Great Hare!

In the year of the Water Rabbit, the Rabbit is the 太歲 Tai Sui or year boss. The Rabbit’s element is Wood, yin Wood that is, a gentle but unceasing movement like the wind can be when it’s friendly. This means you can go wherever you want, Rabbits, wherever you dare. Be clear on facts, priorities, and alliances: yours and others’. You are being asked to take the role of a leader, in a more public way than usual this time. Conflict and competition are out in the open. Perhaps this will make it easier for you to learn about confrontation and how to handle it in a way that works well for you.

Fertility is a form of currency in 2023, and the Rabbit’s attitudes, thoughts, and values about fertility, creativity and procreation will be discussed all year. The Rabbit is often associated with health, alternative medicine, the freedom to be natural, freedom of sexual expression, and sexuality. When I think of the Rabbit, I often think of Anaïs Nin who was born in 1903, a Water Rabbit year.

You know what your values are: home, health, children, animals, security, family, love, inhabiting your body. You can learn to balance all of these things with what you want for yourself. Rabbits have career luck in 2023.

We need your emphasis on the power of meeting basic needs as the first solution for every problem. In 2023, Rabbits feel motivated to set things right, to correct what is unacceptable, and this year they can. Your projects may have to do with reproductive rights and workers’ rights. These issues will hit you on both a public/political level and a very personal level.

Being a Rabbit, it’s you who probably coined the term “soft life”. It may be the Rabbit’s nature to be more passive, and they make it work. The Rabbit prefers a quiet and often domestic life where they spend time on growing and nurturing, relationships, friends and healthy activities. If you live with the Rabbit your basic needs are provided for, seemingly without too much struggle. Maybe that’s what we all want most in 2023 – to live the soft life we think you embody.

This is the myth of the Rabbit’s soft life: that they make no effort. Maybe people have that impression because your work is usually done in private. In 2023, some will be jealous of what they think you have that they don’t or can’t. That might have to do with peace or a safe place to live, fertility or beauty, health and wellness, or sexuality and sex. There may be envy regarding your way of evading rules and regulations. Maybe it’s just that you don’t seek them out. In 2023, you may be told your natural tendencies make you dangerous to others, and there could be some truth in this.

A major challenge for the Rabbit this year is the privacy deprivation. You may be used to dealing with that at home, but in this Water Rabbit year, your life will tend to be more public than you’re used to. Get used to being questioned, invited, and asked. This isn’t inherently negative. You might call more attention to yourself by hiding away, so play that card only as needed. It could be hard to avoid this new experience, a better strategy is to make it what you want.

Rabbits will be asked to learn this year, mostly to change your perspective about yourself. This might involve formal study or training, but more likely it involves learning to exercise your authority. It’s time to learn things that will forever change how you think. Your main mission this year is to get out of your comfort zone in the pursuit of fixing “the situation”. I know you know what I mean. Fixing the situation will call for making many decisions, possibly more than you feel comfortable with, but you can do it!

If Rabbit is in your day pillar, 2023 could raise the question of whose job should take priority, yours or your partner’s. Traditionally we determine this by earning capacity. Are you sticking with that? Get comfortable switching roles or seeking a role that is usually not yours. If it’s your lesson this year to learn to take turns, it might because you keep giving yours up. Take a chance on going for that lofty goal, whatever that means to you. Seek the compensation that is commensurate with your efforts. Timing is on your side.

Rabbits have access to power, money and other high value things in the Water Rabbit year. Even if you’re not driven by that, you might want to take some on behalf of yourself, those you love, or whoever is in need in your network. Your favors will spread and multiply like grass.

If you accept it, your other big role is to provide a place for people to go for advice and/or shelter. Many people are in need of a safe place to stay in 2023 and they may think you have the capacity to connect them with it. Whether or not you agree, they know that keeping your loved ones safe is a Rabbit’s priority. And so, in a Rabbit year, Rabbits (and the rest of us), may find themselves in closer quarters with youngers and elders coming to stay. For managing this kind of assistance work, team up with Pig and Sheep. With so much on your plate, consider that you need help to make the most of the year for yourself. Accept assistance. Make it a family affair.

Much of the action of the year will be generated by you and your peers, that is Rat, Horse and Rooster. I suggest you accept that these charming and annoying people will be more involved in your life in 2023, and look for ways to make that work. You might be very surprised by the changes that could come out of these uneasy and demanding partnerships. Taking on new alliances like these will require a certain amount of fortitude to succeed, so choose carefully.

In 2020, Rabbits were on the receiving end of the Ingratitude Punishment delivered by the Rat. In 2021, Roosters were the main problem for the Rabbit. In 2022, Rabbits were overshadowed. After a cycle like that, in 2023, I suppose Rabbits might be tempted to seek revenge because the Ingratitude Penalty has come around again. This time, Rat is on the receiving end. Relationships (and conflicts) of ancestors and descendants, and of bosses and employees, are emphasized. Where power inequities exist and may have been exploited, healing is needed mainly by way of forgiveness, appreciation and support. If you want these things, it requires your participation.

For intrepid Rabbits who are ready to explore sensitive issues with family or other people who have had authority over you, I want you to keep in mind that in 2023 you’ve got the upper hand. It might not feel that way because you’re used to it not being that way. Consider taking a chance on reaching out first to end the standoff. It’s safe.

I know that health is often on a Rabbit’s mind more than it may be for others and they are often pursuing it. This year that habit will serve you well. I don’t want you to have to experience illness to shape your understanding of it, but that’s a possibility in 2023. It’s likely an old problem returning, but whatever the source, do address it with a knowledgeable health care practitioner. Open up your mind now to the possibility that you are probably not right about everything (who is?!). It’s not in your best interest to completely ignore science however limiting it might be. Not all science is western by the way.

One last thing, you’re not the only Nobleman this year so it’s okay to turn people down. You can’t help everyone. If things get to the point where you need a defender, look to your secret friend the Dog who will gladly be your henchman.

Job Title: Velvet General
Allies: Pig, Rabbit, Sheep, Dog
Best months: March (demanding!), June, July, November, October
Romance: Possible break up in March or June. Irresistible attraction in December. Vet thoroughly. Careful of matchmakers.

Timing for all signs: Whatever you want to accomplish this year will need to be started no later than March. Plan on finishing by July ideally, but no later than the end of August.