Polar Bear – ND #55

Posted on February 1, 2022February 1, 2022 by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment

Is that a Polar Bear? No! It’s a Polar Pig! – Photo: L. Weikel

Polar Bear

Do you see what I see? Karl and I were walking yesterday and couldn’t believe what the snowstorm had delivered to us. A POLAR BEAR!

I know; I know. They don’t usually meander as far south as Pennsylvania. But hey – our eyes wouldn’t deceive us, would they?

Well, maybe they would.

Because upon closer inspection (actually, it didn’t take long, especially after listening for a few moments to the eructations emanating from the beast’s mouth), we realized this creature that galloped across the snow-filled field to greet us was a pig. A hog. A ‘tame’ boar. A porcine ambassador.

Cutie – Photo: L. Weikel

Delighted

I’m beyond excited – and delighted – to embrace the arrival of this new neighbor. I’m reminded of the posts I wrote back in 2019, when the Chinese New Year was ushering in the Year of the Boar. There were a number of pigs making an appearance at that time. But then in 2021, we were dismayed when we realized no pigs would be coming to bond with us that year.

Judging from the greeting we received from this beast as soon as it saw us, I have a strong sense we’ll probably develop a relationship. And if ‘it’ is a she and she has piglets…? Oh, man, I’ll be a goner.

If you have an opportunity to get up close and personal with a pig, there is no question these are sentient beings. Sentient and absolutely social. My goodness, we’d never even ‘met’ this pig before yesterday and when I called out to it, s/he literally bounded across the field, through the snow, and came right up to the fence to talk to me.

Trotting by – Photo: L. Weikel

Year of the Tiger

But this is a little off-topic from the Year of the Tiger, which begins tomorrow. Unlike when we kicked off the Year of the Boar, I don’t think I’m going to be running into any tigers on our walks anytime soon.

In looking back on my posts, I see that I’ve actually recognized the beginning of each new cycle in the Chinese calendar over the past three years. I didn’t think I had. What I was surprised to realize was how our entry into the Year of the Rat took place during the first impeachment trial of the now defeated president. And then last year, of course, as we entered the Year of the Ox, we were still trying to regain our composure after witnessing an insurrection and attempted coup.

We can only hope that the Year of the Tiger will bring substantially more clarity and comprehensive understanding of just what was planned and attempted last year. And if that clarity reveals criminal conduct? That accountability is demanded and justice meted out. We can hope.

Happy New Year!

(T+55)

Year of the Ox – Day 822

Posted on February 11, 2021February 11, 2021 by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment

Oxen – Photo: New York Times

Year of the Ox

The new moon arrives on Thursday at 2:06 p.m. ET and marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year. We’re entering the Year of the Ox.

Actually, I have to admit that I’m not entirely sure if the New Year begins precisely at the time of the new moon. It seems to me that that would make the most sense, but I do notice that most links on the internet state that the new year begins on February 12^th. My assumption is that 2:06 p.m. Eastern Time on the 11^th is actually the 12^th in China and the other countries that celebrate this on a national level.

So if I’m jumping the gun by a day, please forgive me.

Rituals and Customs

I found this site when I was looking to see what year we’re entering. While I suspect it is watered down for more superficial understanding, it nevertheless describes a lot of the traditions, rituals, and beliefs that comprise New Year celebrations in the cultures that celebrate this lunar observance.

I decided to write a quick post on this and include the link to this site for two reasons:

First, when I discovered this site I found the rituals intriguing. Some of the taboos and customs are quite specific, and it makes me wonder what fundamental benefits following these brought to the health and welfare of the people over the past thousands of years.

Second, I thought it might be worthwhile for us to use this opportunity to once again reflect, if ever so briefly, on what we want to let go of in our lives (leave it in the Year of the Rat!) and affirmatively contemplate what we would like to bring into our lives as we enter this new year.

New Moon Cycle

The new moon tomorrow is taking place in the sign of Aquarius. As usual, we can see this as a time when we’re planting the seeds of new ideas, projects, etc. and can watch to see how they develop and grow over the next two weeks as the moon grows to fullness in two weeks.

