LAMORINDA WEEKLY | Feng Shui

So many of us here in the Bay area are thankful that 2020 is over! If you honored the New Year's transition with a positive intention-setting full moon practice, ringing bells, opening of all the house windows and doors for nine minutes, or creating special dishes only served at the holidays, then you have welcomed the new year meaningfully.

If you honored your "self' in allowing a release of 2020 or what no longer serves you today, then you are on the right track to receive numerous 2021 blessings. If you didn't engage in a meaningful ceremony of your own making, or mark the passing in some other way be patient with yourself and don't despair . you have another chance! The new Lunar year of the Yin (Female) Iron Metal Oxen is almost upon us and begins Feb. 12 this year and will usher in an era of honesty, greater stability and matters being creatively handled in a steady way, patience, persistence and hard work that bears fruit for us personally, but also for all the community.

Take action now!

If you still want to or need to space clear, cleanse, and release your home from the 2020 sadness, community ill-health, grief, stress, and feelings of helplessness, or isolation or the inability to travel or see loved ones, there's no better remedy than intentional Feng Shui.

One strong and effective space clearing method includes placing nine drops of Neroli or tangerine essential oil per cup of water in a new spray bottle. Begin at the front entrance door of your home and mindfully walk counter-clockwise around your space and just follow the natural flow of Qi, so down or up stairs, into bathrooms and larger closets until you end up back at the front entrance door. As you move throughout the space spray the citrus water and visualize a detailed release of what you want to let go from 2020, and if you can include the Bagua map it's an even stronger method.

At the same time you release stale energy, welcome a vivid visualization of 2021 protection, abundance, and possibilities for each Bagua area. Don't get hung up on the ritual steps . simply infuse your space with uplifting, boundless, joyful and loving Qi.

So dear reader, what will the New Year of the Yin (female) Iron Metal Oxen hold for each one of us and for society at large? Are you ready for the lunar New Year of the Ox?

In 2021 the Iron or Metal element rules the year of the Female OX. This year will encourage us to be as tough as nails (Metal) through one of the most hard-working years experienced so far. Since 2021 is a female or yin year, it will be less caustic, stressful and exhausting than 2020 despite the hard work that will be required of us all.

The year 2021 will redefine determination and devotion in achieving challenging objectives before us. The energetic signature of 2021 Ox will be all about humbly, diligently, attending to our responsibilities with restored integrity, and will require a lot of staying power and strength and there will need to be a "nothing spared" attitude for delivery on promises and commitments. We will all feel a breath of fresh air that lifts us into unceasing energy and relentless drive to accomplish 2021 goals, which overall will be of a more conservative nature that highlights caution versus recklessness.

In 2021 we may be asked to be more bold, flexible, and less rigid when it comes to being team players, and this includes welcoming and listening to different perspectives. While last year set some of the changing societal agenda items, 2021 will include thoughtful conversations on Black Lives Matter, climate change, education, income inequality, and protecting the human rights of all peoples, including indigenous cultures. The new year will encourage us to set our minds toward a positive course, borrowing Oxen's obstinacy so distraction or discouragement are kept to a minimum.

Generally, our expectations will be reliant on a sense of life being more dependable and calm than it was 2020. Our 2021 ambitions are realized when we balance our focus on hard work with important family time, which functions as the antidote to work stress. This 2021 connection is a reflection of Oxens consistent and strong ties to nurturing family, traditions, faith, and the strength that hard work demands. In 2021 avoid being self-opinionated, stubborn, unapproachable, miserly, persistent in old ways or narrow minded.

Since Oxen can be reticent communicators in 2021 we will be required to try hard to become consistently clear communicators, which includes speaking and listening to others, especially to different points of view from our own. Happy New Year of the OX and if you're curious about your personal relationship with 2021 Oxen, please reach out to me at spaceharmony@gmail.com or see mandalafengshui.com for more details.