Annual Afflictions in Feng Shui: A Complete Guide to Protecting Your Home
In Feng Shui, your home is not a static environment. The energy within your space is alive and constantly shifting. While the permanent energy chart of your home (based on its construction date and facing direction) remains stable, there are dynamic forces that change their position every solar year. These are known as the Annual Afflictions.
Ignorance of these afflictions is one of the most common causes of “sudden bad luck,” unexpected accidents, or financial loss—often triggered by simply digging a hole in the wrong sector or rearranging furniture at the wrong time.
This guide will explain what the Annual Afflictions are, why they matter, and how to identify them on your floor plan to keep your household safe.
What Are Annual Afflictions?
Annual Afflictions are specific directional energies that are considered volatile or negative for a specific year. They are calculated based on the rotation of the Earth around the Sun and the position of Jupiter (the Grand Duke).
There are four major afflictions you must be aware of every year:
- Tai Sui (The Grand Duke Jupiter)
- Sui Po (The Year Breaker)
- San Sha (The Three Killings)
- The 5 Yellow (Wu Wang)
Why Do They Matter?
The golden rule of Annual Afflictions is “Do Not Disturb.”
When these sectors are quiet, they are generally harmless. However, if you activate them through:
- Renovation: Drilling floors, knocking down walls, or digging ground.
- Loud Noise: Slamming doors, loud music, or heavy machinery.
- Active Objects: Placing TVs, fans, or water features.
…you risk triggering the negative effects associated with that specific affliction.
The Four Major Afflictions Explained
1. Tai Sui (The Grand Duke Jupiter)
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Nature: The ruler of the year. It occupies the 15-degree mountain corresponding to the year’s Zodiac animal (e.g., in the Year of the Snake, Tai Sui is in the Southeast).
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The Risk: Offending Tai Sui can bring legal problems, conflicts with authority figures, and general obstacles.
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The Rule:
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Do not face Tai Sui: It is better to have Tai Sui behind you for support. Facing him is considered confrontational.
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Do not dig: Avoid renovation in this sector at all costs.
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2. Sui Po (The Year Breaker)
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Nature: Located directly opposite Tai Sui (180 degrees away). If Tai Sui is the King, Sui Po is the rebel clashing with the King.
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The Risk: This sector is extremely volatile. Disturbing it can lead to immediate and serious health issues or financial collapse.
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The Rule: Treat this area with even more caution than Tai Sui. Keep it quiet and dimly lit.
3. San Sha (The Three Killings)
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Nature: A combination of three negative energies: Robbery Sha (financial loss), Calamity Sha (illness/injury), and Annual Sha (obstacles/delays). It covers a wider area (90 degrees) depending on the year’s element combination.
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The Risk: Theft, accidents, and persistent setbacks.
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The Rule: Do not sit with your back to the Three Killings. Unlike Tai Sui, you should face the Three Killings to confront and control them. Being attacked from behind is where the danger lies.
The 5 Yellow (Wu Wang)
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Nature: This is not an earthly direction but a Flying Star (Star #5). It is considered the most malicious of the 9 stars, associated with the Earth element.
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The Risk: Catastrophic misfortune, serious illness, and major accidents.
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The Rule: The most effective cure is the Metal element (to exhaust the Earth). Traditional cures include a 6-coin string or a Salt Water Cure. Avoid Fire element (red colors, candles) in this sector, as Fire feeds the Earth of the 5 Yellow.
How to Locate Afflictions in Your Home
Knowing that “Tai Sui is in the Southeast” is often not precise enough. In Feng Shui, accuracy is key. The compass is divided into 24 Mountains (15-degree sub-sectors).
For example, the “South” is actually divided into South-1, South-2, and South-3.
- If Tai Sui is in South-2 (The Horse), you might be safe renovating in South-1 or South-3, even though they are all “South.”
Using a Standard Compass vs. The Baguame Tool
Using a standard hiking compass or phone app can be risky due to magnetic interference in modern buildings. Furthermore, manually superimposing a 24-mountain template onto a floor plan is prone to error.
To ensure safety:
- Use a reliable floor plan.
- Determine the precise Facing Direction of your building.
- Map the 24 Mountains.
The easiest way: Use our Interactive Feng Shui Calculator. Simply upload your floor plan, set your facing direction, and toggle the “Annual Afflictions” layer. The tool will visually highlight exactly which corners of your room are “Red Zones” for the current year.
Summary of Rules for Any Year
| Affliction | Do Not Dig/Renovate? | Sitting Rule |
| Tai Sui | YES (Strictly Forbidden) | Sit with Back to it. Do not Face. |
| Sui Po | YES (Strictly Forbidden) | Avoid sitting here entirely if possible. |
| San Sha | YES | Face it. Do not sit with Back to it. |
| 5 Yellow | YES | Keep quiet. Use Metal cures. |
What If You Must Renovate?
If you absolutely must perform maintenance in an afflicted sector (e.g., a leaking pipe in the 5 Yellow sector), you must select a Safe Date (Ze Ri) to start the work. This requires advanced calculation to find a specific day and hour where positive energies temporarily override the negative ones.
However, for general DIY and furniture rearrangement, simply avoiding these sectors is the best prevention.
Check the current year’s positions now using the Baguame Map Generator to ensure your home remains a sanctuary of peace and prosperity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Each affliction occupies a specific compass sector for the year, so you first confirm your home’s facing and mounting directions, then locate that sector on a floor plan. The Annual Afflictions calculator and the Baguame Bagua Map overlay the current-year positions directly onto your plan, so you can see Tai Sui, Sui Po, San Sha and the 5 Yellow in each room at a glance.
Four major afflictions shift annually: Tai Sui (Grand Duke), Sui Po (Year Breaker), San Sha (Three Killings) and the 5 Yellow (Wu Wang). Unlike your home’s permanent natal chart — which is fixed by its construction date and facing — these four travel around the compass each solar year and must be re-checked annually.
Tai Sui is the Grand Duke, a commanding presence whose sector should be respected but not provoked (avoid digging or renovations there). The 5 Yellow (Wu Wang) is regarded as the most malignant energy of the year, and its sector must be kept as quiet as possible with Metal cures. Both are serious, but the 5 Yellow is considered the more potent and damaging of the two.
In general, avoid heavy construction, digging, and major disruption in an afflicted sector for the year. If you absolutely must (for example, a leaking pipe in the 5 Yellow sector), select a Safe Date (Ze Ri) — a specific day and hour when positive energies temporarily override the negative one. For simple DIY and furniture rearrangement, simply avoiding the sector is the best prevention.
No. They shift at the start of the Chinese solar year — around Li Chun in early February — not on January 1st. Because Feng Shui works with the solar (not lunar) calendar, the new affliction positions take effect at the solar year boundary each year, so it is safest to update your annual chart at that point.
The 5 Yellow sits in the South sector (Li Palace) for the year 2026. Confirm its exact placement against your own floor plan and home’s facing with the Annual Afflictions calculator, since the precise room it falls in depends on your property’s orientation.
Your natal (founding) chart is permanent — it is set once by the home’s construction date and facing direction and never changes. Annual afflictions are temporary — they migrate to a new sector every solar year. Both matter: the natal chart is your home’s fixed energetic DNA, while the annual afflictions tell you where to be cautious this particular year.