2020
YEAR OF THE GENG ZI RAT

Welcome to the Year of the Geng Zi Metal Rat! 

Read below to learn:
  • the overall energy of this Geng Zi Metal Rat Year
  • things to physically focus on
  • things to focus on mentally & emotionally
  • possible health impairments the Geng Zi Metal Rat energy brings with it
  • nutrition to focus on
  • the musical notes or vibrations sounding through this year
  • ​specific energies for the 6 segments of the year
  • energies of the past years (since we opened in 2010- fun reading if you want to think about the flow of the last few years!)
2020 Geng Zi
Metal Rat

Chinese Astrology Technicals:
​Dominating Metal Master with guest Fire (Heaven/Upper) ruling the overall and first half of the year and Metal (Earth/Lower) ruling the second half.
 
Ruled by the planets Mars and Venus. Venus will be visible in the night sky for most of the first half of the year. Mars will be swinging close to the Earth this year.


Spreading Sickness Carries Over from Last Year 

2020 has a Dominating Metal energy. This is a harvest energy or a killing energy. The killing energy is a separating energy. It is described as "killing without offending," as happens when we harvest wheat. It also includes refrain from killing in its virtue. This energy will be kept mostly under check for the first half of the year. The spring looks to be rather pleasant weather-wise. The advice for right now piggybacks on the advice for the end of 2019, which is to mostly stay indoors both because of the unusually high amount of spreading sicknesses and also the cold snaps.
By mid to late summer the Metal energy will be much stronger. This could look like heavy rains in August/September with mixed hot and cold. Unseasonable but pleasant warmth in October/November. And a very dry and again probably unseasonably warm December/January.

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How to navigate

Energetically, this is a somewhat challenging year so it would be good to be cautious and focus especially on the matters that are close to home. Make the things that seem small the focus of your intention instead of pushing a great deal out into the world. There will likely be a lot of change happening, so we need to set our intention now to practice our 2 virtues for the year: ritual politeness and honesty and uprightness. If we set our sights on these virtues this year, it will carry us through difficult situations and keep us from getting stuck.

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Six segments of year

The descriptions of these six segments are from the Huangdi Neijing, which is the oldest classic of Chinese Medicine written over 2000 years ago, as translated by Dr. Henry Lu. 

The first energy arrives Feb 4. Taiyang beneath the earth. The transition in earth energy takes place, dryness will be gone and cold will begin, animals in the hiding will remain hidden, water will freeze, frost will fall again, wind will blow, and yang energy will be inhibited. People should stay in closed rooms, otherwise, they will suffer from immobility of joints and pain in lumbar vertebrae. When flaming summer heat arrives people will be under the attack of boils and carbuncle both internal and external.
Focus: Stay warm and try not to get overly exposed to cold.

The second energy arrives Apr 5. Jueyin. Yang energy will spread, wind will blow, energy of spring will be upright, and ten thousand things will flourish. When cold energy arrives in due course, people will enjoy harmony. The diseases will be discharge from the penis, blurred vision and pink eyes, energy congestion in the upper region causing hot sensations.
Focus: Movement and activity to assist the wood energy of being vital in our physical body.

The third energy arrives June 6. Shaoyin. The Administrative duty of heaven will spread, big fire will be widespread, everything will be flourishing and fresh and cold energy will arrive in due course. People will suffer from upstream energy, heart pain, cold alternating with hot sensations, cough and asthma, pink eyes.
Focus: Be careful not to get overheated; use bitter flavors and Chinese herbal formulas to keep fire and inflammation down; and don't lose yourself by going out too much--it is still good to balance by staying inside.

The fourth energy arrives Aug 5th. Taiyin. 
Damp summer heat will be around, heavy rains will fall frequently, cold and heat will set in jointly, and people will suffer from cold and hot sensations, dry throat, jaundice, nasal discharge, nosebleed, and sputum.
Focus: Eating a clean diet, which means limiting grains, dairy, sugars and meats to keep the digestion clear and happy. This will help keep the lungs clean.

The fifth energy arrives Oct 5th. Shaoyang. Minister fire will be around, summer heat will set in, yang will transform, ten thousand things will give birth and grow and nourish and people will enjoy happiness. The disease that attacks will be warm disease.
Focus: A late warmth may catch us off guard and bring some sicknesses with it. Chinese immunity herbs and doing warm disease formulas when sick is advised. Forsythia, mulberry, elderberry may all be helpful.

