Discovering Your Lunar Mansion

In addition to your Zodiac animal sign, every one of us is also influenced by our lunar mansion which is symbolically represented by one of 28 animals that correspond to the 28 days in a typical month. Knowing your Day sign and understanding how it co-relates to your annual Zodiac sign opens doorways to greater insights into your personality tendencies and potential. In this issue, Lillian Too introduces readers to their ruling Day animal sign.

This is based on the four great constellations that rule the skies... with the Green Dragon ruling the Eastern skies, the Black Tortoise ruling the Northern skies, the White Tiger ruling the Western skies and the Crimson Phoenix ruling the Southern skies.

Each of these four cardinal constellations comes with 7 Sky animals, making a total 28 animals. Chinese Astronomers refer to these animals as the names of the Days of a four week period. Each of the 28 animals rule one's day of birth.

Your day animal offers indications of the kind of profession and work that best bring you satisfaction and success. It reveals insights into the compatibility of the relationships in your life. These day animal signs also add to the influence of the cardinal direction winds and skies so that those living in homes associated with their lunar mansion grouping will find that success comes more easily and with fewer obstacles. To undertake lunar mansion analysis, you first need to determine your Day animal which is usually revealed in the Almanac Book of Days, but which can also be worked out using your date of birth.

Example: If your day of birth is 12th January 1984 1.      Get the corresponding number for your month and year from Table 1 below. If you check against the table below, you will see that the number for January is 27, and the number for the year 1984 is 25. 2. Next, add the numbers of the month and the year to the day in January, which is 12. Thus 12 + 27 + 25 = 64 3. Next, determine if your year of birth 1984 is a leap year; if it is, and you were born after March 1st, add 1. Here, although 1984 is a leap year, 12th January is before March 1st. There is thus no need to add 1 to 64. 4. As 64 is more than 56, you need to subtract 56 from 64. Thus 64 - 56 = 8. For this part of the calculation, note that since there are 28 animals, any number higher than 28 should deduct 28, and any number higher than 56 should deduct 56 from the totalto reach a number below 28. This will indicate your lunar mansion number. 5. Your Day animal is the one corresponding to the number 8 in Table 2. Knowing your day animal will instantly show you to which of the SKY constellations you belong. It will also indicate your Day of birth. In this example of someone born on 12th January 1984, your sky animal is the Unicorn and you belong to the Constellation of the Black Tortoise of the Northern skies. You belong to the constellation season of winter. Meanwhile, based on your date of birth, you are born under the Zodiac sign of the Water Boar. This indicates that your day and year have excellent compatibility being ruled by the element of Water. The Sky Unicorn enjoys a life of ease and luxury and is blessed with the power of insight. The outlook for this person will be especially fruitful and lucky during the years of the Boar's allies and especially during the years of the Tiger, the Boar's secret friend. This is because the Sky Unicorn has a natural affinity with the Earth Tiger.

The family of the Green Dragon rules the lunar mansions of the Eastern skies and they comprise the Sky Salamander, the Sky Dragon, the Sky Beaver, the Sky Rabbit, the Sky Fox, the Sky Tiger and the Sky Leopard. Those born on Days that belong to the Dragon are often endowed with great charisma. If you are any one of these seven animals, you will find that professions requiring you to be in the public eye will benefit you greatly.


You are generally creative and innovative, possess an instinctive confidence and will also have the ability to turn on the charm. Sky Rabbits make excellent investment counselors, while the Sky Foxes symbolize the heart of the Dragon. If you are born on a Monday falling into this category, you are destined to rise to the very top of any artistic endeavour, be it as singer, composer or artist. Three of today's more well known Sky Foxes are Andrew Lloyd Webber, Cliff Richard and Andy Warhol, all artists who made their mark in the public eye. Knowing your Day animal open the doorways to additional analyses of fortunes in any given year and in the 2011 Fortune and Feng Shui books on the 12 animal signs, we are planning to include this additional dimension of analysis for the following year.


The family of the Black Tortoise rules the lunar mansions of the Northern skies and they comprise the Unicorn, the Sky Ox, the Bat, the Sky Rat, the Swallow, the Sky Pig and the Porcupine. The animals in this family are assured of a good living, usually with more than a fabulous roof over their heads. The Tortoise offers intrinsic protection each time they encounter difficulty. Of the seven, it is the Unicorn that is blessed with the greatest insights and the Sky Pig that has the best life. The Bat is intrinsically lucky - it's very name and symbol stands for abundance, but those affected by this influence have the propensity to succumb to depression and indecision. The Sky Porcupine enjoys financial success, while the Swallow has the luck to soar to high political office. The Sky Rat meanwhile possesses great ambition and determination. Of the seven in this grouping, Sky Rats are the most likely to succeed being the cleverest and most astute.

The family of the White Tiger rules the lunar mansions of the Western skies and they comprise the Sky Wolf, the Sky Dog, the Pheasant, the Sky Rooster, the Raven, the Sky Monkey and the Sky Ape. These are the natural protectors and Guardians of the skies, with the Sky Wolf and the Sky Dog most adept at guarding their treasures.

The Pheasant enjoys a good life filled with beautiful possessions, while the Sky Rooster proudly oversees a storehouse of jewels. People born on this Day are often vigilant and alert. It is not easy to fool them. The Raven is the hunter in this pack and they are often successful in bringing home the game! So there are many excuses and occasions for celebrations. The Sky Monkey and the Sky Ape symbolize the spirit of the Sky guardians most intensively. The Ape is especially careful being blessed with a pronounced sense of responsibility. The Sky Ape is capable of great insights as well. Famous Sky Apes include Steven Spielberg and Britney Spears.

The family of the Crimson Phoenix rules the lunar mansions of the Southern skies and they comprise the Sky Anteater, the Sky Sheep, the Sky Antler, the Sky Horse, the Sky Deer, the Sky Snake and the Sky Worm. These animals of the Southern skies are said to possess hidden supernatural powers that make them irresistible and attractive. Some, like the Sky Sheep and the Sky Antler, can even enjoy clairvoyant capabilities, which get enhanced as they grow older.  In their relationship with others, they tend to be subdued and calm on the outside, but inside they can possess hidden fires that have the propensity to roar into searing flames. Nevertheless, they are always in control of their emotions. The Sky Deer is the most generous, while the Sky Snake signifies the wings of the Phoenix - symbolizing imperial authority over others. This is a person who will never accept being second; its life is one of much personal advancement and achievement. The humble Sky Worm minds its own business, softly and steadily advancing, yet rarely if ever attracting the ire or the jealousy of others. Notable Sky Worm personalities include Rupert Murdoch, Jimmy Carter and Robert Redford.

The 28 animal signs of the month are also known as the lunar mansions, and one's Animal Day is sometimes described also as one's Moon day. Understanding these lunar mansions is the key to pinpointing the exact best days for moving ahead on vital matters that affect one's life in transformational ways. It is a little known aspect of time dimension feng shui, but its input into time analysis is often quite insightful.

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The following article is taken from the "Feng Shui World (March/April 2010)". To subscribe, please click here.