The Laughter of the Universe - Qì in the Year of the Yáng Wood Dragon, Jiǎ Chén, 甲辰 - Year 2024/4722

道 – Dào/View

*湯之問棘也是已。窮髮之北，有冥海者，天池也。有魚焉，其廣數千里，未有知其脩，其名為鯤。有鳥焉，其名為鵬，背若泰山，翼若垂天之雲，摶扶搖羊角而上者九萬里，絕雲氣，負青天，然後圖南，且適南冥也。斥鴳笑之曰：「彼且奚適也？我騰躍而上，不過數仞而下，翱翔蓬蒿之間，此亦飛之至也。而彼且奚適也？」此小大之辯也。

In the bare and barren north there is the dark and vast ocean - the Pool of Heaven. In it there is a fish, several thousand li in breadth, while no one knows its length. Its name is the kun. There is also a bird named the peng; its back is like the Tai mountain, while its wings are like clouds all round the sky. On a whirlwind it mounts upwards as on the whorls of a goat's horn for 90,000 li, till, far removed from the cloudy vapors, it bears on its back the blue sky, and then it shapes its course for the South, and proceeds to the ocean there.' A quail by the side of a marsh laughed at it, and said, 'Where is it going to? I spring up with a bound, and come down again when I have reached but a few fathoms, and then fly about among the brushwood and bushes; and this is the perfection of flying. Where is that creature going?' This shows the difference between the small and the great.*

The flight of the Wood Dragon is the primordial gesture of the Dào itself - pure play, light expanding, flowing freely in all directions.  Nature emerges in youthful and joyous participation, the full scope of life and death - fearlessly declaring itself, roaring and cavorting in unrestrained flight - the Wood Dragon flies without concern for boundaries or borders. 
 
From dark oceans, the ultimate Yīn of the Water Rabbit turns to the ultimate Yáng of the Wood Dragon - the freedom of primordial light, encompassing all possible form, wriggling, stretching in all directions, the Gate of Duality burst open - unimpeded, the Wood Dragon is the true jester, the joker, the clown, the radiant laughter of the Universe, Original Nature saturating all forms in unfathomable and endless patterns of play, the Péng Bird in flight - where does it fly? Why?

Despite the vagaries of life, despite the banal grind of samsara, this Year we must contend with a force of nature that simply doesn’t care for our smallness, our pettiness, or our crusty lack of imagination.  The Wood Dragon expands and bursts - it is rainbow of delight in rapture, the baby dragon bursting from the Cosmic Egg in search of the Heavens - it flies just to fly - it represents Yóu, 遊, the free and easy wander of Zhuangzi’s Péng Bird - a light-hearted, humorous, and carefree response to the chaotic state of the world, to worry, to seriousness, and to our obsession with controlling our circumstances. 

This Year brings the light forward again, illuminating the dark.  This light in the form of the Dragon is bright Yáng Wood, like a flash bulb in a dark room.  In times of great darkness, before the dawn, in the depths of the Winter Solstice, we might idealize the light and curse the dark.  We might imagine the light and dark enemies.  We might imagine the light superior, as it brings revelation.  But we must remember they are Yīnyáng, mutually interdependent.  The light that appears in the dawn is gentle and its illumination soft.  Too much light becomes pollution and obscures the Stars.  Too much light obscures the small, the fine, the subtle.  

​The Wood Dragon fills us with purpose, with lightness and laughter, elevating us to the Heavens.  Its light is refreshing but can become a danger if it becomes a weapon to defeat the dark.  This is our danger; this is our contemplation.  The light this Year is so bright we no longer see the womb of darkness that contains and births it.  A light too bright can obscure the rainbow and make us think our light is the only light.  
This year we must welcome the light but bring some shades, lol.  Listen to the Laughter of the Universe, of the cavorting Dragon, for this laughter is so big, it challenges our sanity and makes all our pettiness seem small.  But do not forget the Stars or the rainbow of light that makes the manifest world beautiful.  This Year, we are all Dragons, so play in the light but remember - it is only a flash.       

 *Zhuāngzi, chapter 1, translation - James Legge (1891), The Texts of Taoism, in Sacred Books of the East, vols. XXXIX, XL, Oxford: Oxford University Press.        

Jiǎ Chén, 甲辰, Year of the Yáng Wood Dragon

As of Saturday, February 10th, we officially move into Jiǎ Chén, 甲辰, the Year of the Yáng Wood Dragon, the Laughing Dragon.  As always, I must remind you that Astrology is not Fortunetelling - we are not here to predict but to play, especially in the case of the Wood Dragon - an eternally playful jester.  I present the following symbols as a playful mirror - these are my reflections, but I am not an expert, prophet, or soothsayer.  It is up to you to study these symbols, reflect, and apply them to your own life.  So take my “commentary” with a grain of salt. 

But before we fly into the wild of the Wood Dragon, I have some great news!  For all those who have not yet heard, I recently signed a book deal with Shambala Publications to author a book on Polestar Astrology!  This will be a complete guide to the tradition as I have come to digest it from the legacy teachings of Liu Ming and from my own practice.  In it, I will offer everything I have learned on how to follow Polestar Astrology as a spiritual path.  I am aiming to have the manuscript finished by my next birthday, September 23rd, 2024, and it should be published sometime in 2025!  So stay tuned for more details.

Water Rabbit Reflections and Transition ​

As we emerge from the deep and watery depths of the Yīn Water Rabbit, we have a lot to reflect on.  It has been a strange year indeed.  As always, I encourage you to re-read my blog on last year and reflect…how’d it go?  We are each predisposed because of our Character and Fate to digest the Year differently, so experience will vary widely, but I am deeply curious about your experience of the Water Rabbit and how it unfolded for you…so please share!

As I suggested, the past two years were a potent Yīnyáng pair - Water in the form of the Tiger and Rabbit, predator and prey - a journey of inner alchemy through the bardoes of dying and death, Yáng Water, in the form of the Tiger as the tempest of dying, and Yīn Water, in the form of the Rabbit as the state of being dead, which is paradoxically full of strange echoes of life that we call Guǐ, 鬼, ghosts.  

The Water Rabbit represented Yīn Wood - innocence, spontaneity, flexibility, renewal, humility, gentleness, sensitivity, subordination, and potentiality, within Yīn Water - the most mysterious and complete resolution - darkness, death, return, completion, memory, synthesis, and fluidity.  The positive key terms for the Rabbit were - gentle, quiet, peace loving, intuitive, intelligent, aesthetic, domestic, social, dependent, diverse, supportive, loving, and authoritative, and the more negative or depleted expression was - gossipy, snobby, superficial, paranoid, greedy, scattered, vain, promiscuous, opportunistic, deceptive, conservative, stubborn, and lazy.  If you put all this together, the image of the Water Rabbit was a deep dark portal, a threshold to a great liminal space, what “happens” between things, the limbo, the bardo between death and rebirth, a year of secrets, alchemy, and mystery - deeply social, deeply felt, deeply (inter)connected.  I have heard from many that this was one of the darkest years of their life, despite being peaceful.   

So take a moment, and reflect on your life over the past year - personally, professionally, socially, and so on; take a look at the world as you perceive it through the media, news, internet, and so on.  Reflect on these key terms - how have they come up for you?  How have they manifested in the world?

Personally, this Year was very Rabbity for me.  I took my own advice, dug in my heels, and stayed put.  I poured myself into my medical practice, into writing, and I “nested” to the best of my ability.  The Rabbit is considered a “Peach Blossom Star,” which means romantic relationships were big last year, and for me this came true!  I met an amazing woman and got engaged! 

My life has led me down a lot of side roads in search of home.  And while my life now is not what I imagined ten years ago, I simply can’t start over anymore.  Rabbit Year pushed me into domestication and inspired me to put down some roots.  While it has been very challenging, it has been one of the most rewarding and fruitful years of my life, and I can’t wait to start the next chapter of my life, and the Wood Dragon is a great energy to renew and initiate change.

In my previous New Year's Blog, I said that the Water Rabbit Year would be as weird as it gets, but I really had no idea how this would manifest.  While there are innumerable small examples we can point to in our everyday lives, on the public scale, two of the most profound Water Rabbit Manifestations that have blown my mind this year have most certainly been the sudden arrival of AI/Artificial Intelligence and the "whistle blower" (whistleblowing is very Rabbity) revelation of the existence of UFOs/UAPs, government programs to retrieve and reverse engineer UFOs, and the existence of extraterrestrials. 

I never thought I would listen to a congressional hearing on UFOs, but it happened. The theme here is that of "other" intelligence, intelligence being a key Rabbit term, here in the form of Artificial Intelligence (which is Alien but from Earth) and actual Alien Intelligence (i.e. from not-Earth or at least non-human); these are the most extreme Water Rabbity things I could possibly imagine but never would have predicted that they would come to the forefront of our collective discussion, even if they were lost in the ever changing news feed.  Even more Water Rabbity is the subtle way in which these phenomena will change society.  AI will absolutely change society, especially if it continues to evolve at the current rate, and we may give birth to AGI, Artificial General Intelligence, sooner than we think.  Everything AI has produced, from art and innovation to pure terror and confusion is very Rabbity. 

