For a month now, my eyes have been attracted to all different shades of green in nature, furnishings and homes. Since my return to California perhaps my eyes have been attached to the view of dryness, of the constant reminder of drought, and then the experience of devastating fires, and are now pointing me to signs of rebirth and renewal. One sees it everywhere after the rains, plants and flowers are blooming in full force. I sense a shifting, a change in the air, but know not how or where the shifting will come. The astrology of both the West and the East gives us some clues.

The Chinese Astrology of 2019 is already holding true in this Year of the ‘Earth Mountain Monastic Boar.’ The elements of the year contain weak Yin Earth, with much stronger Yang Wood, which can overpower, drain the soil of sustenance and can even block water channels. This strong Wood is fed by equally strong Water which when mixed with Earth creates mud. Mundanely, we are seeing a lot of that with our recent rains and floods in California. As Wood is also over-abundant in the Pillars of the year it can create too much growth and this can indicate the feeding of Fire to come. We are coming to the end of the Chinese astrological wheel with the Year of the Boar/Pig and a new epic will begin in 2020 so it is a very powerful transition time.

From the Western Astrology perspective, we are also in an end time of huge shifts and currents of change as 2019 will end the decade. We are in the throws of this time of great transformation that has only just begun as the old cycles complete and brand new long term ones begin continuing into 2020. Hold onto your hats!

From this view, it is a year of contradictory trends with opportunities to find balance through very different approaches in separate areas of our lives. We find more of the same elements, starting with lots of Capricorn Earth energy with Saturn, Kronos, Father TIme at home in its own sign accompanied by Pluto, the Great Alchemical Destroyer and the South Node, symbolic of the past and burdens carried until we finally learn the lessons of this life – seems right at home in Cappie. Jupiter will enter there at the end of the year – so we have a very full Earth house!  Think structure, hard work, boundaries and that high mountain to climb to obtain success.

For the Water element, we have Neptune in its own sign of Pisces (2012-2025). In a positive sense, it symbolizes our ability to elevate to a higher level of spiritual consciousness. Neptune is accompanied by Chiron, the Soul Healer. Then the North Node is in Cancer, symbol of the never-ending upward spiral of our future, a new cycle reaching for the highest area of expression in the Water house of Mother Nature, emotions & nourishment. Perhaps we’ll see some amazing new developments in the healing of our planetary waters and new forms of sustainable farming.

The Fire element arrived with Jupiter in Sagittarius representing a new focus on an inspirational search for meaningful growth in our own personal philosophy, in an expanding, bold, active and adventurous manner. With these diverse, different elements and planets, we’ll need to observe and then experience, as things open & close, as life expands and contracts between idealism and realism, structure and free-form fluidity, tolerance and intolerance, the spiritual and material, as 2019 breathes us into a new phase of existence. You can see that the Eastern Astrology corresponds and is quite in alignment to our Western view. No wonder I’m feeling in “pulled, not know mode!”

Back to gorgeous green and its symbolism of growth, vitality, renewal, healing, prosperity, and birth. Doesn’t that sound like SPRING to you?! In Feng Shui and Traditional Chinese Medicine, green is the colour of Wood and its season is Spring. It represents a time of growth, movement, development & planning. Hmmm, now you know why we all do our Liver and Gallbladder cleansing with bitter greens during this time of year as it relates to those organs.. Wood is strong, yet flexible and bends with the Wind when in balance. If someone is youthful, upright, flexible yet strong, and persevering, fearless and adventurous you’ll know you’ve encountered a Wood person. Wood is nourished by Water and feeds the Fire in the cycle of elements. In the BaGua, Wood is located in the Family gua, seat of Zhen – Thunder – Shock. Thunders’ role is to arouse & awaken. Think how our families assist us, often through strong means, in the development of our innate abilities, giving us the strength to break through life’s’ obstacles.

The Spring Equinox is our reboot, our beginning of the wheel for the year. This year there is lots of turbulence on the outer realm, yet we can balance this with inner stillness, meditation, cultivating our Heartspace. I can think of nothing more soothing than the practice of Shinrin-yoku forest bathing. Shinrin means “forest” in Japanese and yoku translates as “bath.” This practice studied by the Japanese government since the 1980s has been proven to lower heart rate, blood pressure and stress hormone production while boosting the immune system and overall feelings of well-being. Forest bathing is just basically being in the trees, being in the silence of GREEN WOOD chi without any aim or having any technology turned on for at least 30 minutes, but two hours is recommended and a weekend would be sublime. The key to unlocking the power of the forest is in using all of the five senses and one is advised to breathe – relax – wonder – wander – touch – listen – heal. Basically, it is being mindful in the forest and the trees. There is nothing more glorious than being in a cathedral, a stand of a huge, ancient forest.

Could your Wood be out of balance? If you are feeling out of whack, off-kilter and can’t get to trees or a forest, try adding green to your clothing choices, add some greenery, green colours (also blue & purple) and rectangular design details to your environment, or a Forest desksaver on your laptop, all will help absorb and redirect chi. Water elements placed in the proper area on your property and in your home will augment your Wood if it is depleted. A Green kitchen while soothing also feeds the Fire of the stove, nourishing family Health & Wealth. Doing one good thing a day for another will help you heal and focus elsewhere. Inhaling some wonderful Wood aromatherapy like cypress essential oil in a vaporizer can also be used as a Wood/Water element. Please make sure you use natural sourced essential oils and not synthetics or you will be defeating the purpose. Listening to Forest Meditations or Heart Chakra Meditationhttps://www.youtube.com will bring tranquility, and adding healthy greens to your nourishment choices will feed your chi – any and all of the above will be immensely helpful. You will thank me and yourself if you do.