I can still remember this home, and the layout that quickly showed me, as all houses typically do, the source of the problem.

I’ve lost my head!

Well, maybe not entirely, but it felt like it. This woman was a department head at a prominent Washington DC college. Since moving to this house, she increasingly had headaches, issues with memory, cognitive difficulties, and she went to neurologists and doctors looking for help and all the scans and tests showed nothing was wrong.

She had started to scale back her workload, she even contemplated resigning from her esteemed position. And as a last option, she decided to try a Feng Shui treatment.

As I came down the hallway, there at the end of the hall was a bathroom with the door wide open for all that toxic chi to flood into the house. I closed the door and explained why this needs to be a regular practice for her health.

I then walked into the bedroom and what was on the other side of the bed wall?

THE TOILET!

This is a classic Toilet Sha, or Poison Arrow, situation and it is nothing to mess with.

This client literally was losing her mental faculties.

I brought her into the room and she was astonished at my findings.

Also, the bedroom door to the immediate left of the bed gives you no vantage point to see the doorway, a major safety issue.

She and I muscled that bed across the floor and safely pushed it to a wall that gave her a clear sight of the door AND most importantly, lifted the Toilet Sha.

Toilet Sha being Water related acts very quickly to cause problems. What happened next was miraculous! In a matter of weeks, she began to feel clearer, more focused, and her mental acuity returned.

Feng Shui Tip: NEVER put a bed against a wall that shares a toilet, or plumbing. Keep the toilet seat down and the bathroom door closed - the Toilet Chi is toxic to our health so we want to contain it and not let it flow through our house.

Thankfully, she was able to get her head together…and go on with her work and her life.

Is your health being impacted by something in your home? Jump on a complimentary Discovery Call with Lydia to find out if a Feng Shui Consultation could be helpful.

That New Moon may have shown you the seeds you’re thinking about planting…but now that we have arrived at the Full Moon, do thsoe seeds still feel they hold the same potential? Are they even relevant anymore?

What has changed this August?

This is a kind of dharma share from Lydia…a musing of wisdom by the river for your Full Moon practice. Journal suggestions, a sung prayer, mindful breaths, and many little nuggets of wisdom to support you throughout this journey.

Enjoy this exclusive video for Member’s of the Circle:

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It is now the season of Autumn. It is the time of year for harvesting and putting up the bounty of summer for winter. It is the time of day 5:00-7:00Pm when we traditionally end the work day and come in for an evening of nourishment and rest, to acknowledge the events of our day with gratitude.

The Rooster is our wake-up call. It is the impetus by which we are alerted. Something is revealed. There is a spark of knowing that can be quite psychic, creating conditions for spiritual work to be aglow.

The Rooster is clear thinking, the voice that sings our anthem or screams into the bullhorn, and takes center stage.

This is not shy or quiet BaZi Astrology. This is in the spotlight, out front and center.

Look at this! Listen to this! Learn this! Understand this! Wake up to this!

The shadow of the Rooster may be that we see people acting more cocky and arrogant. We may find the environment more critical, impulsive, argumentative, and ostentatious.

Be aware that in your own personal 4 Pillars, anyone born on the Day of the Rabbit is experiencing a relationship penalty in September.

Last month’s Yang expression, the Yang Fire Monkey, was explosive with war, genocide, an explosion of food recalls in America, trade wars, forest fires globally, earthquakes, and other events that rocked our world.

The Year of the Fire Horse is our baptism-by-fire moment for humanity, and it is burning with fires and heat like we have never experienced before.

This year is explosively revealing, and there is nowhere to hide for many public figures. The Horse is wild, temperamental, volatile, freedom fighting, and a warrior for independence. Nothing will stop the speed by which it is moving.

We are officially out of eclipse season, and the veil lifts.

What did you release last month?

How to Work With This Energy

This is a great month for education and honing in on something you want to learn.

It is a very auspicious time for getting a Tarot or BaZi astrology reading with Lydia, doing spiritual work, or going on retreat.

Pay attention to what is being revealed in the world around you and within your own life.

This is also not an ideal month for major electrical projects. Watch for sparks that lead to fire, outages, shorts, and electrical disruptions.

