Happy Year of the Female Iron Rabbit
A lucky year!
Today is the first day of the Tibetan New Year. Happy New Year to you!
The lunar year 2011 to 2012 is the Year of the Female Iron Rabbit (lcags-mo yos-lo), and is generally considered one of the most fortunate of all possible years.
That’s generally good news considering what the last year has held for many of us. I am certainly looking forward to a shift in energy from the lone tiger steadily plodding in the jungle. The tiger has its merits, but I like what I’m hearing about the qualities of the rabbit.
“So, what is the conventional wisdom about the Rabbit? Well, you would never want a better friend, nor could you ever find a better candidate for successfully managing delicate tasks. Indeed, Rabbits personify what we might consider all positive qualities. Trungpa Rinpoche was born in the year of the Rabbit, as was Confucius, and Albert Einstein,” says Digital Tibetan Buddhist Altar.
“You see that the Tiger is a warlike general, while the Rabbit is a smooth diplomat. Indeed, Rabbit years are regarded as generally peaceful, stable, ‘lucky’ years, much like a civilized summer afternoon’s diplomatic luncheon, out on the lawn.”
I could use a summer’s afternoon luncheon on the lawn. And diplomacy, in my book, is underrated. People are much more invested in being right than they are in having harmonious relationships. If our focus shifted from the former to the latter, how might that change the world?
But those rabbits are fierce!
Marvin Artley of Astrology.com has a different take on the rabbit: “a look at past Iron Rabbit years reveals a different story. Rabbits are fighters for the underdog and are very brave in the face of danger. Typically, one sees uprisings against social injustice in such years (1951, 1891, 1831, 1771) and with the state of the world at the moment we can see that may well be the case this time around, too.”
Okay, so maybe not a summer’s luncheon on the lawn.
What we can do with this new year’s energy
Elizabeth Burke of Fierce Compassion and Wild Wisdom has a more constructive take on the coming year: “Rabbits live in warrens are more social than tigers. My hope is that based on this energy change we will have a year of more cooperation and consensus.”
In moving from the tiger energy to the rabbit’s Elizabeth says: “Isolation is necessary to discern who we are and what is important to us. We need that quiet self- reflection. But we are a human family and we need to also step back into relationship to someone other than ourselves.”
Her wish for the new year reflects my own. “I hope this new year reawakens our sense of community as we move out of isolation. Let us find common ground again. Cooperation is key, with this, we can get things done and moving forward again. The energy is posed to help us do this. . . Let’s find our community this coming year—- like minded people who love and support us. My wish is for each of you is to discovery your larger human family and your place in it.”
Remember that you have control over your own destiny
I glimpsed a website that makes predictions in the areas of wealth, health, career, and love for each of the chinese zodiac signs and read that the Iron Rabbit does not bode well for the Rooster, my own sign. But I also read that astrology is dependent upon the practice of dharma: “Please take note that as a general rule, astrological indications are rendered highly flexible by Dharma practice.”
So, maybe I do have a chance this year . . .