(Image source from: Chinese New Year 2014 will be the Year of the Wood Horse})
It's time to ring out the Year of the Snake and ring in the Year of Horse! With just a day more to go for the Chinese New Year 2014, expectations are high on what the new year would ring in for the 1.36 billion people in China and millions across the globe.
One of the oldest and the most important Chinese festivals, the 15-day revelry, observed to mark the beginning of new year and new agricultural season, kicks off with traditional rituals meant to bring good fortune for the next 1 year and culminates with Lantern Festival, held on the 15thd day of lunar month.
Each year of the Chinese lunar calendar is represented by one of 12 animal symbols of the Chinese zodiac: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar. For 2014, it’s the Horse’s turn.
Catastrophes, record temperatures, an economic slump in Asia and more trouble for Justin Bieber - the Year of the Horse promises to be a dramatic one. They say that the incoming Lunar New Year beginning this Friday is going to be the “kind of horse that you shouldn't stand behind - because it incorporates the volatile element of fire.”
"With this being the Year of the Wood Horse, and with wood being very combustible, there will be a lot of scandals, conflicts, explosions and arguments,'' celebrity feng-shui master Alion Yeo said.
“The spirit of the horse is recognized to be the Chinese people’s ethos [characteristic spirit] – making unremitting efforts to improve themselves. It is energetic, bright, warm-hearted, intelligent and able. Ancient people liked to designate an able person as ‘Qianli Ma’, a horse that covers a thousand li a day (one li equals 500 meters).”
Those born in 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, or 2014 are recognized as energetic, bright and intelligent. On the flipside,people born under this animal sign can lack constraint, be impatient and hot-blooded, and can be pessimistic at times.
For those born on the year of the horse, it will be a Year of Birth (Benming Nian). It is believed they will offend Taisui, the god in charge of fortune, so their finances may fluctuate. It's advosed to stay peaceful at work.
For those not born on a horse year, it will be a year of health and prosperity and a good time to travel to unknown destinations, savor the new and make new friends.
AW: Suchorita Choudhury
