  Spiritual
This week: Chinese New Year Edited by: KimChi  
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Welcome to the Spiritual Newsletter. I'm Kimchi, your hostess this week.
This newsletter explores matters of the spirit; it's a place to talk about little concerns of the heart and the big questions of the soul. Feel free to add your comments, questions, and ideas for topics.
The Spiritual Newsletter Team
KimChi
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Chinese New Year (CNY)began on Monday, January 23, 2012 and ends on February 6th with the Lantern Festival (Eastern Standard times). 2012 is the Year of the Water Dragon.
Although I am neither Chinese nor Buddhist, Chinese New Year is one of my fave holidays; it's like your birthday, New Year, Thanksgiving, and Christmas rolled into one. It would be impossible to explain all the myths and practices surrounding the CNY, so I'd like to give a few details of how my family celebrates-mixing ancient Chinese rituals with Indonesian customs in a modern American household.
Preparations
It's important to clean the house top to bottom to sweep away negativity and leave it open to the blessings of spring.
My daughter and I make red and gold decorations and hang them on the walls, doors, and windows for good luck; decorate the table; and set up an altar for the ancestors.
My husband and I work all day to prepare a massive feast with traditional CNY foods as well as family favorites. Once the hard work is done, we bathe, dress in our best red clothes, and relax.
Gung Hay Fat Choy!
At midnight, we open the front door to the fresh winds of the coming spring, and invite the ancestors inside.
From a single candle, we each light two sticks of incense and formally invite the ancestors to attend the feast in their honor, thanking them for their hard work and sacrifices for the benefit of the family. A traditional Buddhist prayer is read.
We make a plate for the ancestors and place it on the table. As it is rude to sit at the table while the elders are eating, we wait until they are finished. We only know their bellies are full when two coins tossed on the table land with one heads and one tails. (This may be an Indonesian custom as I've never seen the two coins discussed.)
After dinner, we open the door to say goodbye to the guests, wishing them happy travels back to the underworld. Of course you cannot send your beloved family off empty handed; they took care of us, and we must provide for them!
This is where joss paper (hell notes, paradise notes, paper money) comes in. While we prefer to think Gramps is going to buy a heavenly Lamborghini with his pile of 8,000,000,000 bills, who knows? He might be using it to pay off karmic debts. We each grab a stack of cash, fold it in half, and to make sure the ancestors get it-burn it up.
New Year's Day
New Year's day is a quiet, family affair as everyone turns a year older. Adults speak kindly lest the year be filled with quarreling. Even children are on their best behavior (although we know they just want lai see-red envelopes with money!)
One must not clean, lest they sweep away all the good luck, nor use knives or cutting implements, lest they cut their lives short. That means no cooking or cleaning. 
New Year's Celebrations
Traditionally, each day has its own customs. The second day is the birthday of dogs; there are two days for visiting the in-laws, and one to stay home and do nothing. Now, now most people go back to normal life by the fifth day.
Until the thirteenth day-when it's time to get ready for the main event-The Lantern Festival on the final day. Around here, everyone floods into Chinatown to celebrate as a community. Parades feature flowing Dragon Dances, beauty queens handing lucky red envelopes to the children, and of course, fireworks.
Traditions and Symbols
A short list of some of the customs we follow and their symbolism (if known.)
Decorations:
red and gold, spring couplets, paper cuttings, auspicious characters and phrases, gold coins, red lanterns
Altar:
incense, candles, photos, memorabilia, joss paper, offerings of water, alcohol, tea, and rice
Food:
sticky rice (family cohesion),
dumplings (wealth, shaped like a gold ingot)
noodles, uncut (long life)
whole fish (the word for "fish" sounds like the word for "surplus", serving the fish whole promotes unity),
clementines (the orange color symbolizes gold)
perkadel (hamburger and potato cakes for the Indonesian ancestors)
Happy New Year!
So there you have it, a brief overview of a long history of cultural practices mangled by adapted to my family. We celebrate imperfectly, hoping the ancestors understand we try to keep to the spirit of the tradition which boils down to family, friends, and fellowship.
If you've never had the honor of watching a dragon prance and snort before your eyes, I urge you to add Chinese New Year and the Lantern Festival to the "bucket list". (The good food alone is worth finding a parking spot.)
May the Water Dragon bring you luck, prosperity, and long life.
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To celebrate Chinese culture and history this month we have a poem about the zodiac, a story from a cat's point of view, a dancing dragon, and an essay on Buddhist theology. Enjoy!
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Emperor Jade called the animals near,
Saying twelve would be named for each calendar year.
"Because it's my birthday I'm having a race;
Your spot in the cycle's determined by place."
I am Cong, the intelligent, and I live in an alley behind a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown.
It was a glorious afternoon as I made my way to the second hand store searching for some serendipitous little trinket that had been discarded as junk.
The red dragon dances like it has no strings.
It dances high and low, side to side, in rhythm with the drums.
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Every Christian, every Muslim, and every other person of different faiths are Buddha. A little voice inside me challenges my insight.
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Thanks for all the kind words on last month's newsletter about the healing power of touch: "Spiritual Newsletter (December 27, 2011)" . Check out all the submitted items on the subject!
monty31802
A very enjoyable newsletter. Points well made.
Steve adding writing to ntbk.
Healing through touch,
It's a topic of worth.
Humanity is not made to be isolated.
There is the need to be aware of another.
Your newsletter illustrated that need and the choices you picked reflected the essence of your presentation.
Thank you for writing into the lives of the WdC through this newsletter and share more so we might be able to find treasures of authors who might otherwise not be found.
Copenator out!
Leader of Copenator's Crew - presently hibernating but seeking to breathe more life into the WdC in 2012. Happy New Year!!!!!
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embe
Hello Kimchi,
Your inspiring newsletter, just in time for the lonely Orphans without presents on the tree, or a loving touch to heal a broken heart. My poem attached, the reason to love them with a loving touch | | | Invalid Item
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Thank you, for this inspirational newsletter.
embe, in appreciation.
ANN Counselor, Lesbian & Happy
What a wonderful editorial; a beautiful essay; a message all people need to read and to follow each day. Thank you very much. Ann
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BIG BAD WOLF is Howling 
A massage tends to do the job. Trick's making sure that the person giving the massage isn't an assassin. (Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Film) reference.)
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Spiritual: January 25, 2012 Issue [#4845]
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