Metal Ox Year (2021)

1. In Search of the Bull *

Traveling Ox – February 11/12, 2021 – January 30/31, 2022

We have firmly entered the Chinese Year of the Yin Metal Ox.

What is a Chinese Year? What does “the Year of the Metal Ox” mean? When it comes to ancient classical traditions like Chinese Astrology, a little context goes a long way in harvesting the ripest and juiciest fruits of wisdom and understanding.

We Are Time and Everything is Self Resolving

Chinese astrology is misnamed ‘astrology’ – it is not about watching the movements of stars and constellations. It is a way to look at the sequence of time to tell us something about ourselves and our place in the orchestration of life. We explore how time cycles reveal something because we are the sequence of time. Our own experience is the evidence that there is a sequence of time.

The sequence of time that we are is beginning-less and cause-less. In this cosmology, there is no creation event, no starting point, and no ending – just continuous, continuous, continuous time unfolding. ‘There is no beginning’ can equally be expressed as ‘There is always a beginning’. Now. And now. And now. The movement of life that is always “now” changes, and that is what we call ‘time’. Time then becomes a series of cycles, and there is no ‘improvement’ or ‘purpose’ or evolution towards a better world or life. There is nothing to fix. Everything is self-resolving.

Yet there is still inherent meaning. And this inherent meaning is naturalness – it is authenticity. This naturalness is what is known as Tao in Chinese traditions and Dharma in the traditions that emerge out of the Indian subcontinent.

Tao and Dharma have similar basic meanings – how things are. Not how we wanted them to work. Not how some God intended them to work, etc. Just how things are.

Asian contemplative traditions consider the nature of time and how it expresses through our experience. In the Tibetan Buddhist and Chinese Taoist traditions, classically there was no practice of meditation without the study of astrology and the cycles of time. These studies of time are grounded in self-inquiry. Self-inquiry about the nature of fate, freedom and destiny.

Fate, Freedom and Destiny

Simple self-reflection allows us to notice that there is a predisposition to our experience which we can call fate. This predisposition, that we can equally call our conditioning, has various origins: the opportunities or obstacles we inherit from our ancestors, the Buddhist or Indian concept of ‘karma’, our genetic predispositions, etc. When we experience fate, what we experience is a fixed quality that precedes and informs our actions and reactions in life.

Alongside fate, there is the expression of freedom: responding to the moment in ever fresh and appropriate ways from an authentic self that is free of the machinations of the ego mind. Cultivating freedom is the goal of the spiritual path – to recognize our absolute nature beyond (and behind) the patterns of fate and our conditioning.

Destiny is a conversation between fate and freedom. This is the dance of our everyday lives. In that dance we have the possibility to untangle fate to the degree that we are able to exercise our freedom. How we exercise our freedom can unravel fate. It can also further entangle us.

The Role of Our Personal Astrology

How we negotiate this capacity to use destiny is dictated in part by our personal astrology – the patterns of the sky at the time of our birth. Our natal astrology, including the Chinese Year we are born into, gives shape to our character – our distinctive qualities, strengths, weaknesses, etc. Our character is the lens through which we experience our fate. For example, in Chinese astrology, the strengths and prejudices correlated to being born in the year of an Ox are different than the strengths and prejudices correlated with being born in the Year of the Tiger – the cycle of time we were born into enhances certain energetic qualities.

In Chinese Astrology, symbols were brought in to refer to these different energetic qualities dictated by the cycles of time. The simplest symbols available to the oldest traditions on this planet were those of the animals. The ‘animals’ we refer to in Chinese astrology were familiar to the nomadic tribes at the time, and represented certain behavioral and energetic qualities present in their environment.

This year, we are in a cycle of time represented by the image of the Ox.

Restart in the Year of the Rat

But before we dig into Ox Year, let’s consider that none of the animals are really to be understood on their own. They are expression of a sequence – they turn into each other.

To get a feel for the cycle we are entering, we therefore want to take a look at the cycle that preceded this one – the Year of the Metal Rat. Oh my! Undoubtedly a restart year for our lives and the planet. That restart brought an abrupt ending of much of what we had been taking for granted. Rat Year brought forward powerfully the qualities of retrospection and recalibration. Retrospection because, unable to move forward along our usual paths, we have been invited to re-evaluate everything from the basics of how we engage with others to the details of our professional and personal lives. Recalibration because Rat year was a re-start that we are still integrating.