If the revelation of Aliens/UFOs continues, this too will vastly alter our culture, but it is likely that this will remain under wraps for quite some time, as we’ve been conditioned for years to think it's crazy.  So if you don’t believe me, there is a UAP/UFO amendment proposed to Congress in 2024 (https://www.democrats.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/uap_amendment.pdf), and if these changes are put in place, then honesty, transparency, and reparations on the nature of truth when it comes to UFOs/UAPs may actually happen, for it is pretty clear that we are not alone in the universe, and that we have definitive evidence that has been held from the public for quite some time.  Pretty wild.     

The changes from these are very Rabbity - they have deep social implications and will alter the very structure of society and at personal level (like people having relationships with AI bots), and both conjure our worst doomsday fears and paranoias.  Some people think that AI is the end of the world and the greatest existential threat to humanity, others think it is our savior, and there have been endless conspiracy theories about the presence of UFOs since the arrival of the Atomic Bomb (and long before that).  I will leave it to you to explore this on your own and come to your own conclusions. 
 
The next and worst of the most Water Rabbity manifestations this year is of course the war between Israel and Hamas, which has captivated the world and seems almost emblematic of the themes of the Year.  A brutal and vicious “sneak attack” from a small, hidden group attacking a larger group to then literally run and hide in rabbit burrows (over 300 miles of tunnels under Gaza), followed by a brutal ongoing massacre in an unprecedented urban war that has produced immense civilian casualties and untold suffering amidst an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.  The response from the rest of the world, though, is where the Rabbit has struck the hardest through the principles of “gossip,” safety, and vulnerability/victimhood, which essentially translates into the mist of protests, propaganda, slander, and argument.  I have never seen more people arguing and taking sides as supposed experts about something they knew nothing about a few weeks/months ago.  It has sent people into states of great moral confusion, split people into deeper cultural wars with tribal rhetoric, us versus them mentality, righteous victimhood, biased propaganda, reality distortion, heated accusations, and revised historical narratives spanning every position imaginable about one of the most bitter, intractable conflicts in history. 

You could not get a more Rabbity mess.  I have been hemming and hawing about whether or not to give an in depth take on this, and we must ask - why is everyone so eager to take sides, condemn, and blame rather than understand?  Does everyone with a platform need to comment on geopolitics and war?  Is this just Rabbit inspired gossip?  I initially wrote a long in-depth piece but decided to not share my personal take here, as I know enough to know that I do not know enough, and I do not want this blog to be about Israel and Palestine.  The situation is simply too complex to do justice to it here.  I am very passionate about the subject and have studied the situation in depth from every perspective imaginable, so if for some reason you are interested in an in-depth analysis of the current situation and history from the perspective of Chinese Astrology, then I will write and publish it separately, otherwise, I will leave it at this – from one perspective, the situation is a heartbreaking spiritual call to grapple with something deeply complex that poses some of the deepest, most challenging questions we can ask about human nature, religion, politics, and war.  It is also an absolute industry of lies and propaganda on both sides, making it one of the most challenging subjects to engage with.  As such, the whole situation is the most profound manifestation of the Water Rabbit imaginable, and the Rabbit influence here seemed to prime the world to identify deeply with and exploit this ongoing narrative of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because it so clearly ignites the ghosts of western colonialism and the West’s ever growing hatred and condemnation of itself and especially of Israel.  I pray for peaceful resolution and path toward a Two-State Solution, but I am not qualified to offer any practical solutions here; my role is merely to say that it all seems very Rabbity, and I will leave it at that, posing the question - how does all this turn in the Dragon Year?  

Turning back, the tribal cultural war divisions in America have only become more pronounced throughout the Water Rabbit, and we are primed for a lot of big drama in the Wood Dragon Year.  With the endless legal battles of Trump and the subsequent strengthening of the cult of Trumpistan, the wide scale criticism of Biden and the rejection of the “far left” and “wokism,” the absolute mess in American Congress, and the devolution of American Politics and of both social and legacy media into a hallucination factory of biased, gossipy, judgmental bickering…the Water Rabbit has brought out some of the worst dynamics in American culture, but perhaps that is just how it appears through the news or I should say the Bad News.  Our culture, as it appears through the media, has become such a house of mirrors, that we now have apps (such as Ground News, https://ground.news/) dedicated to showing right, centrist, and left wing bias in news articles, and it seems as though we now need this just to navigate the murky waters of “information.”  

The quality of Water Rabbit Qì was “spaced in,” and it expanded the magnitude of the present moment, slowing it down, making us more aware of time and potentially more uneasy at the slowness/quickness of its passing, like hearing the second hand of a clock ticking loudly. The capacity to then hyper focus and obsess over minutia was heightened, and with the added self-conscious social awareness of the Rabbit image, this put us at much bigger risk to be exploited by the dark side of the internet and social media. I predicted that last Year may very well have been THE Year of social media, the year of the Podcast, and probably not in a good way.  Was I right?  What do you think?  Social media last year more than any other, which not coincidentally coincided with the meteoric rise of AI and TikTok as the most successful app in history, saw some of the most dramatic internet negativity we have ever seen, with long term consequences that I can’t even imagine. 

The worsening of smartphone and app addiction, doom scrolling, self-obsession, self-criticism, self-harm, body image issues, bickering, arguing, nasty comments, and so on, was off the charts. We are now learning that smartphone addiction, “TikTok Brain,” is associated with the shrinkage of the brain’s gray matter, causing “digital dementia,” the deterioration of memory, attention span, self-esteem, and impulse control, all of which increase anxiety and depression.  Unfortunately, it appears that all of this has gotten worse, but we also started a lot more conversations about it and about the consequences of social media, mis/disinformation, biased media, and so on. 

I also said this would be a challenging Year for mental health, and this seemed to be the case, and the above challenges did not make it easier.  Last Year we saw the suicide rates soar to the highest in over 80 years, especially among the elderly, and especially elderly men, which is not surprising in a Water year, Water representing death and old age.  How was your mental health challenged?  How about in those you know? 

Sorry if all that sounds negative, lol.  Let’s remind ourselves that we live in the safest, most prosperous time in history.  Here are a few Water Rabbity good news stories - according to the UN, the ozone layer is officially on track to recover within four decades!  The 5th person was confirmed cured of HIV this year.  AI is now able to detect breast cancer 4 Years before it develops, and scientists have discovered a new antibiotic for a hospital superbug, identified by an AI model trained to analyze their data.  Brazil ousted 85% of illegal gold miners from the Yanomami territory, its largest Indigenous reservation, and will remove mining operations from six more reserves this year.  After two decades of planning and a grueling 38 hours of negotiations, almost 200 countries have reached a historic agreement to protect the world’s oceans. The High Seas Treaty aims to classify 30% of the seas as protected by 2030 - treaties are very Water Rabbity, and it’s an ocean treaty!  Ecuador has achieved the world’s largest “debt-for-nature” deal – converting US$1.6 billion in debt into a US$656m loan from Credit Suisse. Ecuador will repay this loan over the next 18 years while allocating approximately US$17m annually to support conservation efforts in the Galapagos Islands.  The German government has pledged to pay more than $1.4 billion next year to Holocaust survivors around the world.  In a world first, California will now require large companies doing business in the state to report their carbon emissions. The new laws will require companies with more than $1bn in annual revenue to report how much carbon is being produced from their operations and electricity use. It applies to around 5300 corporations, including Chevron, Wells Fargo, Amazon and Apple. (https://zeefeed.com.au/good-news-australia-2023/)

Those are just a few examples, and let’s not forget that most of what happens is good or at least ordinary, but none of that makes the news.  We are just inundated with media negativity, and this Year has been no different!  Just remember that old Mr. Rogers’s quote, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”  Very Rabbity.  

I will leave it to you to reflect, then, and think for yourself about the Water Rabbit Year.  These are just a few of my reactions through the lens of Chinese Astrology.  We now leave behind the Water Rabbit, and the transition to the Wood Dragon is dramatic.  This is like delving into a deep, dark, and mysterious pool full of spectral visions to then come out the other side and shoot into the sky like a rainbow in space, like fireworks lighting up the dark.

But how does a Rabbit turn into a Dragon?  In the progression of the 12-Animals, the Ox represents strength, tolerance, and the continuity of routine hard work/labor, and the Tiger represents an escape from the drudgery of that continuity through rebellion, creativity, and change.  The Rabbit, then, represents the result of the Tiger’s impulsive revolutionary bluster, which is a kind of raw, open, and vulnerable sensitivity; this combination gives us a profound and imaginative renewal that must be stabilized and made safe to explode into the rainbow that is the Wood Dragon.  The Dragon is the fully realized inner Heart of the Rabbit - vulnerable/shy Yīn becomes big cavorting Yáng.  Whatever has not been integrated or made safe in the Rabbit Year will come out forcefully in the Dragon Year; the integrated becomes positive and expansive change, but the unintegrated becomes destructive negativity.   

The Wood Dragon is therefore a wild card - the big, expansive, and potentially destructive nature of the symbol is hard to predict.  Literally anything can happen.  However, the nature of Wood is freshness, pliancy, and youthful renewal that eats away at the heaviness of Earth.  The symbol is a refresh, and its destruction is making way for new growth, clearing the old to make way for the new.  I feel that in the long run, it is fundamentally positive and unlimited in potential but potentially destructive in the short term.  Let’s get into it.    

