Part 1: astrology, economics and politics

And here we are, starting another Chinese year: 2021 is the year of the Yin Metal Ox. What are the energy at work in this new Chinese year, and what can Chinese astrology tells us about what might happen to the world? Follow me and let’s explore this particular rabbit’s hole…

Note: For calculation, we astrologers and Feng Shui experts use the solar calendar: the Ox year started on the 3rd of February 2021. For celebrations (where people can still celebrate!), the lunar date for the start of the Chinese year of the Ox is the 12th of February. I’ve written in details about those differences here.

Astrology of the year of the Yin Metal Ox

As usual, I use the Bazi or Four Pillars of destiny. An ancient and refined system of Chinese astrology that code blocks of time through two type of energy. That sounds mystical, isn’t it? I hope it does. One Chi (energy) comes from “Heaven” or the celestial influence: it is called the Heavenly Stem. The other is the “Earth’s influence”, represented by the Earthy Branch. In 2021, the Heavenly Stem is the Yin Metal and the Earthy Branch is the Ox. The nature of those energies and their dialog will form the basis for my predictions.

The Yin Metal, called Xin, is the refined form of Metal, as opposed to the more crude form at work in 2020, the Yang Metal. Xin is associated with images such as: a dagger, a scalpel, luxurious pieces of jewellery, a needle. Its main themes are: precision and details; cold steel and cutting tools; luxury and glamour. It is naturally cold, but like all form of metal it can be shaped using some heat.

In the system of the 5 Elements or Wuxing, Metal is seen as the Element ruling over finances, rules, regulations, law enforcement, police, military, human systems…Metal is the Element of civilisation: we talk about the age of bronze, the age of iron…

What about the Ox, called Chou? It is the second animal of the Chinese zodiac. After the Rat starting the movement with its strong Water energy, the Ox is less active and more placid. It is an Earth sign, which nature brings a bit more stability than the agitated and restless Rat. Earth is associated with traditions, history, the past and also conservatives values. It is one of the 5 Elements often found in influential politicians: Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton, Donald Trump or Boris Johnson all have Earth charts for example. Earth speaks about foundations, bricks and mortars. It is naturally connected to housing and the land,  soil and therefore to crops, farming and agriculture. The Ox is a draft animal which brings the notion of hard work, building or rebuilding. It therefore brings the idea of efforts and restructuring during its year.

The Ox, like most branches/animals, contain more than one type of Chi(energy) and Elements. It is a Yin Earth animal that has in his roots (hidden attributes): Yin Earth (Ji), Yin Water (Gui) and Yin Metal (Xin).

Let’s now see the dynamics of this year.

Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/freaky_designz/

Analysing the year of the Metal Ox dynamics

An interesting first aspect is that there is no conflict between the Element of the Stem – Metal – and of the Branch, Earth. Earth produces Metal in the cycle of the 5 Elements: there is therefore a natural flow between Chou and Xin, the Ox and Yin Metal. The Earth strengthens the Metal on top. Metal is certainly the Element that is the strongest through the energy of the year. In fact, if we need to classify the Elements, we have:

1. Metal overly strong ++
2. Earth present but used +
3. Water subsiding +-
4. Fire absent –
5. Wood absent –

If Metal is the great winner of the year, Wood is the great loser. Both Fire and Wood are absent of the energy of the year, but Wood is also opposed by the overly strong Metal in real life. In Bazi, charts that need Wood the most will not like this year very much.

On a basic level, this year is a Yin year. Yin talks about contraction rather than expansion. In some way, it can be good as it means that Covid is more under control: the hectic movement of the Rat is gone. However a Yin year can bring more recession than growth. For all the small businesses who had gone through hardship in 2020, I have to say that it’s not ideal. In the current context we can say that the Rat was about disruption and that the Ox is about repairing and consolidating.

The flow between the Earth animal and the Metal Stem is good to some extent as it brings more organisation and a bit more stability. To some astrologers, it is evidence that we are going to live an easier year and one during which things will slowly go back to normal. I beg to differ; here we need to look at an important aspect. The Ox is part of what is known the Metal Elemental frame. Metal is born in the Snake, reach its peaks in the Rooster and goes “in storage” in the Ox . Therefore when the Ox appears we would like to see the Metal withdrawing. In 2021 however we have the Metal emerging on top, as it is a Metal Ox year. It’s like a fire you wanted to put out and when you did a tiny spark restarted it again.

