2023: Year of the Yīn-Water Rabbit
After three tumultuous years, I can write and publish my meditations on the coming lunar year of the yīn-water rabbit. This work is purely speculative, and it involves pouring over old Chinese astrological texts and interpreting the Taoist alchemical symbols describing the next 12 lunar months, starting from January 22, 2023.
The last time I publicly shared my musings on Taoist alchemical astrology was several weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic. That was back in the 庚子 Gēng Zǐ year of the metal rat, 2020. We began our 12-year metal phase with the complete shutdown of global travel, with nearly every country shutting its borders and citizens being asked to stay at home to minimise the spread of a novel virus. True to form, we spent the next two metal-phase years drawing our energies inwards. Some dealt with this well; many others did not.
Three years later, we are still living in a pandemic, but not so much in the grip of it. We are still experiencing the paradoxical energy of expansion and contraction with this year’s elements, water and wood. 癸卯 Guǐ Maǒ is the name of the 40th year in the 60-year alchemical sequence and is commonly referred to as the ‘water rabbit’.
Yīn-Water
The Heavenly Stems was a ritual calendar thought to have been used predominantly by the ruling elites of the Shang Dynasty (16th–11th centuries BCE) and is based on the movement of the 5 visible planets (see table below).
In the Heavenly Stems cycle, guǐ represents the final year of the 10-year cycle. 癸 guǐ signifies yīn-water, the gathering of energy to bring forth a new life force. In the agricultural metaphor, this is the seed in the soil on the cusp of bursting open. It is past its peak latency phase (the previous phase of yáng-water) and is now in the liminal phase before the onset of spring when the seed is waiting for the right conditions to begin the new life process.
The water element corresponds with Mercury’s movement, so attention should be paid to this inner planet’s movements this year. Look at the major transits of Mercury through your natal chart (you may need to consult with someone who knows this sort of thing). In particular, we should pay attention to the three periods of its retrograde motion this year:
- April 21–May 14
- August 23–September 14
- December 1–January 1, 2024
The Heavenly Stems signify the influence of the celestial sphere. In essence, the message from ‘Heaven’ is to wait. The stillness of water is particularly powerful this year, as we need to gather whatever energies and influences we need for the powerful new life cycle that will be born next year.
Astrologically, there are big changes afoot around March. Pluto enters Aquarius and bringing significant revolution over the next 20 years; while Saturn enters Pisces installing much-needed boundaries to dreams of infinity and limitlessness in a world stretched to breaking point from endless economic growth on the back of resource plunder.
Rabbit: Yīn-Wood
On the other side of the equation is the Earthly Branch sign of 卯 Maǒ, commonly referred to as the rabbit. The animal zodiac of Chinese Astrology that most of us are familiar with was only introduced to China in the 5th century by Buddhist scholars, the symbols of the animals being appended to the ancient Earthly Branches calendar.
This is the form of the Chinese horoscope that has become widely popular, so you’ll be able to easily read all about the rabbit’s temperament anywhere on the internet. A lot of the interpretations, however, are somewhat pedestrian, as the ‘influence’ becomes based more on an idea of how the animal behaves rather than the traditional, ancient meaning of each of the 12 symbols, based as they are on the observation of time as outlined in the I Ching. Initially, the Earthly Branches was a calendrical system used by farmers to track the movement of the seasons.
There are similarities to the energies of 2022, containing the combination of water and wood elements also. And indeed, 壬寅 Rèn Yín proved to be challenging for many, even as we opened our doors and stepped out from the yoke of pandemic existence. See my article for Blue Gaia World Publishers for the details of how abundance came from harnessing our limitations.
卯 Maǒ — as yīn-wood — is an energy akin to luxuriant vegetation dancing in the sunshine. When plants are in their seedling phase, they absorb as much sunlight as possible. They alchemically transform this into the life force needed to grow. They’re not bushy and aren’t producing fruit or flowers yet, and they can still adapt and be re-planted. In a sense, they are still gathering energy, but they are using it as quickly as they receive it and putting it towards their continued early growth. But they are still in an infancy phase, not yet mature and still dependent on life-giving sources such as water, soil, and sunlight.
Rabbit Leaving the Forest
This signifies the terrestrial energies that will influence us over the year. We stepped out of lockdown last year, and many of us had to get used to living socially and being part of society once again. We are still somewhat new to this experience, as the world has changed so much over the last couple of years. SARS-COV-2 continues to spread, causing health problems for many. At the same time, economies have been contracting as inflation grows, and the political landscape has shifted with the invasion of Ukraine and the bold growth of authoritarian, far-right movements with their hateful, bigoted agendas.
