The January night is at its darkest now, for the new moon is in the sky, and Chinese Lunar New Year has begun. It is the Year of the Wood Snake. Snake is the sixth of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac, and here is how that came to be: When the Jade Emperor announced that the order of the zodiac animals would be determined by when they each arrived at his palace, Rabbit figured, “I’ve got this in the bag!” Rabbit knew he was fast, and he was pretty proud of his speed. Some (Ox, especially) might say Rabbit was even a little arrogant about it. Rabbit in particular made fun of Ox, who was his neighbor, for Ox, though he took great strides, was mighty slow compared to Rabbit.
On the day of the Jade Emperor’s race, Rabbit set off at daybreak. Sure enough, he was the first to arrive outside the Jade Emperor’s palace. But Rabbit hadn’t counted on having such a tough time crossing the river, which made him a bit tired, and so, as none of the other animals were in sight, he opted to have a little snooze while he waited for the others to catch up. And so Rabbit took a nap under a tree just outside the gate. Which is all well and good, I suppose… but while Rabbit slept, three other animals arrived and entered the palace. Ox was one of them, but ahead of Ox came Rat, for Rat had tricked Ox into giving him a ride and leapt off of Ox and into the palace first. Ox followed in, and behind Ox came Tiger. Only after Tiger’s entrance did Rabbit awaken from his nap… and this is how Rabbit came to be the fourth animal of the Chinese Zodiac and why Rat is first, and why Ox is second, and why Tiger is third, ahead of the rabbit.
Next came the dragon, who soared gracefully into the palace as he descended from the clouds. The Jade Emperor was perplexed as to how Dragon had not come in first in the race, for Dragon certainly had the advantage of flight. But Dragon explained: he was delayed on his journey through the sky for he could see, from his high vantage point, a fire burning in a farmer’s field, and so Dragon stopped to help the farmer by bringing rain to extinguish the fire. And, though Rabbit didn’t realize it, Dragon also stopped along the way to help Rabbit in his travails by blowing him across the river safely to the opposite shore. Touched by the dragon’s kindnesses, the Jade Emperor welcomed him in as the fifth animal of the zodiac.
Our snake was next to enter the palace, but not without a bit of surprise: With his eye on the dragon overhead, the horse was approaching the palace gate at full gallop. He knew dragon had beat him to the palace, but the horse figured he’d make it to the palace next, after dragon. He was galloping so furiously and with such speed that he failed to notice that our snake had wrapped itself around his front leg. And just as the horse was approaching the gate, our clever snake unfurled himself and became the sixth of the animals to enter the palace, just ahead of the horse, who became the seventh animal.
Later came the goat, the monkey, the rooster, the dog, and the pig, but this year is Snake’s year, and the element associated with Snake this year is wood. If you are a Wood Snake, your characteristics are: Wise, intuitive, and elegant. People born in the Year of the Snake generally are calm and cool, with pretty decent leadership skills. You are very creative, and an excellent communicator, not to mention a good problem-solver. You are mysterious. Snakes are known to charm their way into people’s hearts, and to be honest and loyal to those who have earned their trust.
The lunar new year celebration continues on through Lantern Festival, when the full moon returns and the celebration concludes. That is on the 12th of February this year. Enjoy!
VALENTINE MARKET
Locals, please come to our shop for our VALENTINE MARKET on Friday evening, February 7, from 5 to 8 PM, and on Saturday & Sunday, February 8 & 9, from 11 AM to 4 PM. We’ve got great shopping in store for you, plus homemade treats: Valentine Spritz cookies, Linzer Tart Cookies, and Norwegian Riskrem (it’s Nana’s recipe for rice pudding, scented with cardamom and made with our Swedish Porridge Rice). Plus enjoy our own Löfbergs Swedish Coffee while you shop, and our Black Currant Saft or Lingonberry Saft (depending on our whim). Our regular open shop hours, aside from the Valentine Market, are Saturdays from 11 AM to 4 PM, and by appointment.
ONLINE SPECIAL: OUR VALENTINE SALE!
Use discount code LOVEHANDMADE at our online shop to save $10 on your $85 purchase, plus get free domestic shipping, too. That’s a total savings of $19.95. Spend less than $85 and our flat rate shipping fee of $9.95 applies. We have some really lovely new things in the shop for Valentine’s Day. CLICK HERE to shop; you know we appreciate your support immensely.
Image: Snake Men (the men making snakes and dragons move), photographed by Tinou Bao in San Francisco, 2007 [Creative Commons via Wikimedia Commons].