The Chinese Lunar Year of the Yang Red Fire Monkey begins on February 8, the second new moon after the solstice. Expect the year to be a time of adventure, discovery and luck striking at bizarre times where fortunes turn at the blink of an eye. The year of the monkey is ideal for a quantum leap in life. Now is the time to shake things up, create change and innovate a new path.

Following 12 months of the female nurturing Sheep, the Red Monkey year is going to shake, rattle and roll. Under the influence of elemental fire and the monkey’s fixed element of metal, the next 12 months are slated to be an era of innovations, developments and foraging ahead.

Monkey correlates to the western zodiac sign Leo. Chinese tradition imbues the monkey with strong male energy. In ancient text, he sounds very much like a Leo: “I am the seasoned traveler of the labyrinth. The genius of alacrity. Wizard of the impossible. My brilliance is yet unmatched in its originality. My heart is filled with potent magic that could cast a hundred spells. I am put together for mine own pleasure. I am the Monkey.”

The text spells out how brilliantly creative, smart and inventive monkey is, embracing its hyperactive, adventurous and uncontrollable monkey-mind needing to be tamed. Monkey-mind, as the Buddhist so accurately named it, cannot be destroyed; it can only be given the proper role—a true place in our lives. To discipline monkey is to give it purpose that cleverness can grasp. Lao Tzu said it well by defining discipline as working at something until one can play at it. Monkey-mind can grasp this because it opens freedom’s gates to risk and experiment meaningfully.

The Year of the Fire Monkey is a time to reach for the stars with a safety net below. Monkey energy is nimble leadership that takes nothing for granted in an unpredictable world. Even in difficult circumstances, this canny creature finds ways to overcome and succeed, often with a laugh at the loser’s expense. It is wise this year to keep a sense of humor and perspective while winning at many things, accepting that you can’t win them all. Ever the strategic warrior, monkey knows that he who laughs and runs away lives to laugh another day.

Tao Time publishes a monthly newsletter prior to every new moon and provides a selection of implements accessing and interpreting the I Ching to discern the time we are in and the developmental path that lies before us. For more information, visit DaleBruder.com or find Daily I Ching at Tao Time on Facebook.