This week we transition from Rain Water qi node to Insects Stir. Rain Water is the gentle, first response to new yang (spring). We can feel our environment becoming more friendly and social. Pernicious winter recedes, and our own impulsivity becomes the greatest seasonal danger. We feel Spring butterflies, and want to get moving, but it’s still not time to be very productive. Soon, yang will support our enthusiasm. Cultivate the qi of spring by reading new fiction, listening to new music, and starting seeds (any time after March 3). On Saturday, Insects Stir Qi Node begins. This heralds a time of awakened movement. Hibernating dragons stretch and yawn. Their stirring cracks the ice and causes thunder and lightning that startles the world awake. This looks like a difficult week, fraught with danger, but also possibility. According to the hexagrams, war accelerates on Saturday and Sunday.
Monday 2/28 :: Lunar 1/28 :: Rat Day :: Open :: The Net/Crow :: 4 Immaturity/54 A Girl is Married
“Surrounded by Immaturity. Disaster.” Willfully cultivating a negative situation brings disaster. Things are auspicious for the underdog, but early success collapses. The situation is touch and go. Sacrifice can help curb our losses. In ancient times, when military activity was a spiritual path, officials led hunting parties to train (martial and spiritual) soldiers and to divine the ancestors. The hunting party read the omen by what kind of animal they killed, where the arrow entered it, the state of its organs, and who killed it (leader or foot soldier). Ravens make excellent hunting partners. The Raven has always advised kings wherever kings and ravens coexist. Their calls carry the voices of the royal ancestors, who can dictate hexagrams for I-Ching divination. Today brings us messages. Confrontation, breaking taboos, taking anything for granted, and travel are contraindicated. Instead, consult doctors and oracles, build, work, write letters, study, recover, find a new home, enjoy the arts, and tell them you love them.
the hush of first snow
the color of a crow’s skull
settles over us
Tuesday 3/1 :: Lunar 1/29 :: Ox Day :: Shut :: The Beak/Monkey :: 4 Immaturity/ Consult the Oracle
Shut day. You know what that means—do nothing. Innocence brings a natural immunity, so rest in the wonder of the young. Monkey/Beak days bristle with calamity and serve as a warning. It’s a day to pull back in order to avoid punishment. We can lessen negativity by respectfully accepting the course of things. Watch how the kids handle it. Today, innocence keeps us safe. Meticulously comply with divination and cultural norms. Revolution on this day will be catastrophic. Auspicious activities include entering retreat, writing letters, burying the dead, writing memorials, adding to collections, and relying on superiors.
a praying mantis
and her shadow on a leaf
green on green on green
Wednesday 3/2 :: Lunar 1/30 :: Tiger Day :: Design/The Trio/Gibbon :: 4 Immaturity/61 Holding the Center
It’s a good day to recover wisdom by stepping back, recalling alliances, and reassessing our position. We’re not retreating but observing the situation before it arises so we can get clear. The day is not ripe for action, but we are approaching forward motion. The three stars in Orion’s belt make up the Trio, which governs borders, fortresses, and the need for limitations. Guard your resources to avoid loss, exhaustion, and invasion. Recklessness makes this a dark day, but we have the potential to make it bright by conserving our energy. Shore up your boundaries and be genuinely humble. Today is favorable for accomplishing what is difficult. We also have the potential to reform: “A thief becomes a guardian.” Auspicious activities include new ventures, commerce, industry and production, retreat, repairs, reflection, honoring ancestors, graduating, starting a new job, family gatherings, haircuts, disposing of inessentials, purchasing property, making your case, study, caution, house cleaning, feng shui adjustments, vacations, and staying in. Consult the oracle for more information.
two wolves inside us
laughing at good and evil
as they eat their fill
Thursday 3/3 :: Lunar 2/1 :: Rabbit Day :: Divide :: The Well/Tapir :: 34 Great Strength/60 Juncture
The joints of bamboo symbolize natural conclusions without ending. Today is Losar, Tibetan New Year, which begins on the new moon. A small cycle may close within a larger cycle, but a juncture is not an ending. Progress secured in increments holds and provides a stable base. Knowing how to see and use limits helps us build a life. On Losar, traditional people and monks make offerings to wake the nagas and harmonize relationships with ancestors and nature spirits. The main event lasts for three days, but festivities continue for two weeks—one day for each miracle Shakyamuni Buddha performed for his disciples.
