Chinese Astrology: The Year of the Snake

It began last month. And apparently, Snake years are often marked by turbulence:

Asian astrologers warn of stormy Year of Snake

[...] Previous Snake years have been marked by the September 11, 2001 terror strikes that killed nearly 3,000 people, the crushing of the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

The 1929 stock market plunge that heralded the Great Depression also occurred in a snake year.

Hong Kong's celebrity feng shui master Mak Ling-ling predicts the stock markets will enjoy a smooth first-half before becoming turbulent in the second half of the year, which she links to the characteristics of the reptile.

"It's just like the movement of snakes -- fast, aggressive and sharp, but cunning and tricky at the same time," she tells AFP.

Mak warned that despite early market optimism there would be no full recovery in the crisis-hit eurozone, while the economy of the United States would not gather a strong pace until 2014.

She added that President Barack Obama needed to "be less conservative" in his attempts to revive the economy.

Astrologers say this year's snake is identified with the element of water -- symbolising fear -- that sits on top of the fire element, representing joy and optimism. They say conflict between the two will bring turbulence in May.

"This is a disaster year... a lot of things will not go smoothly," said Singapore's "Grand Master" Tan Khoon Yong of geomancy consultancy Way OnNet Group.

"The European Union may split, the euro may be in trouble," the 59-year-old said, adding that the bloc would be threatened by division in May.

Hong Kong astrologer Chow Hon-ming said a disharmonious May would see an ongoing dispute between Japan and China possibly escalate into a "brief" war, as two "snakes" are going to clash according to his reading of the Chinese almanac.

"May is known as the 'snake month' and it's the Year of the Snake so between May 5 and June 6, these two snakes will meet.

"This is why things will be very intense between Japan and China. Tensions will rise to a peak and they will possibly go to war." [...]

Blah Blah Blah. As with all fortune telling, we shall see. But if it does happen, ya heard it here first! ;-)

   

A Government "In Drag"

Our government might be a drag, but a least they don't do drag:

Why Did Burma's Leader Appear on TV in Women's Clothes?

General Than Shwe of Burma, the dour and taciturn leader of one of the world's most repressive military regimes, isn't known for his feminine side. His contempt for pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is rooted in part, most Burma analysts say, to the fact that she is a woman.

And so many Burmese were baffled earlier this month when Than Shwe and other top generals, appearing at a nationally televised ceremony, shed their dress uniforms for the Burmese equivalent of women's dresses. "I don't understand why the generals were wearing women's [sarongs] but they looked very weird," said a Rangoon mechanic, Myint Oo. Others put a more sinister spin on the generals' sartorial selection. "It's yadaya," said a Rangoon-based astrologer who asked not to be named, referring to Burma's particular brand of black magic.

Burma has had three rulers during the past half-century and all have been devotees of yadaya. Gen. Ne Win, who ruled from 1962 to 1988 reportedly shot his own reflection in a mirror, on the advice of a fortune teller, to foil a foretold assassination attempt. His obsession with numerology led him to demonetize all bank notes in 1987 so new notes could be printed - all divisible by his lucky number nine. The move wiped out the savings of most Burmese and contributed to an uprising one year later. His successor, Gen. Saw Muang, was replaced after erratic behavior that included a rambling, semi-coherent nationally televised speech brimming with references to magic and astrology. The man who replaced him, Than Shwe, is reported to have seven personal astrologers, several of whom are tasked with focusing solely on Aung San Suu Kyi, according to his biographer Ben Rogers.

[...]

According to Wai Moe, a journalist with the Irrawaddy, an online magazine run by Burmese exiles, two interpretations of the the general sporting a ladies' sarong have gained the most currency. The first is that astrologers have predicted a woman will rule Burma, and so by donning women's clothes, Than Shwe and the other generals are attempting to fulfill the prophecy through some superstitious sleight of hand. The second, fuzzier interpretation, is that by dressing in women's clothing, the generals are somehow trying to neutralize Suu Kyi's power. After Than Shwe brutally suppressed an uprising led by Burmese monks in 2007, anti-regime activists launched a campaign asking people to send women's underwear to the leader because they said the generals believe that contact with women's underwear will sap their power. By wearing sarongs, they may believe they are cancelling out Suu Kyi's ability to sap what they view as the virile male power that underpins their leadership. [...]

