One of the first challenges any BaZi consultant, especially those new to the game, faces, is the demand for Enablement.

Enablement is a very interesting concept. On one level, Enablement has a positive connotation, denoting giving a person or situation the tools, resources and information required to achieve a particular goal. Yet, whenever we talk about ‘Enablers or ‘Enabling”, it tends to have the negative psychological connotation of being a person who facilitates negative or destructive behaviour. (see the contrasting explanations on Wiki for ‘Enablement‘ vs ‘Enabling’).

Personally, as a consultant, I have never seen myself as a + Enabler. First because I suppose I have always viewed the term in a negative light and secondly because it strikes me as the height of conceit – I don’t believe that one person can enable other people. I believe that only a person can enable themselves. I suppose I have seen far too many cases of people who despite having been given the ammunition of information from their BaZi charts, continue to plough through life making the same stupid mistakes. As such, it is a bit of a falsehood to assume that just because THEY KNOW, they CAN DO. An amazing number of people who KNOW do not DO. As the old saying goes, the drunk in the gutter, stays in the gutter for a very good reason.

So let’s talk about -Enablement.

As a BaZi consultant, it is extremely easy to lapse into -Enablement – clients whine, clients complain, clients give you the sad look and the sob story – the first instinct of any Consultant is to be sympathetic or at the very least, understanding. Unfortunately, there is a very thin line between Understanding and Enablement. I certainly can think of a number of occasions where I have been sorely tempted to slap someone across the face because they’re making the stupid mistake of stepping into the trap of their BaZi. But in the name of being Understanding, we instead resort to nodding patiently and trying to nudge them across the line towards a smart decision rather than a patently self-destructive one.

At some point however, as a Consultant, it becomes necessary to stop being supportive and actually be a real bitch because what the person needs, is a strong dose of reality. And because support only actually results in Enablement and Emboldening of the person to continue to do stupid things. Of course, sometimes clients need a bitchslap (or at least, some kind of put down or a frank word) because they like to play coy – despite having been given advice to do one thing, they keep on seeking vindication and sanction to do something else that they have been told NOT to do. This is stubbornness of the destructive kind again and if allowed to persist, results in the following outcome: they screw up their lives, and come running back demanding to know WHY this has happened to them. Life of course in such instances is surely horribly unfair?

Unscientifically, strong Day Masters and Yang Day Masters generally need the bitchslap approach because invariably, these types of Day Masters need the Control that comes from the 7 Killings/Direct Officer Star. Where this is coupled with Strong Resource (especially Indirect Resource) or strong Rob Wealth, there is an extra need to be very firm and uncompromising. However, with such clients, it is also important to be prepared to brandish the ‘I Told You So’ card unabashedly. Yes, it’s quite nasty to do so but some clients need to see the bottom of the proverbial abyss before they ever realise the futility and nonsense of their own silly actions.

if they are lucky, they will then be able to crawl out from the abyss and as the old saying goes, since it didn’t kill them, it makes them stronger.

Unfortunately, very few people have charts that enable them to have that kind of amazing comeback. The AVERAGE PERSON has a lower tolerance for the great dips and swings in fortune than people with exceptional charts. And in any case, the people with exceptional charts very rarely commit acts of total and utter unvarnished stupidity – most of the time, their abyss staring moments tend to be the product of genius gone wrong or overplaying their hand rather than purely pushing their luck. (what is the difference? The difference is that in one instance the person makes an educated, calculated bet, premised on a strong sense of self belief that goes wrong – in the other instance, the person merely flings mud against the wall HOPING that it will all work out and never really knowing what happened when it doesn’t)

And as is the case often, they will have exceptional people around them to rescue them from any possible acts of unvarnished stupidity they may commit. The average person has less of a safety net and so has less ability to handle acts of gross idiocy.

This is the reason why consultants must stop at the line of Enablement and indeed, avoid Enablement at all costs. If the client’s chart runs any risk of severe morale and emotional backlash (or in many instances of stupid money decisions, financial RUIN) as a result of a failure or a gross misjudgment or a pipe dream overstretch, it is IMPERATIVE that the consultant run the risk of losing the client by refusing to show Understanding than proceed along the slippery slope of Enablement and then have to pick up the pieces.

What is the most powerful weapon in the Consultant’s arsenal when it comes to preventing -Enablement? It is the Power of the word ‘NO’ and the willingness to DESTROY UNREALISTIC HOPE. It is the willingness to stop answering questions from clients who really just must learn to stop listening to the Message from the Dark Side. It is the capacity to piss off a client because that is what they need to hear – the unvarnished frank and straight up truth. The consultant must be fearless in their advice, and willing to risk the loss of business in the name of saving the client from themselves.

