Preparing for the Chinese New Year by Gwynne Warner

The Lunar New Year, celebrated as The Chinese New Year Festival, arrives on February 5th in 2019. And before the traditional altar cleaning and decorating days of early February, there’s still time to tend to these other meaningful tasks.

PREPARING FOR THE CHINESE NEW YEAR – PART ONE

1 – Carry on with the deep cleansing as you clear away dirt, clutter and old stagnant chi to welcome in new energy for the New Year!  Everything should be SPARKLING!

When cleaning wear brightly colored clothing, keep the windows open for fresh air and play happy and uplifting music. Burn some sandalwood incense or diffuse some essential oils of sweet orange.

As you clean, imagine you’re sweeping away any illness, obstacles, bad luck, negative attitudes or emotions.

You’ve got this!

2 – It’s the perfect time of year to do a Feng Shui toilet cleanse (as well as whenever you’re feeling negativity, experiencing obstacles or when there’s illness). As the toilet is where a lot of detoxifying yin energies gather, cleaning it promotes good health and energetic auras.

Scrub the toilet with your favorite non-toxic cleaner as well as 9-18 drops of rose geranium essential oil using a coconut plant fiber brush. Afterwards, light some sandalwood incense.

3 – Bring one new item such as a piece of furniture, décor or art into your home and business to stimulate growth chi and to compound your sheng chi. Also, give away one item (or more!), too, leaving physical and metaphoric space for new blessings. These two practices are even done by Taoist monks in their temples.

4 – Add a few drops of sweet orange, lime or grapefruit essential oil to the bottom of all your trash and recycling bins.

5 – Toss any china, crockery or glassware that are broken, chipped or have hairline cracks as these portend bad luck.

6 – Schedule your hair cut and  mani/pedis to happen before Chinese New Year’s Eve (February 4th this year) so you don’t “cut” away good fortune.

7 – Send out your invitations for a special celebratory meal or celebration to occur during the two-week Lunar New Year Festival (February 5th through 19th). Have a noisy, uplifting and happy party with an abundance of food, music and laughter!  Plus gorgeous décor (more on this next issue)!

8 – Make amends with anyone with whom you’ve had a row or falling-out.

9. Start to pay down or off all your debts as best you can before the Lunar New Year. And pay your current bills before February 5th so you go into the New Year feeling debt-free.

10 – Shop for new clothes for the New Year—ideally some red outfits or even just red accessories for the celebrations.

11 – Begin to find fifteen very special gifts, one for each day of the Chinese New Year Festival, to woo your beloved one(s) expressing your love, care and cherishing feelings for them.

12 – Treat yourself to a brand new red purse and tuck $108 or $27 crisp uncirculated bills or 9 $1 gold coins inside.  Add to this any money you’ve been given from a wealthy person.

PREPARING FOR THE CHINESE NEW YEAR: PART TWO

1 – On February 4th which is Lap Chun, the first day of spring, and also this year, Chinese New Year’s Eve, invite beautiful and auspicious energies by…

• Decorating with beautiful, colorful and fragrant flowers such as peach or plum blossoms, daphne, gladiolas, orchids and chrysanthemums
• Placing pyramids of auspicious fruits such as oranges, mandarins, pineapples (with red ribbons tied around the neck), pomelos and apricots
• Feeding the birds which bring “good news”
• In the afternoon, take a purifying bath and let go of all any old sad, disappointing, negative, inauspicious, ill energies from last year.
• Make sure all your trash and recycling goes out; and  your brooms, scissors and knives away (so you don’t sweep away or cut your luck)
• Before it gets dark, turn on every light in the house and open or crack the windows to let last year out
• At midnight, open your front door, ring bells, light firecrackers, ring bells or singing bowls and welcome the fresh new auspicious energies for the Year of the Boar
• Place a picture of The Eight Immortals (see photo below) beneath your pillow for their support in your heart’s wishes and prayers coming true
• Place an image of a red bird at your bedside so you see it first thing upon waking tomorrow for good luck

2 – On February 5th, Chinese New Year’s Day, it’s believed that whatever happens today DETERMINES YOUR LUCK FOR THE YEAR! So welcome the energies of Year of the Earth Boar with open arms, great joy, gratitude, beauty and festivity. Greet the year as you would a beloved friend and honored guest!

• For today: NO losing one’s temper, vulgarity, bad manners, swearing, slander, crying, talking of death, harsh words, cooking, using knives, dumping garbage, cleaning, sweeping, killing animals, bitter tea, bathing before noon, or borrowing money.  
• DO say kind words and good wishes to others and have a beautiful smile for everyone!
• The day’s events should start either at dawn or between 7:00 am and 9:00 am {Dragon hour} to bring good fortune for the family. Wear some red!
• Turn on all the lights, open the front door, light firecrackers or ring bells and light sparklers welcoming in the New Year
• Make sure your first taste is something sweet such as 8 Treasure Tea so your whole year will be “sweet”!
• Perform the “Rolling in the Wealth” ceremony. Roll 88 or 8 oranges or kumquats one by one through your front door and every exterior door that comes into your home. With these, also roll shiny $1 gold coins, Feng Shui coins, chocolate coins and gold ingots made of brass. This symbolizes filling your home and business with an abundance of accruing wealth and multiple sources of imcome. Afterwards, you can share your oranges with guests and neighbors as gifts.  
• Fill and hand out lucky Red Envelopes known as Lai See, Hong Bao or Ang Pow. They’re filled with crisp new uncirculated bills. Traditionally the amount of money inside should be an even-numbered amount such as $8 {the homonym is “wealth”} or $6 {the homonym is “flowing and smooth”}. But avoid $4 {the homonym is “death”}. They are considered most lucky to give and receive. The more you give out, the more luck comes back to you!  
• If you can in your city, visit a Dragon Dance and bring any special objects, such as talismans or amulets or crystals, to absorb sheng chi
• In red ink, write the word Cai meaning “wealth” in your left palm to activate your wealth luck and repeat every day of the 15-day festival.

 

A Fabulous Guide to the Chinese New Year Celebrations, Customs + Ceremonies 2019:

An Exhilarating Day-by-Day Journey of Beautiful and Auspicious Experiences!

$9 + 9 Red Envelopes for an eco-friendly pdf download day-by-day calendar of customs + ceremonies for two-week festival with color photos.

Please contact me at info@10KBlessingsFengShui to arrange for yours!