The New Chinese year – the Year of the Yang Water Tiger starts on 1 February 2022
and will last until January 21, 2023, when the Year of the Rabbit begins.

How will you make 2022 work for you?
How can you navigate it better, smoother and smarter?
How will you enhance and boost your personal and professional luck?
How can you protect yourself from negative influences, energies and environmental stressors?
And most importantly how can you apply all these in your daily personal and professional life to have a great year?

Black/Water-Tiger and the colour of the year 2022
Chinese New Year 2022 animal sign is the black/water tiger. Chinese calendar combines solar, lunar, and 60 stem-branch systems. The 60 stem-branch calendar/system uses the names of yin-yang and five elements theory (water, wood, fire, earth, metal) and 12 animals to rank the development of the sequence of energies or forces. Five elements are represented respectively by five colours: black/blue, green, red, brown/yellow and grey/silver/gold. Chinese uses the colour animal name for the year, therefore the name of 2022 is the yang-water tiger. Black colour is representative of water – hence, 2022 is also called the black water tiger year. Another colour for the water element is blue. The direction of yang-water is the north.

Fortunately enough, in the western tradition, we have Pantone colours of the year and the 2022 colour is Very Peri #6667AB. One of the simplest feng shui interventions is to have your luck colour (based on your birth element –  check your element in the year chart below) or just the colour of the year as you screen background on your mobile phone so you can boost your energies for whatever you need or want this year. Just screenshot/download this image below and use it as wallpaper on your mobile phone or computer (or get some things in this very peri colour – see below).

Pantone gurus state: “We are living in transformative times. PANTONE 17-3938 Very Peri is a symbol of the global zeitgeist of the moment and the transition we are going through. As we emerge from an intense period of isolation, our notions and standards are changing, and our physical and digital lives have merged in new ways. Digital design helps us to stretch the limits of reality, opening the door to a dynamic virtual world where we can explore and create new colour possibilities. With trends in gaming, the expanding popularity of the metaverse and rising artistic community in the digital space PANTONE 17-3938 Very Peri illustrates the fusion of modern life and how colour trends in the digital world are being manifested in the physical world and vice versa.” More on Pantone Veri Peri, the colour of 2022

Characteristics of tigers and tiger years

The tiger is the third of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs (12 Earthly Branches). Tiger symbology and archetypical energies represent energy, strength, leadership, authority, trust, purposefulness and protection on a positive side. On a downside, they also can represent vulnerability, sensitivity, overestimation and a kind of perfectionism that can manifest as an ‘all or nothing’ attitude and mindset as well as unpredictability.

Tiger month is February and tiger hour is from 3 am to 5 am which physically speaking and symbolically is still a little chilly time. It is thought that the yang-water tiger needs more fire elements to have a prosperous and successful life. Investment in real estate is a good policy for money management for water tigers. Also, developing digital products (NFTs) is a good long term opportunity.

Tiger belongs to the wood group/element according to the Chinese Five Element theory. Tiger, generally speaking, is yang-wood, which is the spring season. Tiger month is February and the weather might be still a little cold (practice cold therapy to activate your vagus nerve or add some photos of friends which will do the same thing), therefore the wood element needs warm weather to grow, physically and metaphorically. Tiger is a carnivore and has a domineering temper and authoritative mindset. The key symbolic characteristics of a tiger character are boldness, resolution, unyielding, dictatorial/authoritarian, arbitrary, ambitious and full of self-confidence. The other important characteristic of tigers and tiger years is unpredictability with a sense of incompleteness.

Tigers are born with leadership skills, they are respected by others and have a strong sense of self-esteem and learning ability (we all can learn to have more self-esteem from tigers as a key mindset for success). Therefore, tigers are suited to any career as leaders as well as advertising agents, office managers, travel agents, actors (Tom Cruise), writers, artists, pilots, musicians (Jon Bon Jovi) and comedians (Eddie Izzard).

Yang water tiger: yang, water forces
To deconstruct further, yang is an active, energising force, power or energy (as opposed to yin, passive, relaxing one). The water element is a fluid force/energy that in the theory of five elements, is nourished by the metal element and controlled by the earth element. Water controls the fire element. Water nourishes wood/tree element. In a complex web of five elements/energies, everything affects everything in different ways and in different quantities and qualities as well depending on the context and time.

