Classical Chinese Medicine is focused on understanding the energetics of the world from yin yang theory to the I Ching to acupuncture to Chinese Astrology. I can’t wait much longer to consult Chinese Astrology and forecast some of the energetics for 2022. I’ve been pondering this blog since June of this year, and in two months, it will be 2022, the Year of the Water Tiger. The world is changing. What has been done for the last 1,000’s of years is about to change. I feel like a fish out of water. And instead of predicting the future, Chinese Astrology helps describe the energetics to help you navigate the situation. So, what is happening in the year 2022 Water Tiger?
From here until the end of this decade will be a time of upheaval as significant changes are taking place in your life, economy, and the natural world. All these changes require you interact with the world differently. These will be complex changes that members of all generations will have difficulty consuming.
The Close of Cycles
Change happens at any time. What makes today’s change different from another time is that more than one major cycle will be closing between now and 2050. Usually, only one cycle closes during a change. It’s the number of cycles closing right now that make this transition so tumultuous.
As winter changes to spring, the coldest weather happens before Spring. As Spring draws near, the days become less cold, the sun comes out more, and the snows begin to melt. And then, finally, it is Spring, and the snows have gone away, the days are warming, and life is beginning anew. That is the way of a cycle. It starts, gains strength and momentum, then tires and goes away.
As these cycles come to a close, the strength and momentum of the cycle will start to dissipate. Slowly, the energetics will become new energetics, and a new cycle will take over. This decade will be the most severe of the waning energy, and each year moving forward will move closer to the new cycle while releasing the old cycle.
A massive yang cycle is closing and a yin cycle is growing. And what better way to represent this change than the Water Tiger?
The Tiger Energetics
The Tiger is bold yang energy. The Tiger represents Spring and new beginnings. The activity of Spring is the start of something new. The naive exuberance of Spring forces the grass out of the soil, the leaves to bud, the flowers to emerge, the birds to move! And this is “naive” in a positive way. Naive in that you never thought you couldn’t, and you boldly move forward.
Spring has an undeniable strength that is almost a “take no prisoners” type of energy. It demands to move. Instead of ignoring all proposals to the opposite, Spring just doesn’t hear them.
You could say the Tiger marks conflict with a predetermined outcome. How come, you might ask? Any new action comes with change. Fundamental, within every change, is conflict as you try to assimilate the latest activities. Change is the yin within yang or the yang within yin. It is that spark of life that will grow to become its own cycle.
So, the Tiger comes with conflict, and like Spring, the Tiger has the energy to see it through.
How Predetermination Might Look
But why is it a predetermined outcome?
All change starts from a desire. In Taoism, change is movement. All life requires movement. The lack of movement is death. To desire a glass of water requires you to move your feet to get a glass of water. The desire to eat requires an action from you. Desire identifies the goal, and all your efforts will move towards your goal. You could say, your desires predetermine your actions and outcomes.
The Water Element
But, what also makes this year exceptional is it is a Water-Tiger. The Tiger is naturally a wood element and yang. Each year can modify the natural energetics of an element – changing it. This year is a Water year. Water is a yin element making this Tiger a yin Tiger.
It’s dramatic symbolism of what is happening right now as these yang cycles feel like they are crashing closed, and in its wreck, a yin cycle is forming and getting ready to bloom. In the Five Element theory, not only is the water element a yin element, but it is also an element of ending. It represents the Winter. Here in Winter, you find death and regeneration. The end of something old and preparation for something new.
In Chinese counting of time, the Water-Tiger is part of a 60-year calendar. Between 2030 and 2050, this 60-year cycle will end. It will end in 2043. So, this is not the last year of the Tiger in this cycle. There is one more Tiger. 2034 will be the Wood-Tiger. The Tiger will be in its natural element, and it will be strong and aggressive. This Water-Tiger 100% supports the changes coming. Whatever change is happening right now will be in full swing by 2034.
The energetics are so predetermined, it almost feels like you would have to be in alignment with the change, or you’re going to get run over in 2034. I don’t think you’re going to be able to sit on the sidelines or find a safe hole to burrow in. I think you need to figure out the macro changes happening in the world and figure out how to align yourself with them.
Themes for 2022 Water Tiger
First, the water theme. Water can be about death or/and preparation. Being this is a Tiger year, it is more about preparation, building the foundation. It’s the spark that lights the fire that starts the flame.
The themes of the Tiger wrap around justice. Economic and ecological justice are themes of the Tiger.
Collectivism
How these are playing out is different than the past. Instead of the strongly individualistic stance that has marked history, there is a movement towards collectivism. You’re starting to hear it in the conversations and actions. The whole is becoming more important than the individual.
Technology
There is a movement towards technology to improve the situation. There is a movement towards financial balance. Because there is a movement towards technology, there is a movement away from manual labor. Climate-tech has become the hot new phrase in Venture Capitalism.
There is going to be more focus on technology to improve the world.
This movement towards technology is also a movement towards automation. Automation is already firmly established, and automation of most manual labor jobs will continue through the end of the decade. It will start to pick up steam next year as companies position themselves to address shortages in labor and supplies.
Financials
Because there is a movement towards financial balance, there is a movement away from consumerism. Ethical investing is no longer a fad, with more funds moving towards organizations focusing on ecological and societal issues. Check out Ocean Cleanup, Lucid, Moxie by Embodied, Potato Plastic, the new John Deere self-driving farm tractors to get a feel for where this is going.
The financial balance will take more attention. This theme is starting to come to the forefront in different ways. As more and more wealth gets sequestered into fewer and fewer hands, economies become more and more unstable. These wealth inequalities will start receiving more attention next year. And next year may be the year that plants the seed that will take fruit in the future.
These themes are going to look a little different. The movements are in their inception and are happening right now. The themes will become more established in 2022. By 2034, everyone needs to be on board and not just give lip service.
Interestingly, the current global shipping and manufacturing crises will actually support the movement towards the new cycle. Social disinformation will support the new cycle.
The Water element will give many people a way back to finding ways to talk through differences. Not everyone will make the journey. But many will.
2022 Water Tiger Summary
This year has the potential to be an excellent year for the previous President. Yet, the energy that initiates and controls the year comes from Water, and Water controls the year’s tempo. More likely, the Water element will almost neutralize his actions. In 2024, it’s unlikely that the previous President will make a successful bid as the year strongly opposes him. It is more likely to be an unpleasant year for him.
Slowly, over the rest of the decade, this new yin cycle will move in. The year of the Water-Tiger may lay the groundwork. If you want to know the years that favor you and the years you must practice treading lightly and buckling down, look for the astrology episodes on my Youtube channel @bestacupuncturellc.