Nine Things to Know About Classical Feng Shui's New Period 9
As the 180-year Great Cycle ends, it's time to update your home, business and investment properties – and maybe your whole life
The old 20-year Feng Shui cycle is crumbling. And a new 20-year Period, equally fraught with peril and optimism, is replacing it.
[Note: This article is offered for entertainment purposes only. I do not offer medical advice, make financial recommendations, or do psychological counseling. Please consult professionals in those fields for your related concerns.]
There's no denying that 2023 intensified as the year progressed; we watched the world "heating up" before our eyes, with record-high temperatures worldwide, the unprecedented burning-down of an entire city in Hawaii and then in October fiery war in the Middle East. It's not a coincidence that these events all share the common denominator of Fire because we are seeing the Earth-ruled Period give way to the new one, which happens to be ruled by Fire.
As Period 8 (February 4, 2004 – February 3, 2023) erodes, Period 9 (February 4, 2024 – February 3, 2043) replaces it; not all at once, but gradually, steadily, and incrementally since early 2020. By February 4, 2024, the transition will be complete. Period 9 announced its arrival in a shattering, obvious way when the pandemic changed life as we know it. Since then the osmoses from Earth – slow, steady, hyper-materialistic, focused, and reluctant to change – into Fire: fast-moving, versatile, volatile, constantly morphing into something new, alternately dangerous and comforting.
The stakes are high, since the Chinese Great Cycle consists of 180 years divided into Periods lasting 20 years each. Not only is Period 9 a new Period but it's also the last segment of a Great Cycle, and as such it packs a bigger punch than other Periods do. It is the only Period ruled by Fire and it will take us to The End of a lot of things, either to be followed by a positive, progressive new beginning when a fresh Great Cycle commences in 2044, or something a bit more dire. It bears mentioning that Fire also rules drama, and that the positive outcome is just as likely as the calamitous one.
Period 9 offers much hope. Alignment with its energies can renew and reboot your life,
with Fire inspiring and motivating us to take a chance and be the best we can be. The last Fire-ruled Period was 180 years ago, so none of us have any relevant experience. This makes it crucial for us to understand how we got here, what's about to be on offer, and how to extract the best from Period 9 and the element of Fire. Working consciously now with classical Feng Shui can help to transform your finances, career and creativity, health, and relationships.
Since 2004, the element of Earth has dominated Period 8 (Earth of course is not an element, neither is Fire; the Chinese actually call the five elements "phases," but they're widely known in English-language writings as elements). Earth is concerned with material affairs like business, money, profits, and things of the Earth and related industries. Success in Period 8 came, generally speaking, from doing one thing and doing it constantly, steadily, well, and doing a lot of it. This required focus and elimination of distractions. Earth moves slowly, if at all; it's heavy and dense and makes change so difficult that it is akin to moving a mountain with a teaspoon. In some cases, some matters regress during earthy Periods, with rights and gains made in the past being taken away or curtailed. Another hallmark of Earth is the haves and the have-nots are farther apart than ever before, with a few of the wealthiest amassing unprecedented "mountains" of money since Period 8 began.
Period 9 means changes – fast, furious, and lots of them – so all-encompassing that the world will not look the same way by the time Period 1 begins. To some this will bring pain and disruption, to others long-awaited relief and opportunity and to others, a blend of each of these. With so much teetering on the brink right now, Period 9 will supply the push needed to get things moving on quite a few long-overdue transformations. The past-due nature of these developments means that there's an intensity to the first few years of Period 9, rising to a peak around 2033, then reaching denouement which extends through 2038 – 2043.
The key to success is to begin now aligning your mindset, life, and goals, as well as the Feng Shui of your home, business, and investment properties, with Period 9. You must be ready and willing to change. There's no need to wait until after February 4, 2024, to transform; starting today and finishing within the first weeks and months of Period 9 will create conditions that will benefit you for the next 20 years. Getting the classical Feng Shui right now means only annual tweaks will be necessary to keep the helpful qi (helpful energy) flowing and the harmful sha (harmful energy) at bay.
I've been advising clients all year on how to update their properties and to choose new residences, investment properties, or business locations so they can preserve and enhance existing health, wealth, creativity, and relationships and attract new opportunities for success in all areas of life.