象 Symbolism and 氣 Qì Dynamics ​

Chinese Astrology and culture has a long-standing love affair with the Dragon, the mystical culmination of the Celestial Zodiac.  During Dragon Years, everyone in China tries to get pregnant.  In the Chinese mind, the promise of a male Dragon son has always represented a potential for greatness unmatched in the other signs.  For the Dragon has always been a symbol of the Emperor and the ruling power of Heaven.  This has led to a long pattern of sex-based discrimination, and the imbalance of the one child policy will lead to a massive population collapse in China, but that’s another story. ( https://chinapower.csis.org/china-demographics-challenges/)

I have been somewhat dreading my exploration of Dragon Qì, for the Dragon cannot be defined.  Whenever I do readings for Dragons or Snakes, I throw my hands up and say “¿¡!?” As the mystical Yīnyáng culmination at the center of the Zodiac, the Dragon and Snake are defined by being ineffable, characterized by their unknowable quality, but in different ways.  The Snake is Big Yīn, emptiness/space, and the Dragon is Big Yáng, fullness/light expanding into the Heavens.  The Snake represents the inner open capacity to become any of the other 11 signs without actually being them, but the Dragon actually is all 11 Characters embodied.  

The symbol of the Dragon is, then, a synthesis.  If you look at depictions of the Chinese Dragon you will see that it is a composite of every animal.  According to tradition, it is said to have the whiskers of the Rat, the face and horns of the Ox, the claws and teeth of the Tiger, the belly of the Rabbit, the body of the Snake, the legs of the Horse, the goatee of the Goat, the wit (or brain) of the Monkey, the crest of the Rooster, the ears of the Dog, and the snout of the Pig. 

The Dragon is the only animal of the 12 capable of flight, an important part of the symbol, and yet it is rarely depicted with wings, for its ability to fly is super natural.  It is the only supernatural animal in the group, and so people question its existence.  But the Chinese never questioned the existence of Dragons because everyone knew they were controlling the weather and water.  Dragons were thought to be behind the clouds, causing storms, floods, and rain.  If you could ride to the source of a great storm or flood, then maybe you could see one and earn the title “Dragon.”      

The synthesis of all 11 into the supernatural Dragon represents infinite potential, which is the first and most important thing we can say about Dragons.  Dragon Qì is said to have the qualities, capacities, and skills of all 11 and the power to express all or none of them if they choose, sort of like the 9 on the enneagram.  The Dragon can choose to deny its potential, which is why Dragons need a path. Their infinite potential is meaningless to the Chinese unless it is turned away from selfishness and towards self-reflection, dedicated to the benefit of others. 

Ming used to say that each Character is like a tool box with a specific set of tools/skills, but the Dragon tool box just has a Dragon in it.  In other words, we don’t know what Dragons are for.  They are a paradox outside the paradigm, and often they are an enigma to their friends and family.  The Snake is an enigma even to themselves, but Dragons, while mysterious, are often very self-confident and assured, which is part of what baffles people about them.

Historically, the Dragon is a symbol of the Emperor and the Rising Sun to the East, the ruling power of Heaven from an unknown mystical origin.  Because of their potential, Dragons were considered great leaders, capable of the biggest most inclusive view with the most compassion.  So, it is easy to understand why the Chinese revere the Dragon as the Emperor. 
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There is a mountain of lore around the Dragon symbol.  I will do my best to make this specific, but again, Dragons may be all or none of this, and the uncultivated Dragon may be a mess of everything all at once, unable to make sense of themselves.

木克土 Wood Eats Earth

The Dragon’s native element is Yáng Earth, which is also shared by Dragon’s opposite, the Dog.  They each express the virtues of Yáng Earth in different ways.  For the Dragon, Yáng Earth represents flight—the ability to break away from the Earth, symbolizing the Dragon’s capacity to see and travel beyond.  The Dog represents territory and the ability to intuit, cover, and protect the terrain.  In Chinese Medicine, Yáng Earth and the Dragon represents the Stomach and the Fires of digestion, which is our desire to devour life and experience. 

Yáng Earth represents manifestation, confidence, alliance, leadership, wealth, abundance, balance, caring, and power—Yáng expressions as opposed to the Yīn aspects of Earth (nourishing, mothering, stabilizing, supporting, etc.)  By nature, the Dragon has these capacities, but often has difficulty expressing them without training.  And of course, each Elemental Dragon has its own challenges.  The outer element of this Year is Yáng Wood, which initiates a new 10-Year cycle of the Heavenly Stems.  The Yáng Wood Dragon is called the “Laughing Dragon,” for Yáng Wood represents impulsivity, birth, youth, spontaneity, playfulness, innocence, flexibility, humility, gentleness, and creativity.  It is the baby dragon, hatching from the primordial egg.  

In the Five Element structure, Wood “eats” Earth, so this pliant youthful quality is like the roots of a sprout, aerating and breaking up the solid heaviness of Earth.  Wood “destroys” Earth, but this destructive quality is not violent, it is enlivening, lightening, and enriching.  It takes heaviness off the heart of the Emperor, and offers him an innocent, childlike perspective that is eternally fresh.  Yáng Wood is pure expansion; it represents a naïve impulsive force to come into being and is the energy of the chick breaking through the shell, the sprout bursting out of the seed.  So the Wood Dragon has a very different quality than the other Dragons. 

Wood Dragons can have a difficult time expressing their greatness in a mature and grounded way because of the expansive nature of Wood undermining Earth.  If there is one thing we can say about Dragon Qì—it is big, sometimes too big.  Dragon Qì is pervasive and expansive.  It is Big Yáng exploding out into heaven, into the sky, seeking to fly beyond and above all boundaries, and the Wood Dragon is like a child, exploring, playing, and unaware of its own strength.  So sometimes, it makes a mess; sometimes it breaks and destroys but not out of malevolence.  The Wood Dragon breaks things because it is exploring its boundaries through playful inquiry.  The Wood Dragon is like Baby Huey; naive and unaware that it is big.  This bigness, in my view, is what tends to give Dragons characteristics we can talk about, which they otherwise transcend.

The transcendent and fresh quality of the Dragon makes them natural mystics, and often people with Dragon Qì are interested in spiritual occult traditions, especially those with extraordinary cosmologies.  The way Dragons experience themselves and the universe is just too big for ordinary views.  To me, Bruce Lee was the quintessential Dragon (Metal Dragon born in Earth Dragon Hour), and his life was a demonstration of the mystical power of Dragon Qì. 
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Dragons see through and beyond ordinary appearances like the Snake, but unlike the Snake, their powerful expansive Qì pushes them towards action and adventure.  Dragons want to go beyond and actualize their potential, and they can go further than any other sign.  If a Dragon chooses to leave the world, they’re never to be seen again; if they choose to embrace the world, they can go into it deeply and lose themselves in the service of greatness.  

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五運六氣 – Wŭ Yùn Lìu Qì

The Wŭ Yùn Lìu Qì, or “Five Movements and Six Climates,” is said to govern the distribution of the annual Qì as weather patterns and their effects on living beings as resultant illnesses.  While the effect of the Dragon Symbol is broad, symbolic, and can be applied everywhere, the effect of Wŭ Yùn Lìu Qì is much more “physical/medical” and for students of Chinese Medicine, it is worth studying.  We can apply this prediction to weather and potential natural disasters and as an influence on disease.  The following is astrological jargon for Chinese Medicine nerds, so feel free to gloss over if this is nonsense.   

The annual Yùn is determined by the yearly heavenly stem, which this Year is jiǎ,甲,and is said to influence the climate over the entire year.  The Annual Yùn for this Year is, Tài Gōng, 太宫, Major Earth-Tone which produces Excess Damp in opposition to the Element of  jiǎ,甲, Yáng Wood/Wind.  

The terms 太 Tài ‘Major’ and 少 Shào ‘Minor’ are notes of the Chinese pentatonic scale and are traditionally used to represent the movement of Qì.  As this Year is a Yáng stem, it is Tàiguò 太过, ‘Excessive’ and is associated with more violent climate changes from the host which is Yáng Wood damaging the controlled element Yáng Earth.

The Guest Qì is better understood as the Climatic Factors or Atmospheric Influences.  It is determined by the year’s Earthly Branch and represents meteorological changes in upper and lower halves of the year.  The Host Qì of each Year progresses naturally as Seasons starting in Spring with windiness (February – March), followed by imperial heat (April-May), ministerial fire (June-July), dampness (August – September), dryness (October-November), and coldness (December-January).

The 主 Zhǔ or “Host” of the natural season hosts the 客 Kè “Guest” Qì, which descends from above during the 1st half of year and is then joined from below in the 2nd half of the year.  So, the first half of this Year is governed by Tàiyáng, 太陽, Cold Water, associated with Bladder and Small Intestine, and the second half is governed by Tàiyīn Damp Earth, 太陰, associated with the Spleen and Lung, all within the context of Tài Gōng, 太宫, Major Earth-tone, which produces excess Damp all Year, all interacting with the natural progression of the above Seasons.  So ask, how does wind, then imperial heat, then ministerial fire, etc, interact with Damp Earth in general all year, and with Cold Water in the first half of the year and then with more Damp Earth in the second half?  Lol pretty complicated; I’ll offer some interpretation, but you can figure it out!   

