Greetings Friends!

We'd like to warmly welcome you to join us for 2025 and look forward to bringing our usual schedule alongside a new set of events, the details of which will arrive in the coming Newsletters.

If you have not done so already, now is the time for you to renew your Membership for the year. This can be done, with full instruction on our webpage here - Membership Page

It is important to renew at this time and no later than the first Lecture of the year on the 21st of February.

Gather closely around...

In accordance with an ancient tradition from China, we would like to begin this Lunar New Year with a legend...

In ancient times, there was a monster named Nián shòu (年獸), that was said to have a fearsome appearance along with an insatiable bloodlust... It usually lives at the bottom of the sea but comes up once a year to wreak havoc, feasting on crops, animals and humans. On this day, the villagers would all flee and escape into the mountains.

One year, a beggar came to seek shelter, but everyone was hurrying away. Only an old woman took him in and he promised to her to chase Nián shòu away. He then curiously went about busying himself with decorating the homes.

At midnight, Nián shòu lumbered in but stopped short when it saw the red paper on the doors. As it roared in anger, firecrackers suddenly sounded and it trembled in fear. When it saw the beggar, dressed in red, laughing at it in defiance, it could only turn and flee.

The next day the villagers arrived back from the mountains and were pleasantly surprised that their homes were all still standing. They soon came to realise that loud noises and the colour red were the cause for Nián shòu’s panic.

It is said that the beggar went further and eventually captured Nián shòu, which then became his mount.

After Nián shòu was captured, everyone had a grand celebration and the ritual involved in banishing him was repeated the following year, and so the ritual was passed down from generation to generation and the custom of celebrating New Year with firecrackers, noise, and the colour red has persisted to this day.

Many versions of this legend exist, with myriad interpretations but we'd like to know, what does it say to you? Perhaps you could leave your comments or interpretations in the box below, we're interested to hear!

In accordance with the Chinese Zodiac, we welcome in the Year of the Snake, specifically the Year of the Wood Snake for 2025, the energy of which promises renewal, adaptability, and change.

Perhaps parallels can be drawn as we draw to a close the passing of the ‘Year of the Dragon’ (the character of which promises evolution, improvement, and abundance), whereas during this ‘Year of the Snake’, we can anticipate change, rebirth, and the potential for personal growth.