2015 – Year of the Yin Wood Sheep
By Karen Abler-Carrasco
WSFS Instructor and Mentor
Finally! The galloping horse comes home to rest and transform into a quiet sheep, grazing within the comfortable bounds of her beloved flock. Is anyone a little saddle sore? Longing for a warm, scented bath, a home-cooked meal and some quiet time in a soft bed? Good news, everyone, the gentle, generous Sheep Year is here to provide that!
The speeding Yang Wood Horse Year of 2014 brought both invigorating new growth and disturbing upheaval to the terrain of our lives. Many outdated structures and beliefs got trampled, while fresh alternatives and daring choices beckoned on the horizon. Most of us endured some uprooting of old routines or even radical shifts in the direction we thought we were headed prior to riding that wild horse. The trick was to steadfastly trust our lightning-quick intuition and Cosmic Help all year long. Some of us spontaneously jumped into new work and play, some of us coped with unexpected or uncomfortable lifestyle shifts, and some of us just sat by the continuous stream of change to wait for calmer waters.
That slower pace is with us this year. On February 18th, 2015, we begin the Yin Wood Sheep Year. This year, the exuberant upward and outward propulsion of Yang Wood will reverse itself and turn downward and inward in its Yin form, allowing us to catch our breath, find our footing and take the time we need to adjust to the budding new life being offered. The new realities we encountered last year, like young bare branches stretching out to the sky, can become sheathed in the soft foliage of refined details and newly flowering skills and priorities. This year, Yin Wood will offer deep roots into our innermost selves, where the essential nourishment of personal comfort and security reside.
The qualities of Yin Wood perfectly complement the characteristics of the sheep. The sheep is a generous, patient, peaceful creature, who seeks to live in continuous harmony among family, friends and beauty. In the wheel of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals, the sheep is considered to be the most feminine sign, so we have a different herbivore from the yang horse, yet still a very intuitive and emotional one. The sheep seeks her own quiet pastures and flock, where all are safe, familiar and settled in mutual support. The sheep year is the time for healing and mending, nurturing and tending. Whatever has been disturbed, wounded, left unfinished or out of place can be more easily brought back into harmony this year, and the very process of doing so will bring fulfillment and grace.
The sheep’s power lies in knowing herself clearly and deeply, and accepting and forgiving all perceived flaws in self and others. With her open-hearted dedication to the goodness of life, the sheep character, with kind and patient persuasion rather than strident demands, always gets what she desires. For us, this means the year’s power lies in nurturing our ties within our friendship circles, our local economies, and our inner psyches. This year, the I Ching would counsel us to practice “Modesty,” and get our tender egos out of the way. When we do so, without becoming subservient, we become the ultimate Yin, or “Receptive,” and the entire universe can align for everyone’s highest good. Trust that it will… and it will.
This year’s most vibrant ch’i is accessed by calmly focusing on the finer details of one’s immediate environment. (It is a PERFECT year for feng shui!) Raise your energy by eliminating those things that are less than excellent, be it a chipped mug, faded artwork or uncomfortable furniture. Practice the art of graceful living. Find the most economical and efficient ways to accomplish your daily tasks and give them your full attention. There is a refined elegance, and more leisure, in living simply. This year, the little things in life are really going to support the big things.
The sheep is more of a follower than a leader. She relies on her friends to protect her interests. As such, the sheep year’s financial energies are rather fluid, with a tendency to be overly charitable for philanthropic causes. Set some wise, but not miserly, boundaries on expenditures, then trust Cosmic Help to provide all that is needed for you to be gracious and compassionate with both money and energy this year. 
It is also an important year to transform and refine your language, which is one of the main constructors of reality. Keep it kind, sincere, tolerant, and positive. The sheep is all about constant, precise and insightful communication with those around her, as everyone’s best survival depends upon it. Raise your lifestyle’s tonality as well, to vibrate in a more refined and elegant way, perhaps through giving music, art and Nature more opportunity to influence your inner and outer environments.
Above all, relax. When we match the year’s energies with our actions — taking time for the small pleasures of life, turning within, becoming soft, paying attention to the people around us and offering them simple kindness — we will be supplied with the energy we need. By aligning our behaviors with the year’s ch’i, we create space to welcome it in and amplify it, to make it real. 
