Year of the Metal Rat

On January 25^th, we have the beginning of the new Chinese Calendar year and enter into the Year of the Metal Rat.

That is significant to me personally because the last time we were in the Metal Rat was the year 1960 and that was the year I was born.

The Metal Rat Year says that we need the intelligence, cunning, quick thinking, and persistence of a Rat to navigate the extreme times in which we find ourselves.

The Year of the Rat caters to writers and journalists. And they need some good news after the insanity humanity has been putting them through. The Year of the Rat is very good for when the world goes into crisis. The resourcefulness of Rat energy gives almost magical powers to moments that seem to bring the worst possible situations. It gives us an ability to work with words in a way that can uplift the most desperate of emotional experiences.

After all Shakespeare was a Rat.

In this moment, we come full circle into the energies that motivated the iconic 1960’s. It is important to note that we also entered into the Vietnam War the last time we were in the Metal Rat.

This year will be a time of transformation, change, and bizarre contrasts. In the 1960’s it was a time of flower children, assassins, idealism and alienation, rebellion and backlash. It brought a rise in the “acts of defiance” that began the Civil Rights Movement. The youth of the time staged “sit ins” and actively created a growing sense of rebellion because of the restrictions of freedoms that they believed to be their birthright.

I find those same feelings and emotions bubbling up from the young people once again. There is a new generation that intends to be a force for good. And they are actively choosing to confront the evil that lives in the souls of men, governments, and institutions. This is a year where advice and opinions are called to be highly constructive and kept to a high point.

The Metal element in the Metal Rat represents a type of tenacity that reminds us to become self-reliant. In this case, self-reliance in power and progress. I expect to see the alternative energy ideas to take off and become part of the motivation for massive changes in energy.

Metal energy is about caring for others in a respectful way. While metal energy can be reserved … when pushed … it is very forceful and unyielding as it fully awakens. This year is asking each of us to find our backbone and let that confidence and determination chart the course forward.

It is a year where those that are wasteful will be called out and forced to be accountable. Metal is a strong conductor of energy and so that indicates that a lot of energy is going to be flying around. You personally will be required to move greater amounts of energy and awareness into your everyday routine. You might feel that you are extremely busy and moving at a pace that seems hard to maintain. But this year is about gaining momentum. You need enough force to blast through the obstacles in your path. And that is what is happening. Metal Rat is also associated with Ganesh, the God from Hinduism that is the “remover of obstacles”.

The emotions that actively awaken the full power of a Metal Rat are Grief and Courage. So I expect terrible things to catapult humanity past the stagnant present state of affairs into persistent and unyielding courage.

Rat years cause worry. So know that you will struggle with what is happening in the world and how you can creatively navigate it.

Rat energy reminds you that to have Wisdom, you must first get very Honest with yourself. If you hold too much in and put on a positive face for too long, the personality will have a tendency to explode. While everyone needs to put on a social mask to navigate this reality, you do need some good friends that will help you take the mask off and get real with what is true for you.

Because Rats believe “You are what you eat!” I imagine the continued changes that are happening around Veganism/Vegetarianism and better ways of eating to accelerate. This year is a huge shift in consciousness for humanity to awaken to the suffering we are causing animals. I look forward to that shift.

This should prove a very interesting year.
~Suzanne Wagner~

The Lessons of Shakespeare
and how it relates to Metal Rat energy

“Think’st thou that duty shall have dread to speak when power to flattery bows? To plainness honor’s bound when majesty falls to folly.”
~Kent in King Lear (1.1.164-167)~
~William Shakespeare~

The Elizabethans were very much aware of this danger of the attraction of power to men. The dangers of flatterers are a common theme that Shakespeare wrote often about. Shakespeare says that when the subjects of a king or leader fear to speak truth to those in power, and then surround themselves with flatterers, therein lies the coming destruction of a kingdom.