Dearest Reader,
Happy New Year! As of tomorrow, it’s all about the Rabbit. Or, depending where you live and how you celebrate, the Cat.
A rabbit myself, I lean towards the leporid side of things. All the more so given my arguably pathological enmeshment with two exceptionally vocal, energetically maximalist felines.
Every day is Cat Day in this house.
Whatever your cat-or-rabbit proclivities, here’s what you need to know.1
Lunar New Year, aka Chinese New Year and Spring Festival, gets underway tomorrow, January 22. Celebrations will culminate in the Lantern Festival on February 5.
The specific date differs annually since it depends on the moon rather than some arbitrarily decreed flip of the calendar. Generally, it falls between late January and late February, with festivities spanning two-ish weeks.
While the holiday is barely a side note here in rural Nova Scotia, more than a billion people worldwide will be welcoming Lunar New Year with much tradition and flare.
Though based on a calendar that originated in China, the holiday is celebrated in various Asian countries and beyond. (Interestingly, Mongolian and Tibetan calendars enter the Year of the Rabbit a month later, on February 20.)
I won’t go too far down a rabbit hole, but the calendar developed in China revolves around2:
12 earthly branches, each corresponding to an animal (Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig)
10 heavenly stems, each corresponding to one of the five phases, or elements (Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, Earth) and either Yin or Yang
Tomorrow marks the start of the Yin Water Rabbit Year (or Cat, if you follow Vietnamese traditions).
This is also known as the Black Rabbit Year, since the colour black is associated with Water in traditional Chinese culture (and Chinese Medicine).
Each cycle takes 60 years to complete and come around again. Meaning, the last time we saw a Yin Water Rabbit Year was six decades ago.
Rabbits, meanwhile, arrive every 12 years, same as their animal buddies. I was born in 1975, which makes me a Wood Rabbit under this system.3
You’ll find some nifty charts of recent Rabbit years, famous Rabbits, Rabbit characteristics, and tools for finding your animal in the link-up below.
When you were born determines your animal, phase, and Yin-Yang correspondence, influencing your personality…and your destiny.
Overall, Lunar New Year centres family, togetherness, hope, good fortune, abundance, and prosperity.
This year, if you’re a Rabbit,4 perhaps all the more so. That said, we’re cautioned to proceed with care and to expect good fortune following big challenge and change.
Even if you’re not a Rabbit, here’s what the year ahead has in store:
The Rabbit symbolizes patience and luck. 2023 promises more of that and less of the drama seen in 2022’s Year of the Tiger.
Yin is slow, steady, calming, reflective, and introspective compared to Yang. Entering a Yin year reminds us to pause before reacting, speaking, posting, or commenting. It also invites us to tidy our “side of the street” before pointing fingers (or paws) at others.
Water, a Yin phase, is quintessential Taoist. Rather than taking credit or outward display, it’s about strong, quiet leadership and intuition. To quote Chapter 8 of the Tao Te Ching:5
The highest good is like water.
Water gives life to the ten thousand things and does not strive.
It flows in places men reject and so is like the Tao.
In dwelling, be close to the land.
In meditation, go deep in the heart.
In dealing with others, be gentle and kind.
In speech, be true.
In ruling, be just.
In business, be competent.
In action, watch the timing.No fight: No blame.
This is an excellent year to go slow, think things through, and make mindful—powerful—changes.
It also holds potential for abundant harmony, tranquility, and serenity.
Not arising from stasis, sloppiness, or collapse.
Rather, coming from a place of quiet knowing. Coming from a place of surrendering to what is true and, from there, declaring sovereignty.
Want to welcome Lunar New Year in community?
If you happen to be in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, join us this Thursday for donation-based community acupuncture and meditation.
Turnout this month has been so great that we’ll be continuing every Thursday thereafter.
RSVP by emailing me here: Hello@DanaLeighLyons.com.
I’d love to see you there! But whether in person or in spirit, know I’m rooting for you in this auspicious time of letting go, leaning forward, and showing up for what’s now and next.
There’s tremendous magic and healing in hope, wonder, and joyful anticipation. Let’s welcome the Year of Rabbit from that place, together.
In integrity & prosperity,
Dana
Backup below, including: a trusty calculator for finding your Chinese zodiac animal, lucky numbers, flowers, colours, and common character traits; Taoist LGBTQIA+ communities reclaiming the Rabbit as a deity rather than a slur; a line-up of famous people born in Rabbit years (spoiler: I’m in fabulous company); how to choose a compatible partner and career according to your Chinese zodiac; a Cat versus Rabbit explainer; and more for paid subscribers.6