75 - It's the Year of the Ox!
恭喜發財! Happy Lunar New Year !
It's that time of year again - ready to get your fortune told??
P.S. I know a lot of you will want to check your fortune from last year so click here first to go see how accurate it was last year!
P.P.S. I want to try and launch an advice column: click here if you want to participate in the first edition of Vince's adVice (name tbd)!
A few glossary terms:
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A 'name year' is usually a bad thing - it's got to do with your position in the zodiac relative to the current year. I don't know how it works, other than the fact that if you're in the name year, you usually have 'a year of change' (and change is usually bad...). A prime example is Ox in the Ox Year need to be on guard for accidents!
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Any time I mention a 'sponsor' it means that there's someone who will appear in your life as a benefactor of some sort. It doesn't mean they're literally rich or will give you money, it means they'll be valuable to your life.
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A 'crisis' of any type means that there could be an incident relating to that particular thing. So for example, a 'blood crisis' means you'll have an incident relating to blood. But that could be you donating blood, or a blood test, so usually the advice is to get your blood tested (which is really just a healthy annual thing to do...).
🐂 Ox - The Year of Being the Boss: This year is your name year (literally). That means you have to look after your health - you're prone to blood crises and accidents. However, the Emperor Star shines upon you, which means that you'll succeed at anything you put your mind to. Imagine that you're channeling the supreme power of an EMPEROR (one of those badass Chinese emperors) and boss your way to the top - in your career as well as at home (the guy actually says that female ox's will become the boss of the house so fair warning to all the guys!).
There is an auspicious coupling of Ox / Snake / Rooster this year - so befriend these people to help you boost your spirits! Your romantic life is going to take a backseat to career this year so just...don't stress about it. Don't let your friendships slip even while you're pursuing greatness.
Top tips:
- Raise a cat to try and dispel some bad luck from the year
- Wear red underwear when you're sick to preserve your luck
🐅 Tiger - The Year of Red Fairy Romance: It's the year of LOVE for you - a marriage star called the Red Fairy shines down on you! The story behind the star is that a red fairy came to earth, fell in love with a human and gave up her immortality to be with him. When she died, her soul flew up into the heavens and the Sky Emperor made her an auspicious marriage star (cos of...love or something - romance was different back in the day. I wonder what the arguments were like, "I gave up my immortality for this.").
This year, you'll be pretty, popular and have lots of fans. Tigers are notoriously bad at dealing with love, as they channel a lot of fierce energy, so be careful about the anxiety surrounding relationships and love. Sit back, relax, don't take it too seriously - just meet people and have fun. This year, career takes a backseat, so make sure you get sponsors to help you in your career, otherwise it'll go nowhere.
Top tips:
- Hang 6 copper coins in the South-most point in your house to prevent bladed accidents
- Grow 4 bamboo shoots in the East-most point of your house to promote energy flow through you body
- Wear hats to bring more luck (this is so great - bring back HATS)
🐇 Rabbit - The Year of Stay in Your Goddamn Lane: Good luck last year, shit luck this year. A Lonesome star shines on you, as well as a Heavenly Dog star, which sounds like it would be super cute, but it actually is the harbinger of doom. The Heavenly Dog is said to eat the sun during eclipses, and always brings misfortune. So...because you can't rely on the stars this year, you'll have to rely on yourself. Be wary of your relationships and career this year - even if you just lose a little bit here and there, consider it a win.
Unfortunately, the Lonesome star means you won't get many sponsors to help you (you might even get people who try to undermine you) - it's all up to you this year so...enjoy your freedom I guess? :D
Top tips:
- To counter the bad energy, set up your desk in the East/West of your house and then face the West/East - sort of like counteracting the normal flow of energy
- The official advice is for you to go and pray at temples to hope something better comes along...maybe try a couple of religions just in case?
- Make sure you rest and exercise so that you stay healthy! Don't risk the sickness!
🐉Dragon - The Year of Finding Success Overseas Without Travelling: Technically, you have a bad 'name year' this year...but due to the fact you have 3 major sponsor stars that shine on you, you'll have a 3rd year in a row of exceptional luck. Two of these stars relate to career, and romance respectively - both of these are going to be super easy as major sponsors will appear in your life - bad luck might come quick, but it will soon go away.
One of these stars is also a travel star - which means that overseas ventures may be successful (not that you necessarily have to travel there...bruh, we're still in a pandemic). The main problem you'll have is with relationships - in pursuing your great luck in career you might forget about them (so...don't). Bask in the glow of your good luck and laugh your way through the year!
Top tips:
- Wear green, wear hats, face East and North-East as much as you can - these apparently are going to stoke your luck this year (?)
