February 17th is the beginning of the Lunar New Year in 2026. Last year, the year of the Snake, was all about shedding, exposing, transmutation- personally, the last year dealt with huge pieces of my life: finances, career, family health, friendships, and my post-partum journey. As I look back at the year, my greatest joys were focused on my daughter, creativity, friendship, and family. I feel like I lost myself, as many women do once they become mothers, but not in a completely negative sense. I feel like a grey-scale version of myself that is finally starting to take on new colors again. It feels very full circle, with me coming back to things I used to love and had drifted from, but better this time than I was before. On a small scale, I kept on reading and writing. My interest in gothic fashion and inspiration renewed. My interest in the occult and tarot as well. I’ve been more persistent in keeping in touch with my long-term friends.

Now as we leave the Snake behind, we enter the Fire Horse.

My favorite animal. My spirit guide.

This will be a year of self empowerment and rearing up for battle and fighting for truth. This should be an interesting transformative year. Let’s take a look at the meaning of the horse and the overall key points behind what it will bring to 2026.

We move on from two years in the element aspect of Wood to the element of Fire. The Year of the Horse comes around every 12 years (e.g., 2014, 2026, 2038), but not every Horse year is a ‘Fire Horse year’. This only occurs every 60 years.

The horse belongs to the yang, associated with light, warmth, and masculinity Horses symbolize. The horse has been associated with numerous roles and magical gifts throughout the ages and in all regions of the world where human populations have come into contact with it, making it the most symbolically charged animal, along with the snake.

According to Professor Xiaohuan Zhao (Professor of Sinology (Religion, Literature and Theatre) in the School of Languages and Cultures at the University of Sydney), “In Chinese culture, the horse symbolises strength, perseverance, and aspiration. The legendary dragon-horse (longma 龍馬) is associated with the force of Heaven and the pursuit of self-improvement, while the expression ‘dragon-horse spirit’ (longma jingshen 龍馬精神) conveys resilience, energy and determination.”

Personality

Socially, Horse has an outgoing and agreeable personality. Horse people are energetic, confident, creative and adventurous. They are widely liked for their natural openness, as well as their courage and passion, which, when coupled with their eloquence and moral uprightness, makes Horses exceptional leaders and social advocates at work and popular in love. The value freedom. They rarely accept defeat, so they can motivate themselves to put up an active fight in everything they do. They have tenacity, endurance, stubbornness, even foolhardiness in certain situations.

Horse people have a tendency to give up halfway through when their quick passion runs out of steam. I.e. they can get bored easily, which applies to work and love. They can also be vain and self-glorifying, prone to seeking attention.

Yes, be careful what you plan to reap in a fire horse year. They are temperamental little buggers, horses- AND spooky. It’s a very interesting combination. Strive for foundations of peace this year. The fire horse doesn’t need any encouragement to move, only encouragement to TEMPER itself as much as possible.

What have we learned since 60 years ago about humans and human society…

Image credits NAJI柳田 and ミナミ at Pixiv.net

Observances

The Lunar New Year is the start of a calendar year that follows the moon cycles, based on the lunisolar calendar. It’s observed all over East and Southeast Asia and even in the Middle East and cultures vary in their zodiac and traditions. Most commonly known as the Chinese New Year, it is also the Spring Festival, chunjie (春节). The first full moon of the lunar year marks the end of the new year celebrations and is known as the Yuanxiao Festival (元宵节) or Lantern Festival (灯节). Traditions of the New Year often include eating dumplings, receiving money, setting off fireworks, and decorating or wearing the color red. Red is for protection and fortune! My own personal tradition is to order take-out and practice a bit of origami. We celebrated with my daughter and allowed her to play with my old Beanie Babies: Hissy, Derby, Magic, and Scorch since those represent the signs in our household.

Unlike the solar calendar which always begins the calendar year on January 1st, the Lunar New Year’s beginning can vary across the months of January and February. The years of the snake include: 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013 and 2025. If you are a January or February baby, be sure to check what date the new year falls on for that year!

Similar to the 12 Western zodiac signs, the Chinese zodiac, or shengxiao, is represented by 12 animal signs. The legend of the zodiac is that the Jade Emperor summoned the 12 animals to race to his palace for a banquet. The order of the zodiac is the order that they arrived at the palace: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Although, the rat was said to have cheated by riding on the back of the Ox before leaping in front across the finish line!

On top of the zodiac animals, the new year is tied to one of the five elements: Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, or Wood based off of the Wu Xing philosophy. All the elements are interconnected and there is no hierarchy. The goal is simply balance and harmony. These elements bring out certain traits within the zodiac signs and some elements are more compatible with signs than others.

According to astrologer, Susan Levitt: The first element is fire and it is the most masculine of the five elements, considered very yang. Although fire is considered a very yang element in general, it can exist in either a yang or a yin state because in Taoism all things have both a yin and a yang expression to create balance. When fire expresses masculine yang energy, its color is red and is symbolized by burning wood. When fire expresses feminine yin energy, its color is purple and is symbolized by the flame of a lamp, small and contained, yet helpful. Fire’s season is summer, the time of heat, growth, warmth, and increased light. Fire’s tri-gram is two solid lines above and below a broken line. Fire’s symbol is a red Phoenix.

Adding to this, next year is another Fire year (the animal being the goat). This is considered the “Red Horse and Red Goat Calamity” and this will go on from February 17, 2026 – January 25, 2028.

The last time this happened was in 1966-1967. This energy brings cultural shifts, war, natural disasters, intense change, rebellion, and progress. Fire is energy, passion, enthusiasm, movement. Combined with the energy of the horse, this is amplified to an almost chaotic place.

Some historical events in 1966 associated with the last cycle of the Fire Horse :

• The Cultural Revolution began in China
• The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was signed into law in the USA
• The ATM was introduced
• The first successful soft landing on the moon (Luna 9 and Surveyor 1)
• Vietnam escalated
• The Aberfan disaster
• Star Trek and the Beatles changed the cultural landscape

The horse brings intense drive and the goat brings a calmer resilience. How do we see these energies playing out for the next two years?

Think of a wildfire. We want the fire ideally to burn up the rotting refuse at the bottom of the forest, not creep across the whole landscape. Use discernment to know when to NOT move just as much as when you are sure to move.

Lucky things for Horse

• Colors: red, pink, purple
• Directions: Southeast
• Numbers: 2, 7
• Flowers: Iris, Jasmine, Calla Lily

UnLucky things for horses

• Colors: black, blue
• Numbers: 1, 6

Finally, here are a couple of books to enjoy that reference the Chinese zodiac: The New Astrology by Suzanne White and the Fruits Basket manga series.

Thank you for reading! How did this relate to your personal 2025?
Happy new year to all! May you be blessed with good fortune!