This Is the Phoenix Rising of 2026

The Phoenix, like the Rooster, rises now after we burned away what needed to go during the eclipse season of August in this Fire Horse Year.

What have you learned so far this year?

What do you better understand because it got lit up on fire and demanded your attention?

What are you ready to do with what has been revealed?

September 8: Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

It’s a Yin Wood Rooster Day that begins our Yin Fire Rooster Month, so prepare for the wake-up call.

This Tuesday has the energetic signature for a big announcement, revelation, or piece of information that gets everyone’s attention.

All the conflict and opposition of last month is eased now. The tension has lifted because shit is hitting the fan and the talk is all over the internet.

Nowhere to hide. It’s all coming out.

Energetically, this day sets the tone for the month ahead.

UPCOMING: Fire Horse Wisdom YouTube Video about this coming September’s BaZi Astrology

Western Astrology is of the sky, the planets and stars.

BaZi Astrology is of the earth, the 5 elements and 12 Chinese Zodiac Animals.

Each astrology path illuminates a different view into understanding your Self and your soul’s karmic blueprint for this life.

Other avenues of healing, of life divination, and moving of chi can also be found in the 5 elements in regards to Yin Yoga, Feng Shui, the I Ching, acupuncture, Tai Chi (and other Asian movement practices), and Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Everything in life is born of the 5 elements; the natural world, our spiritual world, our physical bodies, and our interior environments. The balance and imbalances are what lead us to flow, to be stuck, to experience every aspect of our life.

YEAR PILLAR:

• Your year is your elders; grandparents, uncles, aunts, and ancestry. The Stem element sitting atop the Year Animal you were born are the masculine elders and ancestry. The Year Animal are the female elders and ancestry.

  • If they are in opposition, such as Yang Metal over the Snake (Yang Fire) it can suggest explosive relationship dynamics in your families history. Perhaps it is in flow and harmony such as a Yang Wood Horse (Yin Fire) in which there is an elemental interaction that works in the Cycle of Relating (refer back to the 5 Elements 5 part series).

  • Your Year offers an overarching influence on your personality.

MONTH PILLAR:

• Your birth Month represents older siblings and parents. The Stem element sitting atop the Animal is older brothers and father. The Zodiac Animal is older sisters and mother. Some BaZi astrologers view the Month also as your career path and I was not trained to analyze the chart that way.

  • The Month is also your early life, the years from birth until that first Luck Cycle shift.

  • The Month in opposition with the Year can suggest parents that are conflicted with their parents, their elders, or there is ancestral karma, trauma, or baggage that you were born to also carry. This can be very severe if the Stem element AND the Zodiac Animal are in opposition like Metal and Wood, Fire and Water, or Rat and Horse, or Ox and Goat.

DAY PILLAR:

• Your birth Day Pillar Stem element sitting atop your Birth Day Animal is the information by which your entire BaZi chart is divined. It is your Day not your Year that matters most. This is YOU and it is also your romantic partners.

  • A conflict here where your element is Yin Fire and your Day Animal is a Rooster (Yin Metal) is not necessarily a terrible situation. In this event, you are more likely to marry/ partner with someone of authority, traditional, and considerably older.

  • A more abrupt challenge would be a Yin Water person born on an Ox Day in which romantic partners are potentially critical, obstinate, abusive, or oppressive. But within that hardened crust of opposition lies a teacher, a spiritual connection, and a dear friend and partner. (Watch the exclusive video for a full interpretation)

  • There is also harmony like a Yang Wood Rooster for a woman has a very strong placement for family life and long term relationship.

  • For a man, a great alignment would be to be born on a Day of a Yang Earth Rat and there he finds not only a strong life partner but also abundance and a life in which they thrive together.

  • Day Pillar in opposition with the Month can speak of someone who is in conflict with their parents and/or older siblings.

HOUR PILLAR:

• Your birth Hour Pillar represents your younger siblings, children, and career. This is also where your soul starts to hang out more once you are elderly. This is also the ascendant Animal for your chart that imbues added qualities.

  • A Day Pillar at odds with the Hour can speak to not only these relationships but also a career that may feel like a challenge, or something you are at odds with and can’t find traction.

