Lada Ray's Blog, page 94
March 4, 2013
Interview with Author Lada Ray
Interview with Author Lada Ray. A very cool and spunky conversation conducted by spiritual blogger, Maddy Walsh, in which we discuss my new metaphysical YA fantasy thriller THE EARTH SHIFTER, its many fascinating characters and the book’s Multiverse, the spiritual way of handling a conflict, the issue of bullying, whether Kristen Stuart would be right for the role of Sasha, would that Bond girl be a perfect “Red,” and what’s next in the series!
February 25, 2013
Prosperity and My Chinese New Year Spread
Today, I’m continuing my series on the Chinese New Year of the Snake Celebration. As you start the new year, so shall it go. That’s why the Chinese pay so much attention to having a very prosperous and bountiful holiday table. This year, I started my Chinese New Year Celebration in the Catskills, and then, continued it in New York City, including a visit to the New York Chinatown. The pics for the Chinatown are to follow, but today, I’d like to share with my wordpress friends my Chinese New Year prosperity celebration.
The table should be bountiful and include dishes like auspicious fish, rice, lots of colorful and healthy vegetables, fruits & cake, and some high quality tea!
The centerpiece on my table: auspicious pink salmon, a wonderful symbol of prosperity.
Salmon is garnished with green peas for health, growth and money, as well as colorful fresh red peppers for energy.
My two rice dishes: white jasmine and mahogany, both garnished with fresh veggies.
Mahogany vegetable rice, my favorite!
Jasmine vegetable rice.
Cabbage and scallion salad (in a large bowl after grapefruit). Due to green color, many leaves or shoots, and excellent nutritional value, both cabbage and scallions are the beloved symbols of prosperity.
Finally, to satisfy my sweet tooth: tea and cake!
My very healthy cake, stuffed with high quality dry fruits and red walnuts and garnished with jumbo dates. It was very moist and delicious. Yum!
Jasmine Dragon Pearl green tea, brewed especially for the New Year of the Snake, in a Tetsubin Snake tea pot, and served in Japanese tea cups.
An appetizing platter of red walnuts, jumbo raisins, and roasted seeds & red peanuts, also symbolizing bounty and abundance.
And of course, chocolate raisins, so the year is extra-sweet & extra-smooth.
Prosperity is said to double, if the bounty on the table is reflected in a large mirror.
Persimmons – another welcome symbol of prosperity.
My persimmon branches decorated for the holiday with auspicious birds, Chinese coins and Laughing Buddha.
The name of the plant below says it all: this is the famous Chinese money tree!
And of course, no self-respecting Chinese would celebrate New Year without oranges! A huge bowl of oranges and other fruit on my dining table. Oranges are the ultimate symbol of prosperity and abundance, but other fruits are great, too.
Let the fea st begin! Happy Chinese New Year of the Snake!
Also read:
Auspicious Chinese New Year Celebration
What to Expect from the Chinese New Year of the Snake
February 24, 2013
Inspiring Workshop
Reblogged from Darlene Foster's Blog:
I took Friday off of work to attend an all day eWomen Network workshop called How to be a Best Selling Author & Treat your Book as a Business. It was well worth the time spent. The workshop was facilitated by two amazing speakers, Teresa de Grosbois and Charmaine Hammond, both published authors and international speakers. The energy in the room was vibrant with many opportunities to meet new people and network.
Darlene Foster, author of two rocking children's adventure books: Amanda in Arabia & Amanda in Spain, is sharing some important secrets of publishing success.
What an awesome post, Darlene! Thank you so much for sharing. There is so much great info and important reminders here that I have to reblog it! :)
February 20, 2013
Ancients & Spirits: Author Mark O’Neil on the Vinny Eastwood Show
Our very own M.C. O’Neil of RoyalManaBall.com blog has been interviewed by Vinny Eastwood on The Vinny Eastwood Show on 2/18/13! The topics discussed were NWO, the shifts in the world system and the USA, conspiracy theories, predictive programming in the media and YA literature, and what it’s like to become aware that what you’ve been told your entire life may be not the truth. Mark O’Neil also talked about his fascinating YA fantasy, The Ancients and the Angels. I’m starting to read book one, The Ancients and the Angels: Celestials, and I’ll let you know my thoughts as soon as I’m done. Look for my review here, on GR, Shelfari, and Amazon in a few weeks!
