In about a month, on February 17, 2026, we enter the year of the Yang Fire Horse in the Chinese zodiac and we leave behind the year of the Yin Wood Snake.
Chinese cosmology doesn’t see time as linear; it’s a continuous cycling through the five elements that flow through nature: wood, fire, earth, metal, water and the twelve animals of the zodiac, creating a sixty year cycle. Additionally, each year alternates back and forth between yin and yang energy, adding another layer of meaning to the themes of the year.
When I reflect on 2025, it feels like I spent the first half of it weeping. I would go on walks and cry. Go to Whole Foods and cry. At a friend’s birthday dinner - still crying. I was grieving the end of a relationship and I was deeply frustrated that every area of my life seemed to be in flux, with no clarity on what would come next or what I even wanted. The energy at the time felt heavy and stagnant. I felt deeply reclusive and introspective; shedding relationships, work clients and former visions for my life. I never wanted to socialize. As someone who is incredibly quick to execute; I couldn’t bring myself to take any action on creative projects or in my personal life. I couldn’t figure out how to lift myself out of the emotional state I was in.
At some point I learned about the Wood Snake Year that we were in; I always find it comforting when there’s some kind of macro level context for how I’m feeling. Even if it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy, it gives me a sense of: “Oh, this is supposed to be happening. I don’t have to try so hard to change it”. It allowed me to fully surrender to my feelings and accept that if clarity wasn’t coming, it wasn’t time for clarity.
The Wood Snake year that is coming to a close, is associated with:
Intense shedding
Introspection
Inner strength
Personal transformation
Spiritual and intellectual growth
Quiet behind the scenes work
Planting the seeds
Wisdom
Calm strategy
Layering on top of that the yin energy which is:
Associated with the feminine
Receptive
Inward
Intuitive
Contracting
Still
Restful
Intuitive
Reflective
Emotive
Nurturing
In relationships, a Yin Wood Snake Year is a time for deep, reflective conversations. Introspection about personal needs and long term vision takes precedent over impulsive romance. It’s a time for couples to strengthen their emotional bonds by being deeply communicative about their individual needs. For singles, it’s a time to get clear on their values and crystalize what’s most important to them in partnership.
You could’ve re-labelled these lists “What Sara Experienced in 2025”. What a relief it was to have this framework. I stopped trying to execute on life decisions and resolved to do anything that crossed my path that I was curious about or that sparked joy, trusting that eventually the dots would connect (as Steve Jobs said - you can only connect the dots in hindsight, not going forward).
I spent the year studying and learning Kabbalah. I went deep on sexual polarity and masculine / feminine energy work in Sarah Warnaar’s Temple container. I attended Esther Perel’s Sessions Live, where I learned about Dene Logan and then I did Dene’s Sovereign Love retreat to learn about masculine and feminine energy from a more clinical perspective. I went to a writing retreat with Cheryl Strayed, the author of Wild. It was incredibly nurturing to my inner child to sign up for anything that called to me, regardless of knowing anyone else that was doing it or needing a reason beyond ‘I’m curious about this’.
Reading this back to myself now, it sounds like a lot of action for a year that felt introspective and marked by grief. But at the time, each of the things I listed felt more like an act of just being and learning, than doing.
In a magical synchronicity with the universe, actual snakes started to cross my path constantly when I was on walks in Ibiza and in New York, which I’m choosing to interpret as little pings from the universe affirming that I was on the right path for my transformation.
I feel the energy shifting intensely now as we get closer to the start of the Year of the Yang Fire Horse and I couldn’t be more excited to leave behind the shedding and the stagnant snake energy.
The Fire Horse Year that starts on February 17, 2026 is associated with:
Explosive energy
Ambition
Rapid change
Urgency
Potential volatility
Boldness
Spirited perseverance
Autonomy
Freedom
Layer on top of that, this year’s yang energy which is:
Associated with the masculine
Outward
Assertive
Bold
Burning down what’s not working
Expansive
Generating
Active
Goal oriented
The Fire Horse energy isn’t gentle; it disrupts, reorients and liberates. It is transformative to the point of feeling chaotic. In relationships this could look like quick changes, connections that deepen rapidly, amplified expressions of emotion and honesty, bursts of passion, bold actions in love, and energetic forward motion: moving in together, traveling together, an engagement. The horse needs freedom, and when combined with fire energy, it is willing to burn things down to reclaim it. It will be a year of surging individualism and testing boundaries.
The Year of the Snake was a time for shedding, planning and finding inner clarity. Now, the Year of the Horse sets all that quiet work in motion. I, for one, can’t wait for a more active energy.
Questions I’m pondering as we enter the Year of the Yang Fire Horse:
Where have I been playing small?
How can I be bold in everything I do? (more fuck around and find out energy in 2026)
Content I Consumed This Week
I find it fascinating that our world is losing color.
This piece about The Great Detachment made me think a lot about the quote “Everyone wants a village and no one wants to be a villager”. I think a lot about being a good villager - I want to be intimately involved in my friend’s lives; sharing childcare, going deep on celebration planning, cooking for each other; not just meeting for dinner once in awhile or relying on texts to stay in touch.
I will listen to anything Terry Real says about relationships
I went down a Bella Burden rabbit hole. Her Modern Love piece about her husband leaving one day after 20 years of marriage and never coming home, went so viral that she wrote a book. I didn’t realize she was the granddaughter of Babe Paley and the daughter of Amanda Burden.
And of course, the absolutely rabid Heated Rivalry fandom.
If you want to submit a topic or a specific dating/ relationship question anonymously, you can do that here.
In case you missed it, I wrote dating and relationship predictions for 2026.
Giddy the fuck up.
🔥🔥🔥