Lunar New Year Reading

Happy Lunar New Year!

What makes the Lunar New Year different from the Western New Year? The Lunar New Year is a Chinese holiday based on a lunisolar calendar. The lunisolar calendar is based on astronomical observations or the sun’s placement and the moon’s phases, as opposed to the Gregorian calendar. The Chinese primarily use the Gregorian calendar, but they still refer to the lunisolar calendar for special holidays.

This year the date falls on January 22nd, 2023. Unlike Western astrology, which cycles through 12 zodiac signs within a year, Eastern astrology dedicates one Zodiac animal to a year. The Chinese system is further specialized into a stem branch system, working with the yin and yang (female and male) principle of each of the five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. On January 22nd, we begin the Yin Water Rabbit cycle, also known as “the Year of the Black Rabbit.” The black rabbit represents sensitivity, intuition, and a sense of inner peace. 

Some say the Lunar New Year is a winter solstice celebration, meant to chase away the darkness with fireworks, lanterns, and candles. According to a legend dating back thousands of years, a terrible beast called Nian was believed to feast on human flesh on New Year’s Day. In addition to fire, he feared the color red and loud noises. Fireworks and red paper decorations were used to scare him away. 

Ten days before the Lunar New Year, families clean their homes to allow good luck to enter. Once the Lunar New Year begins, festivities continue for two weeks. For those of us who do not celebrate the holiday, perhaps we can still take inspiration from this special occasion and clean our homes. This will chase out negative and stagnant energy, and allow positive energy and good fortune to enter. The Lunar New Year is also our second chance to get a start on the new year. Perhaps we burned ourselves out by going too hard on our new year goal. Is there a way we can slow the process down, while still honoring our long term goals? 

Lunar New Year Reading

A Note: As a Western tarot reader, I have chosen to read with the Starman Tarot Deck, in honor of the recent anniversary of David Bowie’s birth and death. For an authentic Chinese Lunar New Year reading, I’d highly recommend looking into getting an I Ching reading.

The Wheel (reversed)

Song: Changes - David Bowie

The Wheel appears to remind us that all is in a state of ebb and flow. All things are an expression of universe consciousness; it is only the form that changes. This includes the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. It also represents our personality cycling through various facets and personas–all the things that we imagine ourselves to be on our road to self discovery. We cycle through these different representations of ourselves not just in the present but also across time—who we once were, who we might have been and who we will become. We see ourselves and our lives going through a series of evolutions and changes–but deep down there is an unchanging, eternal center of being. We struggle when we try to control, instead of meeting the present with no judgment, nowhere to be, and nothing to do. We can consider ourselves as the character on a stage, subject to a play for which we do not have the script; or we can shift perspectives to the stage in which the play takes place. 

The Wheel also reminds us not to be overly attached to the outcome of our fortune. That which seems like a wonderful opportunity, for example a new job or house, may not turn out to be as amazing as we thought it would. Contrary wise, an illness that might seem unfortunate could lead to a revelation about life or a remarkable dream that we can use as the foundation of our next big creative project.

In a reversed position, the Wheel is asking us to slow down and put any new projects on hold. We need to practice introspection and look at our life patterns, which might get us blocked or caught in another cycle that we could avoid. Is our next project truly deserving of all our efforts, passions, and life force? Or will we end up back where we started, as a more burned out version of ourselves? Sometimes we must accept the inevitable and ride the wave. Sometimes the only way out is through. 

Remember too that there is value in the yin (female) principle; stillness, introspection, receptive energy. All too often in a Western society we are taught in terms of opposing polarities and binaries; that light is preferable to dark, masculine to feminine, etc. But the spirit of the Wheel is best understood with an Eastern lens. Yin and Yang are both complementary and necessary components of life. One cannot exist without the other. 

Monthly Forecast March

Hi everyone,

I've pulled a new monthly forecast for the month of March, 2022. This is a general energetic reading that speaks to all of us in ways that we can reflect on.

The reading this month suggests that the overall energy is cyclical, so for this month I would suggest focusing on a different facet of life for each week of the month. What I mean by this is that in March we are being asked to break our focus of the various aspects of our lives into smaller sections of time and so to embrace smaller "cycles." You could even think of these as mini moon cycles.

