How the monthly stars move
The feng shui month starts at one of the twelve "jie" solar terms, between the 4th and 8th of each Western month — the Tiger month begins with the year at the start of spring. In each month a different star sits in the centre and the other eight follow the same Lo Shu path as the annual stars.
The centre star of the first month depends on the year's animal: 8 in Rat, Rabbit, Horse and Rooster years; 5 in Ox, Dragon, Goat and Dog years; 2 in Tiger, Snake, Monkey and Pig years. After that it counts down by one each month.
Reading month over year
Practitioners pay most attention when a difficult monthly star lands on a difficult annual star — above all the monthly 5 or 2 meeting the annual 5 or 2. Those months are traditionally the ones to avoid starting work in that sector. The chart above flags those meetings.
2027 month by month
| Month | Starts (CST) | Centre star | Monthly Five Yellow | Monthly Two Black |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tiger | 4 Feb 2027, 09:46 | 5 | Centre | Southwest |
| Rabbit | 6 Mar 2027, 03:39 | 4 | Northwest | East |
| Dragon | 5 Apr 2027, 08:17 | 3 | West | Southeast |
| Snake | 6 May 2027, 01:25 | 2 | Northeast | Centre |
| Horse | 6 Jun 2027, 05:25 | 1 | South | Northwest |
| Goat | 7 Jul 2027, 15:37 | 9 | North | West |
| Monkey | 8 Aug 2027, 01:26 | 8 | Southwest | Northeast |
| Rooster | 8 Sep 2027, 04:28 | 7 | East | South |
| Dog | 8 Oct 2027, 20:17 | 6 | Southeast | North |
| Pig | 7 Nov 2027, 23:38 | 5 | Centre | Southwest |
| Rat | 7 Dec 2027, 16:37 | 4 | Northwest | East |
| Ox | 6 Jan 2028, 03:54 | 3 | West | Southeast |
In 2027 the annual Five Yellow is in the North and the annual Two Black in the West, so months whose Five Yellow or Two Black falls in those sectors are the ones traditionally treated with most care there.
Questions
Does the month change on the 1st?
No. It changes at the solar term — for example, the Dog month of 2026 began on 8 October, so a date on 3 October still belongs to the Rooster month.
Are the monthly stars as important as the annual ones?
They're usually treated as weaker and shorter-lived. They matter most for timing — choosing which month to start a renovation, for example.