2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse – Are You Ready to Ride?

Written by Danielle Van de Velde, Meditation Teacher, Reiki Master, Psychic Medium, and Author

Dani Van de Velde is a passionate advocate for living a spiritually aligned life in the modern world. She is a meditation teacher, Reiki Master, psychic medium, and author of Spirited. She is the founder of Spirited Living and Spirited Business online communities, a broadcaster on News for the Soul Radio, and host of The Modern Crone podcast.

This Year of the Fire Horse is considered one of the most intense, catalytic, and destiny-shifting combinations in the Chinese zodiac cycle. It carries a reputation for bold change, acceleration, and truth-telling, for better and for worse. Here are some of the key themes to expect this year, along with my tips for a fabulous ride.

What is Fire Horse energy?

The key energetic signature for the year, woven from both traditional Chinese metaphysics and contemporary psychological interpretation, is fire in motion. In most animistic traditions, Horse energy represents movement, freedom, independence, charisma, and momentum. Fire energy represents passion, visibility, courage, volatility, and purification.

Together, Fire Horse energy tends to amplify everything: success and failure, passion and conflict, courage and recklessness.

For many years, at the end of each calendar year, I retreat to my little cottage in the Blue Mountains in Australia for Vision Quest. This is a simple yet deep process of introspection to bank the lessons learned in the year just gone, make offerings of gratitude for the challenges and blessings, and then enter a series of spiritual “journeys” to intuit the character and potentials of the incoming year. It is a beautiful process, well supported by the quiet wilderness that surrounds my cottage.

In my annual visioning this year, I called the Spirit of 2026 to make itself known to me, and it came, not as a bold, fiery horse, but as a young and handsome stable master. Yep, I did not expect that either. Yet in each journey since the Solstice, the stable master has appeared in my visions, showing me what I will require personally and what to offer my communities:

• Containers to harness and direct the intense energies

• Clear tracks to follow at the gallop

• Competency and consistency in spiritual practice

When will we feel it?

According to Chinese astrology, the new year energy does not activate fully until the beginning of the Lunar New Year, which runs from February 17 to March 3. Furthermore, according to my own Celtic traditions and Earth calendar, we will not feel the full momentum of the Fire Horse until the Spring Equinox, and the beginning of the Western astrological solar year, on March 20.

I do not doubt that 2026 will bolt from the gates. To be ready for the ride, it is good to have a sturdy saddle, strong reins, clear tracks, and a riding group, not only to ride the energies well, but to enjoy the ride too. The alternative is off-piste chaos.

Four key themes for the energy of 2026 and my tips for enjoying the ride

1. Theme: Radical independence and sovereignty

A defining theme of 2026 is the rejection of constraint. If you are misaligned with your job, relationships, or identity, you can expect strong feelings of cognitive and energetic dissonance. Your freedom and personal truth will be deal-breakers, and you may feel a surge in self-authorship to jump ship and think about it later. Collectively, we will see movements for autonomy, decentralisation, ground-up community advocacy for change, and much greater pushback on institutions that over-control or suppress.

Tip: Now is an excellent time to audit the main arenas of your life and determine where you feel misaligned, constrained, or suppressed. Determine whether the situation can be improved or if it is time to seek an alternative. Meditation and grounding techniques are good to cultivate early in the year, as they support clarity when dissonance rises.

2. Theme: Fast change, sudden turns, and momentum shifts

Fire Horse energy is not slow or subtle. Expect to encounter rapid pivots in career, leadership structures, markets, and social narratives and situations. Life events will force clarity and choice rather than gradual transition. This year favours decisive action.

Tip: Clarity and lines of sight are critical this year. Impulsive action without awareness carries the risk of chaos and burnout. Get clear on where you want to be in life, career, relationships, and spiritual embodiment by year-end, and start researching approaches and experiences that are more aligned with those goals. With a clear line of sight to the horizon and knowledge of alternative tracks, you are better able to navigate rapid changes and redirects.

3. Theme: Passion, visibility, and charismatic leadership

Fire Horse energy is highly visible. This is the year to express your passions and follow what turns you on the most. If you have a desire for leadership, at work or within your community, you will feel this passion rise more fully this year. Creativity and innovation will also factor. This may well be the year you find your authentic talent and voice, share your story, and determine the perfect channel for expression. Fire Horse energy amplifies and magnetises authenticity and exposes pretence.

Tip: Use the first few months of the year to zero in on your core passions. What kinds of experiences light you up and generate excitement, nourishment, and positivity within you? What small actions can you take to make more room for these in your life? This is not a time for self-doubt or limiting your self-belief. If painting, writing, photography, or connecting people is your thing, for example, find a group of like-minded people, enrol in a course, buy a small journal, and start expressing. If you express your talents and passion through a career, set a meeting with your mentors and leaders to chart a clear course for progression.

4. Theme: Heightened emotion, desire, and nervous energy

Fire Horse years can be exhilarating and exhausting. Your well-being this year will depend on how well you channel fire rather than letting it scatter. Those who ground and direct the energy will thrive. Those who fight it or allow restlessness, reactivity, or over-commitment to govern will become overwhelmed. Fire purifies. This is the year to burn away habits or influences that limit your vitality and sense of self-worth.

Tip: Determine your spiritual practices at the outset and commit to daily practice. Breathwork, meditation, movement, creativity, ritual, and somatic practices are all proven to maintain a calmer baseline and support faster resets. Energy healing, such as Reiki, is also very effective, not only when things go awry, but as a regular energy maintenance strategy (see my recent thought-leadership piece on LinkedIn). Be clear about your boundaries around the company and content you allow into your mind and heart, and practise intentional pacing of activities.

The Horse loves motion. Fire loves courageous ignition. Speed without direction is chaos, and direction without courage is stagnation.

The winners of 2026 will be those who:

• Act boldly and wisely

• Align passion with purpose

• Choose truth over comfort

This year is a fabulous opportunity to surge ahead in life, spiritual unfoldment, and realising dreams, if you remain steady and masterful.

The Spirited Living Membership is welcoming new members to explore courses and practical content designed to guide you on your path to healing, self-discovery, and mindful living. You can also explore more about a spirited life in my book, Spirited: A Guide to Your Innate Spiritual Design to Transform Your Life, which is now available. See stockists here. If 2026 is the year you launch your own offering in service of others’ wellbeing, visit my Spirited Business container for more information.

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Read more from Danielle Van de Velde

Danielle Van de Velde, Meditation Teacher, Reiki Master, Psychic Medium, and Author

Dani Van de Velde is a meditation teacher, Reiki Master, psychic medium, and author of Spirited. She is the founder of the Spirited Living and Spirited Business communities, supporting spiritually aligned growth and conscious leadership. Dani is a broadcaster on News for the Soul Radio and host of The Modern Crone podcast, exploring modern spirituality and embodied wisdom. Her work bridges intuition and everyday life, offering grounded, accessible pathways to self-trust and inner clarity. She is known for a warm, practical approach that honours both the mystical and the real.