2009, Year of the Ox

I don’t make resolutions, but one of the things that I do is to check out my horoscopes to see what the stars have lined up for me this year. I am a leo, born in the year of the tiger, for all you Chinese horoscopes afficionados.

This year coming,  is the year of the Ox, from January 26, 2009 until February 13, 2010.  This is also the year of three Friday the 13ths, two of them are back to back, in February and March. The third one is in November. 

Since my grandmother was also leo, and she faithfully read her horoscope, daily, I knew that I was a leo, almost before I knew my name. I didn’t learn about the Chinese horoscope until much later in life. 

I’m not triskaidekaphobic, but my mom tells me I was due to be born on the 13th, which was on a Friday in my birth year and month. However, I came two days later, so I’m not a jinxed at birth child.  Actually, truth be told, I’m a pretty lucky person, well blessed, in today’s parlance. 

According to star gazers, this year is going to be a power year for almost all of us. It’s not going to be an easy year, and if you’re like me, success is scheduled to come later in the year as opposed to early or right now. I guess what it’s telling me, is that I need patience in the beginning of 2009. 

Some of you may be wondering about your oriental stars, well, the story goes like this... It is said that Buddha invited all of the animals in the world to join him for the New Year celebrations, but only 12 animals showed up. The  Buddha rewarded the twelve with a year named after each one of them The order was set by the way they arrived at the party. The first to arrive was the rat, the last to come was the pig.

It is thought that those born during the  year of a particular animal, inherit some of the good and bad personality traits of that particular animal. Also, each year is influenced by whatever animal in which it falls. Strength,  commitment and duty will be the keywords for 2009. Creatively and artistically, the Year of the Ox could see influential and  new works and creations being announced. Environmental and green issues should  also dominate the world stage with countries establishing tighter controls and regulations.

For those of you who want to find out more about your Chinese influences, check out Moonslipper.com.