Happy Lunar New Year!
Today we flow from the wild ride of the yang wood dragon into the more grounded energy of the yin wood snake. It’s not difficult to see the similarities between a dragon and a snake, they both have somewhat similar movements and both have an air of mystery about them that always leaves us wondering what exactly is going on. The real difference is that the snake is grounded. Dragon qi is volatile and very swirly and very, very big. The qi this year will be all about taking those big ideas that were struggling to form and ground them into the earth to begin the real work.
We begin this new yearly shift with the beginning of the tiger month, which is a yang earth tiger month this year. The big energy is the yin wood snake, with an undercurrent of yang earth tiger. The native aspects of the snake qi is yin fire, which also plays a role in this. Spring time, like the snake is also yin fire, which we feel as we begin moving out from the yin of winter with the fire of the sun beginning to give us energy to motivate ourselves anew. I know so many influences to consider might seem a bit overwhelming, but think of all of these varying aspects as waves of energies that are flowing through life… much like your friend/family group has multiple energies that lend you currents of love and support. The more familiar you are with the energetic resources you have available to you, the more you can use them wisely.
The qi this year will begin slowly, as the wood element which is native to the spring season begins to take hold. The key difference for this year is that because the qi is grounded, as we move out of the dream time, having selected the our projects, we will grow roots as well as growing externally towards the light. The character of snake qi is cautious, observing and patient. (A caution for the playful pouncing tigers, that energy will not be well received this year.) Snakes are very conservative and require the support of some form of fire/yang in order to come into their full potential. This makes a supportive environment very important this year, so feel free to slough off those aspects of your life that do not nourish you. Sloughing doesn’t need to be harsh or dramatic, it’s more of a slow development where things grow apart and skins get shed as part of that natural process.
The previous year brought with it many changes and this year should see some constructive restructuring that results from the previous changes. For myself, I have been working on my master’s in philosophy, science and religion which I will finish over the summer, just in time to begin my PhD. I have been accepted to the University of Edinburgh to work on a PhD that will philosophically analyze Classical Chinese Medicine and then work with the medical department to come up with better models to study the medicine in a way that respects the ontological foundation it is built upon (instead of merely translating it into western scientific terms and losing the innate wisdom it holds). I was very lucky to find supervisors that also want to support this work and appreciate the timing with the new integrated coding system that has been introduced by the WHO.
As many of you likely know, our health care system has now been cut off from any global initiatives and research, and really our research has also been completely halted at the national level. We always keep the hope that the re-assessments will lead us in a more fruitful direction, but that desire to close ourselves off from the collaboration that may be offered by others has led me to look outside the country for my studies.
In many ways, this years will offer quite a few new opportunities that should be mindfully observed before committing to. Choose wisely (this choice may not be defined until next January) and the following year will have the qi to take you far, as we jump into a fire yang horse year.
If anyone is interested in the research I am doing, my papers are posted on academia.edu, under Charis M. Wolf. I also wanted to thank those of you that shared my post! Please continue to send questions/ requests on topics, I’m happy to address them.