But of course there are times when the projects or ideas we’re ‘planting’ will take longer to bring to fruition. Another cycle we can look at is that it will take six months for the moon to become ‘full’ in the sign of Aquarius. So…perhaps we might want to note on our calendars the full moon in Aquarius and see whether our efforts (seeds) are bearing fruit by then.

Just a thought.

Happy New Year!

(T-289)

Welcome, Year of the Rat – Day 439

Posted on January 25, 2020 by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment

Photo: Livescience.com

Welcome, Year of the Rat!

Happy New Year!

Late this afternoon, Friday, January 24, 2020, the new moon occurred at 4:42 p.m. EST. Because it was the first new moon to occur after the first full moon (which means it must be occurring between 21 January and 20 February of any given year), that means today is the start of the Chinese New Year.

As you may recall, last year I waxed rhapsodic about the Chinese New Year because I was born in the Year of the Boar (Pig), and thus felt a particular affinity for the year that was arriving.

Year of the Rat

In Chinese astrology, the Year of the Rat is the first sign of a 12 year cycle. I must confess to knowing very little about the qualities of people born during a Rat year, and thus found this link quite interesting. (Thank you, Marie!)

Given that the Year of the Rat is the first sign of the Chinese Zodiacal Calendar, it just seems to add momentum to the energetic heft of the times we’re experiencing right now: new year, new decade, and new 12 year Chinese astrological cycle. Combining all these new beginnings with the Saturn-Pluto conjunction that was exact last week (but because both planets are so slow moving, the influence of this conjunction will last longer than most), as well as a couple other challenging aspects thrown in and you can see how everything we’re experiencing not only in our personal lives, but also as a country and, indeed, on a planetary scale, is so momentous.

There are a lot of old paradigms, institutions, ways of thinking and being that are being challenged and, in fact, appear to be crumbling under their own weight.

Photo: bbc.com

New Moon in Aquarius

Aside from this new moon being the harbinger of the Chinese New Year, it’s also sounding like it’s bringing in a lot of energy that’s shaking things up. I find Chani’s take on it interesting.

It’s fascinating to me when I read these various interpretations of the planetary influences and cycles and I watch events unfold in our nation’s capital. These are most definitely incendiary times. The decisions our Senators will be making in the coming days will impact our lives in extraordinary ways – for good or for ill.

While it boggles my mind to contemplate it, we are actually on the brink of entering a time in our country’s life when everything we’ve stood for: the rule of law, our system of checks and balances, the concept that no one is above the law, the sanctity of our elections and peaceful transfer of power (just to name a few) may crumble because a majority of Senators are not willing to stand up for these fundamental principles.

Worries and Hopes

My worry, I guess, is that we’re going to have to go through the pain and agony of losing it all before realizing just how much we’ve relinquished. And then? I guess we’ll have to wait and see if or how we ever reclaim what we’ve so willingly allowed to slip through our fingers.

My hope is that enough Senators will dig deep and find the moral courage to keep us from teetering over that brink. So very much pain can be avoided if they choose to set aside those ugly whispers of greed and fear and stand united against corruption.

Whatever happens over the next several days is going to be momentous. I’m pretty sure we can all feel it percolating just under the surface. So much is written in the stars – except our choices. Ultimately, those always remain ours and ours alone.

Happy New Year.

(T-672)

A Tale of Five Pigs – Day Eighty Five

Posted on February 5, 2019 by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment

Photo: mnn.com

A Tale of Five Pigs

Happy New Year (again)!

While I realize it’s highly unlikely that many of you share ‘Boar’ status with me, I suspect there are at least a few of you who do. In fact, I know there are at least a couple of you out there, so I don’t feel too bad about indulging in a little bit of Boar-ology.

Actually, in spite of the appearance of self-indulgence, I’m only using the Year of the Pig as an example, since this subject is far too complicated to cover even superficially in a short blog post. But I thought you might find some of these descriptions interesting.