Rat energy is about dismantling, dis-assembling things bite by small bite into smaller components so they can be understood and digested. In the past year, small things assumed gigantic proportions, and we are still digesting. Rat Year is considered the beginning of the cycles of 12 animals, but it refers to the part of a cycle that is the evaluation of the cycle that has just passed.

Change has been initiated, yet the energy is not forward going yet. We are still adjusting to the new normal. This process of adjustment and adaptation is what consolidates in the Year of the Ox. The next cycle, Tiger year starting in 2022, is going to better represent the momentum of moving forward. This year is about inviting the roots to grow deeper into the soil to provide a more stable foundation.

Enter Ox Year

The retrospective energy of the past year continues.  We are asked to continue to adjust our life meaning and value – to drop pretence and find what is authentic and solid in our lives.

 

Ox Image

Let’s take a look at Ox image. The Ox talked about in Chinese astrology is considered to have revolutionized Chinese agriculture. Before the Ox, fields were traditionally plowed by the horse. But horses have a mind of their own, and do not lend themselves to cooperation in the long run – they are too strong and wild to control. That made farming difficult and laborious. When China turned to the Ox as plow animal, productivity literally exploded. The Ox directly contributed to the expansion of population and prosperity of the Chinese Civilization.

Hardworking, consistent, dependable and calm, the Ox plows straight furrows with minimal supervision. The Ox image became linked with the fruits of consistent hard work, and the Confucian virtue of perseverance in what is right.

Conventionality

The Ox’s determination and strength became a symbol for conventionality – for right conduct. The Ox represents this solid quality of of meaning and value.

What do we mean by conventionality? And more interestingly, what is our experience when we hear the word conventionality?

In traditional Chinese culture, conventionality sounds really good and draws a sigh of relief. It is a return to the integrity of what is solid and continuous and unchanged by time. Our own reaction to the concept of conventionality will vary to the degree that we have bought into a cultural paradigm that is obsessed with progress and innovation. Worth exploring this year – how can our experience best be grounded in the integrity of the past, traditions, and conventions? Do we over-value innovation?

Ox year asks us to stop, slow down, and look backwards. That is conventionality. Conventionality in the traditional Chinese sense is to return to the values of our traditions. This retrospective quality is something we may have discarded along the way as ordinary (boring), has the power to permeate our lives with meaning and value.

Re-Evaluate

The great opportunity of Ox years is this re-evaluation. What do we really need here? What is the meaning of home? Of family? Of interconnectedness? What is our sense of community? What is of value to us?

Whether we re-evaluate by looking at our expenses, reassessing our pastimes, or whether we do that directing our attention inwards and backwards at our own ground of being through self-reflection — it’s very advantageous to re-evaluate. That’s where the opportunities are this year.

As my teacher Liu Ming said ”What is basic will be strong, what is frivolous will be frivolous.” This is a meat and potatoes kind of year.

Excessiveness is exposed this year, and a serious evaluation of how resources are allocated is appropriate.  Many people have had to make significant life adjustments as a result of the past year, changing priorities and spending habits – this tendency is still in force during 2021.

Refinement

The year’s Metal element lends Ox qi an extra quality of refinement. What is important to us? What is really meaningful? What do we want to lend our attention to in our lives that is of substance?

This is great year to get back into those things that we have learned give us strength. Then we can gather that strength and innovate again next year in Tiger year. The Year of the Tiger year will be a busting out of this kind of retrospective energy. But if we ignore the call to consolidate our basics, Tiger year will fizzle out like a firecracker and just burn out.

Metal Qi energy can be compared to a midlife crisis. What the heck is the meaning of all this? Go deeper this year and continue the work initiated last year and keep refining your experience and what you lend your attention to. Lay a strong foundation for the next years of change.

Putting One Foot in Front of the Other

Ox qi is strong, durable, tenacious, uncompromising, and dependable. There will be abundant (somewhat stiff) energy this year. Strength of will is in and perseverance pays off.

Work is in. Plow the furrows of your life field, one step at a time, thoroughly. Success will come from sticking to the tried and true.  This is not about success – it’s not about getting somewhere. It’s just thoroughness for the sake of thoroughness. Thoroughness is simply going forward. It’s not about good or bad. It’s unnecessary to stop and analyze – just do it. Poot one foot in front of the other.

While the year’s energy is not particularly creative, the power of continuity is strong. Focus on the projects in your life that are important – let go of the rest. Repair that leak in the roof. Repair those relationships that are of value to you.

