02/21/2026
As we say goodbye to the Year of the Wood Snake and welcome the Year of the Fire Horse, I’ve been thinking about what it really means to stand at a threshold.
In Chinese medicine and philosophy, the Snake teaches us about rebirth. But rebirth is rarely graceful. A snake doesn’t simply glide into new skin. It presses, strains, rubs against rough surfaces until what no longer fits finally gives way. It is a vulnerable, exposed process.
Many of us are in that place right now. Outgrowing old identities. Old systems. Old stories about who we are and how the world works. It can feel tight, uncomfortable, even frightening. When something is ready to change but hasn’t fully released, there is tension. Heat. Restlessness. The discomfort is not a mistake. It is movement.
And now the Fire Horse gallops in, carrying the new year.
The Fire Horse carries a very different spirit. Bold. Untamed. Vibrant. It does not creep forward. It runs free, heart afire, longing for open fields and clear horizons.
But we cannot ride that freedom if we are still clinging to old skin.
So, if this season feels raw, tender, and uncertain, know that it is also sacred. There is still shedding to do. There is still work in the dark before the gallop begins.
Let this be our prayer: that we emerge from this time of struggle with more love, more humility, more warmth and compassion for one another and for the world we share.
May the Fire Horse carry us forward into a freer, more awakened way of being.