Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Chinese New Year and Feng Shui

Chinese New Year is a 15 day celebration which involves centuries old rituals, social customs, home decorations and food recipes. Feng shui-wise, homes and businesses are always cleansed of the old energies and decorated with auspicious new items.

Chinese New Year is a 15 day celebration which involves centuries old rituals, social customs, home decorations and food recipes. Feng shui-wise, homes and businesses are always cleansed of the old energies and decorated with auspicious new items.

Nick M Do / Getty Images

Question: What's the Best Way to Celebrate Chinese New Year?

I am a big fan of feng shui and would like to celebrate Chinese New Year the right way. What is the best way to celebrate the Chinese New Year apart from having all the feng shui cures for the year?

Answer: First, congratulations on being a fan of feng shui. When you do your best to apply feng shui in your home, office and garden (or even in your car!); you know you can expect beautiful results in the quality of your everyday life. Feng shui is all about creating strong auspicious energy that attracts the best possible things into your life.

The Chinese New Year, also called the Lunar New Year, is one of the biggest celebrations in Chinese culture. It is a long celebration that lasts for 15 days. Because it depends on the moon cycle - Chinese New Year is on the first New Moon of the year - it comes on a different day each year and is considered to be the beginning of Spring.

Each year, as you probably know, has a specific Chinese zodiac animal, as well as a feng shui element associated with it. This determines the quality of energy in the New Year. For the traditional feng shui practitioners and enthusiasts it is also the time to adjust the annual feng shui cures, you are correct. Find out all about the annual stars, both beneficial feng shui stars, as well as the challenging ones for the current year and adjust the feng shui cures in your home decor several days before the Chinese New Year.

How can you best celebrate the Chinese New Year? It is always helpful to clean your home thoroughly, as well as use some space clearing to assure the feng shui energy in your home is clear and fresh. Be sure to do all the cleaning before the New Year's Day and refrain from cleaning in the first few days of the New Year, as this is considered bad luck.

Traditionally, here are the main elements of the Chinese New Year celebration:

  • HOME DECOR. After thoroughly cleansing the home, Chinese people will decorate it with auspicious red color decor items carrying golden inscriptions with the symbols of Happiness, Longevity, Prosperity, etc. Various flowers, such as Chrysanthemum, Lucky Bamboo, Plum Blossoms and others are used in the Chinese New Year home decor according to the specific meaning of each flower.

    You will also see the mystic knot symbol used in numerous decor items, as well as images of many ancient gods venerated in Chinese culture, such as Guan Yu, the God of War and Justice, the Jade Emperor, as well as the very popular Kitchen God.

    Basically, it is about creating clean and harmonious energy in your home in order to invite all the blessings of the New Year. Most Chinese people will also wear new clothes for the New Year celebration to symbolize the beginning of fresh energy. Many will also wear clothing in specific colors to win the favors of the ruling animal of the New Year.

    How do you know which colors to wear this year? Look up:

    1. The feng shui element of the year, and then
    2. Choose the corresponding color. It's easy!

  • FOOD. The big dinner is sure an important part of this beautiful celebration, and there is a variety of traditional dishes that are prepared specifically for the Chinese New Year. Many of these dishes are served because of their meaning and association with specific energies, as well as on specific days of this long celebration.

    For example "fish" in Cantonese sounds like "abundance", so there is always a fish dish at the Chinese New Year celebration. The uncut noodles symbolize long life, while the many sweet dishes are expressions of hope for sweetness in the New Year. You can look up the recipes for some of the most popular Chinese New Year dishes, such as:

    The mandarin oranges are a must at the Chinese New Year table because they are a symbol of good luck, also called golden luck.
  • SOCIAL CUSTOMS. The morning after the New Year's day many traditional red envelopes with a bit of money in them are given to children and friends. This symbolises a helping hand from the older generation to the younger one, as well as wishes for prosperity and financial well-being. Small gifts are also exchanged between family members and friends.

    You might be familiar with the lion dance, which is often performed during the Chinese New Year in both businesses, as well as some homes. The meaning of the lion dance is to evict and neutralize all negative energy from the previous year. The firecrackers during this celebration have the same purpose of evicting the evil spirits.

    Traditionally, the Chinese New Year celebration lasts for 15 days with the festival of Lanterns being the culmination of this big holiday. This is the day when numerous candles are lit on the streets of Chinese communities to symbolize the coming of a fresh new light of the New Year. The beautiful sight of many red paper lanterns with a gentle flickering of fire in them is a welcoming symbol of the hopes and wishes for a beneficial New Year.


As you see, the Chinese New Year is a very beautiful celebration rooted in centuries of traditions with very specific symbolic meaning. You can either use the Chinese symbolism of the elements that most appeal to you, or create your own way of celebrating and welcoming the energy of a New Year.

What matters the most is that you genuinely celebrate a New Year, be it in a traditional Chinese way or not. Being genuine and open always wins the favors of Gods!

Source: http://fengshui.about.com/od/historyoffengshui/f/Feng-Shui-Celebrate-Chinese-New-Year.htm

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