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).