Chinese New Year Heralds Calm, Diplomacy
Just when Auld Lang Syne has finally left your head, another New Year is approaching. Don’t worry, there won’t be much Dick Clark in this spectacle. On January 26th, Chinese everywhere will be celebrating their calendar New Year, often called Lunar New Year by those outside of China, and this year is the Year of the Ox. According to Hong Kong-based feng shui master Raymond Lo, it is also an Earth Year. Obama himself was born in an Earth Year, and the coincidence is auspicious, says Lo.
“An Earth leader in the Year of Earth would produce a particularly pronounced effect. Most of his work this year will be about meeting new faces all over the world, building diplomatic networks,” Lo said. While Earth Years are known for being calm, and Earth people for their charming demeanors, it is not a financially prosperous year. For that, you’ll have to wait until 2010, Year of Gold. Like the Ox then, Barack Obama and the rest of us, are to put our shoulders to the grindstone and make peace with the world.
photo: girl celebrating Chinese culture, New York City, by yewenyi via Flickr CC