by Andrew Pacholyk MS LAc
~ Peacefulmind.com
The Year of the OX – begins on Friday, February 12, 2021
Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the Lunar new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.
Prior to New Year’s Day, Chinese families decorate their living rooms with vases of pretty blossoms, platters of oranges and tangerines and a candy tray with eight varieties of dried sweet fruit. On walls and doors are poetic couplets, happy wishes written on red paper. Families thoroughly clean their homes in order to sweep away any misfortune and make way for good luck. Windows and doors are decorated with delicate red paper cutouts and poetic couplets (pairs of corresponding lines of poetry) that express people’s joy and hope for the New Year.
A Lunar Celebration
The lunar celebration brings fireworks, red packages and beautiful lanterns parading through the streets of Chinatown. The dragon dance is performed with a large custom head of a dragon and many people following behind in costume resembling the dragon’s body. These are common customs and traditions observed during the Chinese New Year period. Most importantly, many families gather for large reunion dinners on New Year’s Eve and also pay respectful visits to their relatives as part of the New Year celebrations.
Who You Are: The Year of the Oxen
The lunar calendar has a sixty year cycle. In Chinese Astrology, the five basic elements of Metal, Water, Wood, Fire and Earth, which make up all matter, are combined with the twelve animal signs of Rat, Oxen, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep/Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Boar/Pig to form the sixty year cycle. One’s Chinese horoscope is based on which lunar year in this sixty year cycle one was born.
The diligent and dependable Ox are born leaders. They are known for inspiring confidence in everyone they come in contact with. However, they can be very demanding. They seem demanding because they want you to be as diligent as they are. Like the ox, they push on and push through with hard work and ambition, through conventional and disciplined means.
The Ox person is calm, steadfast, and methodical in nature. They see things from a steady, modest, and fair-minded outlook which is both logical and practical. In order to gain what they want, their mind is resolute and tenacious.
They can also sometimes be stubborn, when it comes to something they are not familiar with or uncomfortable about. This makes them look narrow-minded, but in fact, it is caution. Once they see a way through or around something, they pursue it. To that end, they can be judged as materialistic, rigid, or demanding in nature. The Ox can attain prosperity and success through fortitude, hard work, and by using their natural leadership qualities.
If you get on the wrong side of their distinct persona, you will find that they can nurture grievances or hold something against you for a long time, unless they see a way around it or they better understand your side of the story.
People of this sign are usually very patient and inspire others. However, they tend to be eccentric. They guard against being chauvinistic and yet always demanding there own way when on their own turf. This behavior tends to be Yin in expression. They are not aggressive go-getters but steadfast, leaders who do not make a big “show” about their position, but quietly seek respect, appreciation, and a peaceful mind through example.
Oxen are Earthy in nature. This element represents traits of patience, stability, strength, along with grounding and centering of their energies. This makes them promoters of peace, success, stability, warmth, comfort and physical labor. Earth is associated a more laborious nature – slow and trotting . The Earth is the source and provider of all our needs. Earth also represents fertility, money, and business (on its own time).
Oxen are Power Personalities
People with primary POWER traits are natural leaders who are driven to identify goals and attain them. These self-assured personas quickly earn the respect of their friends, family, co-workers, customers and peers. The 5 defining POWER personality characteristics include: confidence, being goal-oriented, influential as a leader, opinionated and decisive.
In her book, Chinese Astrology, author Shelly H. Wu, looks it signs in Trines, or combinations of 3’s. The twelve Chinese Zodiac signs are divided into four categories of three signs each, known as Trines. The second trine consists of the Ox, Snake, and Rooster. These three soulmates conquer life through endurance, application, and slow accumulation of energy. Although each sign is fixed and rigid in opinions and views, they are genius in the art of meticulous planning. They are hardworking, discreet, modest, industrious, charitable, loyal, punctual, philosophical, patient, and good-hearted individuals with high moral standards. They can also be self-righteous, vain, critical, judgmental, narrow-minded, petty, and pessimistic.
Also associated with a direction, the OX is found to be closely associated with North and Northeast. This is the inter-cardinal direction and one of the four intermediate compass directions located halfway between the cardinal directions. This period of “waxing” is very much a time for reflection. It is a time of promise and a time of greater possibilities that we should take advantage of during this transition. It shows us that we are capable of so much more and that we have the abilities to balance whatever comes before us.
Associated with the season of Winter, Ox tend to be slower, thought-driven, and introspective. The do not react quickly, but contemplate each move or process in a methodical approach. Their color association is that of winter’s, which is blue-black. These colors are deep and dark, rich with mystery and intrigue, and represent unknown possibilities. Like their associated organ, the liver, they process everything through a filter and take with them, the best that they can gain, releasing what they do not find useful or worthy.
The crystal most related to the Oxen is Aquamarine. This stone has the calming, soothing energy of the sea. This is the stone of courage. Tranquilizing, uplifting the spirit, creativity, communication, and self-awareness mirror the personality of the evolved Ox. Like aquamarine, the Ox helps stabilize and harmonize unsettled surroundings. They help people reduce their fear. Aquamarine is an excellent stone for meditation and by observing the Ox, we see this ability within their personality. We can learn a lesson of peaceful meditation when we see how the Ox persona attunes to nature, endures as the strong, silent type, and helps bring about a tolerance towards others.
Virtues: Discipline, Leadership
Nature: Yin
Trine: 2nd
Sign: Power
Hour: 1am – 3am
Organ: Liver
Color: Blue/Black
Element: Earth
Direction: North/Northeast
Season: Winter
Gemstone: Aquamarine
Compatibility: Snake, Rooster, and Rat
Lucky Numbers: 1, 3, 5, 12, 15, 33, 35, 51 and 53.
