It's a Lunar New Year yet again!
The tip is to try a little tenderness as the ethereal Water Rabbit arrives to restore us to serenity. The Lunar New Year's Eve is celebrated during the annual Aquarius New Moon, which is the final day of each year. Note: The timing is based on the lunisolar calendar, not the Gregorian calendar, which is why Lunar New Years shift dates annually. In 2023, Lunar NYE—and the Aquarius New Moon—arrive on January 21 and New Year’s Day is January 22.
The Chinese zodiac is divided into five key elements of nature, or Wu Xing: wood, water, metal, fire and earth. Each lunar year is governed by a different element. A year ending in 2 or 3 is ruled by the water element, such as 2023’s Year of the Rabbit.
Yin in its expression, water brings the energy of deep emotion, creativity, fluidity and fluctuation. Ideally, these are years meant for diving deep, examining feelings and shapeshifting. However, depending on the ruling animal, water can flow hot, cold, icy or steamy.
Last year’s Water Tiger aroused feelings that were reactive and revolutionary. It was anything but calm! In our personal lives, many of us bear battle scars from standing up for our principles with neighbors, family and once-close friends. It was indeed the Tiger’s jungle out there.
While these ideological wars aren’t going to dissipate overnight, the shift on January 22 will be palpable. Think about it:
We are flipping from the ultimate predator (Tiger) to the ultimate prey (Rabbit). Suddenly, our sense of safety will be tantamount. Survival instincts: activated!
While Tiger is solitary, Rabbit is social and communal. The emotional dam may break in 2023, bringing an outpouring of empathy. We could drown in feelings of sorrow or victimhood. Or we may just get so overwhelmed that we need trusted allies to pull us out of a hole. That’s good reason to huddle with a support network—or to actively go develop one.
To mitigate our overwhelming feelings, we run a high risk of escaping into addictive vices during Water Rabbit years. Yet these Band-Aids only send us plummeting further down the wrong kind of rabbit holes. There’s nothing wrong with self-soothing but opt for healthy means of release.
The Rabbit is ruled by spiritual Neptune and shares traits to the Western zodiac sign of Pisces, the sign that rules illusions, escape, boundlessness and profound visualization. Reality may be a fluid concept in 2023, one we may wish to scurry away from as often as possible. But a wise use of Rabbit’s Piscean-style energy would be to work on your subconscious mind.
Guided meditation, binaural beats, hypnotherapy and sleep sanctification. Keep those blue-light-emitting devices out of the bedroom, turn on the soothing music (instead of an agitating streaming series) and pipe in calming scents from an aromatherapy diffuser. Try natural supplements like magnesium or various adaptogenic mushrooms before tucking in.
Dreams will be vivid during the Water Rabbit Year, so do what you can to make them sweet.
The Water Rabbit can open up more flow: financially, creatively and spiritually. Rabbits are abundant creatures, capable of bearing seven “kits” in five litters every year. Metaphorically, 2023 is a year that’s fertile in possibility. Rather than fall prey to fear, Rabbit years are powerful times for healing and visualization.
As we enter further into 2023, we are ready for another dream that, ironically, wakes us up. As much as we might want to tune out, ignore the news and focus on what’s convenient, that sort of escapism could be detrimental to our existence as a species. Manifestation is a powerful tool during the Water Rabbit year, but not if we confuse it with blithe “positive thinking.”
Problems must be addressed while we hold the vision of a better, brighter future. It’s a paradox, but our future as a species might just depend on it. Fortunately, Rabbit years give us great survival instincts. Let’s hop to it! <3
xoxo,
Kiti