- The Lonesome star shines on you, so go to church, or volunteering to help try and get around this bad luck
🐍 Snake - The Year of Resolving Conflict Between Wild Animals: Though you have a good synergy with an Ox year, and an Emperor star shines on you, you are also under the influence of the White Tiger star, which is responsible for 'snitches'. They spread gossip, destroy reputation and potentially can lead you to a blood crisis (DRAMA).
Luckily, you have a Green Dragon star that can counteract the White Tiger's influence, but it means that your great career luck will be full of trials and tribulations. So, though you've got Emperor energy, co-operation is key to this year, because the more conflicts you go through, the more opportunity there is for bad shit to happen.
Snake advice was the weirdest out of them all - in one paragraph he says if you compete against women this year, be wary, as they'll cause many problems for you. I don't know what to make of this at all.
Women be scary.
Top tips:
- Put up a flag on the left hand side of your desk or at your front door to ward away White Tiger energy (in the olden days they used to have statues out front of their houses for this!)
- Light 3 lights in the South West corner of your house to counteract bad people and accidents that are trying to get into your life.
🐎 Horse - The Year of Forging Your Future: You win this year's luck contest by having 2 S-tier stars shine upon you. Wipe away all of the bad luck from last year and get ready to take control of your life, find your freedom, and break free of last years restrictions! It's a major career luck vibe - any new investments will go EXTREMELY well, so prepare to turn your dreams into reality.
Technically though, it's still a 'name year' for you as well, so make sure you still care about the little things (as they can blow up quickly into big things...both relationship and career-wise). Apparently, your friends will hold you back, so that'll be a fun thing to balance.
Take all the opportunities you can to forge your future this year! Remember that restraint and moderation are important - so be ready to take some small L's for some big W's.
Top tips:
- Put lucky things (whatever is lucky to you) in the North West (if you're male) or South West (if you're female).
- Careful of your arms/legs/tendons/bones as they're at risk (sounds like you should be wary of like...any exercise??)
🐑 Sheep - The Year of Making Sure You Don't Screw Up Your Relationships : The Ox/Sheep combo generates pretty baa'd energy. It's very easy to get sick this year, so your health is paramount. Get your checkups done (got health insurance?) and make sure you get rest and exercise as much as possible.
Help yourself before helping others as you need to keep as much of that energy for your own luck (airplane mask energy). Be prepared to encounter a lot of obstacles this year - not only in your career, but in relationships as well. Apparently you're at risk of blowing up relationships this year - "as strong as a comet hitting the earth". Be careful of falls, bleeding, car accidents and high risk activities. Try to use the 'change' energy of a 'name year' positively - find new things to do and bring new energy to your life.
Top tips:
- Raise a dog or cat to raise your fire/earth elements if you were born in Spring/Winter (a great excuse to get a pet :D)
- In the Eastern side of your living room, place things (like...store things. anything) there to stabilise your luck
🐒 Monkey - The Year of Starting Your Influencer Career: Last year was your career year, this year is a romance year! But very specifically, you're under the influence of the Moon star which pertains to beauty, aesthetics and being all round :sparkles: G O R G E O U S :sparkles:. A Sky Happiness star also shines, meaning many celebrations are in store for you. Lastly, a travel star shines on you, which means your overseas ventures will be successful. Apparently, this means you'll do extremely well on the Internet (I don't make the rules) - you'll gain alot of fans and supporters (which to me says BECOME AN INFLUENCER :D).
You won't necessarily make a lot of money this year, but you'll get happiness and fulfilment (which is...better, right?). It's a year of romance though, so focus on taking advantage of this; you'll do best with Dragons and Rats. Be careful of blade crises and don't waste your time too much online (okay dad but you just told me to be an influencer so make up your mind).
Top tips:
- Being an influencer and gaining a lot of fans means you'll also have a lot of detractors so be careful of your emotions - don't stay out too late or get into dangerous situations (OKAY DAD I GET IT)
- Put lights in the South West and North East of your house to increase the fire element in your life
🐓Rooster (me!) - The Year of the Rooster becomes a Phoenix: The Ox/Snake/Rooster synergy is working in your favour - wash away the bad luck of last year and get into a super lucky year! In addition, you have this Dragon/Snake/Rooster combo that does well too (I have no idea why). You have 5 lucky stars that shine on you - 3 relate to career and sponsorship, and 2 relate to 'solving' stars - these are stars that help you smooth conflict over and help things just go well.
This year you'll be a phoenix reborn from the ashes - your two years of unluckiness are finally going to be overcome this year. You'll get more responsibility, which means more stress, but you'll be able to fight through and achieve greatness. The Red Gorgeous star means that you'll have many fun romantic times (helloooo dating life). This means high romance energy, but also high career energy, so you'll need to balance the two.
The next ten years of your life will be determined by the effort you put in this year (no pressure). Use your talent and know-how to create a bright future, and take advantage of all the great sponsors life is going to throw your way!
