“Led mostly by his heart and his passions, this is the wildest and most volatile of Horses. The Fire Horse is exceptionally intelligent and has a brilliant personality. He is most courageous, most willing to take on several different things at the same time and to take risks – whatever will keep his heart pumping! Not one for practicality or caution, the Fire Horse will pummel his way through by sheer force and willpower to get what he wants. He is highly competitive, always trying to raise the bar and set higher and higher goals for himself. This drive can be good… until he gets bored or totally offends others who don’t agree with his plans.

As the Horse’s own fixed element is Fire, people born in the year of the Fire Horse will be twice as fiery! This means they are highly excitable and constantly on the move, with the exceptional gift of being able to react quickly and deftly to any number of situations.

However, the volatile nature of Fire makes them highly distracted and inconsistent in their actions. It is difficult for them to focus on anything unless it provides constant challenges and stimulation. He will have great ideas and fantastic abilities, but not the tenacity to see things through to the end. It also means they can have a very explosive, hot temper. At their worst, Fire Horses can be very destructive, channeling their huge reserve of energy and power to negative or harmful ends.

Life Lessons:

The Fire Horse could do with putting out the fire every now and then and learning to cool off and slow down, or he could well burn himself and others out. He is already highly intelligent and capable – now make the most of it by developing greater perseverance to see things through to the end.”

What I am hoping is that this year will bring is CHANGE--major change. I am hoping this firehorse does not describe our current regime! We need fire but not the fire we've had that burns everything in it's path and destroys everything good. We need inner wisdom fire, the kind that draws on ethical behavior, and quick decision making in the changing of the guard. There is no heart in the current government, no passion, only hate and the need for more destruction of everything good.

This past year has been hard to get through and with the changes wrought, this next year could be worse for many people. Our system has been broken, our safety net dismantled. But if we can stop these people, we have a chance to make things better. Will we stop them? I feel the energy building against what's happening in our country, I feel the momentum. We are angry, frustrated and ready for something new!

We moved to Arcata in August and are working on the house we bought. It needs a lot of work. My writing has been left on the back burner. I need to get back to it--it grounds me and keeps me going. Without it I become disheartened. Arcata is a healing place, with ocean, marsh and lots of birds and frogs and ducks. We have bears in our neighborhood. I have yet to see one but I know they're here byh the trash cans turned over! We have a redwood forest right behind our house. All of this makes my heart sing. I have vowed to leave politics behind and 'be here now'--to be grateful for what I have, which is a lot. My grandson lives here and we see him often which is wonderful. There is much to be grateful for. It's hard though, because I care about the destruction of our environment and worry about the future for my grandchildren.