For example if we are preparing a large dinner party and we have five dishes we would like to serve--we are being asked to prepare and finish one dish at a time in an intentional way. That way we can be confident that each dish will be prepared with our fullest attention and at the highest quality 

Energy this Month-

Queen of Cups

Focus: all month

The Queen of Cups is the embodiment of the emotional aspect of the Divine Feminine. In March we are being called on to prioritize our emotional self, that which our intuition and creativity calls us to do, above all else. We are being asked to honor that which would be most satisfying to our psyche and our soul, and to work primarily in the shamanic realm in order to get there. This is the month to nurture our dreams, to dream journal, and to honor the spiritual. We feel grounded in the cyclical--the cyclical being a sign of the progression of time, of progression in our lives, and of our personal development. Our actions in the external realm take on a supporting role to our working within the spiritual. We also feel grounded and in our personal power when we have the confidence to set and communicate our boundaries, limits, without the need to justify them. Take courage (coeur-the heart) that you will not go wrong when you move from the heart space.

Love-

Six of Wands

Focus: March 1st-March 6th

(New Moon March 2nd)

The first "mini cycle" within the month will be in the Wands or Fire category. We start off our new moon energy early into the month (on March 2nd) with the six of wands. It seems we can reach our highest potential this month by channeling our fire and passion into what we want our Love to look like this month. What fires me up in a partner and what would be most exciting and motivating to pursue this month in regards to said partnership? What group events, activities, or goals could both of our support networks get in on (friends, family, etc.) can I imagine that would make me even more excited about this partnership? Visualize everything that motivates you in a partnership, including bigger life path goals, and then set up some events on your calendar this month that would support this vision.

After the first week, set this focus aside and trust what you have set up to support fire in a relationship.

Money-

Reverse 9 of cups

Focus: March 7th-March 13th

For the next "mini cycle" we are being asked to focus on where in our money acquisition process/financial state are we feeling drained or not emotionally tended to? Where are we out of alignment? This is the time to accept, and then release, any financial aspects of our lives where we have not been setting ourselves up for emotional and intuitive success. This is a good time to process anything that has not been serving our highest good--and to remind ourselves that we are not isolated in this experience. This is a good time to reach out to others who may be going through something similar.

After the second week, set these concerns aside and trust what you have done to process your financial experience and move on to the next focal point.

Work-

Reverse Moon

Focus: March 14th-March 20th

(Full Moon March 18th)

A critical point in our lives in how we see career is coming up. We really want to face our shadow within our career at this time rather than sweep it under the rug or push it below the surface. The reason for this is that if we do, it will make itself known in a roundabout way regardless, and in a way that might be more harmful than helpful to ourselves. To start the week, it would be good to pay attention to our dreams and to any messages our subconscious psyche may want to relay to us. Anything that we have been compartmentalizing, now is the time to draw it out. We have an opportunity to do a Full Moon ritual and release what is no longer serving us. This will give us the opportunity to live our highest, most authentic good, and to be of best service.

After the Full Moon and the Spring Equinox, release and allow.

Health-

Hierophant

Focus: March 21st- March 27th

For those of us who have been compelled to seek out a teacher, mentor, or practitioner of Holistic health but haven't come around to it yet--now is a good time to do so. This month we are attracting a very grounding, guiding energy when it comes to navigating our mental and holistic health. For those of us who have been called to teach but haven't made the first (or next step). take this as a sign of encouragement. A lot of positive lessons will come about this month regarding taking care of and maintaining our health among teachers and peers. Now is also a good time to enroll in any holistic courses or groups--or to lead one.

After this week, rest assured in being guided in a positive direction for health.

Spirit-

Temperance

Focus: March 28th-March 31st

We are embodying a big breakthrough for spirit this month, and we are encouraged at the end of the month to reflect on this. Throughout the month, we've been called to ground ourselves and find balance between our intuitive callings and our external actions that we have enacted as a result. We have come to a new realization of how to balance these two energies--the divine masculine and the divine feminine, as a being that can equally embody the healthy balance of both in favor of our highest good. We are aligning with our divine aspect and our highest self, and being encouraged to ground in that and to work from this space. We support ourselves best when we work from this loving heart space that allows us to be enough and that works to help us shine in our highest light.

Zoe