Happy New Year! This year brings us the Year of the Yang Fire Horse, sometimes also referred to as the Red, or Crimson Horse.
Lunar New Year this year is on February 17th. There are different calendars: solar, lunar, etc., and Lunar New Year is obviously based on the lunar calendar.
The energetic start of Spring and the new year is actually February 4th, which is a different calendar, and most relevant for this discussion. (Understanding the different calendars is not necessary for our purposes. Just know that Spring starts on Feb. 4th, not on Lunar New Year.)
The number one question I’m asked about Chinese astrology and these predictions: if you’re born in the year of the horse, does that mean it’s a good year for you? The answer is, I don’t know. It depends on your individual astrology chart and whether the strong Fire energy helps or hinders all of the elements in your chart.
The reality is that some years are good for some people, some years are bad for some people, and most years are a mixed bag for most people. That applies whether it’s your birth animal, or not.
Even in a “bad” or challenging year, there can still be opportunities and good things.
Introduction
Fire, fire, and more fire. 2026 is a Fire year, and the Horse is also associated with Fire energy. This is the strongest Fire year in several years in a row of Fire Energy. The elements move in a 60-year cycle, and this year is the most extreme Fire energy in the entire cycle. It’s not just a horse with its tail on fire. The whole horse is made of fire this year!
There are also 20-year cycles of energy in Feng Shui, and 2024 was the start of a new Fire cycle. Add that on top of the year, and you see why I said Fire, fire and more fire.
When we look at the Taiji circle, which illustrates Yin and Yang, we see that there are no straight lines. When we get to an extreme (the widest and narrowest parts), Yin or Yang flip into its opposite. It’s like a high fever flipping into chills.
We’re at an extreme this year. That means we’re flipping to the opposite right now. Does that mean everything is going to change this year? No, but many things will. It will be big and fast and the start of bigger changes.
Again looking at the Taiji circle, when we see the wide part flipping to the narrow part, we can see that it’s the start of a process that grows over time.
The last times we had Fire Horse energy was 60 years ago, in 1966, and 60 years before that in 1906 was the Great San Francisco earthquake and fire. Both were dramatic and chaotic years, and the start of bigger and more dramatic chaos and cultural changes. That’s where we’re at right now. So, grab the reins and hang on. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.
The 20-Year Feng Shui Cycle of Fire Energy
2024 was the start of a new 20-year cycle of Fire Energy in Feng Shui. Fire is associated with innovation, electronics, and technology.
Because Fire moves fast, we’re seeing fast change and innovation, especially in AI (artificial intelligence). Billions of dollars are flowing into AI technology.
I’ve been playing around with AI for a few years now, and the changes and improvements are happening fast. Most people I talk to have no clue about what AI can do now, and are going to be shocked, especially if they lose their job because AI can do it better than a human.
No AI was used in the writing of this article, because nobody has trained an AI model on the Five Elements, Ba Zi (Chinese astrology), Feng Shui, and Chinese medicine. If somebody actually took whatever huge amount of time it would take to do that, the AI could probably write this article as well as, or better than me, with my decades of study, knowledge, practice and experience. That’s how mind-blowingly good AI is getting.
Yes, AI is going to eliminate a lot of jobs. That’s going to cause more economic chaos.
And, there’s opportunity within chaos. There are already opportunities to use AI to save time, and reduce or eliminate repetitive tasks. There will be opportunities to invest in AI, whether it be in the use of it, or investing in AI companies. (This is not financial advice; please do your own research.)
Remember, 20 years ago Facebook, Instagram and YouTube were just barely invented. Consider the impact of just those three on our lives. We’re in a new cycle where we’ll have that scale of technological change.
The Year of the Yang Fire Horse
Every year is either Yin or Yang, and they alternate. Since 2025 was a Yin year, 2026 is a Yang year. If we know the natures of Yin and Yang, we know that generally Yang is warmer, louder, more energetic, and busier than Yin. That already tells us a bit about the year.
Nature of the Horse
Let’s consider the nature of the Horse before we discuss the elemental natures involved.
Horses are social animals that live together in herds. Even though we see them as large and potentially intimidating, they’re prey for big cats and wolves. Because they’re actually prey animals, they’re alert, curious, smart and fast. They can spook easily and have a strong fight-or-flight response, relying on their ability to run quickly to escape predators.
The nature of the animal gives us a clue as to the nature of the year. Things are going to move fast.
It’s a good year to engage in social activities with your “herd”.
