels as though the sun has been locked away the main way to guard our health in this period of time is to focus on warm supplementation while at the same time trying to avoid exposure to cold and it say here thus the kneeing which I had to look up it's a text on Chinese medicine tells us that in the winter it's appropriate to avoid cold and seek warmth along the lines we continue to practice preventative moxibustion so moxibustion is actually a form of like smoke so you would blow uh it's almost like this incense or the smoke that you will put in certain areas of your body that's supposed to keep you warm and it does kind of Point here that there's certain points in the body where you're supposed to do that if you know Chinese medicine uh we they usually look at acupuncture uh points you know those um I know there's Meridian points within your body and so another guideline tells us to nourish the yin while it may seem counterintuitive for the cold time of year the meaning of Yin also refers to the body's ability to store and thereby regenerate in its Vitality so Yin means being able to be in a state of quiet rest and Solitude therefore during this time of year we try to get more sleep and try to get into bed earlier and I'm going to say because I live in the US um I'm you know we do daylight savings and I am exhausted by 600 p.m. I'm so tired so um I'm just ready to go to like lay down and and go to bed you know it's already dark outside and I I'm trying to do dinner early and I'm really just trying to lay down by six it does say here also that um the sleep is one of the best Chinese medicinal prescriptions for supplementing the chi and it is said to also strengthen your kidneys so this time of year of course it's a water dominant time of year and the water also represents the kidneys so it can impact your kidneys in that way so apparently one of the ways to help fix that also is to get plenty of rest another thing we can do of course this probably won't be great for the kidneys if you're having kidney issues but it says here that Medicaid wines are a long tradition in Chinese medicine and they're cost-effective way to get a good dose of herbs you know it says the alcohol itself is a preservative to stretch shelf life of medicinal products and so not necessarily alcohol but it does kind of more speak to the herbal side of things and it says here since alcohol is warm and Sweet By Nature it has the ability to warm and expel the cold and I think we all know that you know drink a warm a glass of a alcohol does warm the belly you know you can just feel that warmth going all the way down and uh here it does say that um there's some different ways using grain alcohol and letting it sit for a month in the herb I suppose and then taking a small shot glass of it in the evening uh with certain herbs is supposed to to be a supplemental effect for the kidneys and have that y warming energy um so I suppose if there's any sort of um herbal wines or herbal drinks maybe you can take some of that I prefer Jin because I like the Juniper taste so um I love me a good Jin so I wonder if that would count and things that can be eaten this time of year to help warm you are uh lamb beef chicken venison shrimp and muscles in addition to animal products and food it does say here that it's encouraged to eat Walnuts almonds nuts and other warming spices like cinnamon and ginger which I think is pretty traditional for this time of year and I would say that even maybe doing a essential oil you know could um also add that to you I know you need to consume it but it might also help just to smell it you know and of course it says here soups and stews are warming and moistening and root vegetables like yams turnips um it's a here traditional kept in winter storage is usually good for consumption this time of year then we come up on the winter solstice and some phenomena weather phenomena that we see during that time it says here that earthworms curl up as an animal that stretches with Yang energy but contracts with the energy that earthworm is still under predominant influence of Yin energy and will usually be found curled up under ground which I can attest to cuz sometimes I'll move my compost bin outside and I'll find them curled up out there so that's that's true they're already curled up out there another thing is that antlers will drop from the animals here it says the elk antlers usually fall off around this time and it does say that as for the last part of this which would be right around the beginning of January it suggests that the spring and water system gradually return to their active state by the end of the winter solstice um I guess I suppose that's true we don't really have a you know here where I live we don't see that uh frozen lakes and Frozen Waters so um yeah I'll just leave that there and traditionally eating around the winter solstice is going to be the dumplings I know I talked about that last week when we talked about the myth or the I guess folklore that you're um ears will fall off if you don't eat dumplings so it says here uh they insist that if you don't devour a plate of dumplings on the winter solstice a horrible frostbite will take your ears away so um maybe I need to eat some dumplings here and it says that there is a special noodle called the winter solstice noodle that's popular among locals in the old proverb says that every day is a bit longer after you eat a bowl of the winter solstice noodle things also traditionally eaten would be rice cake pumpkin pancakes and the egg soup which I I actually love and it's a really good breakfast soup with some protein all right well I hope you enjoyed today's December energy update and all the tips to kind of stay healthy during this time of year hopefully everyone's staying healthy and everything we still have another episode for the month that's going to be cut short a little bit because I'll be taking end of season break the 22nd and the 29th to enjoy the the holidays so um you guys hopefully you're feeling christmy next week is a Christmas or holiday episode and we'll talk all things Christmas I answer some listener questions so it's kind of a fun episode just kind of a light-hearted one so I'll catch you guys next week and after that we'll be our end of season break for free energy mapping of your floor plan please check the link in the show notes to support today's podcast going to Learn Feng Shui. sign up for emails leave a review and share 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