Cycles

The new year and old beginnings

Carina Dieringer

The year of the fire horse is upon us. She blazes with a vigor that hasn’t been seen in 60 years, and her beauty brings celebration across the world.

Lunar Love, an event celebrating the Lunar New Year and Valentine’s Day, was held Feb. 14 at Indigenous Roots in my home of East Side St. Paul. I attended with my girlfriend (Side note: If you’re an avid fan of The Wake, you may remember an article I wrote on Valentine’s Day one year ago—a review of Yellowjackets where I mentioned watching the show at a (then) friend’s house. That was her. Another full circle moment in the cycle of years). We ate free food provided by community members, made silly shrinky dinks, and watched the dragon and lion dances in awe. The experience left me thinking about cycles of life and love.

As both a (not so) former horse girl and someone currently living in Minnesota, I think the fire horse brings a message that is particularly vital during this time. The fire horse, which symbolizes freedom, energy, and forward momentum, is traditionally associated with times of political transition. The last year of the fire horse was in the 1960s during the Vietnam War and China’s Cultural Revolution. In America, our nation’s involvement in the Vietnam War resulted in protests that flamed alongside other movements for civil rights globally.

This may be the first time we as individual people have faced ICE kidnapping and killing people in our streets at this scale. Yet just like the cycle of the Lunar New Year, the collective is experiencing a cycle of protest, organizing, and action. As we return to these old beginnings, all we have to do is learn from the past and direct this energy in ways that will keep us moving forward rather than lashing out at each other.

I go into the new year with a fear and sadness I haven’t felt before—but the communities that surround and support me are alight with a flame that has been blazing for centuries.