Top 9 Things to Know about Period 9
1. Update your home, business, and investment properties or find new ones
The best time in the next 20 years to do a complete classical Feng Shui audit of your properties is now. Your property has a chart that is mathematically calculated from the building's original build date or the last time it had major renovations. If your home was built in 1995, it's a Period 7 house forever until and unless it undergoes extensive remodeling; redecorating alone doesn't count and the renovations must have been sweeping and all done within a short period of time. Done properly, such remodeling will convert the property into a Period 9 chart, which is crucial.
Homes, businesses, and investment properties that are not updated to Period 9 will have varying amounts of "stale qi" – dead energy -- and even if the property used to be prosperous, it'll start losing its vibe fast in Period 9. The older the building and/or the longer it's gone without an update, the worse the stagnation. Out-of-period properties lose flow and energy and so does your life if you live in one; businesses with stale qi will suffer losses that worsen as the Period progresses. Just as bad, it's tough to get anything new going in an old-Period home or business. It's often best to move home or business to new properties that already have a Period 9 chart; however, this chart must also be compatible with your personal chart to ensure you get the ideal match for success, happiness and prosperity.
New builds completed and listed after February 4, 2024, automatically have Period 9 charts as do older buildings with extensive remodeling completed after that date. Having prospective new homes, business locations, and investment properties properly vetted with classical Feng Shui ensures you find your best fit to achieve your goals, personally and professionally. Whether you choose to stay put and make changes or find a better fit elsewhere, classical Feng Shui is golden. A full audit of your property allows me to advise you on how to update it to Period 9 or how to choose new locations and floor plans that are in harmony with surrounding land, water, buildings and other features plus relevant interior and exterior features. Done early in Period 9, you'll only require tweaks done at your annual Feng Shui update to reap the considerable advantages offered to those who live, invest, and work within the framework of classical Feng Shui.
2. Women are elevated
Ladies, stand and be heard (and seen, supported, valued, acknowledged, and given credit)! Period 9 favors all women, but especially mature women over about age 45. Period 8 supported men, particularly young men; they'll still be important contributors but it's time for wise and experienced women to be honored and put in charge. This has been a long time coming and for the sake of the whole world, this restoration cannot happen soon enough.
Our world is catastrophically out of balance. We teeter as a species on the brink of self-extinction, in a macrocosmic sense due to the lack of feminine essence and influence and an overabundance of the masculine. We've seen a scant few women in leadership positions, but not nearly enough. That dam is about to breach -- maybe Period 9's Fire melts it. As the new Period progresses, we'll see remarkable increases in the numbers of women leading from positions of power in business, politics, media, and even from parts of the world where might not expect it.
Businesses created, run, led, owned and directed by mature, capable women will proliferate and thrive. If you are such a woman, you might find yourself thrust into a new leadership role in your family group if you have no connection to commercial or civic life – whether or not you seek such a position. We'll see matriarchs and wise-women in all walks of life being honored, valued, and respected as never before. Look for their stories to finally be told in movies and other media. This is also a macro-trend to watch in terms of how to develop and market new products and services.
3. Diversify, adapt, travel light, and relocate
Following Period 8's plodding pace, Period 9's acceleration is going to be remarkable. The way to avoid whiplash is to know that you will need to variegate to be successful. Doing one thing consistently and well was the way in Earthy Period 8 but now you must diversify. You'll still provide high-quality services and products, but now you'll want to have more than one income stream by adding a sideline to your business or adapting your product or service to appeal to a more diverse, wider customer base. For some, this will mean walking two different creative paths, or working at two jobs. If you're in school, learn two inter-related trades or get a double major. I have one client who is expanding her law practice from only doing bankruptcies to also offering tax services. However many income sources you have, you'll find that they are fluid: one comes, one goes, one comes back, both surge at the same time, one disappears forever and you replace it with another new one, and so on.
Changing with the times is always important but never moreso than now. If your business or career needs an update, that will be imminently clear to you by mid-2024 – if it isn't already. If things haven't been working, don't try to double-down; instead, take a new approach. Be willing to innovate, diversify, change income streams, relocate, and of course to refresh the Feng Shui of your home and other properties. If you persist with outdated ways of doing things in Period 9 you'll take major hits in business, finances, relationships, and health.