Tried and True Relationships

Romanticism isn’t exactly what comes to mind when we think about Ox Qi. Again, conventionality is the name of the game when it comes to our relationships this year. Forget about romance. This year everything comes down to practicality. Partnerships will be forged and tested by the light of practicality.

Rat year made monogamy fashionable again, and encouraged clarity in our relationships. We were either in or out. Forced coexistence under lockdown led to a surge in divorces around the world. And if we were not in a relationship we probably wished we had an ally next to us to make it through the year’s challenges. Relationships that did not withstand the trials and tribulations of the past year are now left behind. Ox Year promises a continuity of that trend – loyalty is a virtue in Ox Year.

Slow and steady is the rhythm. It’s a good year for courtships to turn into marriages. It’s not a smart year to be promiscuous (emotionally and health-wise).

Strength Through Alliance

This has been true for the past few years and becomes even more solid now: the strength is in joining forces. Alliances are powerful in Ox Year. Joining together with others is more enhanced than taking off on your own. Independence is effortful. The sense of collectiveness and connectedness is strong. Group activities are in. Think Clubhouse.

Make real alliances, not just trying to get others to do something for you to profit from that coming together. Think sisters and brothers. Think joining together with friends over a meal just for the sake of experiencing and celebrating friendship.

The Spiritual Power of No

For parents with young children – strict is back in fashion this year.  Strict is a gift – it helps children learn about and define what ‘no’ means.  Saying no at the right time is very powerful when solidly grounded in a value system which sustains healthy boundaries. Boundaries lend grounding to our experience and are easy to transmit this year.

Does the idea of saying ‘No’ make you uneasy? ‘No’ helps us find out what is meaningful – it is spiritually powerful. It’s not only about ‘yes’. There are times when STOP is really the truth.  In Ox year, STOP echoes everywhere – it has a great energy to it.

Family Values

For adult children: turn to your parents, apologize and be supportive. That will be very advantageous. You are mature enough now to realize that your mom is great no matter what she is like. Your parents also allow you to see where you are headed – and this is very important no matter how embarrassing you may think it is. Don’t look at the surface, look deeper. Put aside the differences that became so glaringly obvious in the nit-picky Rat year. Play board games with your family.

Inter-Connectedness

Chinese New Year begins with the spring festival. Spring Festival is about dropping everything and renewing relationships with everyone. Everybody travels back to their home towns, eats dumplings, and the whole community comes alive again. A time for renewal and connectedness!

Spring Festival is a reminder that at our core we are social beings. Being social and expressing our commonality and shared experience becomes a powerful force that resonates throughout Ox Year.

Loyalty and supportiveness are part of the Ox repertoire. The Ox gives a ride to everyone it can on its wide and strong back. We lay aside our differences and enjoy our interconnectedness.

It’s in the little things this year, not the great love declarations. Express your feelings through your actions. When possible, open your doors and invite people into your space. We are riding on a social body and we can go back to feeling it. The value of having people you love around your dinner table and feeding them is priceless.

Practical compassion is in this year. The real work of getting people what they need this year is supported. There might not be an award for it, and it might not look glamorous, but it’s back to the basics and that’s what counts.

Generosity

Generosity is always a good investment but this year it’s excellent. The real reason to be generous is that it feels good, and (if you have a wide enough notion of time) eventually it comes back around. Hunt out something that you want to support this year and go for it. The karmic effect will be strong.

Ox year is also a great time to tighten up our belt one notch and ask ourselves what we can do without. It’s part of the refinement. Plus, money in the bank is not of much use if you are stressed out.

Good Year For Good Habits

Ox Qi is strong and thick-skinned. That solidity can go one of two ways this year.

If you are generally healthy and have been taking care of yourself, then this year should be smooth. Your own exercise routine and your own diet can go deeper this year and bring stability, grounding and health. Keep going.

If you have not been cultivating your health, medical conditions you have not been paying attention have the potential to go chronic this year. Take care of yourself and get those postponed check-ups as soon as you can – preventative medicine is in.

Miraculous healing is out but the tried and true is powerful.  Whatever the conventional, tried and true means for you has power. There isn’t a lot of energy in innovative cures. Conventional medicine gets a boost this year, and will be something many fall back to (think vaccines).

Think continuity – Ox Year is a good time to cultivate basic good basic habits. Eat your vegetables. Get to bed on time (talk about old-fashioned!), take a nap and rest when you need to. Don’t push.

Voice of the Ancestors

The voice of our ancestors will become stronger this year. The voice of our ancestors is the accumulation of information that is transmitted to us through genetic information, culture, and conditioning. To understand where we are, we must include where we came from.