What’s also awesome, Mark O’Neil discussed me and my book, The Earth Shifter, on the show, and I thank him from the bottom of my heart for this terrific endorsement! Watch the entire interview below! The piece about yours truly starts at 35:06. Check out the whole thing!
Find out more about The Vinny Eastwood Show and subscribe:
TheVinnyEastwoodShow.com & www.Guerillamedia.co.nz
Twitter: @MCONeill2 @Guerillamedia
Below are some exciting news for those who’ve asked about my upcoming books & about plans to release my books in print! I am happy to report that:
1. THE EARTH SHIFTER paperback is coming in April.
2. In April, I’m also releasing Earth Keepers Chronicles: Book 2 – Lemurian Crystal & Book 3 – Atlantis. These two novelettes will come out as separate ebooks. Simultaneously, I will release all three Earth Keepers books (Catharsis, Lemurian Crystal, Atlantis) together as paperback entitled EARTH KEEPERS CHRONICLES: ORIGINS.
3. Also, I’ll finally be releasing STEPFORD USA (Accidental Spy US Adventure) as paperback, which is Jade Snow’s humble beginnings in Smalltown USA – presently available as an ebook. This adventure precedes GOLD TRAIN (Accidental Spy Russia Adventure), which is already available as both ebook and paperback.
Look for these new releases on Amazon and Barnes&Noble in April-May!
Last, but certainly not least, on March 6-7 Lada Ray Blog will be hosting the Book Review Fest 2 (read Book Review Fest 1 featuring my reviews of several exciting Indie books). The upcoming Fest will feature the best recent reviews of The Earth Shifter, along with links to the reviewers’ blogs, recent features and author interviews. By the way, two exciting author interviews are coming up: I am happy to be interviewed by Rohan Healy of http://rohan7things.wordpress.com/ & by Maddy Walsh of http://1earthunite.wordpress.com/. These promise to be awesome interviews as these two bloggers are both fun and aware, and they are total spiritual dynamos! Stay tuned!
February 15, 2013
THE EARTH SHIFTER Plot Playing out in Real Time: Massive Meteor Rocks Russia!
I received a flood of emails and tweets with messages like, “Hey, does this remind you of anything?” and “Is this like The Earth Shifter plot?” Yes, it is like the plot of THE EARTH SHIFTER materializing in front of our very eyes. Exactly as described, just like it happened in Siberia in 1908, or just like it could happen again – but a little ahead of schedule, so to speak…
In 1908, the Tunguska Meteorite explosion in the remote Podkamennaya Tunguska region of Siberia rocked the world. This historic event has become the fantasy/scifi premise for THE EARTH SHIFTER. Read more about it.
And this just happened in the Chelyabinsk region of the Ural Mountains, which is the dividing point between the European part of Russia and Siberia.
According to Russia Today (RT):
“It’s not been quite average morning in Russia. People in the Urals region have seen burning objects raining down from the sky after a meteorite exploded above the Earth.
MORE INFO & PHOTOS: http://on.rt.com/qn2v57“
I’m happy to say that there were no deaths and all the injuries received were treatable, based on reports. That’s a big relief.
Russians have obviously embraced the 21st Century very thoroughly, as a myriad of spectacular videos of the meteor and its aftermath were captured by various web cams, dash cams, cell phones, and CCTV installed in offices, parking lots, and even schools.
Witness how it happened! Watch these incredible eye-witness Youtube videos, courtesy RT. Click on each video to watch!
Massive Meteor Rocks Russia
Huge Hole as Russian Meteor Smashes into Icy Lake
Apocalypse Now? The meteor report
Russian meteor explosion: Spectacular dash cam video
Skyfall: Hundreds injured as meteorite wreaks havoc in Russia’s Urals
Planet Earth escapes asteroid Armageddon
Tired of characters you don’t care about? Want to read an intensely moving fantasy cleverly intertwined with true historic events? Want to immerse yourself in the new, rich and fascinating world, with surprises and revelations at every turn?
