The Month of the Dog

We are in the Month of the Dog.

It began last Thursday, 8 October, and runs through to 7 November.

For anyone new to this, the Chinese calendar gives every month an animal, the same twelve that run the years.

So while 2026 is the year of the Fire Horse, right now we are living inside a Dog month, and this one is an Earth Dog, the steady kind.

The Dog is the one who guards the gate.

Notice what that actually means.

The Horse runs and the Rooster crows.

The Dog stays, watches, and decides who comes in. Dog energy is loyal, fair, protective and plain spoken. It knows who its people are and it will stand between them and trouble without being asked.

It does not care much for show.

And coming out of a Rooster month, which was all detail and announcement, the change of gear is noticeable.

The Rooster kept the books.

The Dog keeps the door.

Here is why the timing is so neat this year.

The Horse and the Dog are old friends in the Chinese system, they sit in the same group of three with the Tiger, so the Dog month and the Horse year pull the same way.

The Horse wants to run, and the Dog will run beside it all day, as long as it knows the way home.

Add Venus walking backwards over everything you love, and you get a very specific instruction.

Ask who you are loyal to, and why.

The Dog’s question for this month is loyalty. Who have you been guarding that has earned it, and who have you been guarding out of habit? Where have you been the faithful one in a relationship that has not been faithful back?

Venus is asking the same question from the sky, so you will hear it twice. So, the practical use of a Dog month.

Look after your own.

Check on the person you have not heard from.

Keep the promise you made in the Rooster month when it was easy to make.

And say the plain thing, because Dogs do truth with a wagging tail and leave the diplomacy to somebody else.

Now the shadow, because every animal has one.

The Dog that guards too hard barks at every shadow, and there is a version of this month that is all suspicion and worry.

That is the same wire as the 11 month’s nerves, and it has the same fix.

Sit still for thirty minutes a day, and the Dog lies down.

And a last note for the Fire Horse year we are in.

The Horse gallops.

The Dog guards.

Between now and 7 November you have both, so run hard, and know exactly who is waiting at the gate. Who are you loyal to, and have you told them lately?

There is more teaching like this in The Library, and every daily post is in Daily Posts. If you would like guidance on your own path, see Readings.