How Chinese New Year is Celebrated
This January 22nd, the celebration of the Lunar New Year 2023 will begin! Do you know what it is all about? The Lunar New Year, or Chinese New Year, is one of the biggest celebrations in the world. It is characterized by colorful festivities, beautiful parades, and fascinating traditions that allow us to enjoy Asian culture and its wise teachings.
The Chinese New Year is a beautiful tradition with great cultural and spiritual significance. Families gather to honor their ancestors, activate good luck, and ward off evil energies in the new year.
What is Chinese New Year?
It is a grand celebration whose origins date back to the 14th century B.C. and is known as the Spring Festival or Lunar New Year. It begins precisely the second moon after the winter solstice, at the end of January, until the end of February, according to the Gregorian calendar.
It is the beginning of a year of one of the 12 animals of the zodiac: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. And the next one will be the WATER RABBIT.
Do you know which animal of the Chinese Horoscope or Zodiac rules your personality? Click here and learn about the Chinese horoscope and its essential characteristics.
When does the Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year 2023 begin?
The Lunar New Year is based on the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar and starts on January 22nd, 2023, and ends on February 9th, 2024.
The celebration lasts fifteen days and ends with the Lantern Festival.
Origin of the Chinese New Year
The origin of the Chinese New Year is associated with a legend in which a monster named Nian raided the villages a few days before the beginning of the year. And of course, all the people were afraid of him, with the fortune that they could notice that this monster also had his fears: the color red, noises, and bright lights.
Since then, these three aspects appear in various manifestations during the new year’s festivities to scare Nian: chasing away his bad energies, full of mysteries, bad omen, and with the smell of death.
Learning what scares the monster Nian today allows us to notice that: the red color of the envelopes with money, the red lanterns that adorn the streets, wearing red clothes, making noise with fireworks, and the taste for bright lights during these festivities are not a coincidence.
Where and how is the Chinese New Year celebrated?
There are many places in the world where you can celebrate the Chinese New Year:
1.- China is the most suitable place to enjoy the colorful festivities of the Chinese New Year, with its particularities that vary from province to province. Even in non-mainland China, there are differences between the festivities in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.
The same happens with Malaysia and Singapore, which offer festivities, with the Chingay parade being the most recognized worldwide.
2.- Migrations have made it possible to celebrate today in many places. There are official parades in the United States with cultural expressions in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Boston.
The same is true in Mexico City, Panama, Toronto, and Vancouver. If you are in Europe, there are beautiful celebrations in Paris, specifically in the 13th arrondissement.
3.- In London, they celebrate it in Chinatown, Leicester, and Trafalgar Sq. Here it is possible to observe traditions and customs in the dances, meals, and the way of decorating with red lanterns and lights the spaces, always to activate the positive for the new year.
4.- In Spain, you can attend the celebrations in Barcelona, which stands out for the traditional parade that starts in the Sagrada Familia neighborhood early in the morning. It is a feast of festivals that allow us to enjoy the oriental culture, traditions, and teachings.
TRADITIONS TO ACTIVATE THE GOOD LUCK DURING THE LUNAR NEW YEAR OF THE WATER RABBIT
Everyone has three great wishes: To enjoy a long life, peace, and prosperity. The reason is simple: having a long life allows us to achieve our dreams… for which we need prosperity… which is essential to enjoy peace in our hearts. The three, long life, peace, and prosperity must go hand in hand, and in the Asian culture, we are taught to activate them so that they flow into our life.
Read on and learn the traditions to help you achieve good luck for long life, peace, and prosperity during the Chinese New Year of the Water Rabbit.
Welcome the Year of the Water Rabbit!
We have been waiting for you for 60 years, and we welcome you into our home with our ancestors and family who are part of our life. In our temple dwell the memories, and our past comes alive in each space, whether of joy or sadness.
Joy must be multiplied, and sadness must be a lesson we do not wish to repeat. It is essential to overcome sadness and stay only with what makes us flow with prosperity. We need to break with everything that has hurt us in the year we are closing.
Consequently, we must prepare to receive the year of the water rabbit. It is an opportunity to deepen inner harmony, care for health, and search for prosperity. It is essential to activate good luck taking into account the ancestral traditions.
You might be interested in reading: Chinese Horoscope 2023. Year of the Water Rabbit and Susi Lee李’s Predictions.