So do consultants ever have the opportunity to achieve  + Enablement? Once in a BLUE BLUE MOON, a rare case emerges where one of your guinea pigs, actually emerges from trial by fire successfully. They take the advice, they make the changes, and most importantly, THEY TRY. These are the rewarding cases, the clients that make you proud and who go on to actually make great progress on their own, without the consultants help, just by making those requisite changes and resisting the trap of their BaZi. Such cases are incredibly rare, and almost always, the credit goes to the client (although a word of advice: it is invariably a money-losing proposition most of the time as well since the amount of effort expended to achieve this level of success usually demands an exceptionally high level of nagging and endless bashing by the consultant, till the clients GETS IT).

The success stories are the ones that make up for all the failures (the ones that just…didn’t fix their lives) but they are few and far in between. Most cases fall into the category of needing less + Enablement and just a hell of a lot more Bitchslapping. And even then.

So what is the moral of the story for the client or the people who go and see BaZi consultants? Well, be a little suspicious when the answers to all your questions are coming back in the positive. Be a little more willing to take harsh advice because it might be what you need (especially if you are a strong Day Master). Finally, ask yourself if what you are looking for is +Enablement or -Enabling.

In our initial and preliminary line of inquiry, we will first look at what information is yielded by the pillar of 2012 itself: Ren Chen 壬 辰.

The proverbial brain dump approach probably is a good way to start – get everything out and then make sense of it. So what do we know about Ren Chen?

First off, Ren Chen is one of the Fui Kong (Chief) Pillars, along with 庚 辰，庚 戌 and 戊 戌. People often wonder what is the exact meaning of Fui Kong – I often describe it as “a cockroach life”. Cockroaches, for those who don’t know, are regarded as one of the most hardy and indestructible of creatures on earth, reputedly they can survive a nuclear war. As such Fui Kong types are people who are somewhat indestructible – they are like Energiser Bunnies – you slap them down and they just keep on going. It’s good for people who do jobs that are extremely physically strenuous like sports stars or military types but I suppose these days, if you are in the corporate world, it’s a bit like doing war anyway. In any case, Fui Kong often also means a life of hardship – Fui Kong types often have to slog hard, really hard, to get anything in life.  

So, since the year is being represented by one of the four Fui Kong pillars, suffice to say that we should assume it will be a TOUGH, DIFFICULT and CHALLENGING YEAR. “Struggle” and “hardship” will be the catchphrases and many things will feel like the proverbial squeezing blood from a stone. 

Next, Ren Chen, if perceived with Ren as the reference point (meaning, use Ren as the determinant of the 10 Gods), denotes being seated on 7 Killings. Wu 戊 Earth is the 7K of Ren Water. However, before we immediately then jump to the conclusion that the year will therefore accordingly be violent or full of attendant world conflict, we must consider what ELSE is in the equation. What does Chen bring with it? Chen contains Wu, Yi 乙 and Gui 癸 – notably, Gui is in Storage, Yi is in Graveyard. (if you are wondering where this is going, we will get there…patience).  So, the 7 Killings is accompanied by the Rob Wealth Star and the Hurting Officer Star. Now, 7 Killings, whilst it does denote violence or strong-arm tactics or dirty tactics, can also indicate decisiveness and a willingness to do the needful, irregardless of the consequences. 

What does this suggest? Well it indicates that there will be an attempt to impose strong medicine (in the global economy perhaps?) and that the world community (people and politicians) will finally wake up to the fact that a stomachful of stones is required in order to actually digest the gluttony of the past years. Lest you are wondering where that comes from, crocodiles are known to swallow stones in order to help them digest their food, especially if they’ve decided to have a baby buffalo for lunch.

However, because the 7 Killings here comes with the Hurting Officer and Rob Wealth Star, we need to consider how this impacts on the 7 Killings. Yi Wood is in Graveyard, indicating a weak Hurting Officer in the equation. One possible interpretation of this is that detractors lack the ammunition or the guts to oppose whatever measures that the people in power decide to impose(remember, 7 Killings ultimately represents leaders). Hurting Officer denotes going against the order of things – since it is in the Graveyard, this indicates that there might not be much vocal opposition to the measures that governments chose to pursue in the name of saving the world economy or saving the world (as of time of writing, Syria was still in the midst of a civil war, Libya was in pieces, Europe was bankrupt and China potentially on the verge of economic wobbles). The Rob Wealth Star, represented by Gui Water, is in Storage – this denotes that as the year goes by – beginning with Shen month, followed by Zi month, the measures that are taken may well gain public acceptance or popularity as it goes by. 

