Photo: Livescience.com

Welcome, Year of the Rat!

Happy New Year!

Late this afternoon, Friday, January 24, 2020, the new moon occurred at 4:42 p.m. EST.  Because it was the first new moon to occur after the first full moon (which means it must be occurring between 21 January and 20 February of any given year), that means today is the start of the Chinese New Year.

As you may recall, last year I waxed rhapsodic about the Chinese New Year because I was born in the Year of the Boar (Pig), and thus felt a particular affinity for the year that was arriving.

Year of the Rat

In Chinese astrology, the Year of the Rat is the first sign of a 12 year cycle. I must confess to knowing very little about the qualities of people born during a Rat year, and thus found this link quite interesting. (Thank you, Marie!)

Given that the Year of the Rat is the first sign of the Chinese Zodiacal Calendar, it just seems to add momentum to the energetic heft of the times we’re experiencing right now: new year, new decade, and new 12 year Chinese astrological cycle. Combining all these new beginnings with the Saturn-Pluto conjunction that was exact last week (but because both planets are so slow moving, the influence of this conjunction will last longer than most), as well as a couple other challenging aspects thrown in and you can see how everything we’re experiencing not only in our personal lives, but also as a country and, indeed, on a planetary scale, is so momentous.

There are a lot of old paradigms, institutions, ways of thinking and being that are being challenged and, in fact, appear to be crumbling under their own weight.

New Moon in Aquarius

Aside from this new moon being the harbinger of the Chinese New Year, it’s also sounding like it’s bringing in a lot of energy that’s shaking things up. I find Chani’s take on it interesting.

It’s fascinating to me when I read these various interpretations of the planetary influences and cycles and I watch events unfold in our nation’s capital. These are most definitely incendiary times. The decisions our Senators will be making in the coming days will impact our lives in extraordinary ways – for good or for ill.

While it boggles my mind to contemplate it, we are actually on the brink of entering a time in our country’s life when everything we’ve stood for: the rule of law, our system of checks and balances, the concept that no one is above the law, the sanctity of our elections and peaceful transfer of power (just to name a few) may crumble because a majority of Senators are not willing to stand up for these fundamental principles.

Worries and Hopes

My worry, I guess, is that we’re going to have to go through the pain and agony of losing it all before realizing just how much we’ve relinquished. And then? I guess we’ll have to wait and see if or how we ever reclaim what we’ve so willingly allowed to slip through our fingers.

My hope is that enough Senators will dig deep and find the moral courage to keep us from teetering over that brink. So very much pain can be avoided if they choose to set aside those ugly whispers of greed and fear and stand united against corruption.

Whatever happens over the next several days is going to be momentous. I’m pretty sure we can all feel it percolating just under the surface. So much is written in the stars – except our choices. Ultimately, those always remain ours and ours alone.

Happy New Year.

(T-672)