Year of The Water Rabbit

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Saturday, 28 January 2023

Written by Gaela Morrison

2023 – Year of the Yin Water Rabbit

We celebrate and prepare for the Chinese New Year on the second new moon following Winter Solstice. This year it falls on January 22. The 4th zodiac sign of the lunar cycle, Rabbit fully emerges on February 4th.

The last Water Rabbit was 1963. We acknowledge the tumultuous Water Tiger for all his gifts and challenges this past year, and with joy, I wave goodbye as he retreats to the forest!

This year will certainly have its challenges, but it will feel like a big exhale for many of us. There is a need to rest and rejuvenate, that Tiger was exhausting.

Bringing a much lighter, sweeter and more expansive energy, Rabbit offers us more hope and some lucky breaks.

Hallelujah! Rabbit is an alchemist and shaman who derives its essence from the moon – a year for magic and creativity.

Her charm and speed attract abundance, partnerships, fertility and success.

Last year was Yang Water, and we had the Yang of Tiger – fast paced relentless action. This year we have Yin Water, and the gentle Yin of Rabbit – a much more feminine energy, giving us a much-needed respite to catch our breath. That being said, we still have a strong forward momentum and a very active element. A new field of energy with a higher frequency is being introduced that may take awhile to adjust to. A significant shift which will be here for years to come that should not be underestimated! Rabbit energy relates to the East direction and the month of March, a time of expansive growth and the fullness of Spring where nature is bursting forth with new life energy. It’s a time of new beginnings, prospering and thriving.

The Thunder Trigram, representing ‘thunder shaking the ground’ is the home of Rabbit. It’s shaking the barriers to our authentic selves and propelling us forward. This is a year to get clarity and to become fully engaged with our highest purpose!

To help navigate the energetics of the year, I’ll address the personality of the Rabbit year, this year’s elements of Wood and Water and the Yin aspect.

RABBIT: The innate element of Rabbit is YIN WOOD. They have a compassionate personality and are peaceful, adaptable and considerate. Their cautious and perceptive nature gives them diplomatic ability and great strategic skills. It’s a year to be very discerning about our choices as well as right timing and smart planning. This is a great year to put a plan into action or start a new venture, once we start adjusting to the new and very different energy coming in. Because Rabbits are curious and quick witted, we may see some clever and innovative solutions to long time concerns, particularly in the fields of health, medicine and environmental issues. The Rabbit is an alchemist and healer.

Rabbits are fast but also take time to rest and retreat to restore their energy. Balancing action and rest, knowing when to act or retreat is necessary in navigating the year and helping us reach our goals. Bunnies are both quick and agile, slow and gentle. Rabbits being known for their wisdom, intuition and sensitivity, more intuitive and mystical occupations and practices will be favored this year. A big focus will also be on family, community, security and the home.

This bunny may look sweet but she’s got bite. We could see over the top ambition, competition, over protectiveness, and secrecy gone bad. Bunnies don’t like to be pushed around, are mostly peace loving and avoid conflict. We’ll see more peace but not an end to conflict. We could see more posturing this year politically, conflicts can turn more secretive and may play out in more undercover covert ops, assassinations, etc. Ugh.

Fertility is a theme, a good year to have a baby as well as pursue highly creative and artistic endeavors. We could see brilliant creations in entertainment, art, music and cultural developments. Beauty and romance also top the list for Rabbit. The year starts slow with baby bunny but it matures as year goes on and gets stronger as it moves forward through the year.

WATER flows around obstacles and accepts changes, it has endurance and supports the expansive energy of the year. It gives us the ability to trust and to wait for the right moment to take action. Water has a mystical energy and allows us to focus on magical aspects of life. Water is about connecting with others, encouraging us to cultivate our spiritual family, our tribe. It promotes working together with others and supporting each other and ourselves to keep to our true path. Emotions will again run high – surges of fear, doubt and willfulness. Kidney is the organ. Grounding to the earth daily is a great way to manage emotion.

The Water element is related to the mysterious and will help to enhance psychic ability and intuition. Aligned will, courage, wisdom are attributes of Water and more available this year.

WOOD element of Rabbit is fed by the element of Water in the productive cycle, making Wood qualities very strong. Wood represents Nature. It symbolizes the thrust of the tree that shoots upward moving with determination, and the downward push of roots going deep into the soil. It is progressive movement toward our future as well as the ability to maintain integrity though storm winds of growth and transformation.

Wood brings vision and connects us to the magic of life and finding our true path. Vision that allows us to create best strategies to make wise decisions and let go of old outdated belief systems that no longer serve us. Wood relates to dreams and imagination; confidence, assertiveness and authenticity; determination, direct communication, decision making and accomplishing goals; change, growth and breaking new ground. Justice and ethics are a Wood attribute – it will be up big time this year. Anger is the emotion of Wood; Liver is the organ.

