(267) Year Fortune 2014
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By Janet Shin
This is known as the year of gap-o or that of a blue horse. It is determined by the 60-year cycle of 10 heavenly stems and 12 earthly branches combinations. They run by the lunar calendar.
Lunar New Year ’s Day fell on Jan. 31 this year. Meanwhile the saju calendar regards Ipchun, the onset of spring as the true beginning of the new year, which was Feb. 4. For saju and feng shui practitioners, Ipchun is such a critical day to foretell a year fortune so they hold a significant ritual in order to cultivate one’s fortune. Those who know this don’t forget to read their year fortune and do a big house cleaning to bring in lucky energy.
Among the 60 combinations, gap-o is the 31st. It is because gap is the first among the 10 stems and o is the seventh among the 12 branches. For example, gap-ja is the first and gye-hae is the last out of the 60. As it is located in the middle of the cycle, it means the beginning of the second half.
It is like a foal trying to stand up. The blue horse itself signifies dynamics and progressiveness. Once it is tamed well, it will become brilliant and sociable, but it is hard to control for its adventurous and challenging attributes.
This year can reach an excessive individualism and dogmatism without proper consideration of others. However, it is the process of development, like a full blossom before bearing fruits.
In order to take the positive influence of 2014, you need to jump on the rolling bandwagon and go along with the atmosphere of change. Think smartly how to handle the cultural and economical shift, commercial booming, social chaos, reformation, trading and exchanging.
The bad side-effects are pressure, modification, interference, domination and invasion.
The 60 combinations are allocated to the times, days, months and years. They have served as a time-recording system since ancient days and now are used as a way of fortunetelling, astrology or saju.
While the 12 earthly branches became known to Western people as animal zodiac signs, those combined with celestial stems are not so familiar, not only for the West but for the East.
The 10 stems are gap, eul, byeong, jeong, mu, gi, gyeong, sin, im and gye. And they circulate by every 10 years as the 12 branches run by every 12 years. It sounds rather complicated for their different recording systems, but there actually is an easy way to memorize. For example, gap is for the years that end in 4, such as 1954, 1964, 1974, and 1984. Then eul is for the years that end in 5.
If you know your birth zodiac sign, you can specify your born energy more in detail. For example, people born in 1990 have the energy of a white horse. Last year, 2013 was the year of snake, and as it combined with gye, the heavenly stem, it could be described as a black snake. Likewise, 2014 is the year of blue horse.
In the meantime, some take advantage of the new year, while others do not. And this varies every year. Those who were born in the years of the tiger and dog would get positive influence from 2014.
Years of tiger - 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998
Years of dog – 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994
Those who were born in the years of the pig, rabbit and sheep will be caught in sam-jae (three disasters). They should be careful and prepared for possible misfortune in various aspects.
Years of pig – 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995
Years of rabbit – 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987,
Years of sheep – 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991
Information: Are you interested in learning more about the ancient Chinese teaching about the “Four Pillars of Destiny”? For further information, visit Janet’s website at www.fourpillarskorea.com, contact her at 010-5414-7461 or email janetshin@hotmail.com. The writer is the author of “Life’s Secrets”.