4 Ancestral traditions to activate good luck in the new year.
1.- Cleaning the house
The first thing we must do is clean the place where we live. Our house must be clean and tidy. Harmony is only achieved when under the roof where we live is in order. It is time to clean in-depth and always remember the following: “In our temple inhabit the memories; our past comes alive in each of the spaces, whether they are of joy or sadness. The temple is our house in which we should only leave the positive. For this reason, we must clean, sweep, get rid of, get out of and remove from our living space objects of low vibration.
House cleaning. Ancestral wisdom to attract good luck.
Huan is the name of a man who symbolizes attracting good luck. And legend has it that he always prepared to receive the year by heeding the good advice of the ancestors in which cleaning is fundamental to welcome the new year.
Remember that you should not clean at the beginning and during the first days of the year because it symbolizes sweeping away the good luck that the water rabbit gives you.
Susi Lee’s tip 李
Has it ever happened to you that you come across gifts and presents that you have been given for your birthday or any other reason while cleaning? You may even have an item that some co-workers gave you that you don’t vibrate positively when you look at it or touch it for unexplained reasons.
It’s time to get out of them because not everything you receive has good energy. Therefore, it is vital to get out of those objects that do not generate confidence and bring discomfort and a feeling of heaviness.
By the way, has it ever happened to you that there are places where you feel heaviness? Chinese culture considers that this happens because there is a disorder or bad energies that are stagnant. Everything must be in its place, avoid clutter and clean the bad luck that accumulates through the dirt, dust, and cobweb of objects.
I recommend you clean your house from the inside out. Prepare a liter of water and dilute a cup of vinegar, then wet the cloth and mop the entire floor of the house. Afterward, it would help if you smoked the home, which will activate new vibrations.
The idea is that you do this cleaning before the beginning of the new year of the water rabbit. Also, it is recommended that during the whole year, you clean the house but never the first days of the year.
2.- Fish brings abundance
To receive the year of the water rabbit, it is recommended to have your pantry stacked with the essentials, in which you can take advantage of the fish. It is not about making big purchases; it is required that you have fish as a symbol of abundance and prosperity.
Additionally, it is essential to know that fish drives away evil spirits, and the idea is to get out of these shadows that do not allow evolution. When serving the fish, it should be whole, and its head should point towards the guest of honor or the oldest family member among the rest.
The fish. Ancient wisdom to attract prosperity
Prosperity is a desire of all people: to emerge, move forward, and achieve goals. For these reasons, fish will be a faithful companion of all banquets, especially the celebrations of the end of the year and the welcome of the next one.
In marriages, fish is always present. If you plan to get married when we receive the water rabbit, keep in mind that the fish’s head, tail, and entire skeleton should be left whole, unharmed and intact. So that during life as a couple, there will be prosperity from the beginning.
In Eastern culture, the fish occupies a special place of consideration. So, some can have a koi fish in homes and businesses with the genuine belief that it opens the way to success, abundance, and prosperity.
Although their name is Japanese, they are a millenary species with origin in China whose breeding dates back to 500 BC. We agree that having a Koi fish is not always possible, so I recommend carefully reading segment 3. Water activates and makes flow.
Susi Lee’s advice 李
Do not miss the fish in your home and be part of the table to share with family and friends to thank the year that is leaving and has left us great learning. And also, we must be with open hands and receive the gifts of the year of the rabbit.
We must have abundance and prosperity on the physical and spiritual plane. We must control our thoughts and create moments to generate good ideas, beautiful thoughts, and healthy illusions. This allows us to connect and achieve the welfare of our body and spirit.
January 22nd is not the time to sleep, do not snub the water rabbit; you must wait for it by celebrating and activating positive energies.
3.-Water activates and makes flow
Water is an element to consider to receive the year of the water rabbit. The house must be hydrated so that love, friendship, harmony, good relationships, communication between people, money, projects, ventures, and you can even have healthy children. This is so because water is life and the water rabbit remembers it now that he visits us after 60 years.
Love is fundamental in our life, and when we enjoy it, everything flows. We already know that a new year of water is beginning, and it is time to review how we can activate it in our living spaces, home, and work.
Water through movement makes everything flow faster.
Water is an element that allows everything positive to flow, undertakings, ideas, plans, goals, and dreams.
