Happy Chinese New Year {Gong Hey Fat Choy}. Today we celebrate a new Chinese year and say good-bye to the Year of the Snake and Say hello to the Year of the Horse. The Horse (馬 午) is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese Zodiac. The Chinese celebrate the New Year with a 15-day celebration starting on January 31 with the first new moon of the calendar year. 2014 celebrates the year of the wooden horse. According to the Chinese astrologers, this is what we should expect for the 2014 – Year of the Horse…
1. The Chinese zodiac consists of a 12 year cycle where an animal is assigned to each one of those years. According to the system, the universe is made up of five elements: earth, wind, fire, metal, and wood which interact with the assigned animal for the year. 2014 – Year of the Wooden Horse.
2. People born on the year of horse are said to be like horses: animated, active, energetic – they love being in a crowd. They are quick to learn independence and they have a straight-forward and positive attitude towards life. They are known for communication skills and exceedingly witty.
3. If you were born on the year of the horse, you should be looking for potential partners who were born in the years of the tiger, goat or dog. Avoid those born in the year of the rat, ox, rabbit or horse. You won’t like them.
4. If none of this rings true, don’t worry. The animal signs of each year merely indicate how others see you or how you choose to present yourself. There are also animal signs for each month, known as inner animals, signs for each day, called true animals, and animals for each hour, or secret animals.
5. The lucky colors of team horse are green, red and purple; the lucky numbers are three, four and nine, and the lucky flowers are giant taro and jasmine.
6. Raymond Lo, a feng shui and destiny consultant, says the year of the horse is a year in which people are likely to stand firm on their principles, making negotiation difficult.
7. If you were born in the year of the horse, you’re in good company. Fellow members of the horse club include Genghis Khan, Mongol ruler; Franklin D Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the US; Louis Pasteur, a 19th-century scientist; Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon; the American singer Aretha Franklin; and the model Cindy Crawford.
8. Years of the wooden horse are associated with warfare.