In Part I, I took a thematic/conceptual approach to the reading of the BaZi chart for 2011. Here, the objective is to read the chart the conventional way (assuming it is a genderless person if you like) and see what additional conclusions can be gleaned from this.

Here is the 2011 chart again.

So, let’s pick out the features of relevance in this chart. This is something very basic and elementary that should be done everytime a chart is approached. Look at it and see what’s going on. What’s happening in the chart? It’s a bit like observing a crime scene – you’re looking at what’s out of place, what’s positioned where, why is the item here instead of there.

Here’s what is immediately evident in this chart:

• There is a Fu Yin between the month and the day.
• Partial Fire Frame [寅 午 戌] Combo between Day and Hour
• First three pillars of the year are essentially have the same ‘idea’ (Metal x Wood)
• First two pillars of the year are mirror images of each other, but with different severity

Now, the question is what these evident observations then lead to.

The Fu Yin

The Fu Yin between the Month and the Year makes it clear that Q2 and Q3 of the year will be the time to watch out for something to happen. (Q2 is May-July, Q3 is August-October). Here’s the thing – even if you don’t know exactly what the outcome is, you know that the presence of the Fu Yin CANNOT be good. That in itself is a conclusion. Not good is a conclusion.

Not good exactly how that is what is tricky to forecast here, especially as we are forecasting about the state of the world, as opposed to a person. Conventionally it is thought that the Month represents the Governments of Countries (Year being sort of the Global Stage ie: the United Nations) and Day represents the Public/The People.  Since there is a Fu Yin between the Month and the Day, this suggests a disconnect(since Fu Yin = loss of affinity) between Governments and their People.  The public wants one thing, and the government is doing something else.

The Partial Combo

One of the tricky things about reading an annual chart as a ‘person’ is that you have to determine when to use the Year’s Day Master (in this case, Geng) and when to read the chart as a whole. In the case of the partial combination, this is easier to interpret if references the Day Master but harder to interpret when you are looking at the Combination in itself (ie: what does the Combination between the Day-Hour mean?).

Using the Day Master is easier because then the 10 Gods come into the picture and you instantly get a clearer snapshot. Here, the Combination produces Fire, which would technically be considered a favourable element for the Geng Day Master. However, there is a real debatable question as to whether or not Fire is favourable here given that the Geng DM is a Weak Day Master. (no, the Wu Earth in the two Tigers doesn’t count). Recall Weak DM does not favour Officer.

If this were an individual, then it would be interpreted as a year with a great deal of stress and pressure.  There is a real sense of living in a pressure-cooker. The Geng Metal here is fragile and if too much fire is applied, it might melt under the intense heat.  If we extrapolate that to a wider scale, this implies that the sentiment globally is one of intense pressure and stress, and a lot of anger (since Fire = Passion and anger is just…intense passion). But the reason for this is that people feel under siege, beleaguered and cracking under the pressure of lots of things just not being right. (Officer after all, is about what is right, and what is wrong). Now what is right and what is wrong obviously varies from person to person – so debates about who is right and who is wrong on all kinds of hot button issues will see both sides claiming they are right. (which is a guaranteed recipe for everyone getting pissed off with each other).

The Partial Combination between the Hour and the Day suggest to me a forced coming together because the combination is not favourable. But equally, if the Day = the People, then the Hour would signify the individual’s family/personal household, then the Combination possibly also suggests that there is unity within communities, but they just don’t like their government and don’t like what’s going on in the world.  But I feel a forced coming together is still the case and again, it is really common for people to retreat inwards even if they don’t necessarily agree with each other when the outside world seems chaotic or threatening. So what might happen is that we see insularity, and people choosing to retreat towards that which is familiar even if it is not necessarily what they want. Kind of like having to stay with your enemy because the aliens have invaded and you have to side with another human.

The Partial Combination tells us one significant thing though, and that is that the month of October will be significant. That’s the month when the Combination becomes perfected and it will be interesting to observe to see what happens in that month.

Theoretically, give that Metal is affected this year significantly, that implies the possibility of the stock market taking a horrible plunge. BUT, there is really no way to confirm this unless one analyses all the past plunges. Conventionally however October is always a weird month for the global stock markets so it will be interesting to see what happens in October 2011 vis-a-vis the global market and banking/financial industries.

Using the DM as the Focal Point

This chart is clearly that of a weak Geng DM. Wealth is negative here because it is overwhelmingly strong due to season, and the DM is too weak to handle the wealth. Output would be arguably also not favourable because Tiger is considered still cold and damp and so more Water would just make the chart colder. Fire on the other hand, opens up an interesting can of worms.

In theory, the weak DM won’t favour Fire. But, Geng itself needs Fire in order to become useful. And here, the chart is cold, so Fire is Useful once again, to bring warmth to the chart. It would seem both Bing and Ding would be good – Bing to warm the chart, Ding to forge the Metal.

BUT, the weak DM won’t like being forged, and will prefer being warmed.  So you have again, a idea of how the issues of the year are going to play out. What needs to be done, gets chafed against. The imposition of discipline (fiscal discipline perhaps?) or appropriate regulations and laws (Wall Street reform? Gun control?) is rejected in favour of that appears drastic (7K), but actually doesn’t actually have any effect of bringing structure and control to the situation. (since Bing cannot actually forge the Metal). This suggests many changes that will take place next year will be knee-jerk reactions that end up not having much substance as lasting change. Beware the hardline approach that ends up being a softball after all. Beware politicians who claim to bite, but only actually bark.

Unfavourable Output suggests a year with not much productivity or progress. Unfavourable Wealth suggests a year of chasing many opportunities with not much focus or purpose. In other words, ambitious economic ‘stimulus’ measures will turn out to be an attempt to solve problems using the kitchen-sink approach (and failing miserable since what is needed is a Direct Officer approach – structured, and driven by principle, and leadership by example). Similarly, because Wealth (specifically Indirect Wealth) is so strong, there will be a lot of opportunism going on – people will look to make quick deals without much thought for the long-term. Very much do first, think about it later.

Resource and Companion are Favourable Elements here. This suggests a few things:

• Protectionism – Companion means focusing on your own people, or people who share your background or people who give you benefits. (in this chart, there is both Friend and Rob Wealth). So countries might start to roll back the free-trade barriers and favour protectionist measures except for trade deals with countries where there is too good a quid-pro-quo. Unfortunately, since the Xin Mao Companion Star here is clearly devious and all parties are seated on the Indirect Wealth Star, it will end up being protectionism and subsidies that in reality, just serve to create a worse form of exploitative capitalism. Protectionism is also a form of Resource, since it involves ‘comforting’ and of course, protecting. But the question is – WHO IS BRING PROTECTED? (remember, perception of government NOT working in the interest of the people)
• Subsidies – this is very Resource in nature again. So despite attempts to dismantle subsidies, there’s going to be a stronger push towards subsidies at all levels. (cf. given that food prices are about to go up in 2011 according to the World Bank, food subsidies, which are known to distort economies, may well become a major battle ground)
• Welfare – since there doesn’t appear to be much productivity, there will be more demands for welfare or socialist measures to assist those struggling with unemployment. This should be another hot-button issue in 2011. Unfortunately, there is only Indirect Resource in this chart and no direct resource so it is likely that governments will approach this problem in an entirely stupid and irrational manner by either subsidizing the wrong groups or giving out the subsidy in a manner that produces negative results ie: entitled citizen

More to come