The Yún Qì relationship this Year is both Suìhuì, 岁会, meaning Annual Agreement - the tone of Excess Earth Tone agrees with the Natural Element of the Dragon, which is Yáng Earth, as well as Tóngtiānfú, 同天符, in which the Heaven Governing Qì, Tàiyáng Cold Water is in opposition to the Spring Administering Qì, Tàiyīn Damp Earth. So, Suìhuì means that the the Qì of the Year is in agreement and therefore more mild and temperate, but Tóngtiānfú means that Qì has the generally tendency to become excessive, so there will be greater changes in weather, more acute diseases, and the overall tendency of the Year will be somewhat forceful and chaotic.  So I guess it is in agreement and harmonized in its excess quality!  Bring a helmet! 
  
                                                                       Interpretation

So, what does all that mean?  Essentially, we have a year that is elementally in agreement when it comes to the element of Damp Yáng Earth, which is therefore in excess all Year, but will be undermined by the presence of Yáng Wood and Wind in the first half of the Year.  But, the Year is also in discord and prone to excess and extremes with the element of Yáng Cold Water, which will clash with a second dose of Damp Yīn Earth in the second half of the Year.

So, Damp Earth is in excess all Year that will be less pronounced in Spring during the time of Wind, which dries Damp, but with an increase in Damp symptoms that will get worse in the second half of the Year, especially in Late Summer, with the onset of Damp Heat, and in Winter with the influx of Cold.
Dampness hurts the Spleen and Kidney; it bogs things down and accumulates, which increases feelings of heaviness in the body and impairs the transformation of food and fluids.  It lowers energy, both mentally and physically, but it does so through excess and indulgence in a Dragon Year.  In terms of the Spleen, excess Damp impairs digestion and can lead to an increase in abdominal pain, indigestion, gas, bloating, irregular bowels, and more acute GI distress such as loose stool/diarrhea.  It also bogs down the muscles and can lead to more muscle weakness, cramping, body pain, and difficulty walking.  Again, this will get worse toward the second half of the Year, but in the expansive Year of the Dragon will likely come from excess, from pushing ourselves into states of deficiency.  The weakening of the Spleen/Lung can lead to increases in rumination, worry, compulsive overthinking, and create sadness and grief due to the stagnation of Qì.   

In terms of the Kidney, it can lead to water retention, edema, hearing problems, swelling in the lower body, cold feelings all over the body, especially the hands and feet, aching in the knees and low back, and also increased water in the intestines leading to more issues with diarrhea.  It can also lead to lower burner sexual and urinary dysfunction and fertility issues.  The weakening of the Kidneys can lead to increased anxiety, fear, and worry over long term issues survival and death. 

The influx of Cold Water the first half of the Year will further damage the Kidneys and Heart, leading to increased anxiety, chest pain, heart palpitations, as well as to more pronounced cold and flu symptoms, like fever, chills, sore throats, runny nose, headache, stiffness/body aches, joint pain, etc.  The second half of the Year will introduce more Damp, leading to more weakness of the Spleen, water retention, abdominal fullness, digestive problems, weakness, poor appetite, and so on.  
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These are just some examples of things to expect.  Essentially, guard the Spleen - digestive health is crucial this Year.  So is Kidney and reproductive health, but as previously mentioned, in the Wood Dragon Year, these are likely to come from exhaustion, from pushing, from doing too much, from excess indulgence, from trying to leap into the stratosphere and forgetting to take care of yourself.  We weaken the middle and eventually the lower burner when we push and do not rest.  This Year, digestion will be hit first, and eventually, the Kidney’s will also be affected.      

形  Manifestation/Character

Now that we have covered the energetic dynamics, let’s get into key words for the Wood Dragon and talk about how this symbol manifests in/as people.

The first is strong or powerful.  The Yáng Earth Character of the Dragon has a strength unmatched by any of the other 11 Characters, but this strength is unformed and immature in the Wood Dragon, which makes it a bit clumsy and impulsive.  Dragon strength is different from, say Ox or Horse strength.  Ox strength represents the capacity to carry, maintain, and endure, and Horse strength represents the power to manifest, work, and accomplish, but Dragon strength is not related to any specific capacity and is better represented by the power of a great storm, the strength of nature unleashed.  We marvel at the strength of nature, and we respect and fear its destructive side.  The power of water, when harvested by a dam, can generate immense energy, yet uncontrolled, a tidal wave can demolish a town.  We do not consider tidal waves evil, yet we mourn and fear nature’s destruction.  In the same way, Dragon strength is immense, raw, wild and can be destructive, but like the dam it can be harnessed for good.  In the case of the Wood Dragon, that strength is of renewal, opening and paving the way for expansion and growth. 

This strength, the explosive Yáng, can turn to profound compulsiveness, which the expansiveness of Wood exaggerates.  Dragon Qì can be overwhelming, and Dragons can be a handful, bundles of energy that need channels in which to flow lest they flow everywhere.  Like Tiger Qì, Dragon Qì has an explosive outward moving quality, symbolized by flight, that can propel Dragons toward uncontrolled action and reaction.  This compulsive strength can be physical, mental, or emotional and can manifest as patterns of unruly behavior or speech, speaking freely and challenging everyone and every idea as a demonstration of power, especially Fire Dragons.  In general, Dragons need an outlet where they can demonstrate their strength otherwise they will destroy themselves.   

The strength of the Dragon feels very natural and becomes a kind of confidence, not necessarily social confidence but self-assuredness and confidence in view.  In the Wood Dragon, this is the confidence of the child who has not yet learned to be ashamed.  Other Characters have this too, Roosters for example, but the Rooster arrives at confidence through analysis.  The Dragon does no analysis; they’re born assured and cannot be convinced otherwise.  

The Dragon has a big grandiose vision. The problem is that nothing can live up to the Dragon’s vision, so it is hard for them to come back down to Earth.  Dragons feel like they’re the rulers of the universe, masters of destiny, the most capable, the smartest, the best, and so on.

With training, they can be, but often, this self-assured confidence is over-confident and all talk, what we call “delusions of grandeur.”  So, Dragons can be selfish and “egotistical” in the ordinary sense.  Dragons often feel like royalty, like everything should be given to them, like they’re already awesome and should be rewarded justly.  They may even have low self-esteem, but that’s because people just don’t get how awesome they are.  They can be attention hungry and expect others to acknowledge  them, regardless of what they do.

The Dragon can be so confident in their abilities that they never actually work to do anything.  Often, they need big reality checks, to “eat humble pie,” and they need to put in the time and effort to master something. And when they do, this natural confidence in  their abilities can be actualized and taken to great heights, like Bruce Lee.

Dragons, therefore, possess a natural charisma.  Something about their power, confidence, and ineffability becomes enigmatic and impressive to others.  To me, Patrick Steward, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, a Metal Dragon and fantastic Shakespearean actor, is a great example of the Dragon charisma.  He exudes a natural confidence and restrained stability.  Some great example of celebrity Wood Dragons are Oprah Winfrey, Keanu Reeves, Chris Farley (a great example of destructive playfulness - Chris Farley is everything you need to know about Wood Dragon), David Spade, Stephen Colbert, Nicholas Cage, Rob Lowe, Jeff Bezos, Boris Johnson (definitely Baby Huey), and one of my favorites, 8 time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman.   
Dragons are a mystery to others and defy labels.  At their best, Dragons, especially Wood Dragons, love showmanship and can be flamboyant and outgoing.  Dragons often have big personalities, even if that personality is introverted. 

The outgoing nature of the Dragon is based on a kind of ambition and adventurous spirit.  Grand is the only scale Dragons work with.  They have a big, broad, expansive, and inclusive vision, the capacity to see a panoramic picture.  Philosophically, the Dragon has a view/insight no other Character is capable of and can fly out beyond the clouds.  Dragons seek grand Peter Pan style adventure, and the Wood Dragon is the most Peter Pan, never grow up, stay in Neverland forever.  Small goals and narrow ideas seem insignificant, unimportant to the Dragon - like why bother? 

Wood Dragons have a tremendous capacity for fantasy and envision themselves to be great magnanimous beings; they take the whole “I want to grow up to be an astronaut” to ridiculous proportions.  They may live in a fantasy world in which they are invincible and infallible.  A personal vision may not necessarily be defined, but Wood Dragons feel they are destined for greatness, and many are, like Oprah Winfrey or Jeff Bezos.  Living in the clouds, fantasizing of greatness, Wood Dragons can appear aloof and distant, difficult for others to connect with.

Wood Dragons are unrealistic.  Nothing can live up to the Wood Dragon’s scale.  It is hard for Wood Dragons to sweat the small stuff, to pay attention to details.  Wood Dragons are a telescope looking out to the stars, not a microscope.  They can be unrealistic with everything—their own abilities, their plans, and their expectations of others. 

Wood Dragons are also dramatic.  They can make a big deal out of small things because big and expansive is how they roll.  When things don’t go their way, and when things fall short of expectations, Wood Dragons can be sarcastic drama queens.  The feeling of bigness, too, can lead to being insensitive, blunt, and unconcerned with people’s feelings, except for their own, of which they “make mountains of molehills.”