While we want to get out there and enjoy life again, something is holding us back. We don’t quite have the energy to be as bountiful as we were several years ago, but we still have some energy to enjoy life in the sunshine. We are like the alchemical symbol for the year: little rabbits daring to leave the safety of the forest, aware that we are more prone to predation out here in the wide open spaces. To brave the open fields, we need to exercise caution. It means not rushing ahead of ourselves, taking the time to pause, observe, and wait for the appropriate moment.
The I Ching Hexagram
This leads me to discuss the I Ching symbol for the year. This is calculated based on the year, month, day, and time according to the moment of the new moon based on Australian Eastern Summer Time (AEST, UTC+11).
The 5th hexagram is 需 XŪ/NECESSITY. It is formed by the trigrams ☵ Kǎn above ☰ Qián below, and is the image of a cloud ascending in the sky.
The message is that a storm (☵ Kǎn, danger) approaches, but we are still in a young and uncertain phase. There is danger and challenges ahead, and we must gather strength and nourish the body. Thus, we need to wait (☰ Qián, stillness) while we do that, only afterwards being in the appropriate position to take action. The action we are taking is waiting.
The text tells us that success this year comes from waiting. The moment necessitates this lack of action, to pause and wait in stillness at the deep gorge (another symbol for ☵ Kǎn). This is the time we get to gather our energy in preparation for what approaches in the future. The section of the text called the ‘Commentary on the Image’ states:
The Superior Person … drinks and eats, feasting with merriment.
When clouds gather in the sky, it will take some time before the rain falls. So we prepare ourselves for when it does. Hence, the association with nourishment and the careful and considered consumption of resources which will help us gather our strength.
What inner resources do we need to become strong? The Taoist alchemists tell us that “eating and drinking” is about strengthening the body (jīng, or the yīn aspect of being), while “feasting with joy” or “making merry” is providing the nourishment for our mind and emotions (shén, the yáng aspect of being). This communion of yīn and yáng is necessary for fertility and new life.
We need to look after our physical health, but also our mental and emotional health. Balanced and appropriate diets are essential (let’s face it, they always are), but we cannot be so obsessed with being ‘healthy’ that we deprive ourselves of what we need to have full hearts — our loved ones, times of merriment, and enjoying each other’s company. We gather the energy for new life force so we can dance luxuriantly in the sunshine.
The 6th line at the top is the ruling line of the hexagram for the year. It represents the sage who completely surrenders to the moment in the face of danger and waits for others to approach him with the virtues necessary to face the threat. They remain under the forest’s shelter for the resources to overcome the approaching difficulties. These tools will allow us to manage the challenges bit by bit in small increments of action. These small movements may seem pointless at first glance, but over time these small deeds accumulate to become what we need to face the storm and move to where we need to be in life at this time.
This year, the 8th lunar month — September 15 to October 14 — is particularly powerful and is the ‘signature’ time for the 癸卯 Guǐ Maǒ year. Interestingly, it starts the day after the second Mercury retrograde period of August 23–September 14.
Personal Luck
Remember that this information is like a forecast of the year’s ‘weather’. Adapting and dealing with the conditions depends mainly on your free will. You can either work with the conditions that the water rabbit brings or not.
That being said, our astrological temperaments will play their part in how and what we choose over the next year. Given that everyone loves to have a heads-up and how to deal with things, here are the signs which will be highly influenced, depending on their elemental correspondences and how they relate to yīn-water and yīn-wood.
Obviously, anyone born in a rabbit year (1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011) can generally expect to have a good year. While those born in sheep (1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015) or pig years (1947,1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007) will have their endeavours mutually enforced over the 2023 lunar year. Those born in the year of the dog (1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006) will have a particularly harmonious year.
This year will not be so great for those born in the years of the dragon (1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012), rooster (1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005), and rat (1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008).
In a Chinese Astrology chart, those who have a yáng-earth (戊 wù) Day-Master will feel supported by the ‘climate’ of yīn-water throughout the year. While those with a yīn-fire (丁 dīng) Day-Master will experience some stress and difficulties.
It is important to note here that the Day-Master's importance must be considered with the elements found in one’s chart to determine one’s ‘luck element’. In general, this year, the yīn-water element of the Heavenly Stem will influence ‘luck elements’ thus:
- Water — good luck
- Wood — nourished, nurtured, growth
- Fire — constrained or blocked luck
- Earth — average luck
- Metal — drained, lousy luck
Remember that everyone’s astrological chart is unique. A proper interpretation is required with year, month, day, and birth time details to determine the various factors that will play out in 2023. There are many websites and Chinese astrologers online for you to find this information.