The Five Elements

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, there are five different variations attributed to each Chinese Zodiac animal. These differences are based on the elements, and change with each 12 year sub-cycle within the overarching 60 year cycle.

Last night I wrote about the five elements each particular sign expresses in any given year, which continue to rotate in order every 12 years:

Metal Water Wood Fire Earth

I must confess, I do not have anything but the most cursory of cursory understandings of how each element associated with a sign shapes the expression or experience of those born that particular year. While I am aware that there are quite a number of books and other materials available on Chinese Astrology, as well as the meaning and significance of The Five Elements in Eastern philosophy and study, I am using only two reference materials for this short post:

The Handbook of Chinese Horoscopes (6^thedition) by Theodora Lau; and Pig, from The Chinese Horoscopes Library by Kwok Man-ho.

Chinese Astrology is a Complex Subject

The first of the books mentioned above is a 415 page treatise that probably only scratches the surface of the intricacies of this field of study. Not only are each of the twelve signs discussed, but the author then explains how the Chinese not only apply one of the five elements to each sign in a particular year, but also assigns seasons and ‘stems’ (a positive or negative energetic component – as opposed to a value judgment) to each sign. Not surprisingly, the system further breaks things down into two hour increments of a 24 hour day, assigning an animal sign to each of those twelve portions of the day as well, all of which influences the expression of the individual born at that time.

Learning the meanings and interactions of the five elements with and between each other appears daunting to me, and I know this is actually a very complex field of study.

Just for fun, though, I wanted to share with you the following intriguing descriptions of each type of Boar, which I believe are tied to how the particular element applies to the sign that year. I found these descriptions in the second book I reference above, Pig , which would probably qualify as a ‘pocket reference,’ it’s so small.

Anyway, following are the Boar years spanning the last century or so. Beside each set of dates, you’ll see the element associated with those years and, beside the element, I’ve quoted the poetic description and first paragraph of how that element is interpreted by the author of Pig.

1911 and 1971: Metal – “Pig in the Garden” – “This is a very complex Pig. Its natural intelligence is combined with a certain brashness and lack of innate wisdom, which can lead to unnecessary trouble.”

1923 and 1983: Water – “Pig in the Forest” – “This is a classic Pig. It leads a solitary life, it is obstinate, yet it remains essentially fortunate. It does not worry about the consequences of its actions.”

1935 and 1995: Wood – “Pig Passing By” – “This is a classic Pig personality – although you may suffer while you are young, you should invariably enjoy happier times as you grow older.”

1947 and 2007: Fire – “Pig Passing the Mountain” – “This Pig possesses great talent and self-assurance. Unfortunately, it also has a quick temper, which might lead it to unwise decisions and hasty actions.”

1959 and 2019: Earth – “Monastery Pig” – “The ultimate threat to any Pig is being eaten. Chinese monks are vegetarian, however, and since this Pig lives in a monastery, it will never be threatened.”

This Just Scratches the Surface

I guess the upshot of all of this is that over the next year, there will be lots of little pampered Piglets being born. Hopefully they will be pampered, but not spoiled!

One last thing I’d like to mention is that my description in yesterday’s post on how the Chinese new year is determined each year may not be entirely accurate, although I know it is connected with the new moon. I of course recommend that you study up for yourself if this is something that piques your interest.

I’d really wanted to get a photo of the seven or eight little black pigs that just took up residence near us. They’ve scampered out of their wooden shelter and tumbled over each other to greet me at the fence alongside the road almost every day this past week. Today, of course, since I was hoping to take their photo for inclusion in this post, they acted weirdly shy.

Silly little piglets! Go figure.

(T-1026)

Year of the Boar – Day Eighty Four

Posted on February 4, 2019 by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment

Photo: livescience.com

Year of the Boar

Happy New Year! Happy Year of the Boar (Year of the Pig)! Technically, we’re not moving from the Year of the Dog until tomorrow (Monday, February 4^th, 2019), but since most of you don’t read my posts until the morning after I publish them, I’m just paving the way for you to hit this new year running and give you the chance to celebrate all day.

