Happy Lunar New Year—The Year of the Water Rabbit

It’s a brand new year in the lunar calendar, also known as Chinese New Year. The starting date of Chinese New Year changes each year, usually falling on a day between January 21 – February 20. The lunar calendar begins with the first new moon of the year and ends with the full moon. Filled with traditions and rituals, Chinese New Year is the most important and celebrated holiday in the Chinese calendar. For two weeks, business life just about comes to a halt, while the focus shifts to family, and traditions center around bringing good luck and long life.

In Chinese astrology, each zodiac year is represented by the combination of an animal sign (Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig) and one of the five elements in Nature (Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth). Every person is said to possess the qualities of the animal sign they are born under.

From January 22 through the full moon on February 5, we celebrate the Spring Festival and the beginning of the Year of the Water Rabbit. All signs will feel a shift as Tiger’s roaring, magnanimous personality (2022) gives way to contemplative Rabbit, the gentlest of animals in the zodiac.

Water Element and Rabbit Spirit

The Rabbit is the fourth animal sign in the lunar calendar. This year’s element is Water, which energetically relates to Kidney energy and supports the body’s overall energy foundation. If your Kidney energy is not optimal, you may notice issues with your bladder, teeth, bones, or hearing. But as with everything, you have the opportunity to use this energy shift to your advantage. If we can align ourselves with Nature’s energy flow, we will enjoy greater health and balance throughout the lunar year. The Year of the Water Rabbit merges energy and wisdom (Water/Kidney) with kindness and compassion (Rabbit). With Rabbit’s peaceful yet ambitious nature and the mighty energy of the ocean (Water element), life can move and flow in incredible ways in 2023.

Rabbits are playful animals that often symbolize fertility and creativity. Patient and conscientious by nature, Rabbits are very intelligent and often stubborn. This lunar year is an opportunity to patiently toy with various situations, trust your intuition, and then let go and simply flow with life’s movements, just as water flows down a moving river. By embracing the energy of the Water Rabbit, every sign has the ability to release what no longer serves them in order to find their own true answer within.

Water Rabbit’s Influence

People born in the Year of the Rabbit (1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023) are talented and wise, and are often regarded as trusted and admired confidants. Rabbits are conservative, and are known to think things through before acting. Water’s influence is intuitive yet prodding, gentle yet powerful—both yin and yang. This year, as Rabbits embark on their own soul-searching journey, other signs will be encouraged to delve inward as well.

Rabbits make themselves a priority and always maintain their own self-care. Still, they often form successful, lasting relationships with others. Likewise, the influence of Water/Kidney will encourage all signs to connect, not just with living friends and family, but with generations that came before as well. This is the gift of inheritance, which was passed down from one generation to the next—a gift that is unique to each individual. With Water Rabbit at the helm, maintaining balance and nurturing relationships past and present will come to the forefront. Putting all seriousness aside, one must not forget Rabbit’s playfulness and creativity. Dog, Pig, and Sheep are most compatible with Rabbit, and will reap the greatest rewards this year; however, all zodiac signs will benefit from Rabbit’s lighthearted thoughtfulness.

In 2021, we looked to Ox to lift us out of heavy situations. Last year, we took big leaps with Tiger as our adventurous and fearless leader. And in 2023, we look forward to a year of intuitive grace, playfulness, and balance.