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For two billion people, the new year begins Friday with the Aquarius New Moon.

Dear Friend and Reader:

The Year of the Green Dragon commences Friday, Feb. 9. Lunar New Year, celebrated by about a quarter of the world’s population (mostly in Asia), the last in the sequence of popular reckoning of a year turning over.

The earliest is Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew new year), in September or October (it too is based on a lunar calculation, so it slides around).

Then comes Celtic new year, when the Sun is in mid-Scorpio (Samhain, pronounced sah-wen). Not so many people follow this one as the start of the year — though most of those who do are various shades of neo-Pagans and Wiccans. The rest of us think of trick-or-treating, or communing with the ancestors (all time-honored traditions).

Then there is the civil New Year holiday under the Gregorian calendar — good old Janus, the doorway, on Jan. 1.

The last and forthcoming year-turnover event is based on a formula of the second New Moon after winter solstice, which I’ve read can in some years can stretch as late as Feb. 20. This is celebrated in many (though not all) Asian cultures.

OK, there is one other event where the year begins — the vernal equinox. That is the astrological and astronomical turnover of the year, when this odd thing called sidereal time resets to midnight and the Sun’s position returns to the first degree of Aries, at the beginning of the zodiac.

Asian lunar years run in 12, 60 and 120-year cycles. There are 12 animals (not counting the skunk and the mouse, which don’t get years) and five elements. Because most people don’t live to 120, in practical terms, the 60-year cycle gets the emphasis. We have returned to the Year of the Dragon (which occurred most recently in 2012) and the year of the Wood Dragon or Green Dragon (which occurred most recently in 1964).

Go back through history and you’ll see that dragon years are all a bit extraordinary (though it’s getting hard to tell lately). At least they come with fanfare and high expectations, for example, 2000 and 2012.

Different Approaches to the Dragon

In world culture, there are a few different kinds of ways to perceive dragons. The important thing about them is that unlike dogs, pigs and bunny rabbits, dragons exist only in mythology and the imagination.

Here in the West, we talk about slaying them, as they are considered frightening and evil thought forms (this never worked for me intuitively; but then I am born in a dragon year). Recall the killing of the dragon Smaug in The Hobbit. This was supposedly a good thing; in Middle Earth, dragons were considered evil.

In Celtic mythology, dragons are held as guardians of wisdom and knowledge, as well as symbols of leadership, and a kind of totem that grants the gift of prophesy.

In Chinese mythology, there are nine “sons of the dragon.” While we are here, let’s identify them: Bixi, Qiuniu, Yazi, Chaofeng, Pulao, Chiwen, Bi'an, Suanni, and Fuxi. I’m not sure which of these is associated with a dragon year, but those are fun names, and they all have stories. I would like to have them over for dinner and a house concert. They would probably eat a lot, and it would be loud.

Chinese lore says that dragons are associated with strength, good health, good luck and the male element Yang. Dragon has a resonance with the Western sign Aries, with high initiative and the willingness to take bold chances.

However, the forthcoming year is influenced by the element wood, and such dragons are a little mellower in temperament than those of other elements (such as fire or metal).

Most dragon-people like to stand up and apart; the wood dragon is OK with leaning back a little, but does not mind the occasional limelight.

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Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Pluto arrived in your sign two weeks ago, and is about to take a conjunction from Mars. This is an activating event, something that will tell you about this new stage of your life in a way you were not expecting. Pluto often works on a deep level, poised for an aspect from a nearby inner planet. That personalizes it, brings it close, and makes it real. Mars calls for action. It’s likely that you’ve come to a realization, long in the making, that is waiting for you to make a decision and put it into motion. You may sense what that is about now; you may feel like you don’t have enough information to make a decision. Therefore, it would be unwise to rush, or to pre-empt your natural process of discovery. Reliable information is likely to be the specific thing you’re missing. Hunches are not enough; I am talking about actionable data and an understanding of your situation. Meanwhile, the thing to do now is to be sure you know what you want. You are motivated to move mountains when you experience actual focused desire. There will be two parts to this: Mars enters your sign first, followed by Venus. Mars is concerned with fast action, and Venus with correct action. Remember.

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Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Keep your options open; the very best of them has yet to make itself known. And as Mars joins Pluto in the most sensitive area of your chart mid-month, it will help if you manage your anxiety carefully. Your fears will seem larger than life under this astrology. So whatever techniques you’ve learned over the years, dust them off, and put them to good use. You have more important things to do than fret or worry. One of them is to work with those you know are your friends toward the improvement of your life circumstances — whatever the field of life may be. Friends are the people with a demonstrated commitment to you over time. Friends are the people whose words match their actions. Ultimately, you possess responsibility for your choices. Each one is part of your maturing process; each demonstrates your commitment to yourself and to who you are. Yet in our time, perhaps worse than many others, there is a lack not just of loyalty but also the lack of understanding what loyalty is and why it’s so important for both the giver and the receiver. This is part of the fundamental chaos of our times, and the fraying and fragmenting of humanity. In all you do, act as if to hold the world together.

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