VOIDS in the 4 Pillars - Read the previous article Lost in the Void - Voids can absolutely throw a veil of deception, fogginess, and disconnection with ourselves, with our family, in our work, and it can impact so many aspects of your life.

Curious about your 4 Pillars? Have Lydia divine a reading for you.

FLOW in the 4 Pillars - Watch the 5 part series on the 5 elements (this 1st one is on Earth free to non-members) - the 4 Pillars ideally flow from one Pillar to the next according to the Cycle of Relating.

WATCH this exclusive tutorial video for members of the circle as Lydia divines a chart to better understand the 4 Pillars and how the elements can flow or stagnate or create islands.

“Lydia performed a wonderful reading for us and gave us the assurances we needed based on her vast knowledge of Chinese. She advised us as to the move, our possible career options and the community we are about to join. Lydia is extremely talented and also possesses great compassion, wisdom and kindness. We got the assurances we needed and are forever grateful that we found Lydia. We highly recommend her whether for your own self-discovery or if you are facing major life transitions as we are. She will be one of our trusted guides going forward.”

- Clients from New Jersey

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Her BaZi chart revealed a woman who got her train off the tracks of her destiny because of a pivotal choice she made at the start of a turning point BaZi Luck Cycle or Life Chapter shift in her early 20’s. It was then she was destined to stay in the church and take a path of a spiritual life as a nun. But instead of choosing The Father, the path of God and Faith, she met a man 25 years her senior and chose a father figure. This is where she left her life path.

Her house further isolated her from the life she was actively living.

In the living room I saw the family photos out of reach…family is out of reach was the message being sent. I asked why they were up so high? She hadn’t noticed. Often we miss the very issues glaring in our face that are pieces to the puzzle of what we are struggling with.

In the bedroom, above the bed was a painting of a winter landscape with snow. At the foot of the bed was a chest with her beloved dog’s ashes in an urn. This is a marriage that is cold, dormant, and passionless. I asked right there about the quality of your marriage and she pretty much said what I was I seeing. By now, she was in her 50’s and her husband was elderly.

The artwork we put on our walls says so much about the story of our lives, the one we are living. In the bedroom we want no family photos, no religious items, no dog crate or TV facing the bed, or a bathroom door left open to waft that toxic chi into the room. And we sure do not want to see a winter scene of a time in nature when nothing grows, and the world is cold.

Bedroom’s should evoke passion and warmth like a painting of 2 peony flowers, 2 birds, a recent photo of the two of you, and a love nest that allows for intimacy and rest.

Urns and ashes is a sensitive topic and I always try to be careful when addressing this. Ashes and images of death are extreme Yin energy which can be harmful to our health and overall wellbeing. Having ashes and urns in the home can result in depression, Earth related illness like lupus, auto-immune disorders, etc. It brings the body into winter, stagnation, cold, dormant, and lacking in virility.

For this client, I requested that she consider moving the dog to the North East corner of the yard at a distance from the house. This is the ghost corner in Feng Shui and appropriate for a gravesite. I described how she could make a little stone monument to her dog and have the urn there with plantings that evoke the renewal of life. She loved that idea.

She also agreed to bring her family back into view, to remove the art in her bedroom, and add something warmer and more romantic.

There was no way to change the course of her life that she chose at 21 but there was a way to salvage the life she was living to being one that was more familial and brought the pulse of life back to her day to day.

Curious about what your home is revealing about your life? Let’s jump on a complimentary Discovery Call to see if a Feng Shui consultation would be helpful.

Do we have a greater purpose that cultivates a fulfilling life, one in which we age into leaving a legacy behind?

The moments in our life when we make major pivots through the variety of ways change comes about, chosen and not chosen, ultimately leave us asking these questions.

Because there are times when the day to day grind is grinding us down. We are a cog in a machine of earn and pay the bills, save a little, play a little, and keep going with that plan year after year.

Burnout I mentioned in a previous article, is one outcome of this relentless pursuit of purpose and fulfillment. Another is feeling lost, like in a Void, another article I recently wrote, where you feel disconnected from the life you’re living and day to day living has lost meaning.

