Lunar New Year

Happy Lunar New Year of the Green Wood Snake! This year, the celebration symbolizes renewal, wisdom, and harmony with nature. 🌱🐍

It will begin on January 29, 2025, and last until the start of the Lantern Festival on February 12, 2025. 🎆

🌙 Unlike our familiar January 1st (on the Gregorian calendar), the Lunar New Year is celebrated according to the Chinese calendar, which takes into account both the Moon's phases 🌑 and the Solar cycles ☀️. Therefore, its date always coincides with the second New Moon after the Winter Solstice. The Lunar New Year, also known as the Chinese New Year and the Spring Festival, has been celebrated for over 4,000 years. 🎊 According to a legend, in ancient China, the creature Nian (年), which lived high in the mountains and at the bottom of the sea, would visit people every spring, destroying everything in its path. The people realized that Nian was afraid of loud noises, red color, and open fire. Since then, the New Year has been accompanied by fireworks, red decorations, and firecrackers. 🎆 📜 The Chinese calendar differs from most others in that it doesn't count years in an endless sequence. It is based on a 60-year cycle, which combines: • 12 animals: Rat, Ox, Tiger, and so on, including the Snake. • 5 elements and their associated colors: Wood (green or blue), Fire (red), Earth (yellow), Metal (white or silver), Water (black or dark blue). • The energies of Yin and Yang: directed inward or outward, respectively. Each year combines one of the zodiac signs with a specific element and energy.

🐍 The Snake symbolizes wisdom, intuition, and flexibility. 🌳 The Wood element promotes growth, planning, and harmony with nature. ☯️ Yin energy fills the year with calm and inner self-development. In Chinese culture, the Snake was revered and considered a symbol of the power of nature. One of the earliest mythology books, Shan Hai Jing (The Classic of Mountains and Seas), describes deities who wore snakes as ear ornaments. The Chinese goddess Nüwa, who created humans from clay, is also depicted with the body of a snake and a human head.

To better understand the energies of 2025, let's recall important events that happened 60 years ago: • Alexei Leonov made the first spacewalk — a result of meticulous planning, resonating with the wisdom of the Snake. • In 1965, the Voting Rights Act was passed in the USA, removing barriers to election participation — flexibility and a striving for equality. • At a conference in Washington, the creation of the “World Heritage Organization” was discussed, starting international cooperation to protect nature and culture — a focus on harmony with nature and a wise vision for the future. • The rise of conceptual art (Yoko Ono, Joseph Kosuth, Sol LeWitt) began, focusing not on external images but on deep internal ideas and meanings, reflecting the Yin energy of the year. • Frank Herbert's “Dune” was published, exploring ecology, power, and survival. Symbolically, in the summer of 2025, under the influence of the Wood Snake, filming for the third part of the “Dune” movie will begin, bringing us back to these important themes.

🍀 It is believed that the year 2025 will bring luck to those born in the Year of the Ox 🐂, Rabbit 🐇, Goat 🐐, and Monkey 🐒. Those born in the Year of the Rat 🐀, Horse 🐎, and Dragon 🐉 should be wiser and more consistent. For those born in the Year of the Snake 🐍, it will be Benming — the year of their zodiac animal, also known as the “year of fate,” transformations, and trials. Those born in the Year of the Tiger 🐅, Rooster 🐓, Dog 🐕, and Pig 🐖 can find success by embracing patience, staying flexible, and turning challenges into opportunities for growth.

🧹🛁 Clear the Space and Yourself Before the holiday, clean your house to make space for new beginnings. Take a cleansing bath to wash away the misfortunes of the past year. Avoid sweeping the floors on New Year's Day — it could “sweep away” your luck. 🏮 Create an Atmosphere of Luck Decorate your home with red lanterns and hang couplets with wishes for prosperity. You can also place the character 福 (luck) at the entrance to bring harmony into your home.

🐟 Festive Dinner with Symbols of Abundance The New Year's Eve dinner is an important family tradition. Serve fish (a symbol of abundance), tofu (happiness), chicken, spring rolls, peaches, plums, and dumplings (symbols of prosperity). 🎁 🧧 Give Lucky Gifts Gift red envelopes with money or images of snakes, tea, fine tableware, or sweets. Avoid giving black and white items, wallets, clocks, and mirrors — these are considered to bring bad luck. The Chinese believe that when giving a wallet, one is giving away their wealth. 👗 Dress in Favorable Colors For prosperity, greet the year in red. But this year, it’s better to choose calm, soft, and muted shades of red, as retrograde Mars will still influence us until February 24. For growth and harmony — wear green, for boosting creative energy — opt for blue and turquoise. Those born in the Year of the Snake should wear yellow shades for luck. Avoid golden, silver, and brown colors, as they belong to the elements not aligned with this year. May these recommendations help you align with luck, harmony, and success in the Lunar New Year! 🐍🌙✨