I’m running out of days in this month to finish this miscellany abecedarium so today we’ll take on two letters.
is for xylo 
is for year
Xylo is a combining word that means wood and Year is obvious, but let’s rein them in together with Horse and we’ve got our topic.
We still have several months to go in the Chinese calendar, so we’ve still got some time to review our current year: The Year of the Wood Horse.
Horse moves quickly, can sleep while standing, and is considered a very yang energy.
But we’re also talking about a Wood year, and Wood is an upward reaching energy, encouraging planning and reaching for those great goals.
It’s suggested that the fiery energy of Horse can burn some of Wood’s ideas – so while you want to act decisively and quickly it may be best to understand that having plan B in the wings might be helpful if things start to crash and burn. After all, even though Horse is fast moving – it does have the grounding of four feet underneath it.
Another caution about this year is that while Wood Horse can offer a wonderful sense of excitement and spontaneity, it can also edge into anger easily. It might be a good idea to remember to pull in the reins when emotions are headed into the extremes.
It’s also suggested that even though things can happen quite quickly in a Horse Year, if enthusiasm wanes projects can fizzle to a grinding halt pretty rapidly as well. You have to be a master at surfing the energy and staying committed to the wave.
So what do you think? Have you been working with or against the natural flow in this year of the Wood Horse? I’m not usually a fast mover so Horse doesn’t define a very natural movement for me. It’s true I’ve loaded my plate with lots of things this year and the sheer volume of things to juggle rather insists I move with some speed, but I’m pretty sure no one would say I’m moving with graceful Horse energy.
Here’s an old advertising label from safety matches turned into a postcard.
Come February 19, 2015 we’ll be entering the year of the Green Wood Sheep and we’ll be playing in a whole new field of energy. Until then “happy trails to you.” And in the meantime I’d love to hear how you’ve been horsing around, or playing in the woods, or whatever you’d like to share about your year. Do tell – you know I love to hear.