For all the reasons someone seeks a BaZi Astrology reading, this is likely the most common. The patterns seen in a chart reveal so much about our personality, our strengths and weaknesses. For instance, one cause of a misaligned life is a career that exacerbates an elemental imbalance. Like a teacher who is born on a Water Day, who has so much Wood, the element associated with education. As a Water person feeding that Wood, her dominant element, its understandable that she would feel exhausted.

There is another factor that is a secret aspect of BaZi that many astrologers do not mention, this is the hidden 5th Pillar, your Life Pillar. This is the secret sauce revealing why your soul chose to incarnate at the exact moment you were born. It may include the most important relationships for you to learn from, the challenges and blessings that bring so much of your journey not only into focus, but into a framework of understanding.

Then we look to see if that Life Pillar sits in your 4 Pillars revealing that your work is your life path, or specific relationships in family, or even mirroring your own Day Master which can mean your every living breath is a karmic story being magnified pretty intently. Then there are those who have a decade of their life during a Luck Cycle when they get to live out their Life Pillar. Those are incredible opportunities to understand the overall message, meaning, and purpose of your life.

The choices we make, the people we meet, the events that unfold are not by chance. Our soul has a contract with everything that happens, every relationship from a parent to a bagger at the grocery to a teacher to a janitor…they all matter. Think of these as pieces of a puzzle, some small and some large but ultimately, they all form an image of your soul’s blueprint…it’s yours.

We are here to learn, to be polished, to heal, to transform, to accept, to forgive, to understand with curiosity and wonder, to show humility, and to expand beyond this ordinary life into the profound spirit, boundless, timeless, and ever evolving we are. I see that in your Chinese Astrology journey.

And that 5th Pillar is the secret of your story. Let’s reveal this together in your personal BaZi reading.

Are you lost in a Void?

In BaZi Astrology everyone has 2 Chinese Zodiac Animals that are their Voids. These are also called Missing Branches.

So, to explain how we have these, it’s simply that there are only 10 Stems (the Yin and Yang of the 5 elements). Therefore, with the 12 Branches (12 Zodiac Animals) 2 are Missing or Vacant or in Void.

It is interesting to note that my teacher, Dr. Paul Yan, taught that if a Void fell in your Spirit House, the hidden 5th Pillar that reveals your Life Path or in a Luck Cycle or Life Chapter, it wasn’t enough to be considered.

After nearly 25 years of divining BaZi charts and honing my intuitive voice to this ancient astrology, I disagree.

In fact, the Void can be a kind of veil between the worlds.

The 10 year period of a Luck Cycle can very much be experienced as walking through a fog, knee deep in mud.

Just this year, another understanding revealed itself as I was working on one particular client’s chart. She had a Life Pillar in Void and Luck Cycles in Void. I asked her if she had had multiple near death experiences. She was shocked by the question but immediately answered yes.

Now, that is not to say, a Void in those placements suggests that but what it can suggest is that the veil between this life and the other worlds is very thin.

It is a time when your psychic clarity is heightened, you sensing of what is seen and heard goes beyond the ordinary, and your need for more quiet and a slower pace may be required to manage the level of sensitivity you have.

For many of us, though, a Void can be a soul wandering in an in between of time that feels a little lost, undefined, or confusing.

What a Void time offers is a redirect inward for self-reflection, evaluating aspects of your life, reconciling where you are, and as the Void lifts, you may have a refreshing awareness and clarity of what needs to be transformed.

Think of this much like a chrysallis period and the arrival is your butterfly moment.

Voids in the 4 Pillars:

A Month in Void, especially with the placement of the Pien Tsai and/ or Cheng Yin Deities can be a person who has physical or emotional distance with one or more parent.

A Day in Void in which the Branch or Animal holds the signature for a lover; Cheng Tsai for a man and Cheng Kuan for a woman. This requires a lot of effort in order to find romance and make it work for the long term. The strength of romantic relationships is unstable.

The Hour in Void is interesting because this can impact your career and leave you wandering from job to job, industry to industry and feel like you never really find satisfaction, success, or the right career path.

The Hour is also children, especially if for a man the Cheng Kuan (daughter) or Chi Sha (son) is present or for a woman the Shih Shen (daughter) or Shang Kuan (son) is present. This can reveal reproductive issues and a situation where there is emotional or physical distance.