Of course, I’m speaking of the Chinese New Year. And since the Chinese calendar is based on lunar cycles, the new year begins tomorrow at 4:04 p.m. EST, the time of the new moon.

You might wonder why I’m so excited to wish you these porcine-centered felicitations. A big reason might be that I am a Boar, having been born between February 8, 1959 and January 27, 1960.

And to make this year’s Year of the Pig even more ‘special’ for me (and those born in that same time span I just mentioned), since the Chinese Lunar Calendar is based on the number 60, this year signifies a full turning of the astrological cycle since we were born. This will be a year of completion or ‘coming full circle’ for those of us born between the dates listed above.

Twelve Signs of the Chinese Zodiac

Just as you’re aware of the twelve signs that comprise our western zodiac, which begins with Aries and ends with Pisces, there are twelve signs in the Chinese Zodiac as well. The western zodiac signs change every 30 days or so, though, giving us twelve signs within each calendar year.

The Chinese system assigns a single symbol to an entire year, with the Year of the Rat, for instance, being considered the ‘first’ sign of the zodiac, and the Boar the last. However, each ‘year’ begins and ends on a different date according to the moon’s cycle in January/February of each year. Specifically, each new year in the Chinese system begins at the occurrence of the first new moon following the first full moon in a calendar year.

The signs, with the year in which each ‘mainly’ appears, are as follows:

Rat 1924 1936 1948 1960 1972 1984 1996 2008 2020

Ox 1925 1937 1949 1961 1973 1985 1997 2009 2021

Tiger 1926 1938 1950 1962 1974 1986 1998 2010 2022

Rabbit 1927 1939 1951 1963 1975 1987 1999 2011 2023

Drago 1928 1940 1952 1964 1976 1988 2000 2012 2023

Snake 1929 1941 1953 1965 1977 1989 2001 2013 2024

Horse 1930 1942 1954 1966 1978 1990 2002 2014 2025

Sheep 1931 1943 1955 1967 1979 1991 2003 2015 2026

Monkey 1932 1944 1956 1968 1980 1992 2004 2016 2027

Rooster 1933 1945 1957 1969 1981 1993 2005 2017 2028

Dog 1934 1946 1958 1970 1982 1995 2007 2018 2029

Boar 1935 1947 1959 1971 1983 1996 2008 2019 2030

Obviously, if your birthdate falls toward the end of January or through about mid-February, you’ll need to check the specific dates for when each cycle began and ended in the year you were born. (I’m sure you can google it; but I’d be happy to post the specific dates for anyone who requests.)

The Five Variations of Each Symbol

Every twelve years, the cycle repeats. It’s important to remember, though, that the larger cycle recognized in this system is the 60 year cycle.

Thus, each symbol is repeated five times within those sixty years. And each of those five variations on the theme corresponds to an element: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water.

Every 12 years, then, a different variation of the particular sign occurs, with the cycle repeating itself for the first time after 60 years have elapsed.

It’s quite intriguing to read about the variations in characteristics of the different signs as they are manifested every twelve years. You can just imagine the differences between, say, a Fire Rooster, a Metal Rooster, and a Water Rooster. (I use that as an illustration because I happen to have lived with these ‘variations’ for much of my life: specifically, my husband and two of my three sons.) (Which is also why I decorated our downstairs bathroom in fall colors, filled it with many roosters, and dubbed it our ‘cock room.’)

And with that image fixed firmly in your minds (a ‘cock room’ – you just know that’ll stick with you!), I am going to complete this post. I’ll write a bit more about the Year of the Boar tomorrow, and describe a bit more of the elemental attributes distinguishing the variations that occur every twelve years.

The point of all of this is that there are so very many ways we humans have developed, across cultures and across time, to help ourselves understand and make sense of who we are and what we’re here to experience. There are maps for us all over the place. We just need to look around and find the ones that work uniquely for us – and then dive into a deeper understanding of their keys.

Happy New Year!

(T-1027)