Welcome to the Year of the Fire Horse
Happy Lunar New Year to those who use the Lunar calendar! My family in Taipei are off to Indonesia for their New Year celebrations, so I hope that whatever you’re doing to celebrate also goes well for you.
We are now in the Year of the [Fire] Horse. (I’m a Fire element as well… I squeaked in right at the end of the Year of the [Fire] Tiger).
The horoscope for Horses in 2026:
In their zodiac year, Horses experience highs and lows in love, work, and health. Breakthroughs are possible through persistence, while balanced self-care and steady finances ensure long-term success.
I’m not one for horoscopes or astrology, but I do find them fun to use as prompts sometimes. My stepmother is a devout Taiwanese Buddhist, and my dad’s family are Turkish Muslims, so I might be the only one on that side who isn’t into star signs and lowkey divination!
Spiritual Context
I was raised Welsh Baptist with Greek Orthodox influences, which I’ve talked about before in my review/context series on the book Welsh Gothic by Jane Aaron.
My own spiritual/faith practice is now more aligned with a probably heretical merger of Contemporary Celtic Christianity and Eastern Orthodoxy, primarily influenced by the ethos of the Northumbria Community, with its space for Queer and Liberation Theologies, and informed by my medievalist background.
If you find that confusing, my dad is a proud Atatürkist who was raised a Turkish Muslim, was baptised as a (Protestant Nonconformist) Christian in his 20s, and now practices Buddhism in Taiwan. Imagine holding all that together without a shred of conscious cognitive dissonance.
(As an aside: if you’re curious about Neo-Celtic/Contemporary Celtic Christianity, I would personally recommend first reading some thoughts by Mark Russ on Celtic Spirituality & Whiteness, and keeping those ideas in mind as you go forwards. I think it’s important to not fall into the trap of ethnonationalist talking points, nor to make assumptions about who this tradition is and is not for. It is also important to be consciously inclusive in its practice, especially if you tend to assume white is the default for ‘Celticness’, which is primarily a linguistic and cultural designation.
Remember: there is no ‘Celtic’ gene. Anyone can practice this tradition. Read the comments too, in this case, where the Eastern Orthodox adoption of British and Celtic saints is considered as a unifier. The Celtic Christian traditon likewise venerates and remembers African and West Asian saints, particularly the Desert Fathers and Mothers; early Christian monasticism in Ireland and Wales especially was modelled on their examples.)
Spiritual Reflection for the New Year
My super general Tiger horoscope for 2026:
Tigers face an unpredictable 2026, with mood swings in love, rivals at work, and hidden financial traps. By practicing patience and building alliances, you’ll turn setbacks into valuable progress.
. . . yay. I do like the idea of ‘practicing patience‘, though.
Funnily enough, on Epiphany (appropriate), I realised that I wanted to make gentleness my main theme for the year as a conscious spiritual practice, applying it to everything; how I interact with the world (soul rewilding is part of that for me), with people, especially people I can’t stand and who frustrate me, and with myself. I want to use it as a strength, a part of resilience development, and so on.
Practicing patience is a natural part of that, I think. It feels so at odds with the world around me, and the ways of interacting online that I see all the time. I think something that underpins patience and gentleness is the cultivation of a deeper well of compassion to draw from, as the motivation for both.
Since I’ve already started the Gregorian calendar year by loudly swearing about work frustrations to my line manager in my first week back at work, I think that’s definitely something everyone around me will benefit from, and something I’ll benefit from too. I definitely think this is something I need to take seriously with the world the way it is, and the offline work that needs doing, and the general uncertainty about what the future holds.
Looking Forwards
By practicing patience and building alliances, you’ll turn setbacks into valuable progress.
I really like this. I’ve been really unwell lately and am signed off work, so while I’m doing that, I’m tracking my symptoms and moods each week and using them as indicators and prompts for what I need to work on for the following week; baby steps towards real longterm improvement.
This isn’t a solo endeavour, as I don’t believe people can improve holistically or fully understand themselves without being in community with others. I’m getting a lot of support from family and friends, and also working with a therapist and medical professionals.
Let’s see how this goes.
So there we go – the Gregorian New Year was where I looked forwards in a pragmatic way, and the Lunar New Year has given me space to think about my values, wellbeing, and my spiritual approach to the year ahead.
Happy New Year.
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