I have seen a Void in the 4 Pillars play out over and over with clients in the real time of their daily lives.

Can you dodge a Void?

No, especially when it is in your 4 Pillars.

What a Void gifts you is a different path in life than others. Just like children in school, we do not all learn or live in the same way like robots. For some of us, the journey of this life asks that we inhabit our inner landscape just as much as the outer one, that our relationship to ourselves, to our faith/ spirituality, and to our living experience in relationship with nature is greater.

As with any challenging astrology, the approach is not necessarily how do you change it but how do you live with it?

That is why a BaZi reading can be so revealing in understanding your unique life journey.

“OMG That was great!! Thank You for describing my life so well!”
— BaZi Client

For most of her adult life she had lived in a corner row house in Richmond’s infamous Fan District. Over the years her home had amassed an enormous amount of clutter that was overflowing out of the closets into the hallways.

I inquired about her daily life in the home such as where she spent most of her day, her favorite chair, etc. This was to pinpoint potential areas where the problem may have been coming from.

She took me to her parlor where she showed me her big easy chair angled in the corner so she could watch TV.

That’s when I saw it!

What I discovered was that on the opposite wall of where she was sitting, was the powder room and a Toilet Sha Poison Arrow was shooting right to her left hip!

She had had countless XRays and trips to the doctor all in vain. They could find nothing to explain the pain she was feeling. But a Feng Shui consultation was able to identitfy that the issue was likely caused by toxic energy.

After moving the chair out of the line of the Toilet Sha, she was seen days later at church moving with greater ease and the pain was gone.

One problem addressed by moving her chair, we moved up to the bedroom to investigate her insomnia issue.

Picture this: as you walked in her room across from the doorway was a cupboard with a TV inside and the doors of the cupboard were open. Behind the cupboard is a window. To the left of the door are 2 windows looking out to the street. On the right and on the left walls on either side of her bed are dressers with mirrors on them. Add to this a ceiling fan which, in Feng Shui terms, is like spinning knives that agitate the chi.

No wonder this woman doesn’t sleep!

The light comes in the front windows and bounces off the mirror on one dresser back across the bed to the dresser on the other side and bounces off that to the TV set. It’s like an energetic light show happening in this room all day long with the ceiling fan being the mix master to churn it all up.

Remedy: We closed the cupboard to hide the TV, turned off the ceiling fan, removed the dresser with the mirror that was across from the front windows. Now the light comes in and falls gently on the bed to rest – no bouncing, ricocheting, stirred up energy.

Within a couple nights the chi had settled down and she was sleeping far more easily.

We also called in some friends to help her de-clutter the house and organize the closets.

When I came back for a follow-up, the house was full of helpers and the house felt energetically so much calmer and cleaner.

If you are curious about your home feng shui in relation to your health, let’s jump on a complimentary Discovery Call.

Leo is also the sun, the sunflower, and so this offering is a practice that’s not a practice to focus on the sunflower seeds sitting on your heart right now…but not to plant them, not with this moon. Just to recognize the presence of all you want to seed in your life and then with wonder and surrender, let them seed themselves…or not.

Just notice, the liminal space between the light of sunny Leo and the darkness of this moon.

What is illuminated and what falls into shadow and where do you find yourself in the space between the two?

Enjoy this exclusive Sunflower New Moon Meditation for the Members Circle.

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The client found me on the internet, and was desperate for help.

Her husband was battling cancer, working an intensely stressful job in NYC, and every medical intervention and surgery led to a worsening health crisis. He was in his mid-50’s with 2 teenage sons, and happily married. She was terrified she was going to lose him.

This was my first long distance client back in the early 2000’s, before cellphones. In the mail she sent an envelope filled with house photos; every room from every angle, and outside views of the house and property. Today we can do a virtual consultation on Zoom.

As with all Feng Shui clients, the first step is to run the BaZi Astrology charts. This was before 4 Pillars apps or software. Every chart was hand written.

In reviewing his chart, I could see two things clearly; one he should not be critically ill, and two his BaZi was suggesting a period in his life that was creating intense work stress that was draining his life force. Now, these may seem contradictory, but the chart did not read like a person with a lot of volatility in their career would suffer a life threatening disease. It should’ve been manageable.

