Happy New Year!
The human species has been measuring time long before we had sophisticated ways of marking time. Observatories like Stonehenge were erected for precise measurements of the sun's coming and going, and solstice (sun stands still) represented moments of change, significant and portentious. To be precise, the Chinese New Year is the second new moon after the winter solstice.
The Chinese have been keeping records of these measurements longer than anyone. Since the days of their first reckonings, they have charted 4072 years and now we enter 4073, the Year of the Dog. This year is a year of transition as we have been in a cycle of metal (Metal, Water, Wood, Fire and Earth), and 2006 is the turning point from Metal cycle to Water cycle. 2006 is the last year of the metal cycle. Next year is the year of the Pig and begins the water cycle.
There are fifteen days of celebration for 4073. Each day or group of days have special cultural and personal significance.
Thus culture emerges and stakes its survival on how it notes the passing of time and the coincidence of recurring cycles. The fabric of the cosmos stretches time through the endless rotations of swirling galaxies and solar systems, ("wheels within wheels" as Ezekiel claimed in his famous revelation) the universe spinning in an infinite sarabande stretching and revolving in majestic, cataclysmic gyrations beyond our comprehension, evading all atempts to measure the immeasurable reality of being.
Renewal. Time to rethink things before the next revolution. Time to get it right this time.
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