February 14th is the first day of the lunar year in the Chinese Calendar. We move from celebrating the year of the Earth Ox to celebrating the year of the Metal Tiger.
Metal Tiger for Chinese New Year
The Metal element gives the Tiger its sharpness in action and speed of thought. Tigers born in the Metal year like to stand out in a crowd. With an inspiring assertiveness and competitive demeanor, they determine their goals and then do anything necessary to achieve them. This good-looking character sometimes suffers from mood swings and temper tantrums. The Tiger can be known to jump to conclusions or to act too quickly without weighing the options or understanding the consequences. This is a flaw Tigers must learn to curb.
They can be stubborn, narrow-minded, materialistic, rigid and demanding.
People born in this sign will show these traits, but they also describe the influences we will live under for the next year.
Tradition
It is traditional that the New Year be celebrated with a lot of the color red. Lamps, costumes and other items will be flashed red today. The deities of the Heaven and the Earth will be welcomed, after cleaning the house and it is traditional to exchange gifts in the form of a red envelope containing money, generally in amounts of even numbers and giving the amount of 8 is considered particularly auspicious because the word for eight is a homophone for “wealth”.
Red Lanterns to celebrate Chinese New Year
Fireworks and flowers are also tradition at the celebrations which involve dancing, singing and parades.
The first fourteen days of the New Year are celebrated with various festivities and duties, and many households observe these.
For many of you, Traditional Chinese Medicine is mainly a way to stay healthy by using natural means. It does however, have a deep history of numerology, astrology and philosophy behind it. I’m hoping that you will join me in honoring the tradition I’ve chosen to study and enjoy seeing those around you celebrate the beginning of what I hope will be a highly productive and prosperous year for all of us!