The Lions are roaring again

After a two year hiatus, the moves are back big time.

Lions dances are part of the Chinese New Year celabrations and traditions.

In the past, they serve as the symbolic ceremony to frighten away the 'beasts' of the past year so as to drive out the misfortunes and allow the new energies to bless us all over again.

Together with drums, cymbals and gongs, they create a perfect cheorography of steps and moves to usher in the new year with style and entertainment.

Lions here belong to the class of Southern Lions which is synonymous with the pugilistic world especially in the Guandong province and made famous by a legendary gongfu master, Wong Fei-Hung.

Today, the lion dances are invited to homes and offices to rouse up the positive vibes of the new year, all in hope of good fortune and prosperity.

Enjoy this clip taken live from an event in which I gave a Feng Shui presentation on the forecast for the Year of the Water Rabbit. The pulse and vibrations from the drums can only be experienced when one is there and then. When enjoying the live lion dances, go up close and personal.

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.