Love is activated, and relationships between people are stabilized. The place is clean where there is water, so we should welcome the year by ensuring we have fish tanks, water fountains, or flowers in water. Water helps to activate good energies.
This recommendation to receive the year of the rabbit should always be a discipline. Suppose there are arguments, misunderstandings, illness, grief, and sadness at any time. In that case, the water should be changed as often as possible.
Water symbolizes economic prosperity, and you must activate it to flow and achieve the materialization of financial goals and undertakings. But in addition, water is life and will activate your health, facilitating communication between the people who live in and visit your home.
The water rabbit seeks harmony and will reward the houses that are hydrated and in harmony.
Susi Lee’s tip 李
Coins have two sides; one positive and one negative. For the second, we should take precautions and prevent water from stagnating. But in addition, also, we must prevent water from escaping. Therefore, it is always advisable that the pipes, and water faucets, are perfectly closed in the bathroom and kitchen, to cite a few examples.
There is a belief that by leaving the pipes broken, water escapes, and with the water goes good fortune. Water is life, and during the year of the water rabbit, there are energetically conditions that facilitate procreation.
Many children arrive, representing good news for couples with difficulty having offspring.
4.- Giving red envelopes with money as a gift.
A tradition during the Chinese New Year celebrations is to give money in red envelopes. These red envelopes are known as hongbao or lai see.
This custom of giving red envelopes with money started between the years 221 to 206 BC. This tradition believes prosperity is activated when you give out these red envelopes with cash. For that reason, older people give these envelopes with money to their children or grandchildren to wish tremendous success to their loved ones.
There is something significant to keep in mind when giving this gift. The amount does not matter, but keep in mind that you should not give an odd amount of money, avoid numbers such as 4 and 40, as they are associated with death in China.
Red envelopes and their effects
Essentially, through the red envelopes with money, you want to give energies that activate prosperity, luck, and success. And for this to have the desired effect, what is given with detachment must be fulfilled.
You should not give a red envelope because tradition indicates it, because of commitment, or because you want to look good. Better is the gift that is not given, than the gift that is given without the energy of love and purity of heart.
The one who gives the gift must feel with deep love what they are doing. The meaning of giving an envelope with money in this tradition reaffirms the bonds between the giver and receiver.
These envelopes are expected to bring much fortune to those who receive them with deep love and good intentions during the year of the water rabbit.
Susi Lee’s advice 李
When receiving a red envelope, hongbao or lai see, remember to say thank you, accept it with both hands and never open the envelope in the giver’s presence.
If someone has given you this red envelope, you should say thank you. With this envelope with money go great wishes for you to achieve your goals. The person who has given it to you wishes that during the year of the rabbit, financial and spiritual prosperity is activated in its various manifestations of success.
Do not worry if the money in the envelope is a lot or a little. Give thanks so that prosperity is activated and everything flows to achieve your dreams and goals this year.
Regarding children, parents play an essential role in guiding children on the correct way to proceed when receiving a hongbao or lai see.
This tradition is passed from one generation to the next. Giving a red envelope with money is also used on birthdays, graduations, marriages, trips, and life changes for which good fortune is wished.
7 aspects to consider to attract good fortune
In addition to the traditions already mentioned, here are seven actions that ancient wisdom considers necessary for good fortune.
- Use new clothes and accessories.
- Give New Year’s greetings.
- Light fireworks.
- Visit the resting places of ancestors.
- Visit relatives and friends.
- Pay money debts.
- To close cycles, not to leave pending, especially when they affect other people.
Summary: the Lunar New Year
In the year of the water rabbit, the universe creates the conditions for the preparation of the goals in which we must advance always doing good, so that the flowering reaches each of the people and their environment.
It has been sixty years since we did not have a year of the water rabbit and this is a beautiful opportunity to change that which has hurt us, has produced sadness and stumbling blocks. It is the year of the search for inner harmony to expand it in everything around us.
Chinese astrology and the Chinese horoscope are of great importance and serve as a guide for certain situations in life. Knowing the essence of each of the animals of the Chinese horoscope will allow you to know their strengths and weaknesses to know how to avoid conflicts in relationships with others.
I hope this article has clarified your doubts about what is the lunar new year and the beautiful traditions that we can all put into practice in the search for peace, prosperity, and harmony!
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