The relationship between the fire elements accurately helps one predict what is and what is to come by way of one’s fortunes and thus, one can by using this knowledge, multiply the good luck or minimize the bad luck in one’s life.

The Year of the Dog, 2006, in the Hsia calendar, is symbolized by two elements – with fire sitting on top of earth. According to the cycle of birth and destruction, which governs the inter-relationship between the elements, fire will give birth to earth. Therefore, fire sitting on earth is a symbol of support and harmony and this may bring a relatively more peaceful year with less international conflicts than in the past few years. In recent years, the last time such elemental relationship occured is in the year 2000, the year of the metal dragon, which was the year when the world was at peace to celebrate the Millienium, immediately before the 911 incident in 2001. The fire standing on top in 2006 is yang fire which is compared to the Sun. This element symbolizes openness, optimism, warmth, politeness and care. As such, it is anticipated that there will be more open and honest peace talks and settlements leading to a more harmonious atmosphere which the world has been lacking for many years. The earth underneath, representing the dog, has the implication of the “gate of Hell” and “storage of fire”. This character often carries spiritual and religious implications, As such, the year 2006 will also focus on seeking spiritual meaning and answers and more people will be drawn to religious events and discussions.

The Chinese calendar year goes on 60-year cycle. This means that we have experienced the same year of yang fire on earth dog in 1945 when the Second World War is finally over and the world powers were concentrating on recovering from the war and re-arranging a new world order. The United Nations had its first meeting in 1946. Likewise, it is expected that there will be more co-operation among countries in 2006 aimed at setting up a more effective world order for the protection of global interests, such as solving environmental issues, global warming problem, religious differences, and the prevention of epidemics etc.

The yang fire – in the system of the Four Pillars of Destiny, is a symbol of big fire, and the earth dog is a symbol of the storage of fire. The pair of elements shows fire on top of a mountain, this could bring serious volcanic eruptions as well as big energy disasters such as nuclear explosions. The last such disaster is the Chernobyl nuclear melt down which occurred in 1986. Yang fire, is big and powerful energy, so the issue of nuclear safety will be in focus, Historical records show the United Nations Nuclear Agency was also set up in the last year of Yang fire Dog in 1946. With such a powerful fire element, besides the possibility of nuclear disasters, it will not be surprising that the yang fire will bring big explosions and fire disasters too. In Chinese astrology, the Dog is in a clash position against the Dragon, and both Dragon and Dog are powerful earth elements. With earth elements under clash, it will bring very serious earthquake disasters. In the feng shui flying star system, the star 3, representing earthquakes, is in the centre in 2006. This could also imply a year of serious earthquakes. With the star of misfortune 5 falling in the West in 2006, the areas more likely to have such natural disasters will be more concentrate to the central area, or areas bearing the name – central, centre, middle…., or the western part of a country, or a continent. Besides earthquake, other earth disasters and accidents could be more frequent in 2006. These may include mining disaster, landslide, collapse of building ,,,etc

The Dog is the animal in clash against the Dragon, and forms an earth penalty with Ox and the Goat. Therefore people born in such years have to be particularly careful in 2006. As it is earth clashing against earth, the danger could be associate with earth disasters such as landslide and collapses of buildings or earthquakes, Therefore, for people born in the year of Dragon, Ox and Goat, it is recommended that they avoid going too close to massive earth areas such as mountain or dessert. This is particularly important during the earth months which occurs in April, July, October and January. For people born under such animal signs, it is good to always carry the pendant of a Rabbit which will help to attract away the Dog, so as to minimize the negative influence of the clash or penalty. Anyhow, people who are born in the year of Dragon will experience a more turbulent year with more movements and traveling, changes. It is suitable to engage in such movements, such as moving house or moving offices. Traveling is also good but one should avoid going straight towards the Northwest direction as it is the direction of the Grand Duke in 2006.

The Dog is a “Gate of Hell” in the system of “Four Pillars of Destiny”. So a dog year will bring more spiritual activities and strange happenings. The Dog forms a penalty configuration with the Ox and the Goat. Penalty means hidden danger. And the Dog, Ox and Goat together formed very strong earth configuration causing hidden health problems such as cancer. As such, this year cancer problems will get more serious and it is necessary to take precautions such as taking anti- oxidant, quitting smoking and drinking alcohol..

The Five basic elements also represent different parts of our body, fire in general relates to blood circulation and the heart, and yang fire also represents the shoulder area. Therefore in 2006 more people will complain of shoulder pains. The Earth element is the symbol of stomach or spleen, muscles and cells. Therefore strong earth years will bring cancer problem. The combination of fire and earth will destroy the water element. As such, it will also create health problems such as kidney failure. It is necessary to take more fresh fruit and vegetables, vitamin C, omega 3 oil etc, this year to enhance the water aspect. The configuration of fire and earth will bring dry weather, and the lack of water will also cause dryness of hair and many people will experience faster loss of hair in this year.

The economy in the year 2006 showed yang fire on the Heavenly stem. Fire is the symbol of the financial market and yang fire is optimism. It is exactly such optimism that will create the positive trend for the stock market in 2006. However, yang fire standing on dog – the grave of fire, is illusory fire. But the stock market is often driven by illusion of profitability. So there is still strong driving force to bring the market to very high levels especially in spring and summer. However, investors have to be cautious towards autumn and winter as there will be substantial set back as the fire element will be weakening in 2007, and such weakening could start as early as the second half of 2006. However, in general, the strong earth year of the Dog favours fire industries, as fire gives birth to earth, the strong earth element in the year indicates productivity and strong activity in fire industries – this include finance, stock market, energy, electricity, entertainment, and airline businesses. As the Earth element is conquered by Wood, so the wood industries see earth as money. As such the year of the Dog shows strong money for wood industry which will enjoy a prosperous year with fire symbolizing their productive activity, and earth symbolize their money. Wood industries include textile, fashion, books, publication, paper, forestry, furniture etc.

