Chinese New Year 2023 falls on January 22. Not only are new years in Chinese astrology represented by one of twelve animals, the five elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water are also incorporated as the zodiac moves through a different element each year. This year is not only the Year of the Rabbit, it’s the Year of the Black Water Rabbit and this is because the yin Water element is associated with the color black.
Black Rabbit is a very specially gifted and creative Rabbit who has not been seen since 1963, so this year 2023 promises to be a year of great fortune.
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Black Water Rabbit of 1963
1963 was a year in which Water energy flowed abundantly, especially enhancing communications of all sorts. Pop culture truly created roots with television shows like The Beverley Hillbillies, The Lucy Show and the Dick Van Dyke Show while films like The Pink Panther and The Birds became the rage.
The year had begun with the historic wintry “Big Freeze” followed by March’s inevitable thaw and gushes of water. And then in October that year, rain relentlessly poured on Northern Italy’s Dolomite Mountains until the ground was so waterlogged the earth could absorb no more. On the night of October 9, a landslide ensued that pushed half a hillside into the recently completed Vajont Dam, in turn creating a 300-foot high wave wiping out the town of Longarone in minutes and taking 2,500 lives that night.
On the political front, it was the year of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which astrologers believe was actually initiated during the preceding aggressive Tiger year. Martin Luther King made his “I Have a Dream” speech and the Beatles were zooming to their zenith (soon to appear early the next year on the Ed Sullivan show in the states which virtually sealed their rise to incredible fame). There was civil and violent unrest which is never Rabbit’s way but Rabbit isn’t a pushover either and will allow these if necessary for change.
Welcome 2023
The main source of energy in the Chinese calendar for 2023 is the Water element in its yin form indicating that 2023 will be a more restful time for contemplating our values and goals in life. In 2023, the Water Rabbit energy helps us bring our major life’s goals to life. 2023 also provides fertile timing to become a highly paid specialist, so apply yourself and you just may become significantly more abundant than you already are.
2023 is also the year for honing our skills of perception, intuition, and forging the way of peace—both inner and outer. Representative of youth and optimism, the Water Rabbit will be important on the political front as diplomacy, good negotiation skills and new more creative leaders step up to the plate. While previous enemies probably won’t get cozy with each other, they may at least begin to talk this year. Political leaders should know that Black Water Rabbit’s energy is no friend to indiscretions, especially the sexual ones.
For the sincere of heart, Rabbit, no matter its color or element, represents good fortune both materially and in relationships. (Remember the rabbit’s foot people used to carry in their pockets for good luck?) Rabbit may not be the most robust animal, but its charm and speed are the qualities that attract money, fertility, lovers and success. These gifts are even more acutely present when Rabbit is combined with the Water element.
Rabbit prefers quality over quantity and views home as sanctuary so his energy may influence many this year to choose natural, classic, youthful and often upcycled fashion for home and clothing. Creatives like interior decorators, gardeners and upholsterers just may have an incredibly busy year.
Communications as another metaphor for Water will be big in 2023 as people will thrive for the sociability they missed the previous two years. People-in-the-flesh festivals, rallies and outdoor markets will be popular as online meetings forced by the previous two years diminish. And as it happened in 1963, communication through entertainment will blossom with unparalleled innovations and a birth of new stars in every field. In fact, the urge to communicate will be unstoppable this year since Water doesn’t return until the Water Rat of 2032.
Tiger years like last year are all about activating change, highlighting injustices, and breaking down barriers and because Tiger is who he is, he doesn’t tred lightly. He powers through. So after Black Water Tiger’s good long year of constant, sometimes shocking change but often change that leads to necessary changes, Black Water Rabbit’s time of tranquility is just what we need—a time to contemplate, adjust our creative endeavors and enjoy ourselves along the way.
Soft pawed Rabbit now hops in to counterbalance the outrageous Year of the Tiger that 2022 was as restful antidote. It’s time for Black Rabbit’s balancing sweet and happy fluffiness.
Why do we have two years of Water back-to-back?
According to traditional Chinese medicine, years are paired and each of the two years in a pair are ruled by the same element. This pairing occurs in order to create balance.
First the element sweeps in, in its strongest most potent form in year one and in the following year two, it works its way out in a quieter softer manner. Rabbit won’t undo all of Tiger’s work though. Rabbit modifies and refines, smoothes and repairs where necessary which ends up making a lot of Tiger’s collateral damage acceptable, if not, welcome.
So last year, Black Water Tiger brought us a number of flood events you may even have forgotten. Interestingly, most of them were 500- or 1000-year rain or flood events. These were events like the Pakistani floods between June and October 2022 which killed 1,739 people, and caused 3.2 trillion rupees worth of damage and 3.3 trillion of economic losses.
In the states, Yellowstone National Park endured a 500-year flood event costing more than one billion in damages. So, too, did Jackson, Mississippi and Dallas, Texas incur billions in damages for 1000-year flood events, not to mention Hurricane Ian that caused 30 to 60 billion in damages killing many people.
According to Taoist astrologers, we’re quite done with extremes like these—at least for the time being. Now Black Water Rabbit brings us water in the most pleasant of forms: soft Spring and Summer rains, gentle snows and Water’s more metaphorical flow materialized as financial wealth. Some economists may predict financial stresses for 2023, but this is not Black Water Rabbit’s way and these economists may very well be proven wrong.
Moreover, “… the Black Rabbit of 2023 is aiming to sprinkle the healing energies of Water across the whole year.” —Linda Dearsley in 2023: Thrive in the Year of the Rabbit
The key is not to be a nervous scared bunny or you might shoo Black Water Rabbit’s good fortune away. Instead, as master crafter of your life, remember that you choose how you’ll respond to this Rabbit year. Don’t leave it all up to Rabbit but instead remember that it’s the choices you make that will determine your 2023.
Dearsley advises everyone:
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Endnotes:
–Dearsley, Linda. 2023: Thrive in the Year of the Rabbit. Bennion Kearney Limited. 2022. Print.
–Levitt, Susan, and Jean Tang. Taoist Astrology: A Handbook of the Authentic Chinese Tradition. p. 171. Rochester, VT: Destiny, 1997. Print.