CHINESE NEW YEAR 2017: THE YEAR OF THE FIRE ROOSTER
Today, January 28th, marks the first new moon of 2017 and therefore the Chinese New Year.
According to Chinese Astrology, in the heart of every person lies the spirit of an animal that has, to some extent, influence and power over their personal nature. To be more specific, in every person, depending on their birth year, there lies one of 12 sacred animals, further defined by one of five elements (fire, water, air, wood, metal).
Wikipedia, as is its wont, takes all the fun and joy out of the whole thing, referring instead to the Chinese zodiac as nothing more than a “classification scheme.” Oh phooey, Wikipedia, oh phooey to you.
(A brief, but well-placed side-story for the kittens in the crowd: As the tradition goes, in a land before time, far, far, away, the Jade Emperor decides he wants 12 animals to be his personal bodyguards [an excellent premise, no?] and sends out the message via ‘immortal being’ that the first 12 who cross the threshold of his palace get the job, and further that the order in which they arrive in will determine their rank. The cat, notorious sleepy head that she is, tells her friendly neighbourhood rat to wake her the hell up in the morning so they can head to the palace together. Not to ruin the story, but you can guess how that went. The rat leaves – knowing full damn well that karma’s going to catch up to him in the long run – without waking the cat… and is the first to get to the gates! But his joy is short-lived as he becomes damned for eternity to be the object of torture and mass-murder by kitties everywhere… #themoreyouknow)
The rooster in 2017, the current line of time we’re holding onto, but by a thread, is a feisty one. A fiery one, if you will.
This fire rooster is a cocky sonofabitch, loving all there is to love about the vacuous side of life: haute-couture, Maseratis, gold-plated soap boxes.
He is not the type to sit back and wait for you to wake up at your own leisure in the balmy hours of the late afternoon and then call out cheerily to greet you.
No, our rooster, a true capitalist, is up at the crack of dawn, not yet to call forth with a magnificent caw, but to preen and steel himself for the work that undoubtedly lies ahead of him.
And then he’ll make his voice heard across the lands, whether you like it or not, thank you very much.
I shouldn’t lay too harsh a judgement on our good-looking friend as there must always be two sides to the coin; a yin to every yang. The flip side being his punctuality, beauty, hard-working nature and loyalty.
In any case and as is the usual line of argument when it comes to astrology, of the Chinese variety or otherwise, it’s how we choose to interact with the energy he brings to the table that will make or break our luck and bottom line this year.
Will we be gracious, observant, fearless, consistent and precise with our actions and motives? Or will we flip our combovers in a breeze solely imagined by our unbecomingly large and self-serving imaginations and blow hot air out of our overused mouths?
As a world divided, the fingers will continue to fly this year pointing out the faults of others (warranted or otherwise), and the comment streams of social media channels and news outlets will continue to be filled, ad nauseam, with hate and bigotry.
Debate, conflict, thunderous beating of breasts and puffing of chests is on the docket, but are you even surprised? Does anything surprise you anymore?
But speaking up is what’s needed this year; speaking up with eloquence, love, charity, humility and conviction.
Speaking up for progress, forgiveness of trespasses, sermons on universal peace and the end of world hunger, the unifying of all humans. Say it with me now, all together: Don’t. Feed. The. Trolls.
It’s a cold, heartless world out there if we want it to be. The fire rooster isn’t going to coddle or console us as we huddle together, trembling, afraid of the future. He will inspire action, if you bend your ear to his voice and tap into his fast-moving energy, but where you choose to direct that action and energy is now, and always, up to you.