General Outlook

The Year of the Rat officially starts on 4th Feb 2020 17:03. This is also the official 立春 Start of Spring.

We can use this timing to understand and forecast how 2020 will be.

4th Feb 2020 17:03

Flow of energy:

Looking at the flow of energy, we can potentially identify where obstacles will likely be. Starting from the Year, we can see Metal supporting Water. Water supporting Wood at the Month pillar. Wood supporting Fire at the Day pillar. Fire supporting Earth all around. Finally Metal finds support from Earth. This is the Cycle of Birth.
(I will not be explaining about the Cycle of Birth or the Cycle of Destruction. There are already many online references on them.)

Energy is able to flow from one element to the next element. The very minimum, all elements will get to enjoy some amount of support. Although the energy is flowing, none of the element stands out. This gives a feeling of a year that is simply just getting by. Other than flow of the energy, there is also a need to look at the strength of each element. Elements that are weak will have issues in 2020.

Strength of the elements:
Wood - Strong in the Spring season.
Fire - Fairly Strong with support from Wood.
Earth - Average with support from Fire.
Metal - Weak in the Spring season, supported by Earth.
Water - Very Weak in the Spring season, drained by a strong Wood and supported by weak Metal.

Water is the weakest element in 2020. Although there are metal (support) in the chart, it is insufficient. Water mainly gets it support from the Metal appearing in the Year. The other Metal presence appears in the Hour which is a distance away. On to of that, Metal itself is not strong as well. Water has a cleansing nature and in 2020, this water is not enough to clean the metal and itself. What we will have is muddy or trapped water and a dirty metal that cannot shine. Thus 2020 issues will mainly revolve around Metal and Water.

Characteristic of 2020:

If this chart is to be view as a person, this person will have the characteristic of being quick thinking, impatient and outspoken. He will likely also be a doer (prefer to action first rather than merely talking) and can be a good starter but poor finisher. He will tend to focus on too many things, resulting in Jack Of All Trades but Master Of None. Since this person is a doer, he will believe only in himself and will not depend/wait for others to help. Wealth or results may not come easily however if the correct focus/efforts are put in, there will be results.

What it meant for 2020 will be a year where people wants to see results rather than just being convinced. We will see more people taking matters into their own hand. There will also be more conflicts or anti-government protests. We might even see new government being formed by different parties coming together. One main thing that people will be very concerned about is trust. Any organisations or countries that lose that trust will see issues this year. On the contrary, any organisation that uses trust as a marketing message will see results.

2020 will also see new trends/inventions. However these trends/inventions may not catch on and could fade off fast. There will also be new opportunities and people will be quick to jump on it. However these opportunities may not last too. Many will have urge to just do something, but most will be without a clear direction of what is next. People will tend to be more impatient, making rash or reckless decisions. It will be best to stay focus on one thing and put in efforts to do that one thing right before starting something new. Multitasking or casting a wide net will not necessary bring in more wealth. It will likely wear you out resulting in you being stuck in the middle.

There will be more restructuring and mergers. These are still done in a secretive and subtle manner. Some mergers may surface towards the end of the year and it could be related to financial institutes, engineering firms or even automobile brands.