The water element has a still, reflective quality that allows us to have a better perspective and a better, bigger picture on things. The power of water energy, in nature, is almost unlimited. In Chinese thought, water force relates to willpower (zhi).

The mindsets of water tigers
In short, tigers are brave, confident and blaze new trails as well as create new things. They have the authority which translates as “I am/have an authority on myself and my life”.  “In life, I will things…”

Tigers accept and commit to a life they want to have and to whom they want to become. If you want to become successful if whatever you want, you need to become “addicted”, in a positive sense, to the lifestyle you want. Every choice you make, either brings you closer to your ideal lifestyle or takes you away from it. It’s not rocket science but it requires awareness and attention to tiny habits that we can choose and develop in order to live better.

For example, I value clarity and focus – therefore I organise my environment in a coherent, clear way and I make a conscious effort to get rid of clutter on regular basis. I also value complexity and want to have an interesting life, so I do collect interesting and beautiful things as well. My interior (physical and mental) style is eclectic – a mixture of simplicity and complexity with a slight preference for complexity (fractality). I’m not entirely against clutter if it serves a purpose and doesn’t affect you in a detrimental way (and definitely, I wouldn’t demonise clutter as some feng shui authors do – there are far worse environmental stressors than clutter!). Read my blog about clutter and mess.

What happened 60 years ago in 1962 (yang water-tiger year):
important news, events, key technology and popular culture

Key 1962 events were: Telstar first live trans-Atlantic television signal was broadcast (virtual reality/metaverse is becoming a real possibility in 2022). Oral Polio vaccine was used to combat Polio (vaccines are still kind of trending at the beginning of 2022). Marilyn Monroe was found dead. Cuban Missile Crisis took the world to the brink of war (from the beginning of 2022, media has been booming with news that the world is gearing up for a global war.) John H. Glenn, Jr., become the first American to orbit the earth. The first Wal-Mart discount store was opened (do we need another shop chain in 2022?). In 1962, the cars continued to evolve (electric cars are definitely becoming more ubiquitous in 2022). As the year progressed, the Cold War continued to get worse when the Russians placed Ballistic Missiles on Cuban land just 90 miles away from the coast of Florida (Russia is gathering its troops on the border with Ukraine as I write these words). Then JFK called the bluff by threatening war unless they were removed which they were but for a short time. The world was on the brink of nuclear war and self-destruction (Russia and Ukraine could be a repeat of that but more importantly it could be a WW3 or not). The US president then set a goal of landing a man on the moon (Elon Musk wants to fly to Mars). Jamaica gained independence from Great Britain and in February 1962, Bob Marley recorded four songs, “Judge Not”, “One Cup of Coffee”, “Do You Still Love Me?” and “Terror”. Folk music was evolving into protest and rebel music thanks to young artists like Bob Dylan and the birth of Surfing music by The Beach Boys gaining popularity. The first of the James Bond villain movies ‘Dr No’ was an instant hit in 1962.

In England, the Beatles recorded their first single “Love Me Do” (not exactly a protest/rebel song) with a very similar colour cover to the 2022 colour of the year: Very Peri. Coincidence? I don’t think so :).

In short, to paraphrase/forecast/project 1962 into 2022 (tongue in cheek :): possible wars, more (about) cars, space travel, vaccines, villains, protest/rebel music and lots of new things (and things not necessarily being completed). Time will tell if history repeats itself in one way or another, literally or metaphorically. Obviously, we’re different people now and we think and react differently than people in the 60’s. And we have internet and mobile phones.

100 years ago in 1922
T. S. Eliot first published his long poem The Waste Land in 1922.  It is said that The Waste Land can be read as a poem about brokenness and loss because Eliot’s allusions to how the First World War played a marked part in bringing about the psychological and emotional collapse of the society at the time. It also symbolises the modern world as barren and empty because everything has lost its deep spiritual meaning. Does this ring a bell?