The power and self-assuredness of the Dragon can be assertive, willful, confident, dedicated, and demanding.  Dragons demand the best from themselves and from others and tend to assert and insist upon their opinion, which is both a virtue and a challenge.  To be a leader, one must be assertive and able to make decisions, and the Dragon is the most skillful leader and should not be put in subordinate positions.  They thrive in leadership roles, but without feet on the ground, they can fly over the little guy.  Once the Dragon has developed their heart, their assertive willfulness can accomplish greatness for better or worse, like Che Guevara.

If turned toward the spiritual path, this capacity to assert will power, to connect to the Yáng expression of Heaven, can be unparalleled.  A great example of this is the late teacher and Earth Dragon Swami Rudrananda, otherwise known as Rudi.  His book, Spiritual Cannibalism, is a fantastic exposition of Dragon Qì applied to the spiritual path.  Rudi had titanic willpower and dedication, and he taught people to essentially “eat” and be nourished by everything as energy, to become what Tantra calls a viśvaboghi, a digester of the universe.  Unfortunately, not many people possess Rudi’s willpower and fall short of his example.  Not everyone can live up to the Dragon’s vision, but he was inspiring nonetheless.
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The final positive virtue I will offer of the Wood Dragon is generosity.  It may sound like Dragons have a lot of potentially challenging qualities, but we must remember that they have unlimited potential.  The Dragon can display all virtues to the grandest scale.  Wood Dragon Qì is big and overflows all boundaries, which naturally turns to generosity.  The flipside we discussed is selfishness, but the Dragon can give and demonstrate tremendous sacrifice for others.  

I must reiterate again that Dragon Qì is a paradox that cannot be defined other than to say it has unlimited Yáng creative potential.  The qualities I have discussed are merely an attempt to discuss what happens when Dragon Qì is confined in human Character.  Dragons can be anything or nothing if they choose, and they represent a culmination of the Zodiac, everything rolled into one, exploding out.
My Mantic Arts teacher, Liu Ming, wrote a book on the stages of human spiritual development called Dragon’s Play.  In the book, the Dragon represents the twelfth and final stage of human life, the greatest expression of Yáng Qì and human potential—the Rainbow Light Body, Ja lü in Tibetan, Prakāśakāya/Tejokāya in Sanskrit, and Hóngshēn in Chinese.  In Daoist and Tantric cultivation, a practitioner of the Way is said to draw all of creation into their heart or navel creating a “cosmic egg/immortal fetus,” an expression of ultimate Yīn, the return to Source.  The result of Ultimate Yīn turns to Ultimate Yáng, which is the Dragon, ultimate freedom bursting from the Egg, light flowing freely and consciously into all dimensions, consciously becoming the Universe, which other people witness as a display of Light. The Dragon is the primordial gesture of the Dao itself, the demonstration of the power of Source Qì to become everything, which all humans are destined for. 

This may sound fantastic, but of course, everyone, every Character has this potential too; it is not limited to Dragons.  Dragons are just a symbol of our unlimited potential.  Dragon Characters need a path otherwise this potential is meaningless.  Above all, Dragons need training; they need a path, but they must never be controlled.  Dragons must be left alone to follow their own way, or they will eat you, lol.

Dragons, like Rabbits, exemplify the relationship between Character and Fate.  An Earth Dragon born in the ghetto with no opportunity to demonstrate their leadership capacity might become a gang leader, go to prison, and be king inmate.  A Wood Dragon with major obstacles and challenges without training, help, and restraint will most likely destroy themselves, like Chris Farley.  The strength of the Dragon demands "big" Fate. 
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The Five Dragons each demonstrate a different flavor of Dragon Qì, the Wood Dragon (Laughing Dragon) being the most creative and light hearted, the Fire Dragon (Sky Dragon) the most challenging and explosive, the Earth Dragon (Yielding Dragon) the most grounded and regal, the Metal Dragon (Angry Dragon) the most powerful and articulate, and the Water Dragon (Rain Dragon) the most nurturing and mystical.

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器 Synthesis, Application, and “Predictions”

Now we get to the fun part…what is going to happen!  More so than usual, I throw my hands up, for this Year defies any confident analysis; it is truly an unpredictable Year, which may give you some anxiety.  Literally anything could happen, but I suppose that is always true.  So take a moment to feel the potential of an energy that is big, expansive, naive, and uncontrollable.  That being said, I personally believe that the energy of the Wood Dragon is positive and renewing because it is childlike; children are not born with prejudice, hate, or malice.  But like Baby Huey, a child that doesn’t know their own strength can make a mess.
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As Water Rabbit turns to Wood Dragon, we are confronted with a wild card, a Joker, a shiny red history eraser button.  With a Fire Tiger Moon to initiate the New Year, we will be launched into the Wood Dragon like a bat out of hell.  Will we press the button?  What does that look like?  I have no idea!  Maybe nothing; maybe everything.

My feeling is that the initiation of the New Year will bring a profound sense of refreshment and renewal, a kind of sober waking up call from a convincing dream.  The Water Rabbit has led us until a deep dark forest, profound and challenging, and some confusion has occurred to say the least.  So, my first suggestion at the start of the Year is to snap out of it.  Wherever you are, whatever has happened, whatever hole the Rabbit has led you down - pause, reflect, and do whatever you have to do to just drop things, snap out of it, hit the refresh button.  Splash some cold water on your face, shout, give yourself a nice hard slap.  Time to start over.  This is an opportunity to really break out of the mold of old habits and drop the past.  There is no greater imperative this Year.     

The following are my interpretations - a lot of broad generalizations, trying to say something about everything to everyone, so they're naturally vague.  If you want specifics, do your own thinking.  Apply these ideas to your own life and see what you come up with. 

                                                                              Personal

Probably a rollercoaster. Lol.  Bring a helmet.  Personal upheaval, change, expansion, growth, and Dragon Drama, which is hard to comprehend or predict - could be the best or worst year of your life.  The Rabbit Year was not the time to take big forward steps in life; it was a time to hold back, nest, and foster inner change.  But this Year launches us forward again, you know, Yīnyáng, so this is the Year to do the big thing/s.  If you are thinking about starting a business or new job, traveling, moving house, and so on, do it.  Think big, think new, think refresh, and think FUN, think laughter...this is a fun, playful year.  So lighten up - Wood eats Earth - it takes heaviness off the heart of the Emperor.  Think bigger than you can imagine; try to let go of mental, self-imposed limitations, old habits, old/crusty self-serving delusions, and just kick the fucking door down, politely.  But expect accidents, mistakes, mishaps, missteps, and so on in the process.  This is a clumsy, uncoordinated, and somewhat violent process like breaking some eggs to make an omelet.  This is a toddler learning how to walk; you might fall down.  But it is playful, dynamic, and inquisitive.  It is hard to get stuck in a rut this Year, for even the rut can be looked at from a new perspective.  You can, of course, carefully plan your life and do everything according to the itinerary…good luck with that, lol.  Expect your sense of realism to get distorted; this is not a “grounded” year.  Fantasy and ambition can take over; you might just want to take over the world.   
  
                                                                  Relationships/Family

The social energy is much different this Year.  Last Year was cliquey, tribal, us vs. them, don’t mess with the family, very Godfather, etc.  This Year is broad, expansive, and somewhat impersonal.  It is aloof but friendly, playful, even a bit slutty, but in a good way, like a dog who wants to be best friends with literally everyone.  The Water Rabbit is an intimate tea time with close friends; the Wood Dragon is more like being at rave on MDMA, everything is a big rainbow of love and play in all directions.  So throw some parties or something.  Go to concerts, festivals, big gatherings, etc.  Go to Burning Man; do something challenging that breaks you out of your rut and connects you to the universe, to a “collective,” to the forest/ocean/sky, and so on.  There may be disruption to small units, families and so on, because people are aloof and distant with their head in the clouds and just a bit more selfish.  But relationships are empowered to be grand, adventurous, and life changing.  Romance last year was very strong, and this Year, you can take things to the next level - do big fun stuff together.  Great Year to get married and have kids!  The world could definitely use some Wood Dragons to break all the molds.  Starting relationships may be challenging, as big crushes, infatuations, whirlwind romances, and so on, are more likely.  You may fall in love every week.  And close friendship could also be tough, but the energy is big enough to get you out of the cave you were hiding in last Year; it is easy to be more outgoing and extroverted.  So do big fun stuff with friends, and invite everyone. 

