The fun superficiality of the Chinese calendar actually runs deeply from observations made thousands of years ago that still apply to life today. The Chinese calendar was invented by emperor Huang Di in 2637 BCE, (our Gregorian calendar was invented in 1582CE). Incidentally, the emperor also wrote one of the most important early texts (Neijing) regarding Chinese medicine, human life and living in harmony with our environment, or “universal law”. Maoshing Ni, translator of the Neijing said, “The observations in the Neijing were stunningly scientific. Its contents are as relevant for life in the twentieth century as they were two millennia ago”.
 

The connection to “universal law” is pervasive throughout all aspects of being human, affecting day to day living, farming, health care, etc. As we strive to live in harmony with our environment, we also notice how we change and respond with each season. Each season corresponds to the Five Elements; fire/summer, metal/autumn, water/winter, wood/spring, and earth/transitions, as well as internal organs, sound, direction, etc. The calendar also incorporates the Five Elements, and for the next two years the Earth element is prominent. Earth has to do with the digestive system, the mouth, transformation, mediation, and rather than relating to one of the four directions, the Earthly direction is the middle/center.
 

According to the Chinese calendar, 2018 is the 4715th year. The New Year marks the start of a new lunar cycle and falls at the beginning of spring, (in China) when the earth wakes up from dormancy and brings forth new life. Spring is a time when people have a tendency to clean their environment, homes and their bodies in order to give plenty of room for new growth, both physically and emotionally. This new year, or “Spring Festival” is the year of the Earth Dog beginning on Friday, February 16. While the details run very deeply when we consider that the year will impact each person according to where and when each individual was born, we can also consider what we generally know about the Earth element and the Dog.
 

In general, the Earth element relates to the ability to nurture and properly care for ourselves and others, the colors brown and yellow, the sweet flavor, the transition between each season, muscle, physical strength, stability and coordination, and the digestive organs Stomach and Pancreas. The nature of Dogs also relates to the Earth element, and trust, unconditional love, loyalty, protection, stability, teaching, and of course, “pack mentality”. Dogs tend to stay loyal and protective of their pack, whether it is a family of humans or other dogs. Dogs are very much “on the surface” – they clearly communicate their needs and intentions to other animals and humans. The Brown Earth Dog is then a year of ‘double earth’ and so this is a good year to gather support for anything we’d like to accomplish. The key is to continue to work hard to prepare for the future rather than getting sucked into curling up on the porch basking in the sun or chasing the same ball over and over again. There is potential for stability, but with the risk of getting very comfortable and ‘stuck in the mud’.
 

Also worth mentioning is the Dog’s incredible sense of smell. It would be fitting for us to pay extra attention to this sense, and ask ourselves, “what information is this scent providing?”…