Year of the Red Fire Rooster
2017 is the year of the Red Fire Rooster and this Chinese Zodiac Year begins January 28, 2017 and ends February 15, 2018. The Rooster is the 10th in the Chinese Zodiac which is determined by the lunar calendar. There are 12 animal signs and you can find your sign here.
2017 is an important year for luck, romance and relationships. Chinese element theory associates each year with an element – metal, wood, water, fire and earth, all of whom have different characteristics. Each year is also associated with male yang and female yin characteristics and this year is a yin fire year denoting warmth, family values, nurturing, privacy and insightfulness.
2017 will be intensely powerful and people will need to make decisions one way or the other instead of sitting on the fence. Halting the tendency toward procrastination is the only way to move forward this year. You could also be very concerned about making a good impression, so personal grooming will be important. You may lose weight, change your wardrobe and take up exercise so you look and feel better. It is also a year for efficiency and taking care of practicalities. Justice and righteousness are also highlighted in 2017. Avoid risky ventures, be pragmatic and sensible. Communicate clearly especially around love, money and business. All animal signs will be more fortunate if they can adopt Rooster characteristics such as family values, making a good impression, commitment and hard work.
In the Chinese Zodiac, it is unlucky if the year of your birth coincides with the current year. Therefore this year if you are a Rooster, you could take special precautions such as wearing jade accessories. People should not wear red as it is a red year. Choose complementary colours such as earth tones, yellows and browns. Apparently, Tai Sui or the ‘God of Age’ can be easily offended and then bad luck will follow if you do not pay attention to your behaviour. However, I believe we make our own luck by the energy we vibrate at. A good question to ask yourself is “what energy am I vibrating at?” then listen and watch for the answer.
Ritual Ideas
Of course, the Chinese Zodiac is many thousands of years old and we know today that we should always pay attention to our behaviour and the consequences of the energy that we put out. Some Chinese people still believe that offering sacrifices to Tai Sui will avert bad luck. My personal belief is that there are no rules, so do what you feel drawn to do. Instead of making sacrifices in a traditional sense, we can do personal rituals at an altar (or ‘alter’, which alters the energy). There are no hard and fast rules about how you structure your ritual, you could set up a shrine or place where you meditate.
- Follow the cycles of the moon as a starting place
- Check the meanings of colours
- Check the meanings of numbers at our Free Numerology page
- Get ideas from our Moon Rituals
Help your Ritual with Tai Sui
Some Chinese people also believe it is important to face the correct direction – that is away from Tai Sui, this will bring you good luck (if you believe in the concept of luck). So in 2017 you can face west when you do a personal ritual or move your furniture to face in that direction. You could also design your home and decor around the principles of Feng Shui. I would be more inclined personally to face west when wishing to use the forces of destruction and death to end something. I would face east when wishing to use the forces of creation to birth something in accordance with the death and subsequent birth of the sun every day. Nature gives us life clues if we follow her cycles.
Position of Tai Sui ‘God of Age’
Remember, to face the opposite direction.
Rooster | Year 2017 | West (270 °)
Dog | Year 2018 | Northwest (300 °)
Pig | Year 2019 | Northwest (330 °)
Rat | Year 2020 | North (0 °)
Ox | Year 2021 | Northeast (30 °)
Tiger | Year 2022 | Northeast (60 °)
Rabbit | Year 2023 | East (90 °)
Dragon | Year 2024 | Southeast (120 °)
Snake | Year 2025 | Southeast (150 °)
Horse | Year 2026 | South (180 °)
Goat | Year 2027 | Southwest (210 °)
Monkey | Year 2028 | Southwest (240°)
