Happy Chinese New Year!

The Chinese New Year celebrates the arrival of spring. In fact, in China the Chinese New Year is still called the Spring festival. It is celebrated after the fall harvest and before the spring planting season.

The Chinese culture has a unique way of representing the New Year through animals. Twelve different animals represent each year of the 12 year -cycle and the order remains the same throughout with the year of the rat beginning the cycle and the year of the boar/ pig ending the cycle. The Chinese year 2008 was signified as the year of the rat, and 2009 is going to be the year of the ox. Chinese New Year of Ox, 2009 fell on January 26th and marked start of the 15 day long festivities that go on until the 9th of February. Legend has it that in ancient times, Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on Chinese New Year. Twelve came, and Buddha named a year after each one. He announced that the people born in each animal's year would have some of that animal's personality.

Preparations for the Chinese New Year of Ox, 2009 began months in advance so that the celebrations could be observed in the highest magnitude and splendor. As the different years of the 12 year cycle are characterized by different animals, people born on the different years also feature different traits and characters and most often then not, they are believed to be influenced and inspired by the animals of the particular year they are born in.

All years ending in an odd number are Yin and the those ending with an even number are considered to be the Yang forms according to the Chinese methods of the calender cycle. Therefore the Ox year 2009 will have Yin forms along with the character of the Ox, which is characterized as dependable, patient, methodical and calm, hardworking, materialistic as well as an ambitious character. The Ox years so far have been 1901, 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997 and now 2009 followed by 2021 (according to the 12 year cycle).

Click here to find your Chinese zodiac sign!

Posted by Sharon Wyse L.Ac.