So, then I asked about the house.

It is important to know the history of the previous owners, to know when renovations happened, and when the house was built. Her answers started to build the story of what was really going on. This wasn’t just one thing, it was layers upon layers.

My Investigative Findings:

• The 2 prior owners of the house had husbands who died prematurely.

• The house had been under a total renovation that included replacing the staircase that ran through the center of the home. The Center of every home is the very Heartbeat of your house. It was ripped out and replaced. Imagine the symbology of this!

• Big lesson learned, it is strongly advised to not inhabit a home that is under renovation because some part of your lives will likely also be under renovation. Your home often mirrors your life.

• They were able to wrap up the renovation and put some of the last projects on pause. It can take a home at least 30 days to settle the chi or energy after a renovation, repair, or move in.

• What was in their bedroom? I looked at the photos she sent. Artwork says everything about the story you are living. Hanging by the bed was a painting of two people outrunning a storm. The bathroom door by the bed needed to be kept closed to contain that toxic chi (true for all of us). And finally, the worst energetic assault of all, was a nautical sword, gifted by a friend, they were storing under the bed.

Feng Shui Cures:

• The renovations ceased.

• “Run nothing louder than a vacuum cleaner,” I told her.

• The house was able to settle and breathe.

• The nautical sword was donated to a museum.

• The artwork in the bedroom was replaced for 2 lovers embracing.

• I encouraged and suggested ways to reduce work stress: requesting that the job temporarily ease up on workload, a daily meditation practice, gentle exercise like walking, and improving his diet.

• We also added some Feng Shui cures like a Wu Lou Health Gourd on his bedside table to absorb negative chi.

6 months later his cancer was in remission and the other health complications were abating thanks to his continued medical care, the effects from the Feng Shui treatment, and lifestyle changes. We were all relieved and happy with the remote power of the Feng Shui treatment.

Every year since, as I do with many of my clients, I run their New Year Update for their home Feng Shui and BaZi Astrology. This allows the client to move through the shifting energies of their home as well as utilize the forecasting of their BaZi in a way that offers them the greatest advantage. In this way, I have held energetic space for this family as they have continued to live and thrive into their 70s. They are one of my favorite clients and our relationship has truly been a dear one.

Could your home be influencing your health?
Discover what your home’s Feng Shui may be revealing with a complimentary Discovery Call with Lydia

Depending on the balance or imbalance of your personal 5 elements in your BaZi Astrology, how Fire is lighting you up could be a needful warming or it could be a wildfire burning you out of control.

If this is sitting in your career, you may feel incredible pressure, volatility, sudden shifts, abrupt endings, renewed growth, and optimism. Yet in all of the pivoting, you feel a sense of whiplash as if your job is holding your feet to the fire.

If Fire is the element of financial flow this may appear as sudden windfalls. Like I randomly received a notable refund from a law office because, for me, this year is lighting up sources of revenue. It is also property, moving, travel, what sells and what you are buying. Investments may pay off, income may surge in and then dry up…because the Horse herself is a volatile, unpredictable Chinese Zodiac Animal. Learning to ride the highs and lows, navigating the way to generate income while accepting it may not be a steady stream but rather fits and starts. Ultimately the year could end well, if you rode the ride and didn’t get thrown off into a fire sale.

Is Fire your placement for romantic relationships? Are you finding this to be something fiery with passions that burn hot and fast or simmer with long lasting warmth? Is this something that can take root in a year that can be really unpredictable?

Fire could be associated with relationships, like your friends, your social circles, and it could be an incredible time for networking, collaborations, and partnerships. Do these connections light you up or do you feel pulled in a million directions, juggling a schedule that is unsustainable and you’ve lost yourself in the midst of all the audiences you are showing up for? For some people getting lost along the way is a real risk in a year when you feel the spotlight so hard on you that you simply can’t perform at the level you imagine life is demanding.

For others, Fire may be what is supporting you, like a wise teacher guiding you through a spiritual retreat. This can be a wonderful year for deepening your faith, your practices like meditation. That rarely lends itself to burnout unless you happen to be a teacher of yoga or work in the healing arts in which you are that wise voice, that guide, that coach, and you feel like there are so many people needing you right now in a world that seems to have completely lost its mooring. For many, this could signal a spiritual awakening, third eye opening, and heightening sensitivity.