2022 Feng Shui for Chinese New Year

The 5-brown/yellow star moves into the centre of the bagua model of the 9-star ki model in 2022. Therefore, the Kua number of 2022 is 5-brown/yellow, earth element. Also, the arrangement of the bagua in 2022 is the original magic square where 1 star is in the north and 9 star is in the south (as you can see in the chart below).

The central house in the bagua model, in two words, is about clarity and focus. So a good idea is to have clarity and focus, in your home/workplace. Remove anything that you don’t need from your homes/workplaces (that includes any financial matters, papers for financial success) – do a major decluttering for your feng shui to work better and more efficiently and effectively. Specifically, clean, clear and declutter all central space, passageways, corridors and rooms in your home and workplace. Free and easy movement around your home and workplace will help you to have more clarity and focus leading to a more purposeful life and ultimately navigating 2022 much better and more successfully.

5 earth element, which is in the middle of the bagua model in 2022, is representative of gathering, grounding and nourishing energies.

1) To calculate your luck star or Kua number just check this year element chart below.

2) Next, locate it on the magic square to see which house of the bagua your star is occupying in 2022.

In this way, you can figure out good directions and which house of the bagua model your star is occupying this year – and what is the focus for you this year.

For example, if your star is 2, then this year is about relationships and partnerships (add more pictures of friends and family and partners). If your star is 4, then you need to focus on wealth, prosperity, and luck (boost your luck in many ways – one way is to read this book on the Luck Factor). If your star is 1, then work, career and vocation need to be addressed this year (get the koi carp 3D picture to boost your work and career prospects to add more water/money element in your home or workplace). If your feng shui star is 6, then 2022 is the year of travel (actual and virtual) – get a few maps and posters of places you want to visit (Bora Bora below looks very inviting and friendly).

So, look into the bagua model to figure out what 2022 year is about for you. Obviously, all areas of bagua are important, but not equally important. Decide what are your values for 2022 (ie career, relationships, family, wealth/luck, wellness, travels, creativity/children, wisdom/knowledge or success and enlightenment) and enhance the appropriate areas of bagua, either using compass directions or from the door or just virtually ie using the bagua as a value/life wheel. Clarity of your personal and professional values will drive your behaviours and ultimately, success in these domains. You can start with the bagua model to help you design and clarify your values or just start from the values and then look at the bagua to figure out which domains of your life need a boost. For example, if ‘freedom’ is important to you, then which house/s of the bagua can support this value in your life. Different people will have different responses to this because the context would be different. What do you want to affirm for yourself and the world in 2022?

How to boost and activate your bagua in 2022
Simple, universal feng shui applications to boost any area of the bagua are to add light, plants, crystals, sparkling things, colour, flowers, books, photos, posters, mirrors, symbols, beautiful things and anything that makes you tick and happy. Space clearing and decluttering important areas is also a very effective way of shifting energies and getting results. Don’t be feng shui dogmatic (you can’t really get it wrong) – use your intuition, common sense and good interior design taste. If you’re not sure, contact your feng shui consultant.

Expanding images or posters are one of the best ways to enhance your home and office and to inspire you to dream… and boost your travel prospects (in this case to Bora Bora above – please let me know if/when you visit it – it’s on my list for 2022).

To sum up, we don’t need astrology to recognise that we’re living in radically uncertain and unpredictable times (unpredictability is a key characteristic of tiger personality and tiger years). Living in the present moment is more important than ever. Although it might be difficult to plan ahead, nevertheless, we must. One simple-ish way of riding and navigating 2022 is to actually go beyond the yin and yang of things, the duality of things (there are opposites but no opposition) and karma (cause and effect). How? By affirming life and seeing the good in everything (following tao). Ultimately, feng shui is a physical affirmation. When life is sufficiently affirmed we can no longer lose since every combination and every move we make produces by nature adequate virtual and physical possibilities for any manifestation/actualisation we are willing (not wishing). Willing things has more power, as opposed to just wishing, choosing or wanting or thinking about them. Writing down your dreams, goals and ‘willings‘ is the first physical step… In two words, I WILL … can help you manifest your dreams and goals.