However, it is also possible that there is an alternative interpretation of this. Since the Hurting Officer is in the Graveyard (thus, weak Qi) and the Rob Wealth Star is in Storage, this could also indicate a year of decisions, policies and actions that look brave and contrarian, but ultimately end up resulting in a lot of money (Rob Wealth) being spent with not much results. It is rather reminiscent of that delightful Shakespearean quote from MacBeth:

Recall, Ren Chen being Fui Kong denotes hardship and slow results despite much sacrifice. Further, Ren Chen in itself as a year contains no Wealth Stars. So, there is quite a bit of evidence to suggest audacity that does not quite pay off or feeble audacity at best. A bullish bearish (typo correction) outlook and perception of the year could also be argued from the presence of 7K accompanied by feeble HO and RW in storage, with no wealth in the pillar – from a financial/economic standpoint, this strong suggests irrational actions or impulsive and selfish actions (stock markets will be cut-throat, with a dog-eat-dog mentality amongst traders), innovation and bold new ideas will be minimal and companies will go with the tried and tested still, shunning the new and the untested (as Hurting Officer is in graveyard) and Rob Wealth is in storage, indicating, lots of stimulus spending that doesn’t really go anywhere, or in the case of the economy, spending that doesn’t give rise to good ROI.

Now, because we are looking at things from the Annual Pillar perspective AND given the number of countries and policies that are involved, it is quite possible that BOTH outcomes (a bearish and bullish outlook) will take place. However, there is an additional point to consider in the bullish/optimistic outlook department.

Wu Earth in Chen is to be distinguished from the Wu Earth in Xu – Wu Earth is Xu is definitely of a harder quality whilst Wu Earth in Chen, whilst still hard, is a little more pliable. It is a subtle difference – think of it as pebbles vs rocks, verdant earth vs granite rock. Wu Earth in Chen is fertile as it contains seeds (in the form of Yi) whilst Wu Earth in Xu is rich with minerals (in the form of Xin). One denotes possibilities, the other indicates it is time to plunder and exploit. [In hindsight, is it any surprise that Bing Xu was the year that the world economy was at its most buoyant?]. So in some respects, it could be argued that Ren Chen may well represent the start point of new possibilities, a time to chuck out the old but also to plant seeds for the future. Indeed, from a Feng Shui perspective, it may denote the energies of Period 8 finally getting off the ground. Yi in Graveyard could be interpreted as a return to basics and fundamentals. This is because the Hurting Officer, which is all about me, me, me and showing off, and a lot of flash with lasting substance – CDOs anyone – enters the Graveyard, denoting the end of actions that are about breaking the rules. Gui Water, the Rob Wealth Star, in Storage denotes that after much difficulty – Clash releases the Storage – acceptance by the public is attained since Rob Wealth denotes popularity.

An additional insight can be gleaned from also looking at what pillar Ren Chen repels – Ren Chen actually is the Fan Yin of Bing Xu 丙 戌 (interesting how Bing Xu lines up in the picture). As such, Ren Chen is actually repelling its own wealth pillar, and a very strong Wealth pillar as it were since Bing Xu is considered to be strong Bing Fire. This could be said to be suggestive of the implication that the efforts undertaken in 2012 actually force away wealth rather than being it in. (the corresponding attraction pillar is Ding You 丁 酉, which is Direct Wealth + Direct Resource suggesting, slow and steady, and a rather more long-term and conservative outlook, as well as the connotation of Return to Basics).

So, attempting to put a measure of organisation to the above brain-dump of conclusions:

• Hardship and challenge is certainly one theme of the year’s pillar – the question is whether the entire BaZi also is supportive of this conclusion
• Aggressive, drastic action will be taken which contains the seeds of populism but will not be that contrarian. It may bring about positive outcomes or populist support but could also represent feeble audacity at best. Indeed, the hidden agenda is to do what will win votes or maintain popularity.
• Innovation, creativity and original ideas will not find much leeway in 2012. Stimulus spending will be up as part of drastic action but it may take a while to yield results.

I think the most prudent and rational conclusion here is that the year itself will be hard but depending on how the medicine is dispensed, it may turn out good in the long-run because Ren Chen denotes hardship but new possibilities. So 2012 itself as a year will be tough but if the medicine is dispensed and forced down, outcomes in the long-term may be good. So governments that can think beyond the year (which would essentially exclusive MOST of the world powers, since France, Germany, US and Russia are having elections) may have a better chance at cleaning things up economically than those that are being held hostage by the needs of voters or the demands of what it takes to be elected (vs what it takes to get things right).

