Monday 11/22 :: Lunar 10/18

Little Snow Qi Node begins today. The dark grows quickly, the ground hardens, and insects and rainbows disappear. Today is “shut,” a great opportunity to rest. Retreat, eat nourishing foods, and cancel ambition. Anything that feeds your resources goes well. Routine work is fine.

Some acupuncturists, including Bob Levine with whom I apprenticed for several years, enter retreat during these winter months. Most of us can’t do that, but we can let rest find us where it can. When I have too much to do, I move fast and frenzied, which wastes a lot of energy. Slow and steady can be a form of rest, when literal stillness is not possible. “Pushing forward on this day will have three times the negative result.” Today, addictions can be broken, and good choices made. Give ghosts nothing to stick to by decentralizing yourself, keeping your humor, and starting/maintaining excellent habits.

he’s going nowhere
yet outstanding in his field
scarecrow paradox

Tuesday 11/23 :: Lunar 10/19

The new weekly hexagram describes the outcomes of using force. When we feel held back, sometimes we just want to push through. This can be effective, but also create backlash. Restraint keeps us out of trouble today. The gradual, instinctive progress of migrating birds gives us an antidote to frustrated impulsivity. The daily hexagram tells us we are on a long, predestined journey of perseverance and predisposition. It’s not a hero’s journey, but an ancestral one. Finding our place in the fold protects us from ourselves. Reframe your position instead of lurching from the version of the story in which you feel obstructed. Become your broadest ecology.

the migrating geese
fly over border control
undocumented

Wednesday 11/24 :: Lunar 10/20

Today we experience the good fortune of the fool. Things turn out well despite ourselves. We also have the opportunity to get rid of what holds us back. The images are of a snake shedding its skin and a winnowing basket to separate rice from chaff. We can cull our material stuff, habits, emotions, etc. The lunar mansion describes a Leopard, whose skins were worn by military officers and Chu shamans. The Leopard confers copious blessings. Let them in.

sudden gust of wind
the scarecrow finally flies
just like one of them

Thursday 11/25 :: Lunar 10/21

Happy Thanksgiving! The auspices are on our side. The Ladle governs libations and ancestral rituals. The big, happy Chinese lion-dog figuratively shows up to offer its exorcistic dance. This popular festival rite invokes clarity, safety, and prosperity when danced at the threshold of any building. Lion-dogs can discern truth from lies, and live on fire to maintain their ruthlessness toward traitors and hypocrites. Be energetically honest today. You can do it. Even with your family. Even with yourself. If you are a family of one, feel in your body the way that we are literally connected to everything. There is nothing that is not our family. Our breath is the atmosphere. Our eyes evolved with the sun. Don't just think it, let it fill you.

Today’s changing line tells us to remain calm and stay silent. (You do you! I’m just telling you what the almanac advises.) Regulating our nervous systems is not cowardly. Today’s Mountain hexagram describes stillness in the face of physical punishment. We can say volumes with stillness, and a few well-chosen words that arise from an open stance. Don’t underestimate the power of presence. True confidence requires no aggression.

with wide open arms
our scarecrow welcomes the world
into his wheat field

Friday 11/26 :: Lunar 10/22

When I moved to California and still waved at everyone like a small-town girl, working class people were the only ones who ever waved back. No matter your position, get low and stay low. Inhabit your humanity enough to be grounded, real, and genuine. Ming says, “Modesty applied to time is patience.” We can be chill even when we need to take strong action.

Today is also an Ox-Boy day, which is about bad luck in romance. The losses that come from inattention to details and boundaries can show up today. The Ox-Boy constellation forever chases the Maiden, but they can’t unite. If love is in the air, it’s probably unrequited. Auspicious activities include moving, planning, inactivity, solitude, and medical treatments.

seventeen long years
cicadas toil underground
poets, probably

Saturday 11/27 :: Lunar 10/23

Judicious use of force may or may not bring benefit. Today, it’s crap shoot. Stable, functional, and progressive qi rules that day, so whatever happens, it’s easier to return to normal afterward. Guard your health, and conserve your energy. The daily hexagram is called Obstruction, which describes a situation when good people are temporarily held back, and small-minded people prevail. It’s sort of like the kids who make fun of my son for wearing sparkly shoes. We know who’s gonna win in the end. When the best people are obstructed, change for the better is inevitable. Be humble, cancel, and postpone. Don’t accidentally work against your fate by pressing forward. But there’s also a chance that force can succeed, especially if you keep your cool.

shooting star
lucky unless you catch it

Sunday 11/28 :: Lunar 10/24

“The family is assembled before the ancestor altar,” as it were. Spiritual, social, and material resources are gathered and put in order. Good for all joint efforts. Opening our hearts with others purges us of selfishness. Through this exchange, we can enter the depths of our humanness. Be receptive to inevitable success. Events (good and bad) can surface that we did not directly cause. Unseen helpers show up to mediate ancient affronts. Even difficult things can be smoothed over as a group.

a gentle drizzle
over the retention pond
family reunion

Thanks for reading, and have a great week!