THE EARTH SHIFTER is for you!
The meteor that broke up over the Urals today, hurtling its pieces down on the unsuspecting city, was only the size of the kitchen table. The meteor (or asteroid) that just missed Planet Earth by 17,000 miles (not much by the Cosmic standards), was 155 feet long! See the last video above.
The Comet of Karma described in THE EARTH SHIFTER is much, much larger. It’s roughly the size of the Island of Manhattan, akin to the size of the Comet that ended the dominion of the once mighty Dinosaurs on our planet (what happened to the Dinosaurs would be described in the upcoming Earth Keepers Chronicles: Origins – April release). Watching all these videos, I can’t help but ask the question raised in the book: Will the Earth Keepers interfere, saving the day again? Read Excerpt
read THE EARTH SHIFTER at these retailers:
Barnes & Noble Nook Smashwords
Amazon US UK CA DE ES IT FR JP BR
More about THE EARTH SHIFTER:
Goodreads page Shelfari page LadaRay site
February 14, 2013
Wake up! Time to die. The Hunger Games.
Reblogged from royal manaball:
Didn’t want to do it, but having just completed the Hunger Games Trilogy, I feel compelled to impart my take on it.
Many in the conspiracy circles have decried this series as anything from predictive programming to the satanic masturbation of dead children. Red magick gone wrong.
Here, I will not give you a definitive answer as to if this omnibus is either, but there are some defenses and suppositions that I would like to examine to these allegations.
Lada's five cents: A VERY revealing and disturbing review of the Hunger Games Trilogy by author M.C. O'Neill, which I happen to agree with: "yes, it's time to die, but for what?"
To be absolutely honest, the hype around The Hunger Games is - was - very suspect. But... we have plenty of manufactured movie stars and "American Idol" singers, why not manufactured best-selling authors?
..
I did enjoy the conspiracy theory element, although it's incredibly disturbing that this kind of a bloodthirsty book has become MANDATORY READING in the US schools, as I've just learned. Also, imagine this - what a shocking coincidence! The Hunger Games author, Suzanne Collins, apparently resides in the infamous Newtown, CT (the place of the recent school massacre), as I also found out from this review! But as we know, there are no accidents in life, are there?
..
A disclosure: I personally just watched the movie, which was very well made and as I understand, was very accurate to the book. After watching it, I wasn't impressed enough to read the first book, forget second and third. Compare this to Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling: once, I happened to pick up the first book at Barnes&Noble, and having flipped through some pages, went ahead and bought it. Then the next, and the next - when it's deserved, it's deserved.
..
But back to The Hunger Games. I further agree with MC's assessment of the main character. Alas, Katniss Everdeen is not what you'd call sympathetic. Oh, don't get me wrong, as an author and a student of human nature, I am first to recognize and understand that the reality shapes people's character, and tough reality makes people tougher. Sure, Katniss has her moments, like volunteering as a tribute to save her little sister's life...but her blood thirst! Don't even get me started on Peeta, and how unsympathetic he is! And we are supposed to believe that Katniss has something for him, while there is this absolutely gorgeous, devoted, kind and humane boyfriend, who's played in the movie by the younger brother of Thor's Chris Hemsworth (same genes, you know ;)), waiting for her at home? I don't know about you, I found this very hard to believe. Unless, of course, in this world humanity and kindness are about as cheap as one's life. And that's what our children are reading at school? That alone should make people want to yank their kids out of such school system and homeschool them - again, don't get me started on the American school system!
..
Just tweeted, shared on FB & reblogged this review! Read it, it'll open your eyes!
Incidentally, M.C. O'Neill, author of The Ancients and the Angels, will be a guest at the Vinny Eastwood Show at http://www.guerillamedia.co.nz/ @guerillamedia on 2/18! Check it out!
