We are in Great Snow qi node, which is a wonderful season to do nothing. I say this all the time, but I don’t think it can be overstated for who and when we are. The qi is now down and in. The weather “out there” is the weather “in here.” Classical Chinese medical literature tells us not to sweat during the winter season because it runs counter to nature’s movement. (Sweating pushes precious resources out of the body.) We are the calendar, so paying attention to seasonal signposts entrains us to the right rhythms. Some “down and in” activities are sleeping (dreaming), eating, tending to our health, reflecting, taking baths, making bank deposits, saving, and leisure. If you do these things on any day in winter, you really can’t go wrong. Within that we can find more nuance through disciplined listening, intuition, instinct, and tools like the Chinese Almanac. It’s good to start trusting our own instrument. If you can’t trust yourself yet, start with earth, and slowly trust will trickle in.

Monday December 20 :: Lunar 11/17 :: Full/Heart/Fox

Confidence grows as good timing and necessary resources are now part of the picture, even if we have to accept a heavy fate. It’s a Fox day. Foxes bring justice for what we thought we “got away with.” They can collect old debts, reverse fortunes brought on by neglecting the dead, and cause genetic illnesses to surface. They are also associated with excess sex and drug use (stimulants), inappropriate impulses, and sad mishaps that can cause the young mature too soon. Before my daughter had a stroke, foxes showed up everywhere. They continue to show up right before times of crisis or drama. They’re not bad, just accurate. The concubine Da Chi who brought down the last emperor of Shang is a famous fox spirit. To the Aleuts, she’s “fox wife.” My medicine man friend tells the story of when Fox Wife appeared as a literal, physical fox, and began speaking English to dissuade him from killing himself. Foxes are multifaceted and complex creatures, whom I’ve learned to thank for the heads-up. It’s also possible to find what has been lost on a fox day. Today is favorable for being fearless in the face of difficult decisions. No matter what the day brings, we have the opportunity to meet it with equanimity. It is all ok. As Palden Jenkins says, “It’s all going to be ok in the end. If it’s not ok, it’s not the end.”

four departed ducks
one family’s tragedy is
a fox’s delight

Tuesday December 21 :: Lunar 11/18 :: Level/Tail/Tiger

The joints of bamboo symbolize natural restraint and conclusion. Circumstances conclude without ending, like chapters in a novel. Today is the Winter Solstice, a natural node that concludes the darkest part of the year. We are now at the height of winter. Today is favorable for restraint, observation, and incremental progress. Knowing how to recognize these junctures helps us build on previous experiences without carrying the ghost of concluded karma forward. Parameters position us to succeed, and educated choices include a sense of timing. The auspices blend so well because today also offers the smooth transition of power from ancestors to offspring. It’s the instinctive good judgment in young people that arises because of who and what precedes them, the way spring flourishes after winter. While we’re not yet nearing Spring, the light will begin its return tomorrow. It’s auspicious to build, bury the dead, educate the next generation, and move house. Getting married is also on the list, but I personally would not get married in the thick of winter during a pandemic surge.

always agreeing
with whatever the wind says
bamboo bows deeply

Wednesday December 22 :: Lunar 11/19 :: Settle/The Basket/Leopard

Preparation makes action timely and successful. Clarity and calm (yin) are not unseated by action (yang). Bounty, copious blessings, and good surprises find us today. Working, building, buying, and remodeling bring prosperity. Acquiring wealth is highlighted (collecting debts, investing, working). Burials, memorials, and funerals invoke a rain of blessings from the ancestors. Cultivating only self-interest isolates us and makes success difficult. The new weekly hexagram says, “Do not use divination to justify selfish ambition and greed.” The daily hexagram elaborates that sacrifice brings good fortune. It’s not talking about martyrdom, but about attracting new resources by eliminating inessentials. We can transform reduced resources into an advantage. The ways we thank our ancestors—whether through physical offerings or simple continuity—opens us to receive their blessings. It’s a reciprocal world. All we got to do is give. And receive.

how kind is the dew
to slake an aphid's thirst and
wash our feet for free

Thursday December 23 :: Lunar 11/20 :: Maintain/Ladle/Griffon

Yang consumes Yin. Disciplined repetition holds and cements gains. Today’s Griffon constellation is associated with all manner of chimera—tiger-dragons, unicorns, kirin, garuda—all of which represent the supernatural and the arrival of good news. They scare away all pretense. Worldly and otherworldly activities prosper today. Anything goes except for lying (with words, actions, or energy) and excess of any kind (food, sex, drugs, work). Be patient and appropriate in your progress, not obsessed with personal gain.

crocodile dreaming
her compliments to the chef
as she digests me

Friday December 24 :: Lunar 11/21 :: Destroy/Oxboy

Christmas Eve. A day for maturing and editing. Loss, obstruction, and cunning are in the cards. Cutting our losses and (honest) preemptive generosity succeed. Some of the Plains tribes had a practice of re-enacting bad dreams that threatened the health of the community. They’d theatrically dissipate the portent by holding a mock-battle (or whatever bad thing the dream described). Likewise, making a donation or being generous can spend the omen of loss. You may feel angry or isolated. Do not try to improve upon the situation. Just go with it. I try to make the best of difficult situations by thinking about my own death. lol. “I have to let go of everything, so this is just good practice, really.” We are all going to die. Carrying this realization in our hands thaws the fear. What was once a heavy block of ice, something substantial, begins to melt. Eventually it feels light, because it is. Then it feels like nothing, in the good way. One man’s nihilism is another man’s interdependent origination. Today’s losses come from inattention to details, boundaries, and limits. Of course, it is also possible we will have a very good day. The opportunity to work together toward a common goal is also present.

in the compound eye
of the visiting housefly
a winter rainbow

Saturday December 25 :: Lunar 11/22 :: Danger/The Maiden/Bat

Merry Christmas! Just kidding, it’s not. If you stick to leisure and gift-giving, it can be. But all other action is fraught with risk. Old habits and pressing forward invite catastrophe. Manipulation, betrayal, and covert action are in the air. Fortunately we also have an indicator that says “the instinct to survive carries us forward with no misfortune.” The daily hexagram tells us if we are ready to accept serious change, and ready to let go of the past, everything is favorable. If we fear change, we will experience the excruciating torment of unsuccessful resistance. This magnitude of change breaks with continuity and security. Sometimes change is sudden and overwhelming, but we can expect to survive and be powerfully transformed by the demands of the journey. Who knows what will happen today. Good luck!

changing the subject
life

Sunday December 26 :: Lunar 11/23 :: Complete/The Void/Rat

It’s a time of inner reflection. Wisdom approaches and withdrawing succeeds. Enjoy what you already have without adding anything. Not a good day to shop. There can also be disharmony in the family. Don’t take it personal. Just walk slowly away from the calendar qi. Become an anthropologist, and hold your family at notebook’s distance. It’s better than being possessed and entangled in an ancestral ghost-fest. Rest, enjoy your gifts, and call it a day.

football stadium
in an ocean of silence
a one-woman wave

Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

Art by Erin Langley