“Why don’t you create your own environment? The world has only as much power over you as you give it. Rebel. Go beyond duality, make no difference between east and west.”
Nisargadatta Maharaj in I Am That

Top feng shui tips for 2022

1. Empower yourself by going beyond feng shui. By going beyond feng shui, you’ll become free to take charge of your environment and therefore be less affected by it (the power, in order of importance, is 1) in us, 2) in others around us, and 3) in the environment / feng shui, so as you can see feng shui is not the most influential factor in life – having said that, it’s good to have interesting, nice and supportive environments :). The water energy of the tiger year has a certain quality of rising above things. More about how to go beyond feng shui and the art of affirmation
2. Connect to nature to ground yourself and boost your energy and aura/spirit (studies suggest that grounding/earthing protects you from electro-smog and reduces inflammation, among other things). 5 star, the earth element is in the centre of the bagua model.
3. Avoid electro-smog and geopathic stress (switch off wifi for the night because it will affect your melatonin production and you won’t get enough deep sleep which is critical for a healthy lifestyle)
4. Add positive images and things to your home and workplace (priming yourself with positivity will have a massive effect on your mood and outlook on life)
5. Have more photos of friends and family around your home – social connections are more important than ever (research suggests that pictures of friends can boost your oxytocin and activate your vague nerve)
6. Have lots of books, especially on spiritual/transpersonal development and anything inspirational to keep your spirit inspired and to boost your self-esteem (researchers found that the more books you have in your home the wiser and more intelligent you can become…). If luck is important to you – the best book on boosting luck is The Luck Factor by Richard Wiseman who scientifically has proven that luck is a skill that anyone can learn and enhance with simple steps! One key essential skill lucky people have is the ability to turn bad luck into good fortune, especially in unfortunate times when things are unpredictable and incomplete.
7. On the other hand, clarity, focus and purposeful decluttering is good way to shift your life where you want to go or who you want to become.
8. Have fun (even in the smallest possible ways) and don’t put your life into feng shui – put feng shui into your life – read point 1 again (don’t read disempowering, biased and confusing feng shui nonsense online which is not evidence-based! – you will get confused, you’ve been warned). Trust your common sense and intuition. When you’re not sure, contact your feng shui expert – ideally the one who practice evidence-based feng shui.

Celebrate the New Chinese Year 2022: 1 February 2022
Please note that the Chinese celebrate their New Year for five days so make sure to do something to celebrate it. One of the best and simplest ways to celebrate a new beginning is to wear something brand new. You want new things in life – do something new. If you want to raise your vibration get a pair of new shoes or a bag or a new lipstick – all women know how to make themselves feel better and boost their vibration with new things… Do something new + wear something new + go somewhere new…

Or any other tiger year merch for Tigers or if you feel you need that kind of energy to become a water tiger (and to prime yourself with physical reminders).

Or create your own tiger project like the Swiss light artist, Gerry Hofstetter, by projecting a giant tiger onto the iconic north face of Eiger Mountain in Grindelwald, a village in Switzerland’s Bernese Alps, a favoured gateway for the Jungfrau Region, with skiing in winter and hiking in summer activities.

Also, write down all your goals and dreams for 2022 that you are willing to manifest – the more the better – some will actually come true and get actualised or realised when you do something about them (sometimes writing them down is enough though… – it’s called weak intention or priming or subliminal preconscious processing).

If you’re new to feng shui, feng = wind/spirit/mind/intention/affirmation, and shui = water, matter/body/ritual.
Feng shui algorithm, simply put: feng shui = intention + ritual.  Or ultimately, feng shui is (a physical) affirmation. 

“What you can do, or dream you can, begin it;
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”
Goethe

Have a great, fun and prosperous Year of the Water Tiger!
Jan

Feng shui consultations for 2022
If you need a specific, evidence-based feng shui consultation for your home or workplace in 2022 – or just a yearly feng shui MOT check, please contact/whatsapp me on +44 7956 288574 or use the contact form

PS please note that this blog is a work in progress… and I’ll be updating it with new insights to help me/us to navigate this year as best as we can – so please revisit it from time to time

Imagine a dense forest full of tigers and you in a strong steel cage.
Knowing that you are well protected by the cage, you watch the tigers fearlessly.
Next you find the tigers in the cage and yourself roaming about in the jungle.
Last — the cage disappears and you ride the tigers!