February 9, 2013
Auspicious Chinese New Year of the Snake Celebration
Chinese New Year of the Water Snake starts on February 10, 2013, at the new moon. As usual, the celebrations last for fifteen days, until the next full moon. Such long celebration period provides many awesome opportunities to welcome the auspicious energy of the year ahead. Chinese New Year Celebration is as different from the Western one as it gets, yet the idea is the same: saying goodbye to the old year and ushering in the new year in style and with good cheer.
A Recipe for a Successful & Auspicious Chinese New Year Celebration:
1. Colors to wear. Traditionally for the Chinese New Year, you should dress in red. Red symbolizes the ultimate color of energy, beauty – and fire. It is the color that energizes everything it touches. Red is especially great for women. Gold jewelry is very good as generally, the New Year colors are red and gold. Men can dress in red, or blue, as blue is the color of water, money and career success.
Princess Lily ready to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Snake – pretty on red
Chinese lanterns during a New Year Celebration
A fiery Bolshoi Theatre performance, Moscow, Russia. Appropriately – in red and gold
As this is the Year of the Water Snake, and water colors are blue and black, you can also wear one of these colors to usher in the new energy. If wearing black (I personally adore black), try to accessorize with reds, blues and jewelry, to add more yang energy.
2. Celebrate with a wonderful spread and lots of prosperous foods on the table, even if you have a small family or are alone. Such auspicious table is a symbol and a signal to the Universe that you are ready to start the New Year of success and prosperity.
3. Share the joy of the Holiday with family and friends. Friends at the dinner table bring in the yang energy and happiness.
4. Invite symbols of prosperity into your home. These include money trees, auspicious bamboo, persimmons, mandarins and oranges, and of course, Gods of Wealth and Prosperity. I have lots of various symbols of prosperity in my home.
From my personal collection: Laughing Buddha, one of the beloved gods of prosperity. I adore his happy continence 
My auspicious bamboo
5. Creating a wealth vase is always a great idea. If you already have one, be sure to refresh it for the New Year! Interestingly enough, wealth vases are extremely popular not only in China but also in Tibet, where the Buddhist monks conduct very elaborate ceremonies to consecrate them. Pretty fascinating stuff!
6. Fill the red prosperity envelopes (also called red Chinese packets) with auspicious money and Chinese coins, and keep them in your wallet so you never run out of money.
7. Clean up the house and do all of your laundry in advance to get rid of the old energy and free up the space for the new.
8. The above are all the do’s. Ah, and here is the dreaded don’t! Don’t work on the first day of the Chinese New Year, don’t do any cleaning, repairs, or god forbid, vacuuming or sweeping with the broom on that day, as it’s considered extremely inauspicious – akin to sucking out or sweeping away all your wealth and prosperity. (Note, this rule applies only to the first day of the celebrations.)
But what if I have to work on the first day of the Chinese New Year, you ask? Well, if you have to, you have to. Just do your best, perhaps designating a different day for celebration instead. The NYC Chinatown merchants routinely do just that because all of their customers want to celebrate. Restaurants and shops are full and they have to make money while they can. I know some of the Chinatown merchants, and they are telling me that they have to work despite the traditional taboo. But luckily for most of us, this Chinese New Year starts on a Sunday! Yay!
Once, a roof repairman showed up at my house just on the first day of the Chinese New Year despite the fact that I specifically warned him not to come on that date. Alas, as it usually happens in such cases, he mixed up the dates. I had to tell him to leave asap and come back some other day. You can imagine the look on his face!
I am currently at my Catskills residence and my family is in NYC. We will be celebrating together in a week or so, when I join them in the City. But I’m still preparing a cozy little celebration of the New Year’s Eve. I baked a VERY HEALTHY cake and prepared auspicious salmon. I also made some of my Dragon Pearl jasmine tea in my Snake Tetsubin teapot (very appropriate for this year!). Yum! I invited a local friend to help me celebrate, while I finish up my business here before heading to NYC. By the way, I’ve taken some iPhone pics of my little Chinese New Year’s spread and I’ll post them on my blog just as soon as I figure out how to upload them. Or, most likely, I’ll wait for my wiz of a husband to do it for me. 