Relocating for other reasons might be desirable or even necessary. The world is going to change physically so much in the next few years, many coastal locations – including some major cites – will be underwater by the end of Period 9 and others will be so hot they're no longer viable. At present, many homes and businesses are set precariously close to high-risk fire areas, hurricane paths, and flood zones. Relocating your home or business in the first couple of years of Period 9 lets you enjoy good Feng Shui (providing you choose locations use sound classical Feng Shui principles in the first place) through the end of Period 9. If you want to put down deep roots for your home or business property, you must consider more factors than ever before.
4. We're buoyed by fast-moving waves of hope and inspired illumination
Period 8 was about having, preserving, keeping, resisting change. Period 9 is about inspiration, sharing, collaboration, embracing change. Fire = action. Because Period 9 is Fire-ruled, life is going to move at warp speed. You may think that's already happening, but brace yourself. You will notice this in your personal life, your career, your relationships and creative projects, and on the world stage. Remember the element of Fire and how fire behaves. The narrative will be:
Sudden, like lightning
Unexpected and startling, as when thunder crashes or a light suddenly illuminates a dark room, revealing everything at once
Motivating and/or dangerous, like an approaching wildfire
Spreading with great speed, the way electrical currents transmit energy
Flaring up and disappearing in succession
To be clear (clarity is also a Fire thing), there is a lot of positive potential contained in Period 9. It's characteristic speed will help to get you out from under that mountain of oppression or debt or problems or whatever, and send you running down a whole new path as long as make good decisions along the way. Period 9's bright, fiery light shines into the darkest corners offering new possibilities for improvement in all areas of life and in society; it brings heaps of inspired hope and it can mobilize the masses to act for the greater good.
The zeitgeist will be to work with others for the greater good and not simply and only for the gain of one's self and immediate circle. This will be a Golden Age of tribal collaboration and working within co-ops, collectives, and worker's unions. Ideas will spread like wildfire and the good ones will catch on and multiply as never before. In Period 9, fulfillment comes along with your willingness to stretch and to improvise on the fly. If you're able to turn on a dime, you will thrive in Period 9. Period 8 was about "me;" Period 9 is "us," either because we choose it as a better way or because we must live more collectively in order to survive.
5 & 6. Fire . . . and ice
A secondary element of importance in Period 9 is the element of Water. It's impossible to talk about one without the other because even as the planet heats, burns, and dries up, it'll simultaneously be drowning in other places. The two extremes will co-exist. Melting icebergs will raise sea levels and change the human geography of the planet. Look for significant changes to population centers located on water – which is where most of them are. Hurricanes will be bigger, faster, and more destructive and they'll make landfall in the usual places plus those rarely- or never-before-hit, like hurricane Hilary hitting Southern California last summer.
It's too complicated to address here, but in classical Feng Shui the balance of these two elements for your property and your personal charts will be incredibly important in Period 9. Watch for changing patterns of climate, weather, and human migration and settlement in Period 9 as these will contribute to success your personal and professional successes and failures. There will be calamities and losses, but also many new opportunities and gains made using new technologies and services that will work within the emerging paradigm.
As the Great Cycle closes, all parts of Earth will experience sweeping changes leading sometimes to new alliances but also to conflicts including wars that may begin after crop failures lead to famine and the massive migrations that result. Fire plus Water equal conflict, however, there is much positive potential in this elemental combination. The steam engine and cooling mist are but two positive manifestations of blending Fire and Water. It's all about how you keep them in balance. All places on Earth will feel the Fire-Water tug-of-war, but some will fare better than others. Help yourself by getting ahead of the curve and adapting early in Period 9, so that you can prosper and minimize losses.