Be curious and alert, and be prepared to act fast when necessary. Be cautious about distractions and “shiny object syndrome”. It may require some extra willpower to stay focused this year due to the fast nature of change.
Heaven and Earth
According to Chinese philosophy, we have the concepts of Yin and Yang, and Heaven, Earth and Humanity. The way these energetics combine determines the energy for the year.
Each year, we have Qi, or energy arriving from Heaven (the universe), and Qi arriving from Earth (the planet).
In the cosmology of “Heaven, Earth and Humanity”, we the people, being “Humanity”, live in-between Heaven and Earth and are affected by their energies and the energy of the year.
The Heaven energy in 2026 is Fire, and the Earth energy is the Horse, which is associated with the Fire element.
Since the color red is associated with the Fire element, you may see the year referred to as the Red Horse, or Crimson Horse.
5 Element Relationships
The Heaven and Earth energies in 2026 are both Fire. There’s no conflict, because they’re the same. It’s like having more friends to help you, which makes the Fire stronger. Fire is the absolute power this year. Let’s consider Fire’s interaction with the other elements.
In the five Elements creation/ production cycle in the diagram, we see that Wood gives birth to, or is the parent of Fire. Because the child, Fire, is so overwhelmingly strong, it weakens the Wood parent. It’s like having very unruly and demanding children that tire out the parents or giving birth to a lot of children at once and it drains the parents’ energy. That makes Wood very weak this year.
Since Water’s job is to restrain Fire, and the Fire is so strong, Water is also weak this year. It’s like trying to control a raging fire or the sun.
The two weakest elements this year are Water and Wood.
Fire gives birth to Earth, so Earth will also be strong. Being that it’s a Yang year, the Fire and Earth energies will be even more powerful.
Metal is neutral this year.
Nature of the Elements
Nature of Fire
Fire is associated with the Southern direction. Its atmospheric nature (from the Heaven Energy) is heat, fire and dryness. It moves fast and can create pressure and steam. It’s bright and transformative. Think about a fire burning and how it rapidly transforms whatever is burning, which implies fast change.
Yang Fire is like the sun - it’s the ultimate bright, hot fire. This is ultimate Yang.
On earth, Fire refers to heat, fire and dryness. Yang fire is like a raging wildfire. If you just thought “uh oh”, you’re right.
Anything that can burn or explode this year is a potential danger.
Nature of Earth
Even though the Heaven and Earth energies this year are both Fire, we need to consider the Earth element, since it’s going to be strong due to the excess Fire.
Earth is associated with dampness. Its atmospheric nature (weather) is clouds and rain. Change is also inherent in this energy, since clouds and rain are always moving and changing.
On earth (the planet), Earth refers to the actual earth and soil. The damp nature is like mud. Yang earth, though, isn’t a small mud puddle, which would be more of a Yin nature. Yang Earth is big earth, like mountains and giant boulders. Because of the changing and moving nature of both Fire and Earth this year, there is a very strong possibility of earthquakes. Because it’s a Yang year, the earthquakes could be big and very damaging. There could also be mudslides and sink holes that involve moving earth.
Because of the strong combination of Fire and Earth elements, there is an increased likelihood of strong volcanic activity. You may want to consider travel plans avoiding areas of volcanic activity, even dormant ones. The energy is so strong this year that they may just wake up.
The purpose of these predictions is to know what sort of opportunities to look for, and potential dangers to beware. Sorry, Pompeii and the big island of Hawaii, but I won’t be visiting this year!
Implications
Fire and Earth are the two strongest elemental energies this year.
Fire represents etiquette, courtesy, respect, joy and passion. It is associated with things like electronics, technology, the stock market, AI, crypto and industries related to actual fire. Firefighters are about to have their hands full.
The positive nature of Fire is courtesy and respect. Even though we’ve been in the midst of several Fire years, those aspects seem to be missing in the way people have been treating others. It seems people are more focused on the negative nature of “torching” or burning each other these days with no respect.
Being that the Fire is so extreme this year, I’m really not sure which way it’s going to go. It’s either going to get a lot worse, or a lot better. There’s no middle ground this year.
Earth is normally associated with trust, truth, and the center. It is a harmonizing force. As seasonal energies change within the year, earth comes in and harmonizes the transition from season to season.
We certainly haven’t seen much of those traits recently either. Sometimes, as in the Taiji circle mentioned above, things need to hit an extreme before they change.
