The coming Water Horse month starts Friday afternoon. That’s June 5th. The Full Moon arrives that day along with a penumbral lunar eclipse. June 6th suggests hoped for but unexpected good news. My calendar tells me this month is going to be better than the Snake month for sure. There are many more good days for everyone.

Having said that, I want to tell you now that June 21st, the summer solstice, is probably the most difficult day of the month. There’s a solar eclipse that day. It’s a Remove Day and it carries tendencies of self harm, of going along to get along and the damage inflicted.

If you’re following the Chinese calendar, it’s the day before the solstice sets the stage. That’s the 20th which is called a 4 Separating Day. Some masters think you can get rid of those who are harassing you on Separating days. On the west coast of the United States, the New Moon at 23:41 is close to the timing of the solar eclipse. Being a Wood Horse day, it’s also called a Year Breaker. In spite of these portents it’s still rated as a pretty good day. The day matches the Wood Horse pillar in Trump’s Ba Zi which is key as to how the chart functions.

One way to interpret these omens is that there are multiple big events about to go down quickly. This is scary but not necessarily negative. There’s a new start for women where there’s an ending for men. I’m curious to see what will happen. Clearly something or someone is trying to get out attention. Could this be our mandate of heaven? Can we finally shift the balance of power?

It’s a Fire Rat day as I write this. In Ba Zi the relationship of the Fire Rat and the Water Horse is called Fan Yin; a clash from top to bottom. I know we can all feel that. It’s hard to write these words without weeping because my yearning for the finish line is so strong.

This may be true for all Horses but I think for the Water Horse there’s often a risk around endings. That applies to the Water Horse month too. Can we make it a finish line for sheltering in place? Can we make it a finish line for the misuse of power? It’s the finish line where the Horse’s most embarrassing mistakes often happen; where you’ve already won the race but… A Horse problem could be that without crossing the finish line the race never ends. A Horse may cultivate that kind of indecision.

The Lap Yum for this month, which is a phrase that summarizes the Water Horse, is Willow Tree. Willow Tree implies tears which could be a result of either a helpful wake up call or a disappointment. I think these are the tears and sadness that sometimes accompany the most important insights about ourselves. Could be tears of anger or embarrassment too. You can make a choice about this. Make it into something you want.

A clash of Water and Fire is filled with brilliant and progressive ideas if the balance of power is right. When the ideas can be bridged by the Wood element, it becomes a self sustaining system for the Horse. That’s joy.

How can you be part of the revolution? Speak softly and carry a big stick. Let’s say the big stick is kindness; the kindness that is the very least that those of us who are white or privileged can give at this moment in time.

Kindness isn’t necessarily being nice. On the yin side kindness is actively making space for others to thrive. Perhaps the yang side goes so far as to shelter and defend that space. Kindness is knowing when you have enough and someone else doesn’t, and that you are not diminished by foregoing or deferring. The smallest kindness might be simply getting the hell out of the way: your own or another’s.

The challenges of the coming month are both knowing when to quit and knowing when to step on the accelerator. The Water Horse carries a lot of North vs South stuff as does the USA, and yes I’m thinking slavery is part of that. One possible meaning of the Water Horse pillar is “sitting on or controlling the money”. That applies too.

This Water Horse month says it’s time to face up to the embarrassing facts about racism and who sits on the money. If we want change we will need to choose it. That’s a movement. If you’re looking for a simple solution, you can use the Wood element as a bridge. Make space for all. Protect and shelter the space. That’s kindness.