Happy Chinese New Year! To welcome the Year of the Monkey, I joined up with one of our favorites, Ian Power from The Home Discovery Show, to talk feng shui for the new lunar year and the Year of the Fire Monkey. Listen in for what to expect from the fire energy of this year and feng shui tips for starting off the Chinese New Year right!
The Great Race: The Story of the Chinese Zodiac
Happy Chinese New Year, and welcome the Year of the Fire Monkey!
Chinese New Year falls on Monday, February 8th this year, and I thought it would be fun to share the story behind the Chinese zodiac animals. The mythological story is about a great race, during which the order of the 12 zodiac animals was determined. It’s entertaining to read and also helpful in learning the dynamics of the qualities of the animals, which come to light in the story. There are many versions to this story; I hope you like ours!
Long ago in ancient China, the Jade emperor decided to hold a great race to name each of the 12 zodiac years. He invited all of the animals in the kingdom to participate. The race involved crossing a great river, which would prove challenging for many of the animals.
The rat approached the ox and said, “Ox, we can win this race together! Let’s do it!” The ox and rat were best friends, so the supportive and reliable ox happily agreed. The rat jumped up on the ox’s head and off they went. They traveled through the land and finally swam through the great river. They were just about to reach the finish line when the rat jumped off the ox’s head and just barely made it over the finish line first! So the opportunistic rat made first place and became the first animal in the zodiac, with the ox as a close second. The ox and rat are still best friends!
The strong and passionate tiger came up next past the finish line. The tiger was exhausted but pushed through to make it to third place in the zodiac.
Coming up in fourth place was the swift and sensitive rabbit. The rabbit was having a hard time hopping from stone to stone across the river, when suddenly a log floated by. The rabbit hopped onto the log and it drifted him quickly to shore. Little did the rabbit know that just behind him was the dragon. The dragon saw the little rabbit in need and graciously blew wind to carry the log all the way to shore.
The Jade emperor was curious and asked the dragon why it came in fifth place when it could fly. It turns out, the dragon had been distracted from the race by a village that was in drought. The dragon provided rain to save the village then continued the race and was declared the fifth zodiac animal by the emperor.
Next galloped in the horse, who was rushing through the race so quickly that it failed to notice the snake curled around its hoof! Just before crossing the finish line, the clever snake unfurled itself over the finish line and became zodiac animal number six. The horse was also taken aback by this surprise and made it into seventh place.
As the story goes, a raft floated up to the finish line carrying the friendly ram, the playful monkey and the talkative rooster. The three of them had teamed up and crossed the river together. So, ram was eighth, monkey ninth, and in tenth place was the rooster.
After some time passed, the dog finally surfaced from the river. The dog had enjoyed a long bath. It took its time and made it across the finish line as the 11th, and second to last animal of the Chinese zodiac.
Finally, the 12th animal came over the finish line. It was the pig! The pig apologized and said it couldn’t help but have a little picnic on the way over. After the picnic the indulgent pig began to get very sleepy, so it took a nap…and where did the time go?!
As the pig crossed the finish line, the Jade emperor's lineup was complete. The order that each animal crossed the line became that animal's place in the zodiac cycle, and today we enjoy each year in honor of the animal who coincides. Of course, since there have been many more than 12 years since that race, we start each cycle anew after the pig year.
Which year were you born in, and what do you think this story shares in relation to your personality and traits regarding your animal? Is it accurate for you?
To learn even more about your Chinese Zodiac animal, listen to our recent podcast and check past yearly blog posts for the Chinese New Year!
Happy Chinese New Year to you all!
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Feng Shui + Embracing the Year of the Fire Monkey
featured this week on Over the Moon
On the lunar calendar, we welcome the 2016 Fire Monkey year on Monday, February 8th. This is also referred to as Chinese New Year. In feng shui, we celebrate Chinese New Year with much joy, as it represents the shift in energies and marks the start of spring on the lunar calendar.
In 2016, we are leaving the Wood Sheep year, which was more about growth and community, and heading into the Fire Monkey year, which has more of a theme of heart-focused passion and playfulness. As we welcome the new year, there are a few feng shui-specific ways of celebrating and preparing for the year ahead.
Space Clearing with Intention
One of the most important things to do for Chinese New Year is clear the space of your home and fill it with positive intention. In feng shui, one preferred method for space clearing uses the scent of oranges. You can scatter fresh orange peels around your home or use an orange essential oil mist to uplift your space. Oranges represent and create life-affirming, bright, yang energy.
I like to start at the front door and go around the whole home in a clockwise fashion. Visualize sunlight filling every corner of your home and the new intention filling your space and every cell in your body. It’s especially effective to do this on Chinese New Year’s Eve or day.
Declutter Nine Items
Removing nine pieces of clutter on Chinese New Year’s Day or on the eve of Chinese New Year will create movement and activity on a physical and energetic level in your environment. This activity works in two ways. First, you’ll be moving the qi (or life energy) around by moving the objects in your home. Sometimes we get stuck, and we can see that manifesting as clutter around our homes. By moving these nine items around, we’ll be “unsticking” that qi.
On a second level, when we remove those nine items from our homes, we essentially create a vacuum for the universe to fill with something better! A new opportunity, inspiration or insight. When the environment is static, our inner lives also become stagnant, so shake things up in your life by removing nine items!
Carry a Chinese Zodiac Charm
Many people might read this and think it would be beneficial to carry around a monkey charm in the monkey year. But in my feng shui lineage, we have been taught that it’s especially auspicious to carry around the current year animal’s best friend! The idea is that the year god (animal) will see its best friend and be so enamored that it will do you no harm.
In the Chinese zodiac system, the monkey’s best friend is the snake. A snake charm acts as a protective talisman and provides support as well. So find yourself a little snake figurine to carry around with you at all times in this Fire Monkey year. As a note, the snake must be three- dimensional and realistic looking.
In the Western world, we don’t often celebrate the Chinese New Year as much as the beginning of our own calendar, but in the world of feng shui, the beginning of the lunar year is a very important time for starting anew and taking control of the energy in our lives. Even if you don’t want to celebrate this occasion, clearing and refreshing your space can be a start to making positive and much-needed changes!
