“May the new year bring joys that never fade, hopes that never die and strengths that never weaken. May you be blessed with wealth, longevity and happiness. Wishing you a happy Year of the Earth Pig.”
If your January launch to the year was underwhelming here’s another chance to create an auspicious kickstart to the year. The Chinese New Year is the most important time of the year in Asian culture. Families come together to celebrate unity, continuity, prosperity and good luck with Feng Shui traditions. Nearly all of the Chinese customs from Chinese New Year’s eve to Lantern Festival have a symbolic meaning that sounds like a Chinese character for fortune, happiness, longevity and prosperity.
Go Big With Red
The Chinese zodiac is part of the Heavenly cycle that tells time and it plays a large part in Chinese customs to celebrate the New Year. Every year one of twelve animals is honored and its characteristics influence the energy of the year. In folkloric tradition the sequence was determined by a race with the lucky rat coming in first followed by the ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. When the Year God is your zodiac animal it is called your “ben ming nian”. You might assume it is your lucky year however traditional Chinese belief states that when you meet your zodiac year, it can be full of inauspicious events and not so good luck. CNY begins February 5, 2019 and the Year of the Earth Pig will be, for some of you, your ben ming nian so take precautions to minimize the bad luck and emphasize the good.
To stave off threat in your ben ming nian, it is traditionally believed to wear the color red everyday. Red is the luckiest color in Feng Shui. It stands for power, protection, good luck, success, reason and happiness. Add red accessories to every outfit or simply wear a red bracelet made of red interwoven Chinese knots to repel bad luck. But if red is not a favorite color, protect yourself with red underwear. Stock up or ask your sweetheart to give you some sets. In your career, Feng Shui red will improve your Fame and Reputation so if you are going for an important interview, wear red.
Make A Clean Sweep
The home is thoroughly swept on the 20th day of the 12th month to make a clean sweep of any old energy and release misfortune. Broken or “unlucky” items are removed. Calligraphy and fresh flowers (yellow chrysanthemums) are displayed in the house. Plants are pruned or replaced. Room is made in drawers for new things that are sure to come.
Clear The Books
Keep your finances on track. One of the Chinese New Year customs is if you owe money to family or friends is to pay them back before the start of the New Year. Outstanding loans bring misfortune. When you leave work on the last day of the old year, close the books with red paper so when they are reopened the red signify an auspicious start. If you have unresolved arguments or you are holding a grudge, kiss and make up.
Make Yourself Over
Hair and fingernails are trimmed before the festival begins. Wear upbeat clothing. Purchase and wear a new outfits (yes, choose red) for CNY.
Avoid Cutting Your Luck
Place any knives or scissors away during the first day of the New Year. Prepare all your foods in advance. The kitchen is not to be disturbed on the first day of the Year. Getting poked by pins or getting cut can be a harbinger of surgery to come. If anything breaks, like a cup or plate during New Year say “Fall to the floor and burst into bloom!”
Pack Pig’s Secret Friend
On the first day of the Chinese New Year, carry a three dimensional representation of the lucky animal for the year. For the Year of the Earth Pig, the Tiger is Pig’s good friend, for when Tiger and Pig come together they bring good fortune and prosperity.
Make Money Grow On Trees
Make a “Money Tree” made of a kumquat tree, bushy pine or spring branches nestled inside porcelain pot filled with five grains sprinkled with red melon seeds. Decorate the with red lanterns, coins hung on red ribbon, lucky red envelopes, gold and silver garlands, topped with God of Wealth.
Good Fortune For Your Home
Da Ju, Da Li “May you enjoy an abundance of fortune and profits.”
Displaying fruit in your home during the Chinese New Year invites good fortune for the entire year. Tangerine or ju in the Chinese language is close to the auspicious or lucky. Ju also sounds similar to zhu fu which means a wish or good fortune. Da ju, da li expresses, “May you enjoy an abundance of fortune and profits.” It is customary to see two tangerine trees at the entrance of a home or business in many Asian countries, not just in China. This represents abundance of auspiciousness.
Have A Fruitful Year
Surround yourself with colorful fruit so that you will have a fruitful year. Pomelos are large pear-shaped grapefruits which mean “to have”. Pineapple sounds like wealth but its real strength is fame, promotion and excellent fortune. You can display the fruit at the front entry, the dining room, even the kitchen. Oranges sound like gold in Chinese. Display nine oranges in your foyer or on your dining room table.
Sleeplessness is Success
Stay out of trouble by staying awake! Chinese customs promote success besides good fortune. To stay up at least until 12:01 a.m. for the sound of sleepiness in Chinese is similar to trouble. Sleepless means no trouble for the coming year.
Hold Your Tongue
Refrain from cursing, this will affect your luck for the year. If you should curse inadvertently say “Tong yen woo chi!” to reverse the affect.
Bring Your Nearest and Dearest Together
At Chinese New Year’s Eve families come together for the Reunion Dinner. They serve eight foods of good fortune (eight “ba” because it rhymes with the word fa, “to prosper” or “to attain wealth”) to ensure good luck for the coming year.
• Shrimp in the Chinese language sounds like Ha, Ha, Ha and translates as merriment and well being. Joyfulness brings good will and a future of limitless possibility.
• Dumplings, jiao zi, look like the golden ingots. Serving them promises wealth and prosperity.
• Lettuce wraps are dished up because lettuce means rising fortune.
• Serving a whole chicken during the Chinese New Year season symbolizes family togetherness.
• Fish, “Yu,” sounds like the words both for wish and abundance. It is customary to serve a fish at the end of the evening meal, symbolizing a wish for abundance in the coming year. For added symbolism, the fish is served whole, with head and tail attached, symbolizing a good beginning and ending for the coming year.
• Sticky Rice Cake symbolizes a rich, sweet life. Longevity noodles represent a long life (an old superstition says that it’s bad luck to cut them) so keep them intact while you eat.
• Both clams and Spring Rolls symbolize wealth; clams because of their resemblance to bouillon and Spring Rolls because their shape is similar to gold bars.
• Veggies embody the freshness of “evergreen” and store good fortune in their roots.
Leave Some For Prosperity
Make enough food to have left overs because left overs symbolize that you’ll have money rolling into the next year.
Share a Circle of Sweetness
The first New Year Day everyone dines on a vegetarian meal to honor one’s ancestors. Then the family dresses in their finest clothes and visits older family members, paying respect, taking along gifts of Mandarin oranges and sweets of all kinds generally offered in a “tray of togetherness”. Among the Chinese customs it is customary to hand out hong bao (Red Envelopes with new bills or coins) to family members and friends of any age, who are single and unmarried. Before going to bed that night children who received Red Envelopes, place them under their pillow. It is said they will sleep well without bad dreams and become richer next year.
“With each passing moment let us embrace the New Year with a brighter, more colorful and more joyous future.”
Have you decided this will be your year? “Boldness has genius”… start with one hour of Feng Shui A La Carte. Think of it as a fairy godmother for your house.
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