The Chinese New Year begins on January 25, 2020, and is the year of the Yang Metal Rat, however there are some sources that state the year of the Rat doesn’t actually officially start until the Chinese Astrological New Year, which falls on February 4th.
The Rat is the first astrological sign in the Chinese zodiac. The Rat is considered to be clever, cunning, entrepreneurial, and good at getting its own way.
As the first sign of the Chinese zodiac, this Rat year symbolizes a brand new day, the sunrise, and that feeling you get when you first wake in the morning.
Under the year of the Rat, the first few moments of the morning are going to be a sacred time.
Even if you don’t love what you are doing or even if your alarm goes off far too early for your liking, spending the morning in gratitude will help you to really thrive in the year of the Rat.
The year of the Rat is also wonderful for those looking to start a new job, take on new projects, or to find new love. Any new beginnings or new leaps of faith taken in 2020 will be supported by the clever, ambitious, and quick-witted energy of the Rat.
In Chinese astrology, each year is also given either a yin or yang expression and an element. In 2020, the Rat falls under a Yang expression and the element of Metal.
The Yang quality of the Rat means we have a masculine vibration to work with in 2020.
Yang energy is strong and forceful. It is about stepping up to the plate and being the leader of our own lives. It is about soldiering ahead and conquering our fears in order to find victory.
If Yin energy is soft and flowy, Yang energy is loud and direct. It’s headstrong, practical, logical, and focused on how to get from A to B.
This makes the year of the Yang Rat an ambitious one and a time where we can really make some strong moves.
Yang energy is quick to rise but also quick to fall, which means we may need to be more mindful about pacing ourselves and ensuring we don’t experience burnout or get overly fired up.
Yang energy can also make us highly impulsive which is great when life brings us moments where we need to take a risk or a leap of faith, but can also result in regrets if we act or say something before thinking.
Finding this balance will be important in 2020. We will want to use this Yang energy to take risks and leap forward, but we also need to check our motivation and emotional state along the way.
The element of Metal represents bravery and strength but can also make us overly ego-driven if we are not careful.
The quality of Metal also implies that we may need to be patient, and not be in a hurry to act, especially when it comes to those new beginnings we may be looking to create.
It is also said that a Metal year can also bring increased rain, storms, hurricanes, and strong wind.
All of these qualities combined make the year of the Yang Metal Rat a productive one and a time where we can create some new beginnings and positive fresh starts for ourselves.
We are being supported to use the clever and quick-witted energy of the Rat to bring the feeling of sunrise into our lives.
When was the last time you saw the sunrise? Take a moment to reflect on how it made you feel and then see if you can work on bringing these qualities into your year in some way.
The Rat is not a large animal, but it’s resourceful and knows how to use what it has been given in order to succeed in life.
No matter our circumstances, each one of us also has natural strengths and abilities and can use what we have been given and the life situation we find ourselves in to succeed in our own lives.
Under the year of the Yang Metal Rat, let us be grateful and resourceful with what we have been given. Let us rely on our natural strengths and use this energy to create a fresh new beginning for ourselves in whatever way calls to us.
Happy Lunar New Year!
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