Top tips:
- Put a red light in the South West of your house to increase the fire element
- Take away blades from the North West to reduce accidents and bad luck
🐕 Dog - The Year of 'Deep Roots Grow Strong Trees': This year, stability will be your best bet - use this stability to gain ground and plan for the future. Be harmonious and peaceful in different clubs and societies you're part of - that harmony will help to become the 'bridge' between people, and help solidify your stability. Your inherent 'fire' energy helps to counteract the inherent 'water' energy of the Ox, so together you create a yin-yang balance in your life.
Be a little inventor, continously learn, experiment, improve and help others find solutions to things. Absorb life. Be natural - just be comfortable and glide through the year. Keep to yourself, feign ignorance while being smart, and leave all your worries 'til next year :) Celebrate your birthday if you're born in '94 to increase your luck for the year! :eyes:
Top tips:
- To capitalise on the inherent 'fire' energy, raise a dog or cat, or add more 'fire' things into your life (red clothes, spices, red hats etc.)
- Sit more in the North-East and West of your house - these are your lucky directions for the year
🐖Pig - The Year Of Finding The Silver Lining: A mixed year for you - on one hand you have 2 sponsor stars, but on the other hand you have a Corpse star which sounds incredibly morbid and...well...is supposed to bring a lot of negativity. But the feng shui guy is like 'well is it negativity or do you just have to CHANGE YOUR MINDSET'. Great advice.
There'll be hits to your wealth, your health, and mental state - you'll just have to be patient and keep moving forward. You'll keep fighting the good fight to get through - one particular star is the 'Side Hustle' star so good luck with that! Stay patient, stay wise, and wait for the perfect opportunity to convert your disastrous year into one of great fortune. Health-wise, be careful of your heart, blood and urine tract; make sure you exercise and get plenty of rest.
Top tips:
- Put a cherry blossom in the South West of your house cos this year your romance is baaaaaaaaad. This should help.
- Put lucky things in the North-West and South-West of your house as well to increase your luck!
🐀 Rat - The Year Of Growing Your Posse: The Rat/Ox synergy creates good partnership energy - both in romance and career. The 3 lucky stars that shine on you also will help with this. You have the Sun star which helps provide a happy, strong energy throughout the year. You have the Travel star which again, like the Monkey, helps you with travel / overseas ventures / immigration. You have this weird Sky Cooking star which means you'll get really good in the kitchen (like Remy the Rat??) - having curiousity and interest in CULTURE will help you in this venture.
You'll be quite successful and full of energy due to the Sun star, but just make sure you don't hang out much in the ocean or high risk water activities if you were born in Spring/Winter. Make sure you take advantage of all the new friends and partnerships you make - do new things, try exciting hobbies; everything that moves you in a positive direction away from the status quo!
Top tips:
- If you get sick, double down on adding fire to your life - red doonas, towels, pillows etc.
- High romance energy in August - be prepared for dating/marriage/kids (maybe not all at once...)!
Chat soon :)
Let me know if you have any feedback for the newsletter!
✔️ Real Life Recommendations
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Revisionist History - a podcast by Malcolm Gladwell that has been going for a few seasons now - I absolutely love the stories he uncovers. One of the more recent ones I listened to was about democratic lotteries which outlined an idea for voting in members of government through a lottery rather than a vote. At first glance it seems weird, but as he delves deeper into it, the results and thoughts of participants in tests are incredibly interesting. They're testing these ideas in Bolivia at the moment, but there's no reason it can't spread across the world! I'll likely write more about this later as well :)
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Shark Fin Inn - after Shark Fin House closed down during the pandemic, thought it might be a good idea to recommend Shark Fin Inn! It's a really traditional Cantonese cuisine place - went just last week for some lobster and it was magnificent. It's just really really good Cantonese food, at average to slightly above average prices. I don't usually go (because I could just go to local ones in my area) but I was pleasantly surprised at just how good it was!
🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway
- Why the Wingdings font exists - a cool article about why the Wingdings font exists. TL;DR: pre-emoji emojis.
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How the CCP does job promotions - a breakdown of a WeChat article called 'The Three Laws of Chinese Officaldom' which outlined why chinese officials suck:
- Law 1: The poorer the place, the more people want to be officials (because the state pays for everything)
- Law 2: The more power you have, the harder it is to be a great official (because people get offended when you don't do what they tell you)
- Law 3: A good man is not necessarily a good official (a good official has to make enemies, a good man has to please everyone)
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New Kanji (Facebook required) - a fascinating post about creating new characters in kanji. I absolutely love this - it's innovation in a language that doesn't see a lot of innovation. People from all ages were inventing words - especially around the pandemic. The winning kanji (you can see a lot more here if you can read Japanese) was a word for social distancing, changing how the characters for 'people' were separated from each other in the word.