This is a year of gentle persuasions, frivolous delights (within the budget) and the subtle sensuality of all things feminine. Open your heart to the delight of receiving more love from everywhere and everyone. Let the glow of this love, for self and others, gently grow and radiate outward, supported on all sides with the safety of a loving community, the comfort of a healthy home, and the lush beauty that springs from being grounded in Mother Nature and the great feminine principles. The Yin Wood Sheep year humbly offers us this guidance: create blissful peace in your home and your Self and you will light the way for others to follow.
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This was truly amazing and rings such truth. As a Taurus, I am Oh so very Excited for this year! Thank you!
As another Taurus, I agree, Katrina! This last year has been high adventure and big projects. Time to admire all of the hard work and share it with those we love.
I’m so glad that you found inspiration from this article, Katrina. I can see how a true taurean would love this home-ly year coming up. Enjoy those things you are most fond of!
As another fellow Taurean, I resonate completely with this, having had a pretty turbulent year previously, I am now looking forward to this energy. Having studied Western Feng Shui, I can really see where I can implement the upcoming energy throughout the year. Loving this. 🙂 thank you for such a wonderful and positive light.
Hi Terah,
What a beautiful article you provided us. I think that would make everyone happy and hopeful 🙂
Karen – Thank YOU for illuminating the significance of the Yin Wood Sheep in 2015. The “gentle softness” the Yin Wood Sheep is a welcome change from the wild horse ride of 2014. This is a great year to focus on our “Well Being!”
HIHU
Thank you, Karen, for your deep insight and this blessed news. I can barely walk, I’ve been riding so hard…as have we all.
Cheers!
Abby
I loved, absolutely loved the article on the Yang Wood Horse. It was so great and I was sad to leave the Year of the Horse even though I am a sheep in the Chinese Zodiac and this is an important year, age wise. After reading this article on the Sheep, I know it is true and I can let go of the Year of the Horse and settle into the deepest reality of my life. thank you.
I have heard it will be a difficult year for snake as sheep do not like snakes. What do you think about that?
Traditionally, when a Chinese astrological animal sign had characteristics that clashed with another’s, it was said that one or the other would have “bad luck” in each other’s year. There is a higher wisdom than that being offered now. Each of the 60 years in the cycle is an energetic tasting of each others flavors. How well we do and feel each year depends on how gracefully we enter into the spirit of each year’s offerings. For the snake, the challenge might be in the amount of SURRENDER she is willing to experience. Her beloved privacy, and determined focus on her own pathway, as well as her vulnerability could cause her to become isolated away from the great gifts of the yin sheep year, which offer an intimate, trusting communion with “the flock”. The key for a wonder-filled year for the snake folks may be in their willingness to let go of their need to figure it all out for themselves, and RECEIVE support and camaraderie from new sources. Perhaps the snake’s amazing powers of observation and patience will be her saving grace this year, as she experiments with trusting in a benevolent universe to bring her comforts and beauty that she previously thought could only be gained through her own efforts. Increased skill in the great art of ALLOWING is the gift this year brings! Let down your guard and be transformed by the loving support that surges in. Just look for it, patiently, and you will see it in the seemingly small “insignificant” moments of this yin year.
Lovely explanation Karen. Your eloquence is so inspiring. This new energy will be appreciated by so many as a time to integrate all of the upheaval and changes of the past year. It bodes well for all of us Feng Shui practitioners as well. I’m nesting already!
Suzanne, I, too, was sad to see the Horse year go, until I realized that those exuberant adventures can continue INTERNALLY this year! Where the horse carried us high across a vast terrain, the sheep will follow along, nose to the ground, carefully nibbling only the juiciest blades of new opportunity. Can I reach out more trustingly to others from my True Self this year? Will I go deep enough into my inner realm to gain the profound insights that await? How well will I take more time to nurture myself, and how much support in this will I accept from others? Can I spot the subtle ways that my world shows me how much it loves me? I look forward to the deeper self knowledge and self care I may experience, and I hope to end the year more radiant with love than I began it!
thanks for illuminating article. You mention I Ching and Modesty. Is this earth over Mountain the I ching reading for the year of the sheep? If so how is it arrived at? I was intrigued as there are 60 astrological years but 64 hexagrams?
