Welcome to the Month of the Pig!
"When you gaze long into the Void, the Void gazes also into you."
-Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil
Welcome to the Month of the Pig! We have passed through the “thinning of the veil” on Halloween, and now find ourselves in an eerie world that may superficially look the same, but something subtle has changed. In terms of seasonality, we have reached the start of winter in the lunar calendar, and indeed much of the fall foliage has fallen, and few if any new plants are blooming. What has changed? From a Chinese cosmological perspective, we have passed from the seasons of growth and abundance to a season of drawing inward and falling away. Even if things look the same, there is less abundance outside, and so we must look within to find nourishment at this time of year.
Symbolically, this resonates with the symbol of the Pig: as a ‘spirit medium’ of sorts, the Pig is firmly rooted in the physical world but right at the liminal border of life and death, able to see beyond the mundane world into deeper mysteries. Pigs are regarded to be a very intuitive, even psychic animal symbol. In the astrology-esque system of Bazi, having two or more Pig symbols in a birth chart is a sign that a person may see spirits, auras, or have some other ‘uncanny’ power of intuition.
In terms of seasonality, we have reached the start of winter in the lunar calendar…
Pigs represent the start of Winter in the lunar calendar, and at the same time they are also the final animal in the Zodiac cycle. Pigs are therefore symbols of both beginnings and endings, and this duality is meaningful: the energy of the Pig relates to a state between death and rebirth, a formless stage of being which is in turn symbolized by Water, the ruling element of winter.
Water is the element of “unbecoming” - symbolizing the state that comes before birth and goes after death: it is the element of the void. Just as the Water element exists between endings and new beginnings, the Pig exists at the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. Therefore, exploring the nature of the element of water is helpful to unlock the mysterious nature of the Pig.
So what do pigs have to do with water? Let’s bring it back to nature, and to Pigs in the wild: one unique characteristic of Pigs is wallowing, or the act of making a “wallow,” which is a small muddy pool that Pigs will dig and even irrigate to create a place to bathe and relax while they travel. Pigs in the wild are nomadic, and they rarely stay in one place for long—but all along the way they make wallows to create a comfortable resting place wherever they are. You can see where a pig has been if you come across a wallow, and when a pig departs, what is left is a small pool of standing, still water.
In terms of Yin-Yang pairing, Pigs are a Yin as well as water animal, and taken together Yin Water is an image of still water, just like the placid, still waters of their wallows. Still pools of water offer one of the only places in nature where we can get a glimpse of our own reflection, and so symbolize meditative insight and a chance to catch the “void” of water reflected in ourselves. Just as we can gaze into still water to see our own reflection, so too the month of the Pig offers a time for introspective reflection. At the same time, any slight disturbance to a still water’s surface warps and distorts the image, and correspondingly the month of the pig is a time that highlights turbulence in our life that prevents us from feeling completely settled, or keeps us from seeing situations with clarity.
So, overall the month of the Pig offers us a time to begin to turn inward before the depth of Winter really sets in, and the presence of the Water element provides a chance to see ourselves more clearly, notice where things in our live bring us out of center, and strive for an internal settling to get our priorities in order for the winter months. We are approaching the time of year where our energy becomes increasingly precious, as it takes more out of us to be active during the winter months than in the summer. Clarifying those things that truly nourish us and allow us to maintain an internal sense of peace and connection is vital to preserving vitality through the winter, and this is the month that opens up the possibility of getting to know ourselves better for that exact reason.
Since moving from the charismatic, singular animals of the Spring and early Summer: the tiger, the Dragon, and the Snake, the year takes a pivot at midsummer during the season of the Horse, which is both an iconic animal of individualism, but also part of a collective herd. From the Horse we begin to move into more social animals in the autumn: the goat, the monkey, the rooster, until we pivot again with the month of the Dog that is just ending: the dog is both extremely social but also notably domestic. Now, as we enter the Winter months, the homey, domestic energy becomes more pronounced—starting with the Pig. Apart from the dark and perhaps even eerie symbolism of Pigs discussed above, they are also very loyal and protective family animals. They are matriarchal, and a “sounder”(or group of pigs) is protected by one strong matriarch and all her relatives. This is a good symbol for the energy of this time of year— as the weather cools, it is time to turn inward and come into a cozy, protective space of the family—whether that is a biological or chosen one. So while we spend time reflecting and clarifying our own priorities, we also have a chance to recognize how those in close relation around us are part of the web of nurturance that allows us to thrive, and we in turn support them in a community of mutual flourishing. And how beautiful as we come into contact with the “void space” of the Pig month to recognize that in spite of everything, there is warmth, love and community in the world?! When all other distractions are cleared away, that is what our heart desires: to truly be ourselves, and share that with those close to us.
Written by Paul Arellano