2026: The Year of the Fire Horse

 

Today is the start of the Chinese New Year - the year of the Fire Horse. Today is a day of new beginnings and a fresh start. As a pagan with Chinese ancestry, this is an important time for me to reassess my spirituality and prepare for the year ahead.

For as long as I can remember, I have been practising Chinese New Year traditions. In my youth growing up in Singapore, my family would take the early trek to Malaysia to visit extended family members to celebrate the new year with them as family reunion was an important part of the tradition. As I grew older and my family migrated to Australia, heading back to Malaysia every year became harder and more costly so my family would clean the house the day before and start the year afresh instead.

Now that I've moved out of home, I've continued some of the practices but admittedly not so much, seeing as both Annette and Paul prefer the Celtic way of life. Don't get me wrong. I'm very much inclined to that way of life myself. However, because of my genetics, the Chinese culture and traditions were thrusted upon me at a young age and have stuck with me ever since.

A few years ago, I resented my upbringing. Being born in the West (England, to be precise) and having spent most of my life in Australia, I wanted to get as far away from the Chinese traditions and practises as possible and, to be honest, I haven't always been contented with the decision. However, since I've take up paganism and become more interested in the spiritual side of things, I've had to re-evaluate how I see myself. 

I turned 50 last year and, as part of my spiritual development (as you know), I decided to look into Taoism. For the first time in my life, I realised that I shouldn't fight who I really am. The only real reason I denied who I was for the longest time was the association the general public made about my heritage (which wasn't always pleasant). Now, I've learnt that I should just be me - a Chinese Fire Witch who incorporates Taoism and Paganism into my practice.

Having said that, I decided that today, being Chinese New Year, I would incorporate the practices I grew up with - at least in part. A few years ago, we purchased a young peach tree and planted it in the backyard. Every year for the past three years, it generously bares some deliciously juicy fruit. It wasn't until this year, I decided to use one of our harvested peaches as an offering for my morning altar work.

Peaches are said to be a symbol of immortality in Chinese culture. I won't bore you with the history of why this is but I will leave you with this link for further reading if you're interested. Eating the peach (which I will do later today) is said to provide the consumer with longevity. 

As well as my altar practice, I've decided to dedicate the day to some of the traditions celebrated in Asian countries (sort of). Because of the significance of the day, I've managed to convince both Paul and Annette to celebrate it with me this evening with a fish noodle dish for dinner. Like peaches, eating noodles symbolises longevity and good fortune while eating fish is a symbol for wealth and prosperity. We'll then finish the evening by watching a relevant Chinese movie - The Forbidden Kingdom. This isn't part of the traditional practices but I thought I'd start my own with the family! 

So, there you have it. Chinese New Year celebrated my way. It's not an entirely traditional way to celebrate it but it's one that helps me re-connected with my heritage.