Trixie Cruz: New Uncertainties

By Rose Beatrix C. Angeles (Trixie Cruz-Angeles)

INQUIRER.net

First Posted January 03, 2008

“Mr. E: There are very few stable futures, boy. The way my father told it to me, the future is a series of infinitely branching possibilities. When we walk it, we walk down the most probable paths, those with the greatest likelihood of occurring. But nothing in the future is definite. Some are periods of great flux — the next hundred years or so are a wash of conflicting events. Others are relatively stable — so that almost any path you walk takes you to the same universe.”

- The Books of Magic By Neil Gaiman

Each New Year, by tradition, is filled with hope. By the grace of God and through the solar calendar, we are given the opportunity to begin anew every twelve months. In the same way that the earth goes through its life cycles of birth, flowering, fertility and death, we are taken along for the ride and are given this small gift of renewal.

True we are not phoenixes. We don’t actually die. But as we are told in Catholic doctrine, we can be born again in spirit. Interestingly, in Babylon, the New Year was celebrated around the time of the vernal equinox , To this day we celebrate it in Christendom as Easter, Pasko ng Bagong Buhay in Filipino, when we celebrate Christ’s conquest of death, and when we ourselves are renewed in spirit.

In like manner, we can renew or reinvent ourselves every time the year changes. We don’t have to, of course, but because we have the ability and opportunity, the chance at renewal is precious enough in itself.

Thus, as we set off on this journey of 2008, we also require ourselves to come up with plans and maps to navigate the journey. Hence, prognosticators, tellers of fortune, psychics and other self-styled prophets are in demand at this time of year. None of us want to be flying blind, after all. Not that we condone that sort of thing, but let’s face it, for the average Filipino, fortune-tellers are a guilty pleasure.

So it is fortuitous (pun fully intended) that on the 7th of February begins the year of the Rat in the Chinese lunar calendar.

The Rat being the first sign of that zodiac, it also portends birth, renewal, and perhaps for us Filipinos, new hope. It is supposed to be a good year to make well-planned beginnings, for the Rat year is a year of plenty, opportunity and good prospects which are rewarded if one prepares well.

Mindful of the factors that affect individual fortunes, it also appears as though this year is a good one for planning adventures. While the two words seem to be a contradiction in terms -- adventures become adventures precisely because their outcomes are beyond prediction -- we recall the intense criticism tossed at the men – and they were mostly men – who walked to the Manila Peninsula Hotel. Many alleged that the event lacked planning. Maybe if they had involved more women with an eye for detail? At any rate, the point is that for whatever activities we plan this year, whatever the undertaking – be it a new business, hobby or revolution - we must minimize the uncertainties by mapping out the activity, setting clear goals, coordination and cooperation. We cannot count solely on the goodwill afforded by the year of the Rat.

While we are on the topic of planned changes, I looked back and noticed that the Revolution of 1898 began with the Cry of Pugad Lawin (or Balintawak, whichever source you believe)in August of 1896, which was the year of the Fire Monkey – a time to take risks. Monkey years also require the caution of preparedness, but risk-taking and trickery ruled in accordance with the Monkey’s natural inclinations. Inventiveness was necessary to launch the revolution and keep it going. Considering that the revolution succeeded after only two years, the Monkey augured well for the rebels.

For us, New Year is celebrated in the dead of the night and in the suspenseful waiting months before summer bursts forth in full bloom. For those in the Northern countries, it’s winter when the ground is hard and the land is cold. The celebration itself is a defiance of the symbolic death of the Earth. We rejoice in newness before new life arrives in spring. We claim our renewal long before it becomes evident in our surroundings. This is the true meaning of hope – we claim our new birth even as the despair of death still hangs in the air. We celebrate our freedoms, or we should, even while they are still chained.

(Source: Trixie Cruz-Angeles - INQUIRER.net)
To know more about Trixie Cruz Angeles, check out: I AM TRIXIE CRUZ