                                                                              Political

Ugh…when it comes to politics here in America, we are set up for the rematch that no one wants.  Let’s get it out the way…it’s election year, and the Trump/Biden rematch is inevitable.  And we’re all sick of it - two crusty old men that represent literally everything wrong with American politics and the polarized culture war nonsense that has taken over the country.  My hope is that the Wood Dragon is a strong enough of a refreshing/renewing force that it offers us another option, perhaps another candidate that isn’t fucking awful.  This is a Year of wildcards, so anything can happen.  Again, not predicting anything other than drama - I expect a bigger, more dramatic, more violent version of the 2020 election.  Trump could literally go to jail and win and go full dictator.  Trump is a Fire Dog, and Dragon is Dog’s opposite, so it could be his Year of reckoning,  but if he does win, the left will absolutely snap and go haywire.  If Biden doesn’t drop dead and wins, expect Jan. 6th the sequel - bigger election fraud allegations, bigger insurrection, bigger everything.  The right will either double down hard or finally snap out of it.  But people are so disillusioned with the left and critical of Biden that I don’t have much hope for him either.  I pray that I am wrong and that it all goes smoothly, but not likely.  Other than that, I again hope that the renewal force is strong.  I hope that we can break out of the polarized pattern that we are stuck in and bring about a new and different way of relating and moving forward as a society.  This will be a watershed Year in American politics, for better or worse.  As far as the rest of the world is concerned, there are elections all over the globe and I suspect similar patterns, but I pray for the same - to get new, fresh, perspective, leadership, and renewal that isn’t driven by cultural ideology.  I think some old leaders/regimes may fall.            

                                                                               Global

Unfortunately, the Year is a bit scary when it comes to global tensions.  If no resolution is reached, I expect war in the Middle East and Ukraine to escalate and further involve the big superpowers with invested interest in the area.  The energy invites big sudden, regretful actions that can trigger big responses inadvertently.  But, it is also powerful enough to initiate big, unexpected, change and renewal.  I pray it gets used to rebuild, renew, and start over.  My deep hope for the Middle East is that the renewing force can produce a dropping and reforming of narratives, for what is in essence the core of the problem - that both sides have righteous victimhood mentalities and deeply held narratives that simultaneously ignore and misunderstand the other’s perspective, and both sides refuse to see the truth of the other’s narrative; nothing changes until the narratives change, as these narratives have been perpetually running them into a brick wall.  Again, the Year is a wild card, and we could either initiate world peace or WWIII.  I hope aliens invade, lol.  Is there anything short of that that can unite us as a species?  This will be a Year of superpowers and power plays, like China moving in on Taiwan (not predicting that lol).  China has mostly abandoned their own history, but you better believe they will be making big moves in Dragon Year!  There have been a lot of subtle tensions building throughout the world, and I expect them all to be brought to a head.  Whatever has been bubbling beneath the surface will explode out.  I, again, pray that we can unite in big ways for big things - this is a visionary Year, and we have the potential to be united over big issues like climate, technology, AI, space travel, etc.             
 
                                                                    Economic/Career

Think growth, expansion, risk, and renewal.  The economy has/will always fluctuate, you know, Yīnyáng, and although the economy has sputtered a lot in the past few years, and many are predicting the economy to slow, the energy of this Year is likely to encourage an unexpected upturn.  Or a big disaster!  But disaster, although unlikely, would probably be temporary and bounce back strongly.  This is a resilient, bouncy energy, and it may surprise us.  The big picture of the economy may slow, but this is a good Year for personal finances and ambitious career and job growth.  So go for that promotion, apply to the new job; it’s a great energy for taking things to the next level.  However, I would watch out for extravagant spending, over-indulgence, and I would be very careful when it comes to taking big financial risks, investing, or purchasing.  The Year encourages us to take big forward steps and to take risks, and this invites either big success and/or failure, similar to the Tiger Year, so keep that in mind.  But a little indulgence is good; have fun, and spread it around; be generous.  The Dragon has some of the greatest potential for generosity if it can get over selfishness. 
  
                                                                 Cultural/Technological

There are a lot of ways to interpret how culture will morph this Year.  What do you think?  Again, it’s a wild card, and it is renewing and refreshing.  I feel like we have been caught in a doom-scroll trance that is driven by social media, smart phones, internet algorithms, etc., and the rise of AI makes this all very interesting and potentially dangerous.  For we literally cannot trust anything we see, read, or even hear.  AI safety will be a huge and very important conversation this Year, and I expect huge leaps forward in AI as well.  This could be the Year Skynet takes over, lol.  But it can also lead to huge leaps forward in technology, science, medicine, etc.  This Year could revolutionize society in many ways, and our culture is going to have to adapt.  This Year, there may be many big things that are new, fresh, and baby-like.  They will lead to a lot of ups and downs, upheaval, revolts, revolutions, revelations, innovations, protests, and so on.  Culturally, this will be a Year of big change, adaptation, and renewal, and I hope that we can break out of the polarized, us versus them mentality that we see on the internet, which is like our collective unconscious.  I hope that we can collectively snap out of some of these dreams/delusions, and from a lot of the bitterness and feelings of betrayal and deceit from the pandemic and previous election and hit the refresh button.  But we could also devolve into civil war.  Again, wild card, expect big movement.  Personally, I would say snap out of it; drop all your bullshit.  If you have been caught up in extreme views, right or left - hit the reset button.  The right and left have gotten so extreme that no one knows where the middle is anymore, lol.  We need a new gauge - screw right and left; let's get spiralic.      
     
                                                                             Artistic

The Qì of the Year is deeply artistic and creative in nature, but not very mature; think “Jackson Pollock.”  The desire for new/renew, for refresh, for breaking the mold is strong; so this may inspire people to tear down and start things over, which today may actually mean a return to old values!  For we have already been doing the tear down thing for years; the desire to “deconstruct” things is old, tired, divisive, and played out.  It’s been hijacked by corporatism.  It hasn’t gotten us anywhere together, and often, it lacks a deep understanding of the nuance of history and people in favor of emotionally charged personal narratives.  The cyclical nature of things demands that we return and reinvigorate the old.  I would not be surprised if we see a lot of old things coming back in a new way, especially in art, music, media, fashion, etc.  Many have been bemoaning the death of modern cinema, which we can attribute to the rise of online streaming, the end of movie stars, and the over-dependence on franchises, sequels, remakes, and so on.  There has been a lot of independent, underground art over the past few years, with the rise of platforms like You-Tube and Spotify, where anyone can put out anything, but the mainstream has seen a dearth of creativity.  I expect things like cinema to be renewed, with new creativity and new stories.  We want new stories, which again, may be a return to old stories/themes, but please dear god no more remakes/sequels/live action remakes, etc.  My question is how do you bring forward ancient wisdom through revitalized and revalued modern structures?  What could that look like?  Personally, I would recommend getting playful.  Find your creativity and inject it into everything you do.  We’re all artistic in different ways; sure, do some art, but think about how you can make your work, your relationships, your speech, your thinking, more artful - this Year is very “beginner’s mind.”  What if your mind was uninhibited and fresh like a baby while your actions remained mature and in control?     

                                                                             Spiritual

This is truly a transcendent Year.  The Water Rabbit was deeply internalized and took us through the depths of the underworld.  Spiritually, the past two Years were very exorcistic, and a lot of Ghosts came up to be liberated.  The darkness of the Water Element in the form of the Rabbit and Tiger was all about Death Practice.  This Year is about re-birth, and the expansive nature of Wood in the form of the Dragon is skylike, fresh, unencumbered, and non-conceptual; darkness opens to light.  This is very “direct realization” - spontaneous natural mind as rainbow light in open space.  Tiger/Rabbit brought a lot of Ancestors and old patterns out of the dark; if you liberated them, then the Wood Dragon can blast/cut through and emerge as playful, free, and easy wandering, Yóu, 遊, which is, to me, the highest aspiration of the Year.  If these old patterns were not liberated, then the Wood Dragon will only serve to blast your delusions into the stratosphere.  Egoic delusions of grandeur and self-proclaimed enlightenment can masquerade as liberation, so watch out, especially for Gurus/teachers offering anything easy.  Free and easy wandering is not easy if it is not earned.  If you try to be a wandering Daoist, you may just be a wandering bum.  That being said, non-conceptual, direct, and simple practice is best this Year.  Zen/Chán, Dzogchen, Shambavopaya style practice is empowered - complex, imaginal, ritual, energy based practices are too heavy, too clunky, and don’t mix with the wiggling baby Wood Dragon.  Wood Dragon is the moment of mind, clear perception, just before thought arises.  It is the recognition of the nature of mind and thought that liberates thought into emptiness.  Rest there.  But be warned this is not easy, for that moment passes faster than most can recognize.  Just sit, and in an hour of just sitting, you are lucky to have ten seconds of rest, lol.  Wood Dragon is also quite dynamic, so spontaneous dance, play, movement, and so on will give flight to the wiggling, youthful exuberance that wells forth from space.  Let things wiggle; this is a wiggly Year.  The back and forth between sitting and wiggling is where the Wood Dragon flys.  And again, humility is key, for it is easy to self-aggrandize this Year.  Take yourself lightly - angels can fly because they take themselves lightly.  Remember the free and easy wandering of Zhuāngzi’s Péng Bird - a light-hearted, humorous, and carefree response to the chaotic state of the world, to worry, to seriousness, and to our obsession with controlling our circumstances.  Things are very much out of control this Year, and the greatest spiritual lessons we can learn is to just let go.  And, laugh; laugh at everything because it is all absurd. 
 
                                                                           Big Picture 
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I’ll repeat it again - this Year is (to me) a wild card, a jester, a joker, and it is curious, playful, and explorative; it is childlike and renewing; it is expansive and destructive and out of control.  I repeat - everything this year is out of control.  
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The baby Dragon must break its shell to fly into space.  It flies to discover its own edges, its own limitations, its own boundaries - we don’t know where it will take us, but whatever happens, it will change things forever.  

