Last week was the Lunar New Year for many countries in Asia–and for Asian immigrants across the world, including the United States. While I am not of Asian descent, I like to celebrate everything. My son was an Asian Studies minor in college, and has spent a total of almost a year on study abroad programs in India, Indonesia, and Japan. So we marked the night with a vegetarian stir fry with noodles for dinner. A couple of days later, we celebrated the Tibetan New Year, known as Losar, with Himalayan momos (vegetarian Tibetan dumplings).

I’m not an expert on the Chinese calendar, but I like to consider the Asian theory that each year is represented by one of the twelve animals in the Chinese Zodiac. Since I was a child, I have known I was born in the Year of the Monkey, thanks to the placemat at our family’s favorite Chinese restaurant, The Inn of the Eight Immortals. But it has only been in the past few years that I learned each year is represented not only by an animal, but one of five versions of that animal. The animals cycle through a twelve year cycle, but also through the five primary elements or wuxing–Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water.

So last year was the year of the Wood Snake (to find out more, you can read my post https://blissfullu.com/2025/01/29/welcome-to-the-year-of-the-yin-green-wood-snake/). But to sum it up, last year was a more introspective year, examining what in our lives no longer serves us and how we can shed them. It was also about being flexible in the winds of change and swaying through them rather than breaking.

The Fire Horse, on the other hand, is almost the opposite energy. It is about taking action in the world, boldly and confidently and filled with passion. I actually did our Sunday service meditation yesterday on this topic, so if you are interested in hearing more, please check out this video:

But is it really true that different years have different and specific energies? Between the 12 different animals and the 5 different elements, each specific element animal only comes around once every 60 years. So the last time we had a Fire Horse year was 1966. I was in Elementary school in London, England at the time, so can someone remind me what things were like in the US that year?

Hmmm. The Internet tells me the following happened in 1966:

• Hundreds of thousands of people were marching in the streets in dozens of different events across the country, protesting US government-run violence and policies with which they disagreed
• Claiming a mandate around his election, the President and his party had pushed through major legislation that large groups of citizens found deeply disturbing
• An increasingly controversial President’s popularity plunged from a high when he first became President of nearly 80% approval to around 50% that year (the following year it would drop to less than 40%)
• Deep cultural and social polarization, based on extreme ideological differences including about the essential roles of government, were tearing apart families and communities
• Mounting new and populist political campaigns challenged the mainstream leadership in both the Democratic and Republican parties
• Unpopular (at least for many citizens) and expensive new federal govermental programs and policies drove up inflation, causing increasing financial anxiety among middle class and poor families
• Progressives were actively and openly defying US government programs or laws that they opposed
• A signficant realignment was occuring in both the Democratic and Republican parties, particularly among Southern and working class voters

So, um, yeah. Maybe there is some validity to this 60 year cycle of energies…because that list sure sounds like what I am seeing in the US today.

One historical event in 1966 that we have not reached yet this year is the midterm elections. That year, the President’s party lost 47 US House seats and 3 US Senate seats. The non-Presidential party also flipped 8 governorships in a diverse set of states across the country, as well as winning the majority in a significant number of states legislatures.

We don’t know about the midterms yet. However, if Fire Horse energy can produce anything close to that this year, I’m all for it. If you are as well, I recommend you watch the meditation video above to light up your Fire Horse energy. Because it’s going to take as many of us as possible to wrestle away control from powerful elites who think they are above the US Constitution or national AND international law.

But I believe in the American people and in American democracy. So let’s embrace our Fire Horse energy and Restore the Storge to our country (see my post about Storge at https://blissfullu.com/2026/02/17/a-storge-valentines-day/).