happy new year, the second.

All over Asia the lunar New Year is being celebrated this weekend, and in Korea, it's called Sol-nal.

Korea used a lunar calendar until the late 19th century when Christian missionaries started influencing their way of life. Soon after, the Japanese gained control of the peninsula and switched them to the Gregorian calendar (which they had already been using for several decades). Though Koreans celebrate the solar new year along with the rest of the world, the lunar new year is much more important to them.

Being a culture of tradition, the lunar New Year is about honouring your ancestors and spending time with family. It’s not about firecrackers, dancing, and parties, like many other Asian countries. As in most other things, Koreans are much more subdued when it comes to celebrations.

the year of the pig.

This year lunar New Year marks the beginning of the year of the pig. All over Korea there have been pigs statues, pig key chains, piggy banks, and millions of other pig things on sale for months. But what’s the deal? We’ve all heard of Chinese astrology, but where does it come from? One story is that Buddha asked all animals to come visit him on New Year but only twelve showed up. So, he named a year after each one and declared that anyone born in that year would have the traits of those animals - Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. If you want to find out your Chinese astrology sign or get your annual horoscope click here. (I’m a snake.)

new year greeting in korean.

New Year rites are complicated and the procedure exact, and though there are differences from region to region, the activities that comprise New Years day are quite specific. In Korea, New Years’ Eve day is spent cleaning the entire house and preparing a feast for the first day of the year. The New Year is about renewing oneself and reestablishing family ties.

On the eve, rakes, sieves, and/or shovels are placed on doors or walls to ward off any evil spirits arriving with the New Year.

children in traditional han-bok.

In the morning, new clothes are donned, usually the traditional hanbok (see post on chuseok). The first part of the ritual is to pay homage to the last four generation of the family. This is the rite of Charye. Food and drink (prepared the previous day) is set out on a ritual table – often it is arranged by colour and certain dishes must face east, west, north, and/or south. After the table is laid out, incense is lit and the living must bow to the ancestral spirits that have to come to celebrate. The eldest male makes two deep bows and one shallow bow and then offers the food and drink. The rest of the family follows suit according to age and rank. Everyone turns away from the table to allow the ancestral spirit to eat in peace. After a time, the table is cleared and water is served.

table setting for the ancestral spirit.

After paying respects to the ancestral spirit the younger family members must do the same to the living elders. This is called saebae and involves bowing deeply, first to the grandparents, then the parents, aunts, uncles, etc… this is accompanied by the traditional new year greeting. “Sae-hae boke mahn-he pah-du-sae-oh”, which more or less translates to “many blessing to you this year”. Usually the youngsters will receive gifts of money or food from the elders.

paying respects to the elders.

Finally, the living can eat their traditional breakfast, consisting of ttak-guk (a sort of rice cake soup – tastier than it sounds). It is very important to eat this at New Year, or you will not turn one year older. Korean age is calculated at the New Year and everyone turns a year older on the first day of the year (oh no, how OLD does that make me???).

The rest of the day is spent playing (children), cleaning (women), or lazing about (men). Koreans are very steadfast about their traditions, and New Year is no exception. It is the one of two days of the year where everything (almost) closed, and where families must travel back to their hometowns.

And just to make this post EVEN longer, here’s a little about the snake:

Diplomatic and popular, the Snake has the sensual art of seduction down. This Sign is an interesting mix of gregariousness paired with introversion, intuitive reasoning paired with savvy business skills. Snakes are considered to be lucky with money and will generally have more than enough to live life to the fullest, regardless of how important it considers money to be; this may be due to the fact that Snakes tend to be rather tight with cash. They're not stingy, they're simply more mentally than physically active. Snakes tend to hang back a bit in order to analyze a situation before jumping into it. Their charming, seductive quality actually belies a rather retiring nature; this Sign is perfectly happy to spend the whole day curled up with a good book and, thus, can be mislabeled as being lazy.

The Snake is somewhat insecure deep down and tend to be a rather jealous, possessive lover, behavior that can end up alienating loved ones. Despite these less-than-stellar tendencies, however, the Snake often proves irresistible and is a generous, loving partner. Slightly dangerous and disarmingly smart, the Snake's philosophical and intuitive mind generally supersedes logic in favor of feelings and instinct. Snakes will rely on their own gut reactions and intuitions before turning to others for suggestions. This makes this Sign a great hand in any business venture, possessing the caution and smarts needed to get ahead.

Snakes are hard workers (when they see good reason to be!) and are possessed of a keen intelligence. Snakes have incredible follow-through, once they get going, and they expect the same from others. Thus, their coworkers and employees had best stay on their toes, lest they anger the Snake and suffer its poisonous bite!

In general, of course, Snakes are generous and genteel, charming and appealing. Snakes must try to learn humility and to develop a stronger sense of self. Once Snakes realize that confidence comes from within, they will finally be comfortable in their own skin.

The most compatible match for a Snake is the Rooster or the Ox.

Now, doesn’t that just sound exactly like me? happy new year everyone!