January 22, 2023, begins the Lunar New Year of the Black Water Rabbit. It ends February 9, 2024. The first day of the New Lunar Year is different than the popular Chinese New Year.
According to M. Carol Assa, Master Feng Shui consultant, the Chinese New Year, which falls on February 4 this year, is calculated from the Chinese solar calendar.
Carol predicts this year is going to be focused more on culture, flexibility, empathy, compromise, innovative growth and creative
solutions to our problems. That may be a welcomed change compared to last year's active, vigorous, impulsive, and aggressive tiger energies that brought unpredictability and disruptions. Here's what else she has to say...
The year of the Black Water Rabbit is symbolized by yin water sitting on top of the Yin Wood Rabbit which
is seen as pure spring wood. The water and wood elements are in a harmonious relationship as water feeds wood and makes it stronger. Yin water is symbolized by the "morning dew," rain, cold water, lakes, ponds, and brooks, while yin wood is symbolized by flowers, grass, vines, or small plants. It's image is that of a small drop of water sitting on a flower petal in early morning. On the surface, this
peaceful image promises a period of rest and reflection after the dynamic Year of the Tiger....
However, there is a total lack of the fire element this year and it doesn't reappear until 2025, The Year of the Wood Snake. Fire brings optimism, happiness and will power and when missing may bring a lack of
confidence. Although there may be the desire to try to avoid conflicts and difficulties, the will may be lacking. Because the fire is missing, it may also result in sicknesses relating to the heart, brain and eyes.
Art and entertainment will be very prominent this year. The last time we experienced a Black Water Rabbit year was 1963 and it was a great year for both. It was the year Beatlemania began after their release of "I Want To Hold Your Hand/I Saw Her Standing There," the Beach Boys released "Surfing USA" and Bob Dylan released "Blowing in the Wind." Other
songs that year were - "Go Away Little Girl", "He's So Fine" "It's My Party," "Blue Velvet," and "My Boyfriends Back." Movies were "Dr. Strangelove," "Cleopatra," "The Birds," "Dr. No," and "The Pink Panther." TV Shows were "My Favorite Martian," "77 Sunset Strip," "McHale's Navy," "The Fugitive," " The Virginian," and "Lassie." It was also the launch of the longest running Soap
Opera, "General Hospital." It was "A Pop Art" year featuring such artists as Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and Roy Lichtenstein.
Looking back to 1963 politically, we remember that it was the year of JFK's assassination. There will definitely be much talk and investigation about this in 2023 as RFK Jr. recently came out and said,
"The CIA killed both my Father and Uncle."
...1963 was also full of racial tensions. It is the year Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I have a
dream" speech to an audience of at least 250,000 civil rights marchers who had participated in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Other events were Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique" that launched the reawakening of the Women's Movement in the United States, President John F. Kennedy's "A Strategy of Peace" speech at the American University in Washington, D.C., outlining a road map for the complete disarmament of nuclear
weapons and world peace, President John F. Kennedy famously declaring "Ich bin ein Berliner," in a speech in West Berlin, and the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union signing a nuclear test ban treaty. In spite of all of this, both the Cold War and Space Race continued. On a lighter note, some of the favored foods were frozen dinners, spam, gelatin modes, scalloped potatoes, and tuna
casserole!
We find we are transiting out of a twenty year cycle ruled by yang earth into a new 20 year cycle which is ruled by fire in 2024, the year of the Green Wood Dragon. So, 2023 is looked at as a transitional year
between the aggressive Black Triple Tiger (2022) and the aggressive Green Wood Dragon (2024.) It is slated to be more moderate and less outwardly warlike, with fighting, espionage, assassinations etc. going more underground - less visible. It's like a yin interlude between two very yang years!
Enjoy the interlude, catch
your breath, and hone your internal resources.