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12 Animal Forecast

Now, let’s go through the 12 Animals and offer a map      

Outer Elements:

Wood Signs - (+):  your outer element matches the year; you flow and adapt more easily but have the tendency to go towards excess/anger

Fire Signs - (-/+) child of Wood: generative/supportive relationship; you are empowered and bolstered but can easily push too far and burn out

Earth Signs - (–/+) Wood controls/eats Earth: you may feel ungrounded, but this could be good b/c you should probably lighten up, lol

Metal Signs -  (+/–) Metal controls/Cuts Wood: contrasting energetically, but you are kept in check and restrained from getting out of control

Water Signs - (+) mother of Wood: you support and uphold the dynamic, this could be draining but more likely generative 
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Please take these lightly, and remember that we all contain each of the 12 animals within our experience!  Your Year and Hour are the most prominent, but the following applies to everyone!  

Rat: 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020 –  Very Auspicious (++) Best Year in a while.  Rat and Dragon are considered an Auspicious Pair, for it pairs the smallest and largest animal in the Zodiac.  This is kind of like having a telescope and a microscope - the Rat is the most zoomed in and the Dragon is the most zoomed out.  You are also in a trine of compatibility with the Dragon and Monkey.  And out of all three, you are the most able to thrive, for your methodical, frugal, and diligent qualities allow you to make the most sense of the chaos, and the expansive/light nature of the Wood Dragon brings out your more charming, social, and fun loving qualities.  This is the Rat’s Year to strut and feel big.  Everything gets empowered for the better, but expect big fluctuations, disruptions, and drama, so prepare ahead, stock up on provisions, and you will ride on the Dragon’s back.  We will need you to bring our attention back to all the small things, as this Year we’re all blowing past them.  Others will look to you for help, so help others to focus, and in turn, let the energy expand your vision and take your life, relationships, work, etc. to new heights.  Set a big goal and shoot to achieve it with a lot of small, well planned steps.  The light/fun/dance-like quality of the Year can stave off the darkness of the past two Years, so let go of any fear and come out of the bomb shelter.    
         
Ox: 1949, 1961, 1973,1985, 1997, 2009, 2021 – Neutral/Auspicious (+/-) The Ox is a little too conventional for the cavorting Wood Dragon, so like usual, you may feel like the last sane person on earth.  Ox generally wants peace, tranquility, and routine, but this may be out the window - joy, dazzling surprise, and unexpected silliness is coming, and this may be a bit much.  Those born in hours like Monkey or Pig will be able to enjoy this, but others may struggle with the extravagance.  But your sturdiness will allow you to ride the Year without too much disruption, as the Ox is the meaning of stability and strength.  The strength of the Dragon empowers the Ox to plow ahead full steam, so overall this can be a very successful Year for work, projects, and so on.  Just ignore the fireworks and festivities, and stay focused.  Diligent, dedicated hard work will pay off big time as long as you are not too competitive.  Don’t object to stupidity; just ignore it and do your own thing.  The Yáng Wood enlivens the heaviness of Earth, so this Year can be invigorating and refreshing, but watch out for overwork, as you may feel invincible and push yourself into the ground.     

Tiger: 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022 – Neutral/Auspicious (+/-) Tiger and Dragon are another auspicious but competitive pair, as they are always depicted together fighting over the Ring of Power.  The Tiger is the terrestrial Dragon, and they have a similar strength.  But the Tiger is striped and must rest, retreat, and hide.  This Year is so yáng that it will compell your light stripe to take over and draw out your competitive, ambitious, accomplishing side.  You may be blinded by a need to get shit done, to fight, to compete, and so on.  Watch out for aggression and competition.  This Year is all about compromise and smart allocation of resources.  Don’t forget that dark stripe.  Prioritize alternating between rest and intense activity.  Go all out, and then go all in.  If you don’t rest, you will burn out.  Don’t compete but rather cooperate, compromise, and negotiate.  Let go of any need to be right, be in charge, etc., and you will be able to thrive and become a Dragon.  This Year will be dynamic, exciting, energizing, stimulating, and fun.  Bring out your more extroverted side, be more social, and let go of moodiness.  Last Year was very introverted, and the tendency is to stay hidden in the cave.  Don’t be shy; let yourself out of the cage.           

Rabbit: 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023 – Auspicious (+) All Rabbits are secretly Dragons, for the Dragon is the outcome of Rabbit Qì.  However, this Year can be a bit overwhelming, as there will be a lot of activity and movement, and the expansive, cavorting energy may just leave Rabbits yelling, “Wait!”  However, everything coming out and getting put in motion is the outcome of the Rabbit Year, so if Rabbit Year went well, and you nested, planned, and socialized accordingly, then this Year you can expect great fruition from your previous endeavors.  Last Year, Rabbit planning, scheming, and gossiping was full on, so expect consequences, for better or worse.  New friends, acquaintances, resources, connections, and so on, will become beneficial.  This Year, you can let out your inner Dragon, step up, and be the boss.  Rabbits may find themselves enthroned this Year, and the authoritative inner confidence normally hidden in the Rabbit can come out if it was made safe/secured.  This is another Year for Rabbits to strut and be in charge.  But don’t overextend.  Rest and retreat are important, because you must remember you're still a Rabbit.  There is a lot of big, unrestrained energy flying around, and it is all too easy to absorb, take it all in, get overwhelmed, and even go overboard with any feelings of negativity.  So self-reflection is important - watch out for revenge, payback, and those vicious hind legs.   

Dragon: 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024 –  Very Auspicious/Inauspicious (++/–)  Dragons in their own Year can be a bit scary!  The auspice of the Year very much depends on how you own, understand, and express your Dragoness.  You can either attain great heights or open the gates of hell.  Everything is grand and bigger in scale.  You and all of your positive and negative qualities and aspirations will be empowered, for better or worse.  So, basically act accordingly.  If you are well integrated and have self awareness, self reflection, attention to detail, and some restraint, then everything can go very well.  Expect recognition, progress, excitement, and happiness.  But, if you don’t have those things…lol, bring a helmet.  Things could be disastrous.  How will you know?  Others.  They will (and have always) been giving you feedback, but you may have missed that, so listen up.  What have you missed?  What small details have you flown over?  Check the details, read the fine print, and assess.  Watch out for being aloof, too busy, and unrealistic.  Definitely have a big vision for the Year and set yourself out to accomplish it.  Make it happen.  This Year can be extraordinary, but don’t be blinded by the light.  Remember, too much light blots out the stars.  Keep everything in check, and it’ll be awesome.    

Snake: 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025 –  Neutral (+/-)  This is an interesting Year for Snakes, for the Snake and Dragon form a Yīnyáng pair, here in the form of the Wood Dragon/Snake.  Wood Snake is very different  from the Wood Dragon and is a big spacious gap after a big flash of light.  They are very similar in their mystical qualities, but polar opposites in every other way.  This is a waiting Year.  Snakes are primed to hold and host the expansion and just watch and wait.  You have a profound capacity to both embrace and reject the energy of the Year.  Up to you.  Snakes are hard to gauge, so if you feel like you want to play the worldly game, then you can really ham it up and take on the role; think method acting.  You can make big leaps forward personally, professionally, spiritually, and so on; you can be in the world but not of it, and this Year leaves no residue.  Ride this Year into the next.  You are the most able to retreat, not participate, and simply watch and wait.  Let the madness unfold; plan, build, strategize, and slip through all the cracks, weave in and out of the crowds unseen, and next Year will be more than profound.  Next Year is very soft and shimmery, and we will need you to help make sense of whatever happens this Year, which could be bonkers.  If you engage, this Year is fun, complex, and filled with fascinated intrigue - there is potentially a lot more activity than you are used to, but ponder and meditate in/as the eye of the storm, and then harvest the fruit.     
 
Horse: 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2026 – Inauspicious (-) Unfortunately, this Year is a bit too forceful and may have the tendency to add wood to the Yáng Fire of the Horse.  Expect a lot of ups and downs and to get easily discombobulated.  The Horse by nature wants to run wild and free, so in that regard, this could be an exciting Year, for there will be a lot of that going around.  If you are strategic and use your energy wisely, then things will go well.  Plan your action and allow time to let out pent up energy.  Be physically active and generate outlets - artistic, energetic, and social.  Mindfulness is key, as you may be a little accident prone, a little more clumsy than usual.  You may oversay, overdo, overthink, etc., just a little more so than usual and this could set off a chain of events that could get messy.  Be kind to yourself.  Be gentle.  Burnout is very real.  Cultivate closeness and tend to your friends and family, as they will be your best support.  The social, gregarious, fun loving side of the Horse is well received and needed this Year; so bring the party.  But watch it on the competition; Horse wants to run faster than everyone else, and this could push people away or lead to confrontation.  Remember, everything is bigger, and so are the consequences of mishaps, mistakes, and accidents.  With careful planning and mindful actions, this Year can be fruitful and productive.  Pour yourself into projects, to-do lists, and art/craft.  Focus and do all the things, and let the chips fall where they may.  