The sixth energy arrives Dec 4th. Yangming. The order of dryness will spread, excess fire of shaoyang will get stuck within, and swelling will occur in the upper region, with cough and asthma, and even overflowing of blood into seven orifices in severe cases. Cold energy will rise frequently, and darkness and fog will cover the space. The disease may develop in the skin and pores affecting the ribs internally, and affecting the lower abdomen in the lower region to cause cold diarrhea; earth energy will then undergo change.
Focus: Again, focus on clean diet, but also especially a relaxed movement practice like Qigong to strengthen immunity and harmonize the physical and emotional bodies.
Planetary Influence

Mars relates to the element of Fire. In the Chinese astrology it relates to work and war, government. It also relates to connection. It is the planet considered to be the minister of rites and ceremonies. The virtue of Fire is a kind of ritual politeness, as in politeness as a self-cultivation practice. There is an energy of getting things done, but it is best to try to be courteous in our ventures. To be in accord with Mars, we strengthen our right view, our ritual politeness practice and tread lightly especially this summer and into the second half of the year.
Venus relates to the element of Metal. In Chinese astrology it relates to a kind of righteousness, but its energy is about acting righteous in a morally justifiable way; settling conflicting energies in a peaceable way. It is the planet that governs military power. The virtue of Metal is honesty and uprightness.  To be in accord with Venus, we should strengthen our right speech. Where harmful words are spoken; we provide the uprightness.

Health tendencies

Health afflictions mostly relate to the lungs and breathing as well as the nose and skin. "Hot" diseases in the upper region and cool diseases in the lower region; mixed cold and heat make the middle region uncomfortable. People will suffer from cough, asthma, bleeding issues like nosebleeds or other overflowing blood disorders, diarrhea possibly with blood, runny nose, sneezing, red eyes, and bumps around the corners of the eyes, cold snaps that bother the stomach, heart pain, lower back pain, and abdominal distention, dry throat and swelling in the upper body.

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Nutrition

Salty flavor is advised due to its ability to soften masses and hard accumulations, while regulating the upper lungs. Try incorporating seaweed into your diet. Bitter flavors should also be used to combat heat and inflammation. Herbal formulas are a great source for this, but also bitter greens or a little coffee in a pinch. Sour can also be used to firm up the lower regions of the body and enhance immunity and digestive health. Try drinking warm lemon water first thing in the mornings.

For herbalists, the advice is that if the invading energy coincides with energy of heaven (Fire), then cold herbs should be used to clear up and transform. If however the invading energy coincides with energy of earth (Metal), warm and hot herbs should be used for transformation.
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Musical Notes

When the ancient Chinese scholars talked about the night sky and the stellar Heavens, they used a completely different language then when talking about the physical body or the earth. They described the stellar movements using musical language, which is essentially talking about the vibrations resonating from different alignments. Here are the notes as they vibrate through 2020:

Overall Root Note: dominating D
Spring Feb 4th: Host: E  Guest: D+
Summer Apr 18: Host: G Guest: A-
Late Summer Jun 30: Host: C  Guest: E-
Fall Sep 11: Host: D Guest: G+
Winter Nov 23: Host: A Guest: C-

*the +/- signs indicate whether the particular note is dominating or submissive
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(For scholar physicians, the cycle is Greater Shang; Lesser Yu; Lesser Jue; Greater Zhi; Lesser Gong)

Previous years

2010 Geng Yin (Dominating Metal) – cut out things we don’t need, harvest what we can, let go
2011 Xin Mao (Submissive Water) – reflection/introspection and also faced with a mirror
2012 Ren Chen (Dominating Wood) – strong rushing energy of change, breaking through restrictions
2013 Gui Si (Submissive Fire) – idea phase, new light, sparks of life and the beginnings of transformation
2014 Jia Wu (Dominating Earth) – start building a foundation, structures and containers
2015 Yi Wei (Submissive Metal) – refine the gold out of this foundation, what is most essential to take with you
2016 Bing Shen (Dominating Water) – the Unconscious comes in, introducing some of the missing pieces in our awareness, things we have been neglecting or denying flood into the consciousness.
2017 DingYou (Submissive Wood) – direction and growth begin again, but more focused on the instinctual and animal aspects of life. Harvest what you can that is great about your viewpoints and let go of all the stuff that is blocking your ability to connect with others. 
​2018 WuXu (Dominating Fire) – lifting us up to a higher state of being. It is about spiritual progress, transformation. Connecting with a calling.
2019 JiHai (Submissive Earth) – we start having the wind in our sails to put things into action as the wood energy is unchecked, but remember not to get too swept away by the momentum and forget to build yourself a strong enough boat. Focus on strengthening your container: your physical body and digestion
2020 GengZi (Dominating Metal) – Make the things that seem small the focus of your intention instead of pushing a great deal out into the world. There will likely be a lot of change happening, so we need to set our intention now to practice our 2 virtues for the year: ritual politeness and honesty and uprightness. If we set our sights on these virtues this year, it will carry us through difficult situations and keep us from getting stuck.