Chinese New Year 2026
As I prepare to celebrate Chinese New Year with my family, I’m reminded of how deeply this festival is woven into the fabric of my life. It’s one of the most important celebrations in the Chinese calendar, and preparations are already underway - travelling home, cleaning the house, clearing out old energies, and making space for renewal.
I’m looking forward to the familiar rhythm of it all: the cooking, the gathering of generations around the table, the exchange of red envelopes, and the quiet symbolism behind each tradition. Chinese New Year isn’t just a single day - it unfolds over a series of days, each with it’s own focus and meaning. We honour ancestors, welcome good fortune, and intentionally avoid certain activities to keep luck intact.
These rituals create a sense of continuity and belonging, a reminder that we’re part of something larger than ourselves. For me, it’s a moment to reconnect with heritage, with family, and with the quiet wisdom embedded in these rituals.
And this year, we welcome the Fire Horse.
Year of The Fire Horse - What It Might Mean
In spiritual and astrological circles, the Fire Horse often arrives with a sense of intensity. Fire brings passion, transformation, illumination. Horse brings movement, freedom, momentum. Together, they create a potent archetype - one that many describe as fast-moving, dynamic, even volatile.
But archetypes are symbolic, not prescriptive. They offer a lens, not a forecast. Fire can be a spark or a steady glow. Horse can be a gallop or a grounded stance. The symbolism is rich, but it doesn’t dictate the tempo of your life.
This year might feel fiery for some. For others, it may feel spacious, reflective, or quietly transformative. Archetypes land differently depending on who we are and what we’re carrying. Individuality matters.
If we look through the lens of the Chinese zodiac, I was born in the Year of the Horse, which means this is “my year”. Traditionally, that can bring a sense of amplification or volatility. I may feel the archetype more personally - questions around movement, direction, desire, and freedom. Specifically, I’m an Earth Horse, whose energy is steadier, more grounded, more deliberate. So while this year may bring movement or clarity for me, it doesn’t automatically mean upheaval or great speed.
And this is true for everyone. Your experience of the Fire Horse year will be shaped far more by your inner world than by the symbolism alone. How we meet any year depends on our emotional capacity, our nervous system, our current transitions, our relationship with change. Fire can feel exhilarating when we’re resourced. But it can feel overwhelming when we’re stretched thin. It can feel inspiring when we’re ready to create. But it can feel disruptive when we’re craving stability.
An Invitation for the Year Ahead
So instead of assuming this year will be fast, fiery, or intense, perhaps we can meet it with curiosity:
What if this year is less about speed, and more about clarity?
What if the fire is a lantern - a steady glow - rather than a wildfire?
What if the horse invites movement, but only in the direction that feels deeply aligned?
Gong Hei Fat Choi
As we step into this new lunar cycle, I’m wishing you and your loved ones a prosperous, peaceful, and nourishing year ahead. May the Fire Horse bring you only the sparks that support your growth, the warmth that sustains you, and the clarity that helps you move in the direction that feels most true. However this year meets you, may it do so with gentleness, alignment, and light to guide your way forward.
