Chinese Horoscopes and the Chinese New Year

For the Chinese, this 2007 is the Year of the Pig, which effectively starts on the Sunday of February 18. This is the time when millions of overseas Chinese will go back home to their families to spend the holiday and have a wonderful dinner together. This is a time when every Chinatown all over the globe will be filled with much merrymaking, dramatic fireworks, dancing dragons, singing gongs, and happy smiles.

No doubt, the Lunar New Year is the most important holiday in history for Chinese, with the celebration taking as long as 15 days. Even people who don't have Chinese blood in them have come to celebrate and respect this holiday. Every year, Chinese spend lavishly on these performance arts in the hopes of bringing good luck and prosperity.

And just as the New Year is a time when they spend thousands on food and fireworks, it is also a high time consulting their fate in Chinese horoscopes and astrology. Chinese people, after all, are among the most superstitious people in the world. Superstitions, in fact, abound during the Chinese New Year itself, both before and during the holiday. On the days before the celebration, Chinese families spend their time cleaning their houses to sweep away the bad luck for the coming new year. On the holiday eve, buying a pair of shoes is considered bad luck, since according to them the word "shoes" is a homophone for the word "rough" in Cantonese. Eating candy, on the other hand, brings good luck in a way that their coming year will become sweet.

Now more than ever, people are interested in what Chinese horoscope has to say about their lives for the New Year. And the interest in Chinese astrology isn't limited to just Chinese businesspeople alone. Even foreigners, (i.e. Westerners) are just as willing to delve into Chinese horoscopes, perhaps even more so. Over time, Chinese people have passed on their beliefs to the next generation, continuously sharing them until they have woven a very detailed and comprehensive nexus of beliefs and wisdom. From the Chinese come Feng Shui, and Chinese astrology, and i-ching, and other sources of time-tested knowledge that will always define the Chinese culture. Which is why deep inside everyone, Chinese-blooded or not, there is a vast and unlimited belief in Chinese superstitions and other ancient wisdom, whose only aim is the betterment of people's lives.

Hopefully, this Year of the Pig proves to be indeed prosperous and deserving of congratulations for everyone. Kung Hei Fat Choi!