a.k.a. Happy Chinese New Year!
The Rabbit ( 兔 ) (also translated as Hare) is the fourth animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac. The Year of the Rabbit is associated with the earthly branch symbol 卯.via Wikipedia
In the related Vietnamese zodiac, the cat takes the place of the rabbit. The Chinese symbol 卯 for the Rabbit sounds like (mão, mẫu, méo, mẹo, mẻo); the word "mèo" is cat in Vietnamese. Therefore, cat was translated from Chinese to Vietnamese as fourth zodiac sign instead of Rabbit.
I've never celebrated the Chinese new year, but it's especially attractive to me now because of its basis on a lunar calendar. While the Gregorian calendar that the world has agreed to use is rather arbitrary, a lunar calender is in step with natural rhythms. And from what I've observed so far on my journey toward balance, we are all much better off when we work with the flow of the earth, instead of trying to boot-strap against it.
2011 is a Metal Rabbit year, which presents something of a contradiction. While Rabbit is said to be about Spring and east direction. Metal is associated with Autumn and west direction. The hare is the symbol of longevity, while the metal element is associated with decline - or old age. Perhaps these can be reconciled by viewing a Metal Rabbit year as a time of vigor that comes with healthy maturity. It's not shiny new, but it's refined, experienced, wise. Accordingly, productivity occurs in accordance with the ol' "work smart, not hard" adage... I like the sound of that.
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