New Year 2009 (or 2136)

Well that's it for another year - the so called festive season has passed and a New Year has begun. Or has it ?
For me as a follower of the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition of Kagyu my new year has not yet arrived. Unlike here in the west where the Gregorian calendar is followed, the Tibetan calendar is Lunisolar and is made up of 12 or 13 lunar months. Tibetan New Year is called LOSAR. LO means 'year' and SAR means 'new'. It is celebrated on the first through the third days of the first lunar month. This year it will be celebrated on the 25th/26th/27th of February and will be the year 2136. Each year is either male or female and is represented by an element and an animal. This coming New Year is a Female- Earth- Ox- year. It is important not to confuse the above with the Chinese New Year which this year falls on the 26th January. Tibetans as a nation have lived close to the earth and it follows that Tibetan Astrology is simply a rationalisation of all the complex cycles and rhythms they felt at play each day in their lives, in other words a science that is particularly sensitive to the moon and her influences.
So why am I telling you all this ? Well if the start of your New Year doesn't work out as well as you would have hoped you have a second chance! You can celebrate New Year at the end of February with me.....!!