Let ancestral wisdom inspire you through prophetic dreams, honored family recipes, and the stories that have woven themselves through the fabric of time. The remembrance of our ancestors is literally our bodies. Listen. Ask for guidance. The ancestral traditions will speak loud and clear and light the path underneath your feet with the wisdom of ages.

‘We used to…’ is a very good beginning to a story worth paying attention to.

What are my roots?  What instruments do I use to discern what is good for me and what is not? How do I make decisions? My patterns of conditioning will influence my decision making process. This year, becoming aware of our past is spiritually important.

The Continuity of Awareness

Ox year invites simplification of our spiritual lives.

Go through the spiritual pantry, look at what really nourishes you, and throw out the rest. If your spiritual practice is too strenuous or requires too much discipline, or if it somewhat feels foreign, this year might be a good year to set it aside. Effortful is out – easy is in. Focus on what feels related to the way you already feel.

It is not a year for flashy gurus, but the wisdom of time-tested and profound classical traditions is powerfully available. Actually practice something as a resolution and expression of your being. Obscure meditation practices and climbing to the top of the mountain looking for nirvana are out. Satsang (sitting in truth) with the wise ones of your tradition is in.

Ox Year is a great time to stop waiting for yourself to turn into something you’d like better, and to embrace the situation you are already in. Understand that your situation as it is now is already the fruition – it’s not a path, it’s a fruition. You don’t watch a dance show to see the finale – it’s about every step along the way.

What is self-inquiry anyways?

This is a powerful year for self-inquiry. Turning our attention backwards to the nature of our experience will be powerful. Open contemplation about the fundamental reality of our life and of what we are is strongly supported.

Self-reflection is not mental gymnastics and asking ourselves a bunch of questions in the mind. Much energy is wasted in our spiritual journey trying to understand what is true. While intellectual comprehension of things can be helpful, we think that if we know what the truth is, then we will arrive at an answer regarding life. And this is not necessarily so.

Self-inquiry is a movement of consciousness that turns back towards itself. It appears as a mental narrative because we pay attention to the intellect. But true self-inquiry does not occur on a mental level. Otherwise it would be enough to read something in a spiritual book of a sage and become realized. We know it’s something else that occurs. It’s a deep inquiry in ourselves.

What are the foundations of my being? When everything else collapses, what is it that is true of me?

In reality it’s not a mental question. It’s a deep listening to life, to the forces that compose it, and to what is watching those forces that occur. It’s a much more subtle movement than that of the mind.

It is in the contemplation of the questions that we receive the answer. That is the true mind. Sit with the questions and let the answer arise. When the inner dialogue emerges, set aside the words and remain with the energy that is behind those words. Feel the answer in your heart. Fall into the sky of the questions.

Conduct is Mirror

How we conduct ourselves in the world becomes a mirror for us and others. How are we bringing into our daily lives that which we know? To what degree are we embodying our spirituality? Are we being compassionate, gentle to others? As my teacher Ming would say, perhaps the true measure of a life well lived is how kind we are to the clerk in the grocery store…

That which is sincere and dependable is where the stability of the year is. 

Hypocrisy is definitely out.

Do the things you say you are going to do. That’s very powerful right now. Do the things you can actually do, and put your energy into it.  And be proud of it!

The Ox image is about dignity and confidence that comes from being calm and proceeding.

Ox Shadow

When Ox Qi is depleted, the energy of calm and dignity turns insensitive, overly conventional, serious, fearful of change, aloof and dull.

A good mantra for these times is “What bends well, ends well”.  Stay adaptable and look in your experience to where the rigidity creeps in – those are great areas for attention. Where are you stuck in your ways? What are you judgemental about and what does that reflect about your fears?

Ox Qi can be thoughtless and insensitive. It can be dull in its sensitivity to others and situations.  Stay awake and keep your eye on the details. When in doubt – be nice.

Digestive Capacity of the 12 Animals

So … what is the digestive capacity of this year’s Qi banquet? How will our predisposition interact with the energy that is available? Let’s take a brief tour through the animals. Remember that we are all composites, compounds of the cycles of nature. This is just a starting point, not an ending point. The particular element of the year you are born in also modifies the auspices, along with the hour you were born at, your individual natal astrology and the transits for this year. There is much subtlety and depth that can’t be contained in the generic outlines below.

For those signs for which Ox Qi is less favorable, this does not spell disaster for the year ahead. This is not personal. It is more about energy and appetite than about individual experience. There is a cycle coming… Do you take it on? Are you wary of it?  All an inauspicious year means is that it might be a good year to coast and not do anything big.

