Chinese people around the world will soon be celebrating both the Spring Festival and the New Year on the same day. This year we welcome the Year of the Dragon, a time of transformation, integration, and creativity. It’s a great time to get things done but also a time to be sure not to let your ambitions get away from you.
Why is the new year celebrated now?
While many Westerners take the January 1st date of observance for granted, it was not always so. Millennia ago the new year was actually celebrated in March; then, over the past several centuries, it has been moved around because of miscalculations involving leap years and transitions from Julian to Gregorian calendars. It wasn’t until after the mid-sixteenth century that nations around the world began to adopt the date we observe today.
Not so arbitrarily, the Chinese new years have always been related to natural phenomena, and take place on the second new moon after the winter solstice—hence its alternate name, the Lunar New Year, which falls on Saturday, February 10th in 2024.
And why the Spring Festival?
You may have noticed that the weather really begins to change a lot earlier than the spring equinox, which falls around March 20 when there are equal amounts of daylight and nighttime. We see the winds pick up, plants sprout and flowers bloom, and days start to get significantly longer and warmer. It is the beginning of burgeoning growth. So while the Lunar New Year comes more than a month before what many think of as the first day of spring, it actually kicks off the springtime energies. Essentially it is the acknowledgment of the new life that’s rising up from its winter slumber. In the Chinese Five-phase philosophy, or Wu Xing, spring is represented by the blue-green dragon and the wood element (think: plants and trees spreading upward and outward as they grow). It is Yang in nature since everything is in the process of becoming warmer and more active.
Credit: Image by frimufilms on Freepik
What about the Year of the Dragon?
As you may have seen, there are twelve animals that cycle through the years. The years, however, are also defined, not only with the representative animal, but also a Five-phase element and whether it’s a Yin or Yang year. This year is a Yang Wood Dragon.
As mentioned earlier, spring is also a Yang/Wood season. This means that the Yang Wood Dragon will come on strong and last until late summer when things begin to mellow out. This year can hold much promise for creative and spiritual growth, but it can also feel too big and out of control for many of us, especially in the spring.
Therefore, it will be most helpful to be as flexible as possible. If things get messy, let them fall apart, then shape them into something you weren’t going for to begin with. Let opportunities take you where they may and let your sails catch the wind. And if you feel blown off course, then try to see the creative possibilities of your new situation.
Here are some things you can do to to get the most out of your Dragon:
Stretch and do yoga as a means to keep yourself flexible
Get out of your comfort zone to try new things so that you can be better prepared for and more welcoming of any kinds of transformation that may come your way. Make room for whimsy!
At the same time, make sure you maintain a handful of activities that are routine for you and occur at the same times every day: waking, going to bed, eating a bowl of oatmeal in the morning, taking your dog for walks. If you have a creative or spiritual practice, do this at the same time also.
Feeling that everything is too chaotic or overwhelming? Ground yourself by gardening and eating earthy root vegetables like beets, and be sure to get your feet onto natural terrain. You can also rein in some of that excess energy by consuming sour drinks, like lemon water or hibiscus tea, and foods cooked in and dressed with apple cider vinegar. A whole food vitamin C powder with acerola and camu camu is a great supplement to take during this time. HealthForce Superfoods makes a great one.
We hope you enjoy the New Year! Kung hei fat choi! Gong xi fa cai! Xin nian kuai le! (If you want to know how to pronounce these in Mandarin Chinese and other ways to wish others well at this time go here. To learn your Chinese animal and how the animals were chosen to represent the years, you can read one of the legends here.)