HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR 2018!
The 11th of the twelve terrestrial branches is dog. The dog is a creature who keeps watch and is skillful in its selection of people; it will keep anyone away who is not what s/he should be. A dog will not forsake its master due to poverty or status. In this way, dog commands respect as guardian and value for its fidelity. Dog nature is also tenacious and that of a scavenger who can forego comforts. The earth element imparts a purposeful nature that has fixed values. Possessing humility, this dog is a realistic, straight-forward, self-respecting, and generally is an affable humanitarian. When Dog adheres to a conviction, its nature is to emerge victorious!
In this year of the Earth Dog the influences favor stabilizing one’s relationships, strengthening what one already knows and already believes in, and being comfortable with what one has. Compliance and obedience can bring comfort and stability. This is not a year that necessarily propels big pursuits.
‘The martial strains have summoned me to hear your sorrows, still your pain. · I am the protector of justice. · Equality, my sole friend. · My vision is never blurred by cowardice, my soul never chained. · Life without honor is life in vain.’ ~Poem of the Dog (original source unknown)
All Best Wishes in the Auspicious Year of the Earth Dog!
We can not receive nourishment without acceptance of our task at hand. Partaking with some sense of openness, we may transform our duty into something of personal, or even greater, value. This ability to transform is a central focus of the earth element in oriental medicine. Sometimes the foreign experience we must digest does not resemble something conferring nourishment, but rather a pile of something indigestible; something difficult and unwanted that we are faced with. 