And in the current context, this Metal getting strong when it should disappear is not good news. It reinforces the harder aspect of this Element, which is about rules, regulations and authority. To me, it indicates right away that this year is very authoritarian in nature. A Metal Ox year in a different time might be ok: but this is a Metal Ox year in time of a worldwide crisis. It signal that there will be curtailment of personal freedoms all over.

During this year of the Ox, you can expect: more restrictions of movement and travelling; more restrictions on the right to assemble and meet and more restrictions on freedom of speech. Big tech is very Metal in nature and those companies will be used as instruments of soft censorship.

Not bad for an entrance, what do you think? Hey don’t run away, there is more!

Politics and economics during the Metal Ox year

The Metal is this year in excess and its controlling Element, Fire, is nowhere to be seen. This is the perfect conditions to give strength to technocratic agendas and to a politics that manage people like cattle: logical during the year of the Ox. Meaning that we’ll be ruled through numbers, statistics, curves and more control. The good aspect is that we now know the enemy: the challenge is that the technocratic machine will this year be on steroids. If like me you are a fan of Orwell and had the wet dream to see an accurate movie version of 1984, well good news! It is this year. The problem is that we are the unwilling actors…Let me give you a nice vern diagram so you can find your orientation more easily during those complex times. Here:

The excessive Metal is also associated to the military. I’ve announced several time on my Facebook page that this year will see some places under martial law. The coup in Myanmar, at the inception of this year, certainly illustrated it to a T. Mark my words: more countries will become authoritarian and some will rely heavily on police and the military this year. Have you noticed that Washington DC is still occupied by the military? Xin also brings the idea of violence and armed conflicts at times. When you put altogether excessive technocracy, reliance on police and the military and the sudden violence that Xin can sometimes bring (remember, it is associated with cold steel), I can predict that some countries will become excessively controlling and restrict them too much and that it will not go well in some cases. The month of the Horse in particular has a strong potential for conflicts, and the summer is astrologically complex and challenging this year.

Through the panic and chaos of the Rat year 2020, we could give some governments the benefit of the doubt on their intentions and management of the crisis. This year, some will show their true colours, and those colours are brown and khaki. In 2021, year of the Metal Ox, most democracies will keep taking a step back. There is an excess of control all over…The year of the Metal Ox is to me, as an astrologer, the year of technocratic agendas spinning out of control. Technology and technocracy will this year work hand in hand to create endless rules and limitations; under the guise of safety – of course. Unless people strongly voice their refusal…

And so in case you haven’t paid attention: the tendency is for authoritarianism, military coups and martial law. Authoritarianism is still impossible to pronounce by the way. The coldness of the Yin Metal and its potential aggressiveness also does not bode well for diplomacy in general. The tendency will be to close borders and for a return to some kind of cold war era: most likely between the US and Russia or China, or both. It is another year during which camps are polarised and do not bend easily.

The year of the Metal Ox brings a strong military and police vibe. Pic: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rosenkranz/

Note that a return of terrorist acts is almost a given. The month of the Wood Horse (5th of June to 6t of July), the Fire Monkey (7th of August to 6th of September) and the Fire Rooster (7th of September to the 7th of October) are the most likely candidates for terrorism, coups or a complete transformation of the political balance. One thing that we keep hearing about is a potential massive cyber attack, targeting in particular the banking system. And if we keep hearing about it, I’d argue it’s predictive programming…While next year would be more logical for such event to occur, I’d argue that the Monkey and Rooster months are again when it could occur. So more or less August and September.

Finally one important person is likely to be assassinated, and it could have political consequences. In 1961, the previous Metal Ox year, it was Patrice Lumumba…research the consequences this act had.

Economically, we are in a Yin year, that often indicates some level of contraction rather than expansion. In the current context, it is a year of economic recession for everyday folks, rather than a year of growth. Restaurants, small businesses and the travel industry in particular will keep being affected. The Tiger year will be more dynamic

An important aspect is that there will be new laws or regulations in the world of finance. Chinese astrology also works in association and Wall Street has to do with the Metal Element (money) and is world famous for its bull statue: an Ox that has not been castrated.The Gamestop vs hedge funds narrative (as I suspect is not as transparent as we are told) will be the basis for regulation of Wall Street, but those will of course be against the small shareholders.

Pic by https://www.flickr.com/photos/79510655@N08/

In fact, I am making three majors predictions:

• New financial regulations that disadvantage ordinary people
• New laws about security and against ” domestic terrorism” in several countries. In the US it’s the patriot act II of course.
• New law or regulations against some freedom speech, especially through high tech.