For more specific insight into how all this interfaces with your personal astrology, consider getting a personal reading.

Rat (+) You share with the Ox the value of retrospection and reevaluation. This is a great year to continue to work with what is already established. Rely on your alliances, work with your friend and trusted business partners. Team up! Stick to the tried and true. If you try to innovate too much, you will lose the ability to digest this year’s energy. Don’t obsess over the details – the detailed analysis you are capable of is out of style this year. Don’t be fussy. It’s a good time to be economical and you are good at that!

Ox (+) Your basic character quality is identical to the environment, so this should be a supportive year. Things will appear to be less nonsensical. There is no need to reinvent yourself, but you have a powerful chance to remember your dignity. The year can be auspicious to the extent that you have gotten rid of extra baggage (people, projects, situation, etc). Plow along, go forward, don’t take on too many burdens, and learn a little bit about receiving. People will recognize your value this year. If you feel strong, lend a hand to those that are sinking.

Tiger (0) Put it in neutral. This is a good year to stay in the tall grass and prepare for next year. The energy of innovation that is your strength is out of style this year – save it for next. Conserve your resources, tighten your belt, and don’t exhaust yourself standing up against convention. Rest and prepare for next year.

Rabbit (+) The Ox looks dangerous but it’s a protector if you examine your fears. You are clever and can learn to manipulate the energy of the year.  Stick with your inner circle – they give you stability. This is a good year to edit for you. This year you are safe to use your intuition to plan for the years ahead.

Dragon (+) You are celestial and this year is terrestrial. Nevertheless, you have an element of conventionality (the conventionality of what is not known) that this year gives you the opportunity to really consolidate your foundation. Self-reflection makes you more powerful.  Be down to earth, and get back into great old fashioned values. Don’t fall asleep. Participate in the re-evaluation of the past by sharing your power. Don’t go against conventionality.

Snake (+) Snakes have the capacity to re-invent by withdrawing. Conventionality is of great protection for you this year. If you have aspirations for meditation and spirituality, this is a powerful year. Solitary retreat and getting away from everybody (travel) is enhanced. Great year for withdrawal and opening up the inner workings of your mind. Continue whatever you are doing and hide in your own inner world and there will be great success.

Horse (+) It’s a promising year for you, the more so if you have lightened up (gotten rid of projects that will never come to be) over the last few years and not buried yourself alive. Don’t keep changing and jump from one thing to another. Pay attention to health matters.

Goat (—) This is your antithesis year – Ox Qi is not very digestible and you will not get your way. Your idealism is not in fashion this year. This is not a good year to reinvent yourself. Listen to your friends, and don’t get too ornery and rebellious. It’s a good year not to pretend to be stronger than you are – rest and slow down. Be modest – that is your strength. Good year to be grey – not black and white.

Monkey (-) Your situational intelligence and adaptability is not recognized this year. Your innovative energy falls flat. Being provocative can be dangerous – use your vigilance to sit back and watch. Don’t be distracted. If you can recognize your style is not fashionable, you are also good at adapting and managing the situation and keeping a low profile. Your intelligence and creativity is likely to be overlooked. Secure the important things of your life as next year is your antithesis year.

Rooster (+) Recovery year for you. Your capacity to be articulate with your advice is valued this year. Education and articulation and lucid analysis are your strength and will be appreciated. Just don’t get too fussy about the details. – go with the larger flow. Remember teamwork and alliances are highlighted this year. Wait until next year for big changes – the Rooster-Tiger relationship is like Crane and Tiger in Chinese martial arts and promises to be a creative and dynamic energy year.

Dog (+/-) Auspices this year really depend on how stable your circumstances are. It might feel uncomfortable if you are not in strong relationship with the elements of your life. Relaxation is key. The easiest way to digest this year’s energy is to go back to your friends, be close to your family, and stay with the tried and true. You share the quality of allegiance with the Ox, your associations give you meaning. Reevaluate what is important – what and who you want to give your allegiance to.   

Pig (+) You are good at adaptations so you can feel your way into what this year needs. Good year to consolidate your projects and ground the inspirations of the past few years. Your honesty is an asset. Along with the fact that you are the ultimate team player. Let your heart guide you. If the year gets too serious, just relax and show everyone how to enjoy whatever is on the menu.

May all beings have an auspicious Ox Year!

* Ten Ox Herding Pictures traditionally attributed to Tenshō Shūbun (天章周文) (1414-1463)