Brian, Thank you for inspiring me to clarify! I mentioned “Modesty” as an example of how just one of the many wisdoms shared in the I Ching can serve us this year. I was not equating the Yin Wood Sheep year to the actual Hexagram 15, “Modesty.” I was offering it for further study on how to navigate this yin year well, as many of the virtues of yin are elegantly portrayed within it. For those not familiar with the I Ching term I will say here that true modesty as defined in the I Ching is not at all the same as our English usage of it. Rather, it refers to a state of trusting in our common senses, our inner knowing and the support of many Cosmic Helpers. It counsels us to be patiently conscientious with ourselves, giving attention to correcting the small bad habits or indulgences of lower vibrational living, without expectation of a certain outcome, remaining open and trusting. Study of the entire I Ching brings sage advice for us to use in ANY year. For those wishing to explore it, I highly recommend the version by Carol Anthony and Hannah Moog: I Ching, the Oracle of the Cosmic Way, by Anthony Publishing. This version is highly relevant to today’s world, with the ancient language interpreted as aspects of the human psyche, and the qualities of the True Self, liberated from the collective ego, revealed.
I loved reading about the Yang Horse last year, and it resonated even more with me when I conceived in early February – away we go! Six months later our son was born… talk about a year of upheaval and change! Instead of delivering a term baby at home, it was an emergency c-section followed by 3.5 months of daily visits to the NICU. This year I couldn’t wait for your interpretation of what 2015 will bring and I am so excited that once again it has struck my core. This is the year for wholesome, inexpensive meals simmering away in the slow cooker, reconnecting with friends, embracing love, and enjoying a cozy budget while my husband and I watch our little acorn change and grow. Thank you! You phrase things beautifully and it’s so reassuring to feel the cosmic connection.
Thank you for sharing your amazing Horse Year story, Miranda! Wow, your little yang Wood Horse boy was true to his astrology–chomping at the bit, raring to go, leaping through the gate early and fast! Congratulations on coming through the storm with everyone safe now.
Hi Karen,
I love your writing style, so fluid and full of wise words and advice. I’m linking to it today on my blog for my monday morning feng shui post and think my readers will be interested to discover more about the Western School of Feng Shui. Many blessings, dana
Ms. Karen, How does this affect a person born in the year of the tiger??
Respectfully, Rosie 🙂
Hi, Rosie, Here is what I offered to my Tiger friends for a little fun horoscope advice at our Chinese New Year party: As the Tiger’s flamboyant and altruistic “rebel with a cause” nature is more yang than yin, this year may feel too slow or quiet. Slooooow down. Consider taking a “learning for leisure” class to add a “frivolous” non goal-oriented pursuit to your routine. Or, turn your passion for justice towards your community and volunteer there in a fun capacity. LISTEN more to others, work on patience. Enjoy your finely tuned intuition, and use it to steady and calm yourself. Remove guilt and perfectionism from your life, and become your own best advocate. This is what is meant by paying attention to the “little things” this year–those old habitual less-than-excellent attitudes can be refined into daily doses of self love this year, which will ripple out to subtly influence many others. Not as flashy as you might be used to, but ever so powerful. The power of YIN brings us all into beautiful harmony and alignment with each other this year.
as an aries Horse I am so ready for the peace and gentleness that this coming year can provide. I am tired of the unhappy things that have happened
and with open arms celebrate this coming year.
Hey Kare, how did you attain such wisdom?
Love you!
Is that you, Mimi? Thank you for your kind compliment. And I can say the same to YOU, wise Horse Whisperer. As for the gaining of wisdom, I think it comes from the heart. Our hearts desire to commune with each other deeply, and when we allow that, we gain all the wisdom of several lifetimes through seeking to understand and empathize with each other’s viewpoints. We all have access to this….plus, it helps to be “really OLD,” too! Right? Didn’t we think the age we are now was so very old, when we were little kids?
This is nice and all, but why is it “sheep” and not “ram” or “goat”? I always get confused reading about sheep/ram people. Mostly they’re made out too be soft fluffy and sensitive , but what about the ram side? Rams are so masculine and sic born leaders and fighters. I wonder why the fluff gets more emphasis than the tough.