Stay tuned, much more coming your way!
Wishing everyone a very Happy Chinese New Year of the Water Snake!
Gong Hey Fat Choy!
恭禧發財!
Also read: All About the Year of the Water Snake
Lada Ray is the Internationally Certified Feng Shui Master Practitioner and author, including best-selling mystery/thriller GOLD TRAIN (Accidental Spy Russia Adventure) & the new 5* rated metaphysical fantasy/thriller, THE EARTH SHIFTER.
More about Lada’s books About Lada: Bio.
..
How to Celebrate Chinese New Year in Style
Chinese New Year Celebration is as different from the Western one as it gets, yet the idea is the same: saying goodbye to the old year and ushering in the new year in style and with good cheer.
Rules for a successful and auspicious Chinese New Year Celebration:
1. Colors to wear. Traditionally for the Chinese New Year, you should dress in red. Red symbolizes the ultimate color of energy, beauty – and fire. It is the color that energizes everything it touches. Red is especially great for women. Gold jewelry is very good as generally, the New Year colors are red and gold. Men can dress in red, or blue, as blue is the color of water, money and career success.
Princess Lily ready to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Snake – pretty on red
Chinese lanterns during a New Year Celebration
A fiery Bolshoi Theatre performance, Moscow, Russia. Appropriately – in red and gold
As this is the Year of the Water Snake, and water colors are blue and black, you can also wear one of these colors to usher in the new energy. If wearing black (I personally adore black), try to accessorize with reds, blues and jewelry, to add more yang energy.
2. Celebrate with a wonderful spread and lots of prosperous foods on the table, even if you have a small family or are alone. Such auspicious table is a symbol and a signal to the Universe that you are ready to start the New Year of success and prosperity.
3. Share the joy of the Holiday with family and friends. Friends at the dinner table bring in the yang energy and happiness.
4. Invite symbols of prosperity into your home. These include money trees, auspicious bamboo, persimmons, mandarins and oranges, and of course, Gods of Wealth and Prosperity. I have lots various symbols of prosperity in my home.
From my personal collection: Laughing Buddha, one of the beloved gods of prosperity. I adore his happy continence
My auspicious bamboo
5. Creating a wealth vase is always a great idea. If you already have one, be sure to refresh it for the New Year! Interestingly enough, wealth vases are extremely popular not only in China but also in Tibet, where the Buddhist monks conduct very elaborate ceremonies to consecrate them. Pretty fascinating stuff!
6. Fill the red prosperity envelopes (also called red Chinese packets) with auspicious money and Chinese coins, and keep them in your wallet so you never run out of money.
7. Clean up the house and do all of your laundry in advance to get rid of the old energy and free up the space for the new.
8. The above are all the do’s. Ah, and here is the dreaded don’t! Don’t work on the first day of the Chinese New Year, don’t do any cleaning, repairs, or god forbid, vacuuming or sweeping with the broom on that day, as it’s considered extremely inauspicious – akin to sucking out or sweeping away all your wealth and prosperity. (Note, this rule applies only to the first day of the celebrations.)
But what if I have to work on the first day of the Chinese New Year, you ask? Well, if you have to, you have to. Just do your best, perhaps designating a different day for celebration instead. The NYC Chinatown merchants routinely do just that because all of their customers want to celebrate. Restaurants and shops are full and they have to make money while they can. I know some of the Chinatown merchants, and they are telling me that they have to work despite the traditional taboo. But luckily for most of us, this Chinese New Year starts on a Sunday! Yay!
Once, a roof repairman showed up at my house just on the first day of the Chinese New Year despite the fact that I specifically warned him not to come on that date. Alas, as it usually happens in such cases, he mixed up the dates. I had to tell him to leave asap and come back some other day. You can imagine the look on his face!