The property market is symbolized by the earth element. This industry had stronger activities in the past two years of monkey and rooster as the metal elements in these 2 years represent productivity of earth industries. However, in 2006, the metal element is no longer there, and that the water element, representing the money of the earth industry, is also absent. Instead the strong presence of the earth element will mean strong competition in the property market. Therefore, it is anticipated that the property industry, and other earth industries such as mining, insurance, hotel…etc will cool down and even suffer some setback in the year of the Dog.

With respect to the hi-tech economy, as represented by the NASDAQ. I have postulated that this industry is mainly represented by the metal element. As such, the prosperity of this industry requires the strong appearance of water and wood, which are symbols of productivity and money of the metal industry. However, in 2006, both water and wood are absent from the year. As such, it is anticipated that the year is not so favourable for hi-tech or internet types of business.

In summary, the industries that will perform well in the year of the Dog will be industries related to wood and fire elements – such as energy, electricity, finance, stock market, textile, fashion, paper and publications. On the other hand, industries relating to earth and metal will not be doing so well. Earth industries include mining, chemicals, property, hotel, and metal industries are cars, heavy industries, iron and steel, and hi-tech and internet related business. The water industries – such as shipping, drinks, communication, etc are into a year with some superficial prosperity but not substantial.

In general, the yang fire Dog year, with fire on top supporting earth below, is symbol of more harmony and optimism with more international co-operation and more care about the future of humanity and global well-being. The Dog is also symbol of spiritual achievement and the world may pay more attention to spiritual health and enrichment as long term solution to the hatred and religious differences which have been causing disharmony to the world in the past decade. There will be more international co-operation in solving environmental issues such as control of nuclear power and global warming. The strong yang fire appearing on top can also bring about serious explosion or nuclear disasters. There will also be more chances of natural disasters involving drought, earthquake, landslides, and volcanic eruption.

The animal sign which is most unfavourable is the Dragon which is in direct clash against the Dog. Such clashes will usually will bring about turbulence, movements, accident or changes.. So people born in the year of the Dragon will anticipate more traveling , or movements such as changing jobs or moving house. It is necessary to carry the pendant of a Rabbit as protection to attract the Dog away. For the Dragon people, the clash against the Dog could bring accidents related to the earth element, such as earthquake, landslide, falling from a building, For people who are under clash with the year, it is ok to travel more, making changes such as moving house, or change job. However, for people born in the year of the Dragon, it is recommended not to travel directly towards the direction of the Grand Duke, which is the northwest direction, and it is also not recommended for them to travel to areas of strong earth, such as high mountains, deserts, or region of possible serious earthquakes. The other animals signs facing unfavourable positions are the Ox and the Goat, as these animals will form Three Penalty relationship with the Dog and cause very powerful earth influences. Such earth penalties will usually bring earth diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and stomach and spleen problem. As such, it is necessary to take heavy dosages of anti-oxidant which is good protection against cancer and other earth disease. For people born in the year of Dog, the year 2006 is offending the Grand Duke and is also considered not favourable. As such, all people born in years of earth animal signs – the Dragon, the Dog, the Ox, and the Goat all have to take precautions in 2006 and the minimum preventive measure is to carry a pendant of the Rabbit to attract the Dog away.

The animals combining with the Dog year are the Rabbit, the Tiger, the Horse. These animals are into a year of harmony . However, such animal astrology is not totally reliable as the system is not recognized as a formal type of fortune-telling. For more reliable assessment of ones fortune in the year of the Dog, it is recommended that one checks the full Four Pillars of Destiny, which requires full birthdata information of the Year, Month, Day and Hour of birth. As the animal signs can appear in all four pillars in a person’s birth data, the clash and penalty relationship with the Dog will not only impact people born in the year of Dragon, Dog, Ox, and Goat. Such clash and penalties can also impact anyone who has such animals in the birth month, or day or hour.

Feng Shui energies also change from year to year. Therefore, it is necessary to watch for the re-allocation of good and bad energies at the beginning of each year, so that we can take necessary precautions if some bad energy happens to arrive at important locations of our residence or offices. In the year of the Dog, the bad energy called “Five Yellow” – symbolizing obstacles and misfortune, arrives at the West. If your west of the house is an important area such as bedroom or entrances, it is recommended that one hangs a metal windchime there to dissolve this bad energy. The worst months will be in April, July, September. Another bad star number 2, symbolizing sickness, will arrive in the Southeast in 2006. The traditional method to dissolve this 2 is to hang a string of six metal coins in the affected area in the Southeast of the house The Grand Duke this year is in the Northwest, hence it is not favourable to “move earth” or make substantial construction work in this direction. It is also not recommended for one to sit with back against exact North as you will be sitting against the unfavourable energy called “Three Shars” or “Three Killings”. The bad star 3 is a star of conflict and robbery. This is present in the centre of the house. It is necessary to put a piece of red paper in the centre to minimize such a bad influence. Also the bad star 7, representing scandals is in the South, the traditional solution for this bad star 7 is to place 3 or 4 of bamboo plant grown in clear glass vase of water in the South location.