There are some who feel so creatively activated that they can’t stop moving from one activity, one project, one more pot to stir on the stove until they feel like they have reached a point of creative burnout and nothing is sparking their interest. Sitting there facing the screen and there is nothing left to write, no content to create, and no inspiration or motivation to tap into. That can be a frustrating burnout.

How is this sitting with you? Do you feel like you’re in the hot seat? Do you feel like life is on fire around you and there’s a sense of futility about what you can do to affect any real change? Is burnout so prevalent that you feel like you’re sitting in the ashes wondering where life is taking you from here?

For many of us we are ready for that Phoenix rising moment. I can’t wave a magic wand for you, but I can absolutely show you where this Fire is burning in your BaZi Astrology and make suggestions about how to turn the ashes into your starting point for ascending into the second half of this year with renewed vision. We can also look at ways to make subtle lifestyle changes to balance your 5 elements.

Join me for a one on one reading to unpack your BaZi Astrology chart and map your path from 2026 into 2027.

Book Your Reading with Lydia

In this 4 part series you will learn the qualities of each of the animals; the element they represent, the time of day, the month they occupy, and also their position in the cycle of the seasons.

There is also a bonus at the end of the last segment about how we experience the 4 seasons of a day, and also in our lives.

This is an exclusive offering for members of my Substack Circle. Thank you so much for supporting my work and making this kind of content available. Enjoy!

AND…for anyone considering becoming a supportive member, Spring is available as a gift.

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This video explores the mystical realm of the Metal element. Metal is the very breath our bodies breathe. It is the sparkle of mica shimmering in the sand and the ore buried deep within the Earth.

Metal cuts down Wood, is the parent of Water, is created by Earth, and is smelted or controlled by Fire.

Enjoy this exclusive tutorial, and thank you for being a Member of the Substack Circle.

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Water is the parent element that nourishes Wood, controls Fire, and is contained by Earth. The way the elements interact can be witnessed throughout the natural world. What we often miss, however, is how the Five Elements also influence our health, our wealth, our relationships, and the way our lives either flow with ease or become stuck.

In these videos, Lydia shares insights drawn from 25 years of experience as a Master BaZi Astrologer and Feng Shui Consultant.

Enjoy this deep dive into the Water element, and thank you for being a Member of the Substack Circle.

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We officially leave summer and step into the season of early autumn with the arrival of the Yang Fire Monkey. The Monkey is composed primarily of Yang Metal, with a little Yang Earth and Yang Water. Sitting above it is Yang Fire (this is called the Stem).

When Fire and Metal collide, the result is combustible.

Think of overloaded power grids, tripped circuits, electrical fires, lightning igniting forest fires, transportation accidents, explosions, and heightened geopolitical conflict. Fire melts Metal, their relationship creates friction, volatility, and pressure that often seeks release through dramatic events.

On a personal level, this same energy can manifest as burnout, inflammation, conflict, impulsive decisions, nervous system overload, and emotional reactivity.

The one potentially positive expression of this combination is momentum. Fire motivates action, and Metal governs finance, technology, infrastructure, and industry. This month could produce extraordinary gains in the stock market, technology sectors, and cryptocurrencies—especially Bitcoin.

Yet there is another side to that equation.

Because we are already living inside a Yang Fire Horse year, the Fire element is excessive. The same forces capable of driving rapid financial gains can just as easily create instability, sharp reversals, and dramatic corrections. August has the potential to become the most volatile month of 2026.

Adding another layer to this energetic landscape, August also unfolds during eclipse season, a time long associated in Western astrology with accelerated endings, unexpected revelations, and significant course corrections.

How to Work With This Energy

Rather than trying to overpower the intensity of August, work with it.

This is an excellent month to simplify your life.

Seek places where Water naturally cools excessive Fire—a waterfall, a river, a mountain stream, a quiet lake, or the ocean. If travel isn’t necessary, consider a peaceful staycation that allows your nervous system to settle.

Remain more aware while moving through the world.

Avoid unnecessary travel by plane, train, or automobile beyond your normal routine whenever possible. Drive attentively. Leave extra time. Resist rushing.

