Happy Lunar New Year 2006

Happy Chinese New Year! Oh wait, it's actually Happy Lunar New Year, as I know some countries in Asia (other than the Chinese) who celebrate. And I think that will be a more appropriate name, cause the calendar is actually based on the moon circulation.

Try to remember when the last time I celebrated. Then I must go back to the year, uhmm...what year when my grandma still alive and she still lived with my parents? 1988? 1987? All that I still remember, it was a fun day, went home from school, prayed and bowed to the "ancestors" at the altar (though I had no idea what was I doing, I only knew had to do it otherwise I won't get anything from my grandma), and lots of food. I didn't normally receive any "angpao" (or hongbao in mandarin = red envelope = money inside the envelope) from my parents, but sometimes my grandma gave me a little bit. The most angpao that I got actually when I was in college, and that's from my ex's grandma (she died also several years ago).

Ever since my grandma died (arrgggh...I am having another brain-cramped, but I think it was 1991), nobody in the family continued on doing the tradition. No wonder, cause my grandma was the last "ancient" person who carried all the tradition from her parents and grandparents (my greatgrand?). My family, though they are Chinese (I tracked them down, and I am the 4th generation from my dad's side, but from my mom? Only God knows) but they pretty much have blended with the Javanese culture and tradition. Even though my grandma still celebrated the Chinese New Year, but she didn't speak Chinese at all, instead, she spoke Javanese fluently. And as I and all my generation: siblings and cousins, were pretty much growing up in Jakarta, we didn't carry any strong culture. And of course, it was something strictly forbidden to celebrate anything with the essence of Chinese; they cut all the tradition so mostly people were doing it in silence. Stupid rule and stupid government (what an idiot actually). I believe Chinese people in Indonesia are the most "nonchinese" compare to those in other countries.

So Chinese New Year is pretty much has no meanings for me. But during the time like this, I miss my grandma the most....She lived only for a short periode in my life, but she gave me the largest part of the Chinese New Year tradition. She was also the first person who taught me about the Chinese calendar with the 12 animals sign.

And I still admire all the celebration that people are doing; or doing the calculation of each year base on the 5 elements (Metal, Water, Wood, Fire and Earth), and combine each element with each character of the animal. So for example, there are the year of Metal Dog, Water Dog, Wood Dog, Fire Dog, and Earth Dog. Year 2006 is Fire Dog (or the "hot" dog). It needs 12 years for each animal sign to rotate, and 60 years to complete the whole cycle. So the last year of Dog was 1994, and the last year of Fire Dog was...1946.

Year of Dog 2006 is after Monkey 2004 and Chicken 2005. Monkey and Chicken are in the Metal group. So the Dog is the ending year of the Metal cycle. If you are lucky in the past two years because Metal is your lucky element, then 2006 is the last year for your Metal luck. So if you have any unfinished businesses or deals in 2005, then try to finish them and get the profit before people change their mind.

Dog contains Earth, Metal and Fire according to Chinese Astrology. Basically, 2006 Male Fire Dog year is favorable to people whose lucky element is Fire. This is because that Dog contains Fire, which will help the Male Fire on the stem to burn. That means Fire Dog is kind of dry and hot, which good for people need Fire to balance their cold birth chart. But everybody has different birth chart. We still have to see the stem relationships and branch relationships between Fire Dog and the birth chart to determine the luck in 2006.

2007 is a year of Pig, which is in the Water group. We can say year 2006 is the turning point from Metal cycle to Water cycle. The turning point year always has some unexpected good or bad events that happen. So we need to watch our steps and pay attention to our safety and health in 2006. People whose lucky element is Water need to plan how to face the oncoming opportunities. We need to plant the tree during the tough period, then we can get more fruit in the lucky year. That means we need to sharpen our skills and absorb more knowledge first, then we can have a better career or money opportunity during the lucky years.

Happy Chinese New Year! Happy Lunar New Year! Xin nian kuai le! 新年快乐!



PS: base on the calculation, I am a Black Chicken, born in the year of Red/Fire Dragon. The first character in DAY represents each person, so I could be said as a Water Chicken, too. Hey...maybe that's the reason though I am a dragon, but, I like to eat chicken (KFC anybody?). Haha! Sorry, this should be serious, but can't help myself not to think as a funny thing. Chicken..hmm....I am definitely a morning person, and many times so afraid to make decision. Aha! Now I know why...

Source: Chinese Fortune

OK! I'm outta here!