It is at this stage that I stop to wonder if I should rather sugar coat things and write my yearly predictions in the following style: “the Ox is a benevolent animal and this year will be nice and lovely because the cows give good milk. Except if you are lactose intolerant.” Anyway, TOO LATE. Come on, you know you want to keep reading…

One thing that could be good is the introduction of the UBI or Universal Basic income. I’m aware that it can be used to create greater dependency on the State, but we just have to wait and see how it pans out. I think this year will see some small-scale initiatives around the UBI but that the real “launch” of this on a larger scale if the Rabbit year of 2023.

Mother nature during the Metal Ox year

The fact that Metal that should be hidden inside Earth emerges on top means that it has been unearthed. And so this is strong indication of earthquakes or mudslides (remember, the Ox contains mud). My predictions is that either phenomenon will make the news this year, and probably more than once…Flooding is also likely this year, as the strong Metal during specific months will give strength to Water. The Yang Water Dragon month is this year a strong candidate for all kind of natural disasters (4th of April to 4th of May).

Moral attitude during the Ox year

There is this year a lot of virtue signalling this year and “high moral ground” in how people communicate. The bad aspect is that there will be fake outrages and more censorship of freedom of speech for opinions quickly mislabelled . There is something of a mob mentality with the Metal Ox that will be reflected in speech and judgement passed; it is somehow a return to a level of puritanism and taking politically correct to stupid levels. George Carlin would have had a lot to write on this year unfolding….However, the good aspect is that in such climate some victims will find the strength to speak out denouncing pedophilia, incest and so on…Last year was also exposing some ugly aspects of the human psyche, this year is about speaking out for some. So expect a lot of ugliness to be revealed in spectacular affairs this year too.

Ok now for some good stuff! You deserve it. Have a cookie too.

Counter-forces and good energies during the Ox year

Just kidding, it’s shit all over. No ok there is some good stuff. I put back my serious astrologer hat.

Every Yin has a Yang, and every action generates a counter-reaction. And so while this year of the Ox is authoritarian and restrictive overall, everyday people will revolt more as restrictive measures are pushed on them, and this despite the Covid narrative. . And so fear not: another way and another society is possible and will emerge. However for this to happen we probably need the old world to show fully its ugliness and true colours…Put in perspective, as a Frenchman, I’ll remind everyone that there wouldn’t have been a French revolution without a certain level of oppression first. And it turned out al alright afterward, didn’t it? Ok not if you were Louis the XVI,  granted…

Remember: the deeper the mud, the more beautiful the lotus bloom. We kind of need those shitty time to awaken our potential for positive transformation…otherwise we’d be stuck in our evolution, at a soul level, and as a species. So yes we are in the difficult part, but it’s good for our souls folks!

The strong Metal will this year will benefit science, research and medicine. Expect a year with a lot of technological advancements, and robotics in particular will growth fast. We can also expect discoveries in bacteriology and on micro-organism, as the precision of Xin brings the focus of microscopes. The association with Chou the Ox means that there could be some important news about soils, fungi and how to restore healthy soils for agriculture. And that is great news! Space exploration will also be in the news. In a greater arc I expect that we’ll be teased about space microbial life, but that big reveals about alien bacteria or life, especially relating to Mars, would be during the Tiger year of 2022.

Space exploration will be a recurrent topic. Pic by https://www.pexels.com/@philippedonn

In a perfect world, devoid of greed, such year would actually bring a triumph of pure science and technological advancement that would serve humanity. But don’t worry, I’m betting that it will happen during the next Yin Metal Ox year, that is…2081. Just be there ok?

In medicine, we can expect to see the developments of surgery through robotics, and artificial prosthetics. Impressive medical operations, especially relating to organ transplants, will make the news. The study of our brains and minds will also be an ongoing topic: reprogramming our minds, repairing and regrowing neurons and even possibly brain transplants. There will be some breakthroughs about healing the brain: possibly for Alzheimer’s disease or other neurological illnesses. Of course we’ll hear about Tesla neuralinks too, but let’s not go there ok? Transhumanism is not on nature’s side…

The excess of Metal actually means that we’ll all bit a bit obsessed with our minds this year and we’ll need to remember to stay physical, and not “all in our heads”. This focus on the head brings back the topic of who rules – governments and above, technocrats…Likewise, with this strong Metal, the focus on science is a double edge sword this year. It will greatly benefit research, and if you are a science buff you’ll like this year and endless scientific developments. However it can also lead to scientism…But hey did I mention that there will be cool developments in robotics? I did? ok.

And for the part you’re waiting for…What about Covid then? Here is the answer in my astrological 2021 world predictions part 2.