I am currently at my Catskills residence and my family is in NYC. We will be celebrating together in a week or so, when I join them in the City. But I’m still preparing a cozy little celebration of the New Year’s Eve. I baked a VERY HEALTHY cake and prepared auspicious salmon. I also made some of my Dragon Pearl jasmine tea in my Snake Tetsubin teapot (very appropriate for this year!). Yum! I invited a local friend to help me celebrate, while I finish up my business here before heading to NYC. By the way, I’ve taken some iPhone pics of my little Chinese New Year’s spread and I’ll post them on my blog just as soon as I figure out how to upload them. Or, most likely, I’ll wait for my wiz of a husband to do it for me.
Stay tuned, much more coming your way!
Wishing everyone a very Happy Chinese New Year of the Water Snake!
February 8, 2013
What to Expect from the Chinese New Year of the Snake?
HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR OF THE WATER SNAKE!
Continuing with last year’s successful tradition, this is post 1 of the Chinese New Year of the Snake Extravaganza.
The Chinese New Year of the Water Snake starts on February 10, 2013, at the new moon. As usual, the New Year celebrations last for 15 days, until the next full moon. These celebrations include family get-togethers, wonderful meals with friends, dragon and lion dances, lavish prosperity ceremonies, and much more!
As a classically trained Feng Shui master consultant, I usually carefully examine the Flying Star chart for the year. I was fascinated by this year’s chart! Indeed, this is a very special year, when all the stars, so to speak, align in a very rare way. Such alignment (in a different way every time) only happens every 9 years. It symbolizes the ending of a cycle, and simultaneously, a new beginning.
This is the year when friendships and alliances of all sorts will be especially auspicious, and when people who usually don’t see eye-to-eye can work together, producing marvelous results! The motto for the year: Strengthen all your relationships, rekindle the old, and start the new ones!
Chinese Zodiac – Year of the Snake
I personally have particular affinity with the Year of the Snake as it’s one of my so-called “Chinese Zodiac Friends.” The Year of the Water Snake is doubly auspicious for me, as water is one of my benefic elements. But in truth, whatever your benefic elements are, this is a very special and auspicious year! Make the best of it!
There is often a misplaced fear of snakes in the West, partly steeped in a long-standing patriarchal society tradition of the suppression of the Sacred Feminine. And partly, originating from the irrational fear of a snake bite. In fact, there are very few snakes that bite lethally, and even fewer that would intentionally bite a human, unless their habitat is being threatened by said humans. Meanwhile, snake’s venom in small doses is considered a powerful medicine, and that’s why snakes coiling around a cup or a stick/sword are traditional symbols of pharmacy and medical profession.
In the enlightened traditions, Snake symbolizes wisdom.
Snakes as symbols of wisdom and discernment on Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun‘s head dress
In the Chinese system, the Snake is classified as one of the “thinkers” of the Zodiac.
In various indigenous traditions, Snake is also a symbol of the Mother Earth (hence wisdom), sexual energy, fertility, Kundalini, and Sacred Feminine.
Wonderful green snake. Courtesy www.animalpictures123.org
Many beautiful snakes are becoming an endangered species! The vanishing Garter Snake. Courtesy scienceray.com
However you look at it, Snake energy is very powerful, and should always be used with care and wisdom. And need I point out that, as any part of nature on planet Earth, snakes should be treated with respect and understanding.
I am looking forward to this New Year of the Water Snake from which I expect many great and positive things!
Stay tuned for more awesome, one-of-a-kind Chinese New Year posts!
Read on the first day of the New Year, February 10, 2013: HOW TO CELEBRATE CHINESE NEW YEAR OF the SNAKE in STYLE! Including dos and don’ts.
Later, I’ll have a post about HOW TO BRING PROSPERITY INTO YOUR HOME (a perennially popular topic!)
And last, but not least, I am planning on attending the New Year dragon dances in NYC Chinatown and filming them. I will post my vids here and on LadaRay Yutube Channel. I am presently at my Catskills retreat, but my Chinese family’s New Year get-together will be in the City. I’m very excited! Here’s to hoping the roads are not snowed in and I can get through! I’ll keep everyone posted how it goes!
