Happy Chinese New Year, everybody!
Every moment contains within it an ending and new beginning - it's no wonder humankind has come up with such a delightful array of ways to mark our cycles.
Some consider the fall, with its eternal imprint of "back to school," their spiritual new year. For others, January 1 implies a fresh start and the resolve of renewed commitments. Many treat their birthday as that pivot point marking the completion of another trip around the sun. And for the billions of people on the planet who relate to the Chinese lunar calendar, yesterday kicked off a two-week long welcome to the Year of the Yang Wood Horse.
Chinese traditions hold a special place in my chosen family. The father of one of my best friends emigrated from China as a boy. Over the years I enjoyed many a large banquet over which he presided. He seemed to have no greater happiness in life than to see his extended family gathered at large round tables with lazy susan centerpieces delivering dish after heaping dish of delicacies to each guest's waiting soup spoon and chopsticks.
The best of all these feasts were the ones that welcomed his grandchildren into the world. Instead of a baby shower or christening, my friend opted to create a Red Egg & Ginger party to celebrate the births of her daughter and son (my godchildren). We followed tradition, waiting one month after each birth. (In times of high infant mortality, surviving to the one-month mark was cause for celebration; these days, it provides a sensible recuperative interval before entertaining.) Gong Gong (grandpa) flew in to oversee the ordering of the feast and other duties of a proud patriarch. Besides the food and toasts and the red-dyed eggs, symbolizing happiness and the renewal of life, these parties marked the bestowal of each child's Chinese name.
My godchildren's Gong Gong is now in the Spirit World, but he remains at the center of the household's comings and goings, memorialized on the ancestor's shrine in the family dining room. There, alongside a bottle of whiskey, sticks of incense, and red paper envelopes from auspicious occasions, the children place drawings and miniature bees wax sculptures that connect them to their Chinese ancestry.
Bonus Features!
Read what my favorite Western astrologer, Emily Trinkhaus, has to say about the transition from Snake to Horse. Here's an article Emily recommends on the specific meaning of the Yang Wood Horse.
And below, my niece Josie embraces the coming of the Year of the Horse with her first riding lesson.
Every moment contains within it an ending and new beginning - it's no wonder humankind has come up with such a delightful array of ways to mark our cycles.
Some consider the fall, with its eternal imprint of "back to school," their spiritual new year. For others, January 1 implies a fresh start and the resolve of renewed commitments. Many treat their birthday as that pivot point marking the completion of another trip around the sun. And for the billions of people on the planet who relate to the Chinese lunar calendar, yesterday kicked off a two-week long welcome to the Year of the Yang Wood Horse.
Chinese traditions hold a special place in my chosen family. The father of one of my best friends emigrated from China as a boy. Over the years I enjoyed many a large banquet over which he presided. He seemed to have no greater happiness in life than to see his extended family gathered at large round tables with lazy susan centerpieces delivering dish after heaping dish of delicacies to each guest's waiting soup spoon and chopsticks.
The best of all these feasts were the ones that welcomed his grandchildren into the world. Instead of a baby shower or christening, my friend opted to create a Red Egg & Ginger party to celebrate the births of her daughter and son (my godchildren). We followed tradition, waiting one month after each birth. (In times of high infant mortality, surviving to the one-month mark was cause for celebration; these days, it provides a sensible recuperative interval before entertaining.) Gong Gong (grandpa) flew in to oversee the ordering of the feast and other duties of a proud patriarch. Besides the food and toasts and the red-dyed eggs, symbolizing happiness and the renewal of life, these parties marked the bestowal of each child's Chinese name.
My godchildren's Gong Gong is now in the Spirit World, but he remains at the center of the household's comings and goings, memorialized on the ancestor's shrine in the family dining room. There, alongside a bottle of whiskey, sticks of incense, and red paper envelopes from auspicious occasions, the children place drawings and miniature bees wax sculptures that connect them to their Chinese ancestry.
Bonus Features!
Read what my favorite Western astrologer, Emily Trinkhaus, has to say about the transition from Snake to Horse. Here's an article Emily recommends on the specific meaning of the Yang Wood Horse.
And below, my niece Josie embraces the coming of the Year of the Horse with her first riding lesson.
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