Happy Chinese New Year!
Wishing you a prosperous, joyful and healthy Year of the Earth Dog.
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 second 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.
2018 is the Year of the Earth Dog.
Good Fortune Suggestions for Year of the Earth Dog
Get Moving! Get the chi moving in your home and office. How? Move the furniture (even if just slightly) to activate yang energy. Un-dust, vacuum and clean in and around your furniture, including the inside of display cabinets. Clean your altars as well and ready them for the New Year. I un-dusted, and re-arranged my altars. Pictures of my Main Altar Space are below:
Freshen up indoor house plants by re-potting them or by adding new soil on top of the existing soil. For those in the warmer climates, go outside to your garden and replant or re-pot/replace any dead or decaying plants. If you live in a colder climate and are still experiencing winter weather, plan your Spring garden now. Draw a map or make a list of your intentions for the upcoming Spring garden.
The key to unlocking good fortune is to move the chi at the start of the New Year.
Wake-Up Your SOUTHEAST area. In 2018 the Southeast is home to the Star of Prosperity – the lucky “8” star. When you stimulate this corner, good fortune vibrations spread to other areas of the home. The best way to do this is to place a new plant in the SE since this is a wood element corner and it will stimulate growth. Other things you can do: add a water feature, hang a windchime, keep the corner brightly lit or add candles. Note: If your SE is missing, in an oddly shaped house design, then enhance the SE corner of the room you use frequently like your living or family room.
Bring in the Family. This is the year to add some new pictures of your family (make sure they are happy ones) to this corner (and throughout your home). Often, we keep lovely photos of our family on our computers or smart phones but now it’s easy to print out gorgeous photos. So, print your favorites, find some beautiful and auspicious frames and then display them for all to see.
As with any occasion, the colors one wears during the New Year celebration are considered important. Wear new clothes for the New Year celebration to honor the birth of new energy. Wearing specific colors each year based on the energy of the ruling zodiac sign/animal of the New Year is also a popular custom.
The luckiest colors to wear in 2018 are the colors of the Earth feng shui element. It is easy to understand why as you want to be aligned and in harmony with the element of the year. Earth Colors:
Terracotta (Clay)
Light Yellow
Sandy
Beige
The second choice of lucky colors for 2018 are the colors of the Fire feng shui element because Fire feeds/creates the Earth element in the productive cycle of the five feng shui elements. Fire Colors:
Red
Orange
Yellow
Purple
Pink
Magenta
Are there colors that are unlucky, or best to avoid wearing too often in 2018? Yes, there are. Again, this is based on the play of the five feng shui elements. The elements that are weakening the energy of the Earth element of 2018 are the Water, the Wood, and the Metal elements. Again, this is all based on specific interactions of the feng shui elements. Colors to avoid wearing often in 2018:
Black
Blue
White
Gray
Green
Brown
I am not saying to avoid these colors altogether in 2018. For example, I love all the colors that are recommended to avoid. I do wear quite a bit of black, too, especially when working with clients. To me, black color tends to center and focus one’s energy by eliminating any distractions. So I am not going to make radical changes in my wardrobe. Nor do I suggest that you do as well.
If I am going to an important event or public outing, for example, I will make a point to honor the energy of the year with specific colors. You can do this with scarves, jewelry, neck ties, accent pieces and accessories. These do not have to be big fashion pieces, it is all a matter of a clear and strong intent.
2018 should be a year with more stable, calm and grounding energy as compared to the fiery energy of the previous year. Of course, this implies that you have done your absolute best to release into the fiery energy of the year all the old and stagnant energies that are no longer needed in your life. This was one of the major gifts of the Fire Rooster energy of 2017 for it highly prompted us, and sometimes strongly pushed, to get rid of the old so that it can herald the birth of the new.
I wish you a very prosperous, joyful, healthy and magical 2018!
~ Rev. Tiffany White Sage Woman
Feng Shui Practitioner
