2025: The Year of the Snake
Writing and Learning
Legend has it that the Jade Emperor, the supreme ruler of Heaven and the first ruler of China as a Taoist deity, hosted a race in order to create the Zodiac system. All the animals were invited, but only the first twelve to cross the celestial river were named in the Zodiac.
They were placed in the order in which they arrived:
- Rat
- Ox
- Tiger
- Rabbit
- Dragon
- Snake
- Horse
- Goat
- Monkey
- Rooster
- Dog
- Pig
Each zodiac animal not only governs the whole year of the Lunar Chinese Calendar, but also depicts a specific personality. This concept is similar to Western astrology in which every constellation, or month of birth, presents a particular persona and temperament.
From Myth to Reality:
The origins of the Chinese New Year, or Lunar New Year, date back over 3600 years. This was a time when the Shang Dynasty ruled China and its inhabitants celebrated the end of the harsh winter season. But it wasn’t until 800 years later, during the Han Dynasty, that the Emperor Wu of the Han family formally designated the first day of the first lunar month as the beginning of the new year. And like every culture, with new ideas from incumbent rulers, the traditions changed over a few millennia. After several ruling dynasties, China Lunar New Year has evolved into a billion-viewer television program seen throughout the world.
The Lunisolar Calendar:
While most of the world uses the Gregorian calendar, which is based on the Earth’s orbit around the sun, the Chinese Lunisolar calendar is based off the phases of the moon, which completes its cycle in approximately 354 days, and why the Chinese New Year falls on a different date every year. In fact, the Chinese calendar was the official calendar of China until 1912.
This year’s Chinese New Year begins on January 29th and is the year of the sixth animal to cross the celestial river. The Snake is associated with wisdom, intuition, and transformation, and the new year will brings even more opportunities for growth, renewal, and harmony in your life.
Ensuring Good Luck:
When it comes to good luck for the Chinese New Year, there are a few rituals and traditions to help ensure a positive upcoming year. The good luck traditions are practiced to ward off evil and evil spirits, which I will discuss in depth in my next Creature of the Month Club newsletter. In the meantime, here are a few rituals to help bring good fortune into your life for 2025.
Clean your house: Not only is this a good idea in general (no one needs bed bugs), but the idea here is to sweep away bad luck and invite good fortune into the new year.
Decorate with Red: Chinese tradition places red everywhere. From red flowers, to red lanterns, and red banners. It’s believed that red attracts prosperity and wards off evil.
New Clothes: This is a great way to start the new year off with a bang; however, the idea of buying new clothes just feels like the perfect reason to go shopping.
Opening doors at midnight: This is also our western or wiccan tradition of opening the front and back door of your home. The idea here to let out the old crappy energy and bring in some new, happy stuff.
So, order some take-out, eat a dumpling or two, and as the Chinese say…
Gong xi fa cai, which translates in Mandarin as…
“Congratulations of the fortune”
-RADolence
The Ancient Origins and Evolution of Chinese New Year: A Historian‘s Perspective – History Tools
Chinese Zodiac Story: The Great Race of the 12 Animals Signs