Gosh. No matter how fed up I get with our government, it's good to be reminded that you don't have to to look very far to find something worse. Even if it's superstitious men in drag:



Than Shwe Skirts the Issue

The sight of junta supremo Snr-Gen Than Shwe and his close aides on national TV dressed in women's longyis at a state dinner in Naypyidaw has become the talk of the town in Burma and the brunt of many an unkind joke.

Marking the 64th anniversary of Union Day on Feb. 12 in Naypyidaw, 78-year-old Than Shwe appeared at the event accompanied by other top military brass, including: junta No.2 Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye; No.3, the new Lower House speaker ex-Gen Shwe Mann; Prime Minister and President-in-waiting ex Gen Thein Sein; No. 4 ex-Gen Tin Aung Myint Oo who is vice-president-in-waiting; and No. 5 ex Lt-Gen Tin Aye.

All appeared on state TV on Feb. 12 wearing gongbong (traditional Burman headscarves), and acheik (colorful sarongs worn by women at weddings and formal occasions).

“When I saw the ruling generals in acheik on the news and in the papers, I was somewhat intrigued as to why they were dressed as women,” said a 22-year-old female engineering student in Rangoon. “I have one—the same style and colors as the longyi worn by Than Shwe.”

In footage of the ceremony, Than Shwe greeted women members of parliament. All the officials in the scene wore the same ceremonial dress, although in a variety of colors. However, a general staff officer from the War Office, Brig-Gen Soe Shein, several male MPs and the retinue's bodyguards are shown in traditional male attire.

[...]

“They [the generals] know and must know that these acheik were designed for women,” said a senior journalist in Rangoon. “But they wore them nevertheless. We all know this is yadaya to counter the influence of The Lady [Aung San Suu Kyi] and to reverse her karma.”

Many fortunetellers have predicted that a woman will rule Burma one day, and so the generals’ fortune-tellers have advised them to dress as women, he added.

Or ironically, perhaps the people of Burma will now choose a woman ruler, 'cause they figure if they have to look at a leader in a dress, they may as well have a leader that looks good in one.
     

"Blue moon, you saw me standing alone..."

Those are words from a song. We are going to have a blue moon tonight.


But of course, it won't actually be blue:

If skies are clear, blue moon will light up New Year's Eve

A blue moon will be upon us tonight.

Astronomers and astrologers disagree on a blue moon's significance, but they agree it's rare for one to rise on New Year's Eve.

Once in a blue moon, as the saying goes.

They happen every two to three years and aren't really blue. Blue moon is the term given to the second full moon in a month. According to NASA, the term originated in the time of Shakespeare to mean a rare occurrence, and the Farmer's Almanac of Maine defined it in the 1930s as the third full moon in a season that has four. But the 1946 definition as the second full moon of the month is the one that has stuck.

[...]

"Astrology aside, there is the system of understanding that this is the last day of the year," said Cynthia Killion, a Wichita psychic and astrologer.

Combined with a blue moon, "it is a very loaded, energetically intense and powerful time. It gives people extra power in making resolutions and change."

[...]

During the midst of the Great Depression in 1934, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart wrote this song:

"Blue moon, you saw me standing alone,

Without a dream in my heart,

Without a love of my own.

Blue moon, you knew just what I was there for,

You heard me saying a prayer for

Someone I really could care for."

[...]

Tonight, look up in the sky and see the latest blue moon. And take from it what you will.

"This moon puts a lot of pressure on us to make change," Killion said. "It is a not-so-gentle push from the universe telling us to get off our butts and change.

"The blue moon is considered somewhat of a blessing, like a doorway might be opened for miracles."

Just like in the song:

"And when I looked the moon had turned to gold.

Blue moon, now I'm no longer alone,

Without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own

Without a love of my own."

Blessings? Miracles? Sounds good to me, we could all use some. Make of it what you will.