The Chinese New Year, a 15-day annual celebration that coincides with the first New Moon of the year, begins on Monday, January 23^rd.   It is an auspicious time of year, and when it is observed correctly, it ushers in a year’s worth of good luck and abundance.

There are a great many traditions associated with the Chinese New Year, too many for me to list here.  So, I will attempt to highlight the ones that are most likely to capture your imagination, delight your soul and spin you into prosperity receiving action.

10 Simple Ways to Prepare for Good Luck, Prosperity, Happiness.

1.  Do Bloom on New Year’s Day.  It is believe that should one of your plants blooms on New Year’s Day, a prosperous year will follow.  Some of you may have pretty little gardens (or big gardens), which may have, as luck would have it, plants that are about to bloom.  If you are like me and gardenless and plant-less, you might want to hit the nursery/flower store for a plant that is guaranteed to bloom on time!   (It is on my MUST do today list of things to do!)  Especially auspicious flowers include bulbs, such as daffodils and hyacinths.  For an extra boost of blooming prosperity, combine the bulbs with pussy willow.

2. Do Not Cook on New Year’s Day.  In this house, one might say, what makes this day different than any other?  It’s not like I’ve got all four burners on high.  Still, on New Year’s Day, I will make a conscious decision NOT to cook.It is believed that sharp objects such as knives and scissors bring bad luck.  Cooking and possibly cutting things or chopping things may ‘cut off’ the flow of good luck.  Eat out!  All three meals, by the way, just in case your mind is ‘stuck’ into dinner mode.

3. Do Drink Orange Juice.  Orange represents gold.  Need I say more?  Bring on the goblets!

4.  Do Not Sweep on New Year’s Day.  Best to clean a way days before the New Year.  If you wait until New Year’s Day to clean, it is believed that you will ‘sweep away the good luck.’  On the other side of the vacuum, it is said that the god of luck steers clear of dirty houses.

5.  Do Wear New Clothes.  New clothing represents the ‘new’ that you are calling into, allowing into your life.  For a boost of extra energy, make it red.

6.  Do Not Swear, Curse or Express Excessive Amounts of Negative Energy.   Remember, we are ushering in prosperity and good luck, which are positive in energy, so there’s no need to test it by tossing blocks of negativity in its path.

7.  Do Shelve Anger and Worry.  The Chinese New Year is a day of celebration. Imagine putting all your upset in a box and shelving it.  Feels good, doesn’t it?

8.  Do Not Tune Into the News.  In other words, turn the TV off and do not read the headlines of the newspapers.

9.  Do Read and/or Listen to Any and All Things Happy.   There are many happy happenings on Beliefnet.com as well as the Kick in the Tush Club.

10.  Do Write Three Wishes.  They say that 75% of what we write down happens, so write out three wishes, affix them to a tree so that they can blow in the wind, much like Tibetan Prayer Flags.