February 7th was the first day of the Lunar New Year 4708. As a creature, the rat is tiny, nimble and clever. In 2008 the auspicious directions are East, West, Northeast and Northwest. Choosing to go in each of these directions could bring success and personal benefit. The inauspicious directions are the South, Southeast and Southwest. Try to avoid these directions, especially when comes to business travel or relocation, as they may not have a positive result.

Those born under the sign of the rat sit directly atop the seat of the Year God which can signify either very good or very poor luck. Those born in the year of the horse are in direct opposition to the rat and thus the most incompatible with rat, as is the ram, which is in opposition to the ox (the best friend of the rat). In addition, those born under the signs of the hare and rooster are encroaching upon the Year God (rat) at 90 degrees. Which all means that the ram, the horse, hare and rooster need to take precaution and ideally prepare for the new year with one or more of the Black Hat Tantric Buddhist protection rituals.

For everyone, carrying a small talisman of an ox is considered good luck. It is thought that the rat is so elated to see its best friend the ox that is shines beneficially upon those who associate with it. Only the horse, ram, dog and dragon should not carry an ox...in which case carrying a dragon and monkey is preferable for good luck. Check website for some other insights into this year's astrology.

If you need help sorting through this menagerie of Chinese zodiac signs, would like to obtain a carved ox and/or be informed about protective rituals for the year of the Earth Rat, please contact me and I'll tell you what you need.

In last year's newsletter about the Year of the Pig, I talked about preparing your environment on the mundane or physical level. Now, I'd like to share a transcendental adjustment for cleansing your environment for the year ahead.

Changing the Chi of the Environment ~ On the evening of New Year's Eve or another carefully selected auspicious date between 11pm and 1am, open all the doors and windows and connect to the outside of the house or office. Prepare 9 oranges and cut nine round pieces of orange peels from each orange. Oranges represent auspiciousness. In total you will have 81 pieces of orange peels.

Tear these 81 orange rounds into smaller pieces and scatter them in all the rooms of your house or office. When scattering them, visualize that thousands of beneficial spirits are filling every corner of your environment with light represented by the orange peels. This light will evict all negative chi, misfortune chi, bad chi, sick chi and replace them with divine chi, happy chi, prosperous chi, healthy chi and auspicious chi. Make sure to reinforce this with the Three Secret Reinforcements (your strong intentions).

Orange peels are used in many rituals. We are all familiar with fresh scent of an orange. That tangy quality is 'yang' or an active energy. An environment tends to get stale or energetically 'heavy', which is a 'yin' or inactive quality. The scattering of orange peels (along with your intentions) literally balances the chi of your environment.

Lois Weiss, feature writer at The New York Post wrote a wonderful section on commercial real estate. One of her articles brought attention to the value of feng shui to businesses. Please read on to get the details.