Goat: 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027 – Inauspicious/Neutral (-)  This could be a tough Year for Goats, for your perfectionist, idealistic, and fussy qualities don’t easily tolerate the wrecking ball that is the Wood Dragon.  Wood Dragon might just kick over your neatly arranged legos.  The intensity of the Year may be chaotic and unsettling.  Goats want to negotiate, compromise, and wax philosophical about the interconnected and subtle nature of things, but Wood Dragon flies just to fly, nothing to negotiate, no reason, and if you ask why, there will be no answer, just actions.  However, this is why we need you.  The intensity of the Year will require peacekeeping and herd cooperation; otherwise, we could break things irreparably.  Things will be broken, the baby Dragon will break the egg and fly free, so you will have a lot of work to do.  Just watch out for getting flustered, impatient, or belligerent.  Yelling at everyone won't solve everything.  You may be in a unique position to ride the expansion and broadcast your voice, solutions, and philosophies.  We will be looking at the big picture and seeking illumination.  Personally, this is a good Year for socializing and making connections, and you can bring people together, merging and creating dialogue with different disparate voices.  Career, financial, and political goals can gain momentum and fruition.  The danger is groupthink, cult behavior, and propagandizing - these can be dangerous and destructive this Year, and people may be all too eager to join the cause.  You might start a revolution, and you can either galvanize or talk sense into people.  The antidote is to lighten up, play, and have fun.  Don’t take things too seriously, and the Year will be joyful and light.   
      
Monkey: 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028 – Auspicious (+) The Monkey is in a trine of compatibility with Dragon and Rat, so this is an auspicious Year.  Rat’s methodical quality makes them a little more poised to thrive in the practical sense, but Monkey’s most dynamic, active, and exciting qualities are empowered and able to thrive in chaos, and so this could be the best Year in a while.  The Tiger in me offers a warning though - the big, expansive, and dynamic qualities can put you into manic overdrive, and Monkeys have been pent up for a while; the past two Years were dark.  You may just go nuts and start swinging around like crazy.  But screw it; let loose - be a Monkey.  This is the Year to break out of the mold, change things up, take big risks, go on big adventures, make mischief, and go for the big fruit.  Get out of your head, let go of any dark funk, and let in the air and light.  Climb to the top branch and look out into the distance.  Imagine something bigger and better and make it happen.  Great Year to travel, start over, date, and innovate.  Creativity is high, so play and create.  Again, my warning is take it slow, breathe, don’t swing so fast that you fall off a cliff.  Practice restraint and don’t go broke or lose your job.  Don’t let your imagination get out of control and watch out for others - your mischief can go to profound, even destructive heights and leave a mess in the wake.  Your cleverness is a powerful weapon this Year; use it for good.          

Rooster: 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, 2029 – Very Auspicious (++)  The Dragon is a symbol of the Emperor and the Rooster (or Owl) the Empress, so this is considered an auspicious pair, and this heightens the Year for romance and marriage.  The Rooster is also the Phoenix and one of the cardinal directions with the Dragon.  The Dragon brings out your best qualities, and vice-versa.  It empowers your clarity, precision, and confidence, and you will feel more inspired, alert, and forthright. This may be the best Year in a long time, and everything in life can go well.  So apply yourself; the Dragon brings out qualities of leadership and oration, so career may put you in the spotlight and ask you to step up to a new position.  You can analyze, plan, and peck with precision, so finances and projects are fruitful and mathematical.  The only warning is - don’t turn into a dictator.  You may feel so empowered that you go mono focused, monomaniacal, and unrelenting.  Watch out for tirades and crusades.  And don’t get overly competitive; you may feel called to puff out your feathers and fight this Year, so fight a good fight.  Practice Crane Gōngfū - think balance, grace, and careful precision.     
         
Dog: 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030 – Very Inauspicious (--)  Dragon and Dog are mirror opposites, so generally we say this is an inauspicious Year, but I always emphasize that this opposite nature is mirror like and therefore spiritually beneficial.  The Dragon is the ultimate leader and the Dog is the ultimate follower; Dog is deeply loyal, and Dragon need not be loyal to anyone, unless they choose. Dragon energy is too opinionated, egotistical, and aloof, and your cautious, loyal, and hardworking energy is easily put off.  Expect difficulties, challenges, and for your values to constantly feel affronted.  This is a Year to lay low, hold back, and self-reflect.  The mirror will show you all of your challenges, faults, troubles, and so on.  Spiritually, this can lead to a lot of growth and transformation if you can handle the intensity and drama.  Take care in relationships, for distance, disconnection, and distractedness can grow into betrayal.  Focus on stability and cleaning house.  With caution, you can expand and grow business and finances, but be self-reliant and trust carefully.  Keep those you love close and focus on serving them.  And get out of your comfort zone a bit - take some risk and go off the beaten path.  Fun and sociability can lighten the challenges.  Don’t let others get to you.        
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Pig: 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031 – Neutral/Auspicious (+/-)  This is mostly a good Year for Pigs, as it will empower your social times, and there will be much feasting and celebration.  Pig is enamored with the bigness and glory of the Dragon, but your naive/gullible nature can be easily taken advantage of and may easily go to extremes.  The hard working, reliable, and unselfish nature of the Pig is a boon, as is your gregarious, funny, and eloquent side.  You will naturally be drawn to more wild, fun, and sensuous experiences.  If you go with it, the Year may be a whirlwind and leave you a bit hungover.  Your social aspects will be more appealing to others and could bring you a lot of recognition and respect and give a platform to your stories.  This can, therefore, be a great Year for productivity, work/career, and personal projects and an excellent year for love/romance.  So start or invest in your goals, especially the more humanitarian and generous.  They can go big and reach a lot of people.  Just watch out for being too generous with everything - your time, energy, money, etc.  You may be drawn to give too much, and people may take advantage of you.  You may also go overboard and indulge too much, as there is a strong push to do, to try new things, to have fun, and to burst out of the shell.  Last Year was very cozy and inward; this Year will bring out your party animal into full force.  It will also bring out your highest aspirations and ideals and push your love into universal transcendence.  This is a big year for spiritual growth and insight.            ​

I wish you all the best in this New Year! 
​
This life passes as quickly as autumn clouds;
Family and friends are like passers-by in a market;
The demon of death approaches like twilight’s shadows;
What the future holds is like a translucent fish in cloudy waters;
Life’s experiences are like last night’s dreams;
The pleasures of the senses, like an imaginary party.
Meaningless activities are like waves
lapping on the surface of the water.
Every harmful action I have done
With my body, speech, and mind
Overwhelmed by attachment, anger and confusion,
All these I openly lay bare before you.
While circling through all states of existence,
May I become an endless treasure of good qualities--
Gathering limitless pristine wisdom and positive potential.
May all beings have happiness and the cause of happiness.
May they be free of suffering and the cause of suffering.
May all beings remain in boundless equanimity, free from attachment and aversion!

Sarva Mangalam!!!

                                                               List of Illustrations in Order

1. Dragon by Bryan Chan, Owner of AsianArtistry
2. Chinese Wood Dragon by Shoshanna Bauer
3. The Jackalope's Companions - dragon art. bunny art. Whimsical by Jessie Barbe​https://www.etsy.com/listing/1471247599/fantasy-art-watercolor-print-the?click_key=2c273a137d11c6c31bd2cd7bae7abcf207b17ff9%3A1471247599&click_sum=daae5b19&ref=shop_home_recs_7&sts=1
4. He Who Spreads the Dandelion Seeds by Jessie Barber https://www.etsy.com/listing/1527322183/dragon-art-watercolor-print-he-who?click_key=dca6a009c9b023a66781f0a163eb5db3e11f8c1b%3A1527322183&click_sum=d8daec11&ref=shop_home_recs_35&sts=1
5. Harvey Artist Baby Huey and Papa 24 Cover Original Art Harvey, 1966. by Harvey Comics
6. Mushrooms in Autumn by Jessie Barber https://www.etsy.com/listing/1311310480/fairy-art-watercolor-print-mushrooms-in?click_key=4365ceac625eb03e110c712e77bb718b52cb08ad%3A1311310480&click_sum=47ed74b9&ref=shop_home_feat_2&sts=1
7. "Give me a Break! I'm living in a VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER!"  by Mark Tavares 
8. Night Rises - dragon. wild. forest. fantastical. magical. nature. by Jessie Barber https://www.etsy.com/listing/738334684/fantasy-art-watercolor-print-night-rises?click_key=2370d8d20c429c5bb85166986d9610172c875e67%3A738334684&click_sum=c21c0c0c&ref=shop_home_recs_66&sts=1
9. DON'T PRESS THE BUTTON, STIMPY by MegBeth
10. 12 Chinese zodiac animals cute cartoon zodiac animals by Bryan Chan, Owner of AsianArtistry
11. The Four Dignities in Tibetan Buddhism and the auspicious animals of Bhutan: Tiger (Vraghra in Sanskrit)  lower left Snow Lion (Seng) lower right, Garuda upper left and Dragon (Vritra, Skrt or Druk) upper right – Artist Unknown 
12. Ranunculus Dragon by Jessie Barbe​ https://www.etsy.com/listing/1470780197/dragon-art-watercolor-print-ranunculus click_key=7776f68c2e0c1452310fe852db14450e6746beaf%3A1470780197&click_sum=071f8b8e&ref=shop_home_recs_3&sts=1