A new beginning
28 January 2020
Happy New Year and all the best, happiness and health for 2020!
Maybe a little late at the end of January, but according to Asian tradition not. And since Chinese medicine in Europe is a bit between the two cultures, we have a prosperous New Year from both the solar calendar and the lunar calendar.
Because, according to the Chinese calendar, the old year passes into the new, at the second new moon after the winter solstice. And this year it is on January 25th. Not only does the New Year begin, it is also the first day of spring according to the Chinese tradition. And the first day of a new 12-year cycle, which begins with the first Chinese zodiac sign Rat.
In every sense, a new beginning…
Rat, in general, is a Water sign and is all about ideals and dreams, feeling the spirit of the times, being visionary and shaping new ideas. It is the time of early spring, where, after a period of rest and stagnation, life makes its way out again. It is the time of making contacts, making friends and networking. Time to look for the difficult and sometimes dirty places and to find the nourishment from which new life can flourish. Just as the lotus, from the rotting remains at the bottom of the lake, makes its way up to the sun to blossom in all its splendour.
This year is the year Huangdi 4717. In our era 2020. It’s a Yang year. The year of the Metal Rat. Because of this, the properties of the Rat will make their way out. The year of decisiveness and manifestation, autonomy and focus. A period to have the courage to shape your ideas and put them in the world.
It is for these reasons that Oxrider Academy has chosen to start this year. It is a year to build bridges between Eastern and Western paradigms, in which mutual respect for each other’s ideas, knowledge and wisdom forms the basis. A year to strengthen the friendship between traditions that have proven their values and right over the centuries, in spite of language and cultural barriers.
Over the past 15 years, the Sino-Dutch Centre for Preventive and Personalized Medicine has attempted to develop a meta-language using systems biology to bridge the gap between Western scientific thought and Eastern scientific traditions. This has produced exceptional and inspiring research results and insights, which in turn have resulted in all kinds of scientific publications (sinodutchcentre.nl).
It is about time that this knowledge is shared. Therefore, Oxrider Academy is going to organise lectures on system thinking and Taoism for a broad audience, in addition to the well-known refresher courses for professionals. A first module on systems biology, Taoist philosophy and an introduction to Chinese medicine will also start in September 2020. This module is the first in a series of modules, all of which can be followed separately, but together they can also lead to a completed professional training in acupuncture and/or Chinese herbal medicine.
With this, we hope that in the year of the Metal Rat we will be able to contribute to an ever better and closer cooperation between the different scientific/medical traditions. Both in theory and in practice.
A very prosperous New Year!
