It's the Lunar New Year! Start it off right

February 19 marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year, celebrated in many Asian countries and communities around the world, with massive parades scheduled to take place in San Francisco, New York, Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa.

As per the Chinese zodiac, Shen Xiao, each year of the 12-year-cycle is attached to a different animal.

This year is the year of the sheep, but can also refer to the year of the goat or ram. The interpretation of the words depends on the culture. In Vietnamese, the sign is mui, which is unambiguously goat. In Japan, on the other hand, the sign is hitsuji, sheep; while in Korea and Mongolia the sign is either sheep or ram.

Regardless, the animal represents the eighth sign in the 12 cycles of the Zodiac. The ram is also regarded as an auspicious animal that delivers a year of promise and prosperity. Those that are born in the year of the ram are said to possess a lot of peaceful traits. Rams are kind, helpful and trusting. The Ram is also resistant to change, hence the butting horns.

With the New Year comes a list of traditional superstition intended to bring luck and make for a good start to the year.

NorthernLife.ca has put together a guide to ensure that you start of the year of the goat/ram/sheep with the best possible luck!

1.No cleaning – Sounds great, right? The household has to be thoroughly cleaned before New Year’s Day because it is believed that cleaning sweeps away bad luck from last year. However, all cleaning equipment should be put away before New Year’s Eve so that good luck is not swept away. Even though sweeping is allowed after the first day of a New Year, the garbage and dust shouldn’t be carried through the front door, as it may result in death or estrangement of a family member.

2.Add some red to your life – The colour red symbolizes luck and believed to ward off evil, while yellow symbolizes neutrality and good luck. Bright red clothes, decorations and ornaments are highly recommended for Chinese New Year. Finally, an excuse to wear those red tighty-whities.

3.No washing hair – keep your touque hair under wraps. Though people are encouraged to get a haircut on the first day of the New Year, they shouldn’t wash it to ensure that good luck isn’t washed away.

4.Keep windows and doors open – It is believed that opening windows and doors brings in good luck in the New Year. While that may not be an option for many of us in frigid climates, I’m hoping that keeping all your web browser tabs open on all your devices and desktop computer might have similar effects.

5.Make your first hour count – What you do in the first hour of the New Year will be what you do most of the year. Say something nice to first person you meet, they hold great significance on how lucky you’ll be throughout the year. If that’s the case, I’m going to be taking out the garbage for the rest of the year, and fortunately my waste collector is a lovely lady.

The Lunar New Year is the most important holiday of the year for hundreds of millions of people around the world and celebrated over a period of 15 days. Be sure to wish your friends, family, loved ones and co-workers “Gong xi fa cai” in Mandarin or “Gung hay fat choy” in Cantonese, if you’re feeling fancy.