Monitor your investments carefully rather than reacting emotionally to sudden market swings.

This is also not an ideal month for major electrical projects, significant vehicle repairs, or working casually around anything explosive, including fireworks or firearms. Slow down and reduce unnecessary risks wherever possible.

2026 Descension May Become Your Ascension… continue reading on Fire Horse Wisdom.

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• This month we have a String of Pearls Flying Stars configuration. These represent the Year Star, the Monthly Visiting Star, and the Period 9 Base Star. You will see how they flow in sequence from one room or Palace to the next.

• 2026 has plagued us with Bull Fights (3 and 4 Stars) and Sword Fights (7 and 6 Stars) that are impacting the South West and North East for much of this year but can also move around, depending on how the Stars fly.

• Biggest Cautionary Directions are the North East with the 5 Star joining the Bull Fight with the 3 and 4. Then the North has the 7 Star forming a Sword Fight with the 6 Star and the 5 Star is also there. Likewise, there is a second Bull Fight in the West with the 3 and 4 Stars aggravated by the 2 Star.

• Better locations are the South West, East, North West, South, and SouthEast

• The bigger story this year is how we learn to live with greater calm, less renovation, less upheaval. Remember your home is a mirror of your life.

For the Flying Stars for each direction on the Ba-Gua Wheel check out the full article at Fire Horse Wisdom.

We are experiencing this element directly in the Year of the Fire Horse 2026, making this the perfect time to deepen your understanding of Fire’s nature and influence.

In this tutorial, Lydia explores the many ways Fire shapes our health, our homes through Feng Shui, and our lives through BaZi Astrology. You’ll also discover how Fire is expressed through food, professions, hobbies, colors, and the ways we can bring cooling balance in a super fiery year.

The Five Elements are the very fabric of our natural world as well as our homes and our physical bodies…more so than most people ever imagine.

Enjoy this deep dive into FIRE…

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Wood is the element we experience through plants, trees, and flowers, as well as the salads we eat, the greens and herbs that nourish us. Every element has a taste, occupies a direction within the Ba-Gua of your home, and is represented through colors, hobbies, professions, and so much more.

Enjoy this third video, and thank you for being a Member of the Substack Circle.

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When your life feels stuck, stagnant, and off track you may find yourself in a period of lost wondering and wandering.

Rarely does someone come to me for a Feng Shui consult or a BaZi reading happy in their lives. Most everyone is searching for answers that help them to better understand some aspect of their life and how they can make it different.

This Five Element Tutorial is the first in a five-part series for Members of this Substack. I decided to share this first one with everyone, but the remaining four tutorials are available exclusively to Members.

Dropping next for Member’s of this Substack Circle: Fire, Wood, Water, and Metal

More Tutorial Videos Coming Up:

• The 4 Seasons of BaZi Astrology through the 12 Zodiac Animals

• BaZi Astrology Friends, Enemies, and Penalties

• What are Voids in BaZi? Can this be the veil between the worlds?

• The secret 5th Life Pillar: a window into understanding your karmic life path

• The 4 Pillars of BaZi Astrology

5 Element Tutorial: EARTH

It was an honor to find myself sitting on the edge of a creek with a pencil in hand, my eye contouring the shape of rocks, the length of a branch, and the arc of a tree trunk swooning over the water.

That moment was a brave re-entry into an activity I had all but abandoned, a reclaiming of my artistic gifts.

I gave myself permission to pick up the tools of charcoal, pencil, and sketchpad along with a liberated stretch of time.

The subject remained still, patiently offering her wildness for me to render in a simple drawing.

There was a true intimacy to the moment. I was very aware that I was on someone’s property, someone I loved dearly, and was falling in love with the land as well.

Time there was given to aimless wandering of the trails in the woods, hopping the rocks, listening to the laughter of the creek, and singing to the deer.

Days later, I was looking at the picture, feeling the moment.

It was then that I picked up a pencil and carefully tucked into the seams of it a title that seemed not only an homage to the land herself, but to my own presence at that place that I so very much wanted to Stay.

That sketch was framed on the refrigerator, held by a magnet for a long time…

I wish it were all still there.