7. Career, work, and education
Careers ruled by Fire will flourish in Period 9. Fire-ruled occupations include:
Anything related to fire, from fire fighter and fire inspector to designing back-yard fire pits
Public relations and promotions
Electrical engineering, electricity and electricians
Heating systems: HVAC, Solar and all alternative/new energy sources
AI and other high-tech applications including computer design
Lighting design, sales, and installations
All beauty-related fields
Chemistry
Show business, performers, presenters, media personalities
Designing, manufacturing, selling, installing and servicing alternative energy sources like solar panels and batteries
Designing and building structures made to withstand high-heat and fire
Examine your current career for opportunities to incorporate Period 9's influence. For example, a landscape architect could begin designing spaces that look beautiful and are also fire-resistant and able to survive extreme heat waves. Even within corporations that don't seem to have anything to do with beauty, there's often a niche that you can find if you want the best prospects for Period 9 career growth: if you work for General Motors, add some new skills and transfer into the department that designs the cars' paint colors and interiors.
If you're choosing a new career, consider a Fire-ruled field such as the beauty industry, everything from working with lasers to remove scars and tattoos to fashion and make-up application to interior design and the decorative arts. All beauty-related products and services will be in high-demand, so even if you are considering becoming a physician, dentist or nurse, you might specialize in (or add as a sideline) cosmetic procedures or working with burn victims. Becoming a researcher, investor or developer in these fields is recommended now as all of them will see spectacular advances made in Period 9.
N.B. -- Weapons of war and destruction like guns, ammunition, bombs, and chemical warfare, are also in Fire's domain.
8. Southern (dis)comfort
Look to the south - the global South, that is – to be of major importance in Period 9. The direction of South is associated with Period 9 and Fire and it will take on major new importance in all ways now. What happens in the global South will lead the rest of the world in Period 9, for reasons both good and bad. Causes can range from mass migrations to the rise of women as leaders in these countries which can bring about an abrupt sea-change in world affairs. Period 9 has the potential to stand the old world order on its ear. Apply this also to choice of career, or new places to do business since many new and unprecedented opportunities are going to open in the global South.
In a micro-sense this includes the southern part of a country, city, region, or other geographic area. In classical Feng Shui, it can even be about the southern wall or corner of your house! If you already live or work in the Southern hemisphere, Period 9's influence applies to you perhaps even a bit more. Opportunities for business expansion and investment will be helped or hindered by what goes on in the South and changes originating there will have far-reaching consequences reaching all points on Earth.
One encouraging point is that the direction South is favored by Period 9, making it have great potential for prosperity and growth; still, nothing is always good all the time and the southern Palace and Sector of your home or property will take on new significance now, for better or worse. An audit of your property will reveal the ways to keep the crucial Southern area of your home or business in balance with your chart's strengths and weaknesses.
9. Your mileage may vary
Your very personalized experience of Period 9 will depend on your BaZi (Chinese astrological chart) and the complicated interplay of phases (elements), signs, and even the "gods" within it, parsed into individual years and months. These details write the script of your personal or business life for Period 9 and how you improvise based on their influences determines the rest. For instance, if Fire is a helpful element in your chart, then Period 9 broadly speaking is going to be supportive of you; if Fire is problematic in your chart, then Period 9 will be challenging and you'll need the help of classical Feng Shui to bolster the helpful elements that are present. If on the other hand Earth has been a strengthening element for you in Period 8, you will miss it and it'll be necessary to find new ways to balance your chart so that you can continue (or begin) to create, enhance and preserve good health, relationships, career prospects, creativity, and wealth.
If you want to attract new wealth or to protect and grow what you already have, we must look at your personal wealth element and how it is being affected; that's true for other life areas such as relationships and health as each has an associated element. This is why the annual Feng Shui audits are so important; I examine the year ahead as well as breaking down each month of the year to make sure you are maximizing the potential of your chart and minimizing hazards brought by the passage of time. We are not at the mercy of fate; each of us can affect our lives up to about 70% just by taking advantage of the rich wealth of resources classical Feng Shui has to offer.
Katarina Lang, MArch, MA, advises clients on classical Feng Shui projects for residential, investment, commercial, and corporate properties. She works with individuals, businesses, and corporations from all over the world to improve their well-being, encompassing career, relationships, health, creativity, and wealth. In addition to holding master’s degrees in both Architecture and Anthropology and being a master of classical Feng Shui, Katarina graduated from culinary school and is a professional Dowser.
Visit Lang, Barisoni & Song for more information or to schedule a consultation.