Til then, HAPPY NEW YEAR of the WATER SNAKE, and may it bring much prosperity and love into your life!
Read last year’s How My Family Celebrates Chinese New Year of the Dragon!
Lada Ray is the Internationally Certified Feng Shui Master Practitioner and author, including best-selling mystery/thriller GOLD TRAIN (Accidental Spy Russia Adventure) & the new 5* rated metaphysical fantasy/thriller, THE EARTH SHIFTER.
More about Lada’s books About Lada: Bio.
Celebrating Chinese New Year of the Snake
HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR OF THE WATER SNAKE!
Continuing with last year’s successful tradition, this is post 1 of the Chinese New Year of the Snake Extravaganza.
The Chinese New Year of the Water Snake starts on February 10, 2013, at the new moon. As usual, the New Year celebrations last for 15 days, until the next full moon. These celebrations include family get-togethers, wonderful meals with friends, dragon and lion dances, lavish prosperity ceremonies, and much more!
As a classically trained Feng Shui master consultant, I usually carefully examine the Flying Star chart for the year. I was fascinated by this year’s chart! Indeed, this is a very special year, when all the stars, so to speak, align in a very rare way. Such alignment (in a different way every time) only happens every 9 years. It symbolizes the ending of a cycle, and simultaneously, a new beginning.
This is the year when friendships and alliances of all sorts will be especially auspicious, and when people who usually don’t see eye-to-eye can work together, producing marvelous results! The motto for the year: Strengthen all your relationships, rekindle the old, and start the new ones!
Chinese Zodiac – Year of the Snake
I personally have particular affinity with the Year of the Snake as it’s one of my so-called “Chinese Zodiac Friends.” The Year of the Water Snake is doubly auspicious for me, as water is one of my benefic elements. But in truth, whatever your benefic elements are, this is a very special and auspicious year! Make the best of it!
There is often a misplaced fear of snakes in the West, partly steeped in a long-standing patriarchal society tradition of the suppression of the Sacred Feminine. And partly, originating from the irrational fear of a snake bite. In fact, there are very few snakes that bite lethally, and even fewer that would intentionally bite a human, unless their habitat is being threatened by said humans. Meanwhile, snake’s venom in small doses is considered a powerful medicine, and that’s why snakes coiling around a cup or a stick/sword are traditional symbols of pharmacy and medical profession.
In the enlightened traditions, Snake symbolizes wisdom.
Snakes as symbols of wisdom and discernment on Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun‘s head dress
In the Chinese system, the Snake is classified as one of the “thinkers” of the Zodiac.
In various indigenous traditions, Snake is also a symbol of the Mother Earth (hence wisdom), sexual energy, fertility, Kundalini, and Sacred Feminine.
Wonderful green snake. Courtesy www.animalpictures123.org
Many beautiful snakes are becoming an endangered species! The vanishing Garter Snake. Courtesy scienceray.com
However you look at it, Snake energy is very powerful, and should always be used with care and wisdom. And need I point out that, as any part of nature on planet Earth, snakes should be treated with respect and understanding.
I am looking forward to this New Year of the Water Snake from which I expect many great and positive things!
Stay tuned for more awesome, one-of-a-kind Chinese New Year posts!
Coming on the first day of the New Year, February 10, 2013: HOW TO CELEBRATE the CHINESE NEW YEAR OF the SNAKE in STYLE! Including dos and don’ts.
Later, I’ll have a post about HOW TO BRING PROSPERITY INTO YOUR HOME (a perennially popular topic!)
And last, but not least, I am planning on attending the New Year dragon dances in NYC Chinatown and filming them. I will post my vids here and on LadaRay Yutube Channel. I am presently at my Catskills retreat, but my Chinese family’s New Year get-together will be in the City. I’m very excited! Here’s to hoping the roads are not snowed in and I can get through! I’ll keep everyone posted how it goes!
Til then, HAPPY NEW YEAR of the WATER SNAKE, and may it bring much prosperity and love into your life!
Read last year’s How My Family Celebrates Chinese New Year of the Dragon!