Today we transition to the weekly hexagram Great Strength. Line by line, Great Strength describes the actions of a sacrificial goat in its attempt to survive. Today’s line reads, “Marching forward brings misfortune. Your first step forward is premature, prideful, and too strong.” This echoes the wisdom of restraint by acknowledging the impulsive arrogance that can arise today. Rabbit qi helps. It’s a Rabbit Day in Rabbit Month. Rabbits do not like confrontation of any type, and find their power through subordinating. Follow the white rabbit (they always go in and down), to where wisdom is found. The Well constellation has to do with correcting our selfish conduct without expecting to be immediately forgiven. Auspicious activities include apologizing, bathing, house cleaning, gift-giving, taking herbs, consulting a doctor, entering retreat, working, sewing, caring for pets. making house and car repairs, recognizing conclusions, abstaining from sex and drugs, making offerings, and tending the garden.
Sagano forest
a node of bamboo rises
to the occasion
Friday 3/4 :: Lunar 2/2 :: Dragon Day :: Full :: The Ghost/Sheep :: 34 Great Strength/41 Diminish
The almanac advises us to wait our turn. Today’s hexagram means diminish, referring to ritual offerings that transform into sacred substances. Offerings demonstrate confidence and do not carry the sense of loss that comes from unwilling sacrifice. Today we make unseen progress; results come later. We can attract new resources by eliminating inessentials: get a haircut, discard old beliefs, edit your possessions, etc. Strength naturally matures today. The Chariot carries ghosts across the sky and governs battlefields and other places inhospitable to human life. The non-productive dead can introduce negativity and confusion, but spiritual revelation is also immanent. It’s a good day to “cross over,” as the dead have a strong guide through the transitory states. Mediums will be extra medium-y. Write down your dreams. Other auspicious activities include entering retreat, meditating, fasting, becoming initiated, making memorials to the dead, holding funerals, practicing divination, and giving gifts and money to temples and renunciates. Avoid worldly activities if possible.
ancestor altar
sunflowers bow their heads to
my mother’s people
Saturday 3/5 :: Lunar 2/3 :: Snake Day :: Full :: The Willow/Roebuck :: 34 Great Strength/19 Approach
“When the small use force, there is danger.” The almanac gives us the image of a ram getting his horns tangled in a fence after head-butting it. The spontaneous use of force can work sometimes, but injury and difficulty surround the misuse of force. Today is good for all-out efforts, escape, courage in battle, moving house, and divorce. Injury and failure are likely, but so is survival. The daily hexagram is named after an ancient “siege machine,” symbolizing a fated opportunity to take over and replace the powers that be. The hexagram also refers to grieving at a funeral as an old order falls. In times of peace, the new leaders show the fallen king respect so that the transfer of power can occur with dignity. Willow days encourage grief as an expression of health. Willows teach us how to flow like water. Their weeping soothes the dead and purifies the land. People have long used their twigs for divination, cleansing, and religious ritual. Today is good for offerings, memorials, burials, fasting, meetings, gift-giving, paying debts, taking stock, consulting a doctor, taking herbs, visiting graves, and receiving medical treatments. When Putin invaded Ukraine, I got to spend the day preparing a feast for a visiting farmer. It felt like the opposite of war. May we invite peace in the ways that come naturally to us.
lullaby rubble
beneath a gray blanket
children of war sleep
Sunday 3/5 :: Lunar 2/4 :: Horse Day :: Level :: The Birdstar/Horse :: 34 Great Strength/13 Community
Community efforts work miracles. “You break through and survive. A well-timed, sharp-horned attack succeeds beyond your expectations.” The breakthrough to freedom had so much force it damaged the opponent’s ability to counter-attack. Today’s hexagram describes the unparalleled strength of a united community. On the basis of sheer numbers, people can accomplish anything. In the service of the common good, opponents surrender and are ultimately included. Today’s constellation governs bridges and fords, and the dyeing of cloth. Pour the raw yang quality of the horse into established projects. Good auspice relies on continuity and convention—not innovation. Auspicious activities include industry and production, planning, writing letters, paying debts, laundry, tailoring, routine study, and coming together for a common purpose.
migrating geese
holding the ancient arrow
that always points home
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Thanks so much for reading.
My mother’s people come from Odessa and what is today known as Unman Raion, Ukraine. Like all Ukrainian Jews, they lived in the Pale of Settlement. Many died in the pogroms, but some were able to escape to Lockport, NY in the early 1900s. I still have family there. In lieu of Venmo, here are several Jewish organizations actively helping people on the ground in Ukraine:
1. The Jewish Agency is helping refugees to get to Moldova: https://www.jewishagency.org/
2. HIAS is working with non-government organizations in Ukraine to provide assistance to refugees: https://act.hias.org/page/6048/donate/1
3. United Hatzalah is coordinating with its Ukraine chapter to get people out of areas where there is fighting and to provide medical assistance to those who are injured: https://thechesedfund.com/unitedhatzalahofi.../safetyukraine
4. JDC is on the ground in Ukraine providing meals to the elderly and children: https://www.jdc.org/disasters/ukraine-response/...
5. Ukraine Crisis Fund is supporting individuals and communities to ensure their safety and well-being: https://wupj.org/give/ukraine/