Next year (2027) is the Year of the Fire Goat. We’ll have the last of our run of Fire years, and another Earth year. So, it will be similar to this year, just Yin in nature. It’s likely that we hit the extremes this year and things calm somewhat next year.
Or, because this year is so extreme, it could all just go up in flames and change this year, fast.
Be flexible this year, as opportunities may appear within the chaos and only be available for a short time. That doesn’t mean you have to jump on every opportunity. Make wise choices. Just be prepared to change and/or act fast when good opportunities appear.
In any case, to stay in harmony with the energy this year, focus on exhibiting the Fire and Earth traits of kindness, compassion, courtesy, trust and honesty.
Apply the Golden Rule. How do you want to be treated: with respect and courtesy, or rudeness and hate? Which is in harmony with the elements this year?
People who follow the energy should have good support from the elements this year and have an easier time than those who are out of sync with the elements.
Metal is mostly neutral this year. It’s in charge of justice and right and wrong. Because it’s neutral, there may not be anything dramatic in these areas. There might be some big ups and downs due to the nature of the year, but it will most likely even out.
Water and Wood are the weakest elements. Water’s positive nature is wisdom, and Wood’s is kindness and compassion, so it looks like we’re not going to see too much of those traits in general this year.
Weather
Fire’s nature is heat, fire and dryness. It’s very strong Fire this year, so it should be hot. It wouldn’t be a surprise for 2026 to end up breaking records for hot temperatures.
Expect fires and explosions, and big ones. There could also be droughts.
Prepare now if you live in an area at risk for fires. Be careful when using fire, especially outside. There is strong potential for fire accidents, and they could get out of control fast.
The strong Earth energy will moderate the potential for drought somewhat, since it’s in charge of dampness and rain.
Expect humidity. It’s a weird combination of dryness and dampness this year, so we may see alternating periods of dry and humid weather. It’s likely we’ll see plenty of heat and humidity together.
Since Earth is in charge of rain, and it’s a Yang year, we’ll probably have a lot of rain, and/or big rainstorms and flooding.
Add potential for big earthquakes on top of that. We may be in for fires, earthquakes, floods and mudslides. If you live in an area prone to these kinds of natural disasters, plan ahead now and take whatever precautions you can.
Because Fire is associated with the Southern direction, and Earth the center, these types of natural disasters may happen more, and/or be more damaging in those areas of countries and the world.
They can still happen anywhere. There’s just more potential for them to be worse in those areas.
Fire’s season is summer, and the dryness of autumn may be worse this year. It’s highly likely we’ll have a bad fire season. I encourage you to prepare now, because the power of predictions is to help you know and prepare for what the year has in store.
Earth season actually lasts for 18 days between each of the four seasonal changes. We may see more rain and higher humidity in the transition times between each of the four seasons.
Emotions
The positive emotions of Fire are joy and happiness. When it gets too extreme it becomes mania.
Earth’s positive emotion is trust. Its negative emotions are worry and over-thinking. When it becomes too extreme it becomes OCD.
People already prone to these emotions may be worse this year and need stronger help to manage them.
People who tend toward mania or getting overly passionate about things may be worse, especially in the summer and/or hot weather.
There may be more sex scandals this year. (More than just the current ongoing one.)
Because Wood is weak, and its negative emotion is anger, we may see less anger than we’ve had over the past several years. People who have difficulty setting boundaries and standing up for themselves will have to work harder at it this year.
Water is also weak this year, and people with Kidney deficiencies could be fearful. The joyful Fire energy can help overcome the fear.
Metal is neutral this year, so we most likely won’t see anything significant with its emotions this year.
Focus on the positive emotions of joy, happiness and trust this year. Engage in activities that bring you joy. Make sure to take play time to do things just because they make you happy. Strive for balance, so things don’t tip over into mania.
Health
The strongest organs this year will be the Heart /Small Intestine (Fire) and the Spleen /Stomach (Earth). Those prone to excess in these organs could have problems, especially when heat, dryness and/or dampness are part of the pathology.
Those with deficiencies in these organs may feel better, just from the elemental Qi from Heaven and Earth this year.
Any condition involving heat, fire, dampness, and/or dryness could worsen. (There’s that weird combination of dryness and dampness again.)
There will likely be more health problems involving Heart conditions, like heart attacks, anxiety and insomnia. Those already suffering from these conditions may worsen and need stronger interventions.
