February 4th marks the start of the Rabbit year

It's back to business for most of us and February is also packed with significant dates such as the end of the Chinese New Year celebrations on the 5th February.

With this comes the serious start of the new year in full glory.

This planner hopefully will give you an additional boost to your decision making processes. Choose your dates wisely. Always try and travel on good dates and watch out for the apparent days of destructions when you need to make a major move.

Remember, the Rabbit year is about slow and gradual growth. It is deceptive. Beware of scams. Do not let emotions get the better of you when you interact with others. Things and events will unfold unsuspectingly and be prepared for surprises. Check your backyards occasionally, your enemies may be spying on you.

Inviting the God of Wealth into your Home

Of all gods and deities worshipped by us, Chinese all around the world, the God of Wealth surely ranks as the most warmly received and well loved.

After all, the God of Wealth is believed to make his rounds and endow each household with abundance and wealth during the Chinese New Year season and he makes his grand entrance past midnight, tonight after we celebrate our Chinese New Year's Eve and Reunion dinner 21st January 2023.

The God of Wealth is said to be positioned in a certain direction at a specific time. 30 minutes past midnight tonight will bring us to the fresh hour of the Chinese New Year. It shall be 12.30am on 22nd January 2023, local to your time wherever in the world you are at. To welcome the God of Wealth at this hour is believed to be the most auspicious and hits its peak when it comes to the amount of abundance the God of Wealth will dispense. Call it the first mover's advantage if you like.

In the past, a custom commonly practised on Chinese New Year's eve involved children. After a sumptuous dinner, children will be allowed to wander around their nieghbourhood. They will carry along a stack of couplets, a pair of red paper written with back ink, the auspicious words welcoming the New Year. Usually, it is comes with a depiction of the God of Wealth. They will then go door to door announcing that the God of Wealth has arrived. In exchange, households and businesses will buy or compensate these children with tokens comprising money, sweets or savoury. The symbolism of this practice is that the God of Wealth has come to your door. This is our version of 'Trick or Treat'.

Today's practice of Welcoming the God of Wealth has various versions.

Many will visit some temples that selectively open up for devotees to pray for blessings past midnight tonight.

Others who would rather invite the God of Wealth into their homes will prepare a table of offerings comprising food, fruits, flowers and wine to offer the God of Wealth. Thirty minutes past midnight, people will face the directions as guided and start making wishes.

In reality, we are trying to align and connect to the best energies of the day in hope of making our wishes comes true. What better way than to do this at the start of the Chinese New Year ? Should you be lucky enough to see a bright star there, you are blessed.

To make it simple, all one needs to do is to face the guided directions at 12.30am past midnight tonight and connect to the stars above to make our wishes. The condition is that you will need to open up the windows and doors towards that supposed directions and light up the house, especially the main entrance and living room areas.

The God of Wealth is a personification of a star and an energy that exists to coordinate ourselves and position us to the direction that is channelling the vibrations our way to connect the Universe, Earth and Man in perfect synchronicity.

A little bit of imagination and creativity go a long way here.

I wish you all a Happy, healthy and prosperous Year of the Water Rabbit.

The Prelude to the Chinese New Year

The Grand Reunion Dinner of the year.

It is hard to describe what goes on in the mind of one who attaches the significance of observing and celebrating the most important festival of the chinese calendar - The Lunar New Year.

As important as the day itself, the day before that marks the end of the last lunar month of the year holds a rich culture and is so steep in tradition that it does not escape anyone who understands chinese traditions. Today, it is celebrated all around the world and is as diverse as any other festivals, touching upon the lives of many other races and backgrounds.

The day before the start of the Lunar New Year falls on the 21st of January 2023.

It is known as the Day of Reunion and will be celebrated with a family feast called the Reunion Dinner.

Days before, family members who are abroad or live a distance would prepare the annual migration called the Homecoming. This will culminate with the gathering of as many family members as it is possible, some of different generations. It bears witness to the family as one seeing to the end of the old year and welcoming the new year together.

The Chinese poet, Su Dong-po, during the Sung dynasty once wrote 'Seeing an old friend depart is emotional and I will likely miss him temporarily. We can always meet again. But no one can capture the moment of a passing time'. Just like the year that will pass.

As the most important meal of the year, families will spare no effort in ensuring the best that they can afford as the abundance of food on the table is meant to symbolize that the family will not go hungry all year round.

The food on the dining table for the meal bears their respective importance and some of them are quintessential.

Fish, and it most be the whole fish, complete with its head to tail, puns as surplus and an increase in prosperity.

Dumplings, shaped as ingots representing money, are supposed to bring in wealth and fortune.

Chicken, cooked in any style, must come complete with its head intact and tail to symbolize good luck and wholeness, in hope of things and endeavours that will be complete and full.

Spring rolls, sounds like the festivities and auspiciousness of Spring, will forever be with you bringing you much harmony and balance.

Longevity noodles are consumed so that all will achieve happiness and longevity.

Prawns, in various dialects of the Chinese language, sounds like the equivalent of laughter and happiness.

Vegatables, such as the fresh lettuce, signifies life, new hopes and energy, vital for everyone to start the new year with vigour and promises.

It is also customary to end the meal with the New Year cake and glutinous rice balls to round up the dinner for unity and a sweet beginning.

Beyond the food, the Reunion Dinner also brings about the meaning of the young showing their repects to the elderly. The Kitchen God, after making his rounds in Heaven and making his reports to the Jade Emperor, returns to join in the celebrations on this day. It is also a time to include the less fortunate and it is not uncommon for some to invite those without families to join them in this celebration. Such is the spirit to the Eve of the Lunar New Year.

Mistakes are forgiven, dreams are laid out, happiness are shared and on a night when traditionally, the beast of the old year is chased away, everyone will make merry, stay past midnight to welcome the God of Wealth together, make offerings and prayers to the heavens, sleep well and wake up to a brand new year, a time to experience bliss and joy.