First, let’s take a look at what the year will look like:

2012 Ren Chen (Water Dragon)

As with all forecasts, to truly get a sense of how a year will look going forward, we must also look at the current and the future. In this case, we must in addition to the 2012 BaZi, reference the 2011 BaZi and also the 2013 BaZi. The purpose of referencing the 2011 BaZi is so that we can see the how the elements from the final pillar of 2011 stack up moving forward with the energies of the start of 2012. The purpose of referencing 2013 is to see how the outcomes of 2012, especially late in the quarter, manifest in 2013, especially early in the year.

As this forecast is a constantly learning exercise for me, the goal also is to be able to have a structured methodology in which to examine the outcomes of a particular year. Based on my last two efforts, I have therefore arrived at the following approach (which obviously will be subject to modification as one goes along, assuming of course, the Mayans are not right, just lazy). The analysis of a year’s BaZi involves a number of tandem approaches IMHO:

• The essence of the year, as encapsulated in the singular pillar of Ren Chen 壬 辰 – this involves a pictoral interpretation of Ren Chen, as a means of getting a sort of overview or ultra macro perspective of the year.
• The energies of the year, as encapsulated in the entire BaZi chart for the year. This involves pictoral interpretation of the entire chart as a sort of thematic landscape/painting and trying to decipher if there is some kind of ‘picture’ that emerges from the chart itself. This is also a Macro perspective viewpoint and also involves the process of extracting ‘themes’ or ‘big ideas’ from the chart.
• The third method to the Macro perspective viewpoint involves evaluating the chart as if it were a person but contextualising thee interactions in the chart as if they were events, sentiments, emotions, places or people.
• The fourth method is a micro perspective – this involves looking at the interactions with the Luck Pillars (which broadly represent the 4 quarters that most economies are defined by) with the BaZi chart to forecast possible events or happenings
• The fifth method is the ultra micro perspective  - this involves essentially connecting the year with the 10 Day Masters, and identifying individuals who will be most affected (both positively and negatively) by the year itself.

Having finally sorted out the tech issues with the webinar platform, I’ll be conducting webinars in December 2011. Schedule will be as follows:

December 10, 2011 Webinar

Topic: How to perform an Annual Assessment of a BaZi chart

Time: 4pm-5.45pm (10 minutes break in between) Kuala Lumpur time (use World Meeting Planner to find out the time for your area)

Facilitator: Bernice Low

Minimum Qualification: BaZi M2 (Mastery Academy) or any equivalent – please inquire if you are unsure.

This webinar will be conducted in an interactive fashion so all attendees are encouraged to submit questions, either via audio or via the chat box platform that is provided as part of webex. The chart will be provided to attendees with 24 hour notice, so that they may engage in preparation.

Inquiries: bazibuzz@gmail.com

In September, I mentioned to a friend who is born in March (卯 month for the uninformed) that she should be careful of being cut or accidentally cutting herself or getting into some kind of a nasty injury. Appropriately enough, said friend managed to somehow slice her thigh open accidentally walking into a jagged broken pipe. This happened early in October and she squealed to me – but you said I had to be careful in September.

Ah, the transition date gets them again.

Another friend, who was having a really tough October (many 未 in his chart) sighed with relief as the 31st of October approached, until I pointed out that 己 亥 (Pig Month) only starts on the 7th of November – so he had another couple more days of stress to go.

Transition date agony yet again.

Remember, the month does not end when the Gregorian Calendar says it ends, but when the Solar Calendar says it ends.

As I’ve been busy doing my usual homework in preparation for 2012 (marking out dates on my calendar and of course, prepping my 2012 forecast – material involved – Joey Yap’s Tong Shu, Personal Date Selection and Dong Gong Date Selection texts), I’ve extracted the various transition dates for each of the months here for your reference.

January 辛 丑 transition point: 6 Jan 2012 (remember, this is considered to still be part of 辛 卯 year)

February 壬 寅 transition point: 4 Feb 2012 (official transit also into 壬 辰 year)

March 癸 卯 transition point: 5 March 2012

April 甲 辰 transition point: 4 April

May 乙 巳 transition point: 5 May 2012

June 丙 午 transition point: 5 June 2012

July 丁 未 transition point: 7 July 2012

August 戊 申 transition point: 7 August 2012

September 己 酉 transition point: 7 September 2012

October 庚 戌 transition point: 8 October 2012

November 辛 亥 transition point: 7 November 2012

December 壬 子 transition point: 7 December 2012 (this is not the end of 壬 辰 year – recall that the year only rolls over on 4th February 2013)

Prepping for 2012

For my own calendar, what I usually do is mark the transition date with a BLACK CIRCLE, and then usable dates are circled RED. Superior dates get an extra ** so that I remember to use them.

2012 Desktop Calendar