YIN represents the Feminine, Mother Earth, nurturing, inner stillness, rest, moon, night, etc., and a strong spiritual aspect. Yin Water is gentleness as opposed to yang water of last year’s tsunami. The Yin helps to balance the very active Wood and harmonize the year. It allows us to quiet the mind and helps us create a new track to gift our personal medicine to the world. The Yin Water feeds our roots giving us wisdom to know our true selves.

A very feminine year, we may see much support for women in business and work that supports nature and trees. A good year for deepening new and old relationships of any kind, a likely very compassionate as well as a passionate year. Next year is again gangbusters yang, intense and super high energy – Year of the Wood Dragon. It’s vitally important to take advantage of the opportunity for healing, rejuvenation, recovery and gaining clarity to prepare for 2024!

Health: Kidneys need extra rest with all the forward growth movement. Lying down is medicine for the kidneys so cultivate napping! Take care of Liver (Wood) by not overindulging in food and drink, do liver cleanses. Rabbit is related to Spring, so eating lighter and lots of greens is nourishing and better for digestion. Following your dreams is tonic for the liver. 2023 is largely about the balance between action and rest. Inner work, meditation, particularly breathing exercises, spiritual practices, acupuncture, Chi Gong and other healing modalities will all contribute to health and staying in balance. The harmonization we learn from Rabbit will help us navigate the fast forward movement of the next several years. Heads up – 2026 is Fire Horse, double Fire! We would be wise to get our act together and be at the ready.

Business: New ventures, work focusing on compassion, nature, health care, forestry, human rights. We can count on seeing more protests. Travel is supported, businesses run by women, and construction. It’s time to discover our purpose and get into work that nourishes our soul. More extreme surprising weather. Earthquakes, windstorms, flooding, landslides, sinkholes. Oh boy.

Reigning star of the chart in Feng Shui is 4, the Star of Love. It has to do with Romance, Beauty, education, writing and the arts. The best way to use the energy of the Rabbit with the 4 Star is to bring more beauty, creativity and enjoyment to your world and to others.

Summary and Suggestions for Navigating the Water Rabbit year:

Be aware of the new expansive energy coming in!
Immerse in beauty of nature often.
A year for new beginnings and starting new ventures.
Cultivate compassion and benevolence, be the blessing.
Honor and practice developing your intuition.
Breath work, meditation, and spiritual practices daily.
Balance action with rest, napping, what recharges you.
Focus on daily grounding to balance high emotional aspect of the year Be creative, make art, surround yourself with beauty.
Let go of old belief systems and clear trauma.
Cultivate spiritual family/tribe/community.
Embrace big dreams, what is your vision?
Get clear on highest purpose, offer your authentic medicine, your gifts. Be around water, swim, take baths.
Good nutrition, acupuncture, strengthen immune system.
Adequate sleep and time for dreaming.
Take care of liver, kidneys, digestion.
Be flexible, adaptable, stay in your own lane.
Prepare for Dragon and Horse years.

Stay open to the Magic. Be Courageous! “Look at yourself clearly and dare to see yourself realistically, especially to see your gifts and talents. Be firm with the negative voices in your head that criticize and demean. Learn to listen to the wisdom of the body and the heart rather than acting solely out of will. Align with truth and bring the strength of your will into the service of a higher purpose: the manifestation of personal destiny that is our mandate from heaven.” Lorie Dechar; The Five Spirits

Numerology of 2023 – #7 7 is the number of wisdom, learning and spiritual growth, the number of the seeker. At its best, the 7 is a highly intelligent romantic dreamer with great imagination.

It correlates with sudden insights, higher perspectives and healing of the crown chakra, the place where the body and spirit connect. 7 is about courage which is also a Rabbit attribute. For more on numerology of 2023 from the brilliant Hans Decoz read here

Wishing you all a purposeful, prosperous, rejuvenating and inspiring year! Big Blessings,

Gaela

Announcements:
I’m offering 2 pilgrimages to the Sacred Places of Magical Ireland in 2023. May is full but I am currently planning one in September.
I’ll be offering courses in Geomancy this year!
This time of the new year’s energies entering is a most powerful time for a geomancy or Feng Shui consult or update, and /or a space clearing.
Email me if interested in any of the above –
Gaela Morrison ForcesofNatureDesign.com Geomancy and Feng Shui Travel to Sacred Places

* Image is ‘Full Moon with White Rabbit’ by Ohana Koson, Japanese woodblock print circa 1920

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José Stevens PhD is an international lecturer, corporate team builder and organizational coach, consultant and trainer. A psychologist, licensed clinical social worker and author of more than twenty books and numerous articles, he is also co-editor for A Journal of Contemporary Shamanism and a board member of the Society for Shamanic Practitioners. He is the founder, with his wife Lena, of the Power Path School of Shamanism and The Center for Shamanic Education and Exchange, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating youth in indigenous cultures. He has completed a ten-year apprenticeship with a Huichol Maracame in Mexico and has studied with the Shipibos of the Amazon and the Paqos of the Andes for the last thirty years.

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