LUNAR CALENDAR
January 11th – New Moon time to start a new project
26th – Full Moon finish a project
February 10 – Chinese New Year of the Water Snake
New Moon — start a new project
New Beginnings in 2013: Getting ready for Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year isn’t until next month but in Asia the preparations are well underway. It is very important to start the year off with a very clean house. Sweeping the floors is equated with sending out any old stale negative energy and making way for the new positive energy (ch’i) of the coming year. However, don’t sweep during the New Year celebrations for fear of sweeping out the incoming good luck. The doors and windows (where the chi enters) are often painted red to encourage this new energy to enter. A red rug or door decoration would be sufficient.
The evening meal consists of dumplings called Jaiozi (which literally means “sleep together and have sons”). It is also considered lucky to have fish for dinner to promote a good financial year ahead. After dinner they play cards and games, stay up late and set off fireworks at midnight. They leave all the lights on in the house overnight. In the morning they exchange gifts and give money to the children in red envelopes for good luck in the coming year.
In Black Sect Feng Shui, our late Grandmaster Professor Lin Yun has given us many rituals, meditations and practices to do at auspicious times such as Chinese New Year’s Eve. You could do these Feb 9th, between the hours of 11 pm – 1 am (2/10) to promote success in the new year. (If you are a client of mine, look in your client red folder for any “transcendental” cures.)
For the next fifteen days celebrations and visits to friends and family are continuous. There is a great party atmosphere until the Lantern Festival is over and everyone goes back to work. One year when I was in China at New Year, I was in a “people stampede” when vacationers were returning to the city after the holiday. They charged off the train we were on all at once. It was like a sea of lemmings, people shoulder to shoulder on both sides, as well as behind and in front pushing with a momentum that was unreal. It is an experience I will never forget.
The Snake Years 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989
Many of us are not too fond of snakes as reptiles and don’t seek them out. As a symbolic animal or object of art, we can see the elegance of a snake’s movement and shimmery skin. The Snake is more real to us than the exotic Dragons of this year because we have actually seen some snakes. Many of us grew up feeling that snakes were creepy and dangerous despite the fact that very few are actually deadly. To the Chinese animal zodiac, the snake is a very positive, calm and good looking animal. It is considered a “mini dragon” of sorts. It is the yin to the dragon’s yang. The snake is restrained, refined, insinuating elegance, mystic beauty and mystery. Snake personalities are adept in giving the impression that they know far more about a subject than they intend to divulge and they use their considerable intelligence to get to the top with their secret knowledge. They are usually in the right place at the right time. People born in a Snake year are charming, subtle and tasteful and have an aptitude for research, detection or academics. According to legend, the snake is considered as the guardian of treasure and it is considered unlucky to kill a snake which enters the house because it could be the bringer of good fortune. Embrace the Snake year.
Water Snakes
The fact that water is the featured element this year, adds to the wisdom, intuition and socialization of Snakes born this year. The last time we had this combination was 1953, sixty years ago. Five elements x Twelve animals = Sixty years. So Happy 60th! you 1953 Snakes. Many snakes have been coming out of their elegant homes, caves, wood piles and other places that snakes dwell to ask: What does it mean if I am a Snake in a Snake year? Is this a good thing? Generally, if your Chinese animal sign matches the animal of the year, (it’s called “sitting in the year god’s seat”) it will be an important, often life-changing year for you but maybe not a free pass to 365 days of total bliss. It can be a year of hard work, ups and downs and a totally unanticipated outcome. The results may not be apparent for some time after the year has passed.
The image of a monkey – the snake’s “secret” friend – should help dissipate any negative effects of the Snake year. Either wear or carry a monkey charm to insure you are doing everything possible to have a good year. If you are a Tiger (1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2000) or don’t resonate to the Monkey image, use an Ox and a Rooster (both) instead. This is recommended for all the animal signs – especially for the Boar (pig) 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007 who is in opposition to the snake. The animal sign 6 years from your sign is considered the least compatible for your animal. This happens to every sign every twelve years. It’s called Po Sui. The Boar is in this position in this Snake year. This is a year to be extra tactful and cautious. Wear the monkey charm and you will do fine.
This will be a so-so year for:
Sheep (1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003).
Good year for:
Horse (1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002)
Rooster (1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005.)
Dog (1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006)
Dragon (1952, 1964, 1986, 1998, 2000, 2012)
Rat (1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008)
Monkey ( 1944, 1956, 1968,1980, 1992, 2004)
OK year for:
Ox (1949, 1961, 1973,1985, 1997, 2009)
Rabbit (1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011)
Tricky year for:
Tiger (1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2000) It is said “The Snake and the Tiger are like blades in a grinder.”
Remember that those born in January or early February have to check a lunar calendar to see when the animal sign changes. It is the first new moon after the sun goes into Aquarius. This year it is February 10th but it can happen any time from mid January to mid February.
The “Flying Star Method” shows us where the various Chi energies will be focused in the year of the Snake.
The flying stars system in feng shui gives us the main underlying energies for every direction (North, South, East, West and all the angles/spaces in between). These transiting positive and negative energies determine what temporary element (water, wood, fire, earth, metal) cures we need. For examples, some earth is positive, some is not, some wood is desirable and sometimes it is not. We want to take advantage of the positive energy and balance the negative ones. It’s all about creating harmony and balance.
This year these stars have flown back to their original locations. This means is that there is double the positive power and double the trouble of the existing energies. Any cure you put in any place will have no other temporary influences to dilute it and that cure you put in will have twice the importance it has had in the last eleven years. Therefore, it is wise to ask for the cures and implement as many of them as you can to make this year of the Snake the very best it can be.
Happy New Year of the Snake 2013!