The I Paper - February 4, 2011

RABBIT  PROMISES A NOISY START BUT A CALMER YEAR

It’s Chinese New Year, but will it be a cracker ?

By Luke Blackall

How the stars will affect business, fortunes, love and happiness is an important question with the arrival of the Year of the Metal Rabbit. The best known system of Chinese astrology divides the years into 12 animals and five elements, giving a 60-year cycle.

Jon Sandifer; an expert in Chinese astrology who runs the www.iching-astrology.com website, says that this year promises slightly more calm then the stresses of the last year

“ It doesn’t promise to be a great year, but it should be a lot easier than last year, though we will have to deal with ongoing disputes, “ he says.

But the combination of the Rabbit and Metal means a clash between East and West, particularly economically, harking back to the last Metal Rabbit year in 1951, when the Korean war was raging.

However, others prefer to look at am older school of thought, known as I-Ching. That system suggests we are moving into a Seven Lake Year, and one that will be peaceful and reflective. Those who can celebrate this year include David Beckham, Kate Winslett, TV double act Ant and Dec and their political equivalents David Cameron and Nick Clegg. For all of them, this promises to be a year of reinvention.

In international politics, meanwhile, there is less good news for Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak. As if he didn’t already have enough on his plate, according to the stars, he goes from being in the leadership position of the cosmos to one which no one takes seriously. It seems he won’t be one of the ones celebrating the Year of the Metal Rabbit.