Fire is associated with the mental state, thought and consciousness. There may be issues with busy minds, anxiety, insomnia, lack of focus, as well as more severe Shen disturbances like mania and mental health disorders. Herbs that clear Heat and calm the mind are likely to be important this year. We may see more cases of Phlegm Misting the Heart.
Any condition involving Damp-Heat could worsen. Respiratory and flu-type illnesses will most likely be the Damp-Heat variety, with yellow and/or green mucus.
People prone to digestive problems, especially with dampness, are likely to worsen.
Stomach flus are likely, because they’re generally a Damp-Heat condition, as well as food poisoning.
Heat and Damp-Heat clearing herbs will also be important, as well as herbs to treat Heat-toxin. Keep the Curing Pills and Coptis handy this year!
Conversely, people with digestive issues due to dryness, like constipation in older people, may also be worse.
People with Blood and Yin deficiencies may also worsen.
Since Water is weak (Kidney/ Bladder), people suffering from deficiencies in these organs may have a harder time.
The same is true for Wood (Liver/ Gallbladder).
Metal is neutral this year, so we shouldn’t see anything out of the ordinary with the Lungs and Large Intestine.
Business and the Economy
The stock market is associated with Fire energy, so this year’s strong Fire energy theoretically should be good for it. However, most market cycles (stocks, real estate) tend to move in 7-10 year cycles, and we’re long overdue for a stock market correction.
Combine that with continually rising prices and many economic factors pointing to a downswing in the economy, it looks like this year could be economically challenging.
For those of us practicing acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, the good news is that AI can’t replace us (yet?).
Fire is associated with things like electronics, technology, stock markets, cryptocurrency and other blockchain technologies, and industries related to actual fire. These industries should be strong this year due to the strong Fire energy.
Earth industries like real estate, mining, pottery, and others related to earth could also have a strong year.
Industries associated with metal, metalworking, and/or that use metal should be neutral this year, since Metal is neutral. Metal is also associated with right and wrong and justice, so it will probably be wins and losses in this area.
Water is weak this year. It’s associated with wisdom. We may not see a lot of wisdom prevail this year. Water industries like plumbing and shipping, and education and learning (related to wisdom) could suffer. There may also be problems with flooding damaging water industries due to the strong Earth and weak Water.
Wood is weak this year and represents healing, and medicine, especially natural medicine. It may be a challenging year for businesses in these industries, and any other industry related to wood or working with wood, trees, and/ or plants, like farming. Farms could suffer due to flooding.
Final Thoughts
This year is a big, bold, loud year. It’s Yang Fire. It’s a running horse made out of the sun. It’s a wildfire. If you try to get out of the way, you’ll be left behind.
It’s ultimate Yang, a year for action.
Things are going to move and change fast, just like a raging fire. There will be ups, downs and may be chaotic.
Things will move so fast, you may be easily distracted. It may take more effort to stay focused, though it will be worth it.
Opportunities will show up quickly and then disappear. If you dilly dally, you’ll miss out. Acting quickly on the right opportunities can bring good progress fast. Wait too long or overthink it, and it will pass you by.
Be cautious about burnout. The pace will be so fast that it’s easy to get burned out. Make sure to take time to slow down and catch your breath and recharge your batteries to keep up with the pace this year.
Play time is important for adults, too! Take time to do things that bring you joy and happiness. It’s important this year to help balance the mental state and stay in harmony with the year. Make time to do something silly you enjoyed as a kid, just for the fun of it!
Change is going to happen. A lot of it, and quickly. Many people resist change. It’s like resisting gravity. Change is the nature of this universe, as shown in the Taiji circle. There are no straight lines in it, showing that things are always moving and changing.
It’s best to grab the reins and ride with the flow, because there’s no controlling the uncontrollable wildfire.
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These predictions get longer every year! The more I study and learn, the more depth I can apply to these analyses. The five elements are so deep, with so many layers for interpretation, that you can keep going and going!
These predictions are based on study of the Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen, written approximately 2,000 years ago. This analysis is based mainly on Chapters 66-71. It provides a deep and profound understanding of the Five Elements, their movements and interactions, and how they affect Heaven, Earth and Humanity.
The energies of Heaven and Earth affect us all. The advantage of forecasts is to know what to expect and how to prepare ourselves and our patients each year, so we can take advantage of opportunities in the year and avoid problems.
I wish you a very happy, healthy, and prosperous Year of the Fire Horse!
© 2026 Wendy S. Goldman, L.Ac.
