Valentine’s Day and the Chinese New Year were celebrated together this year, on February 14th.  In Chinese tradition, 2010 is the Year of the White Tiger, an animal representing courage.

The Tiger, many species of which are extinct or endangered (WWF estimates only 3,200 tigers remain in the wild), is a symbol of nobility, a protector.  Tiger comes from the Greek word tigris, which is derived from a Persian word meaning arrow.  A tiger is known for his arrow-like speed, his courage and bravery. Courage comes from the Latin word cor, which means heart.

Heart, protection, noble intentions, these are all very good qualities to nurture in our lives and in our homes.  Heart and Arrow are two Valentine’s symbols, and having the days together this year is interesting timing.  And a color of the Chinese New Year is Red.

Bringing love from our hearts into all that we do,  and taking heart during times of stress and crisis is a good thing.

I don’t know much about ancient Chinese wisdom, but I have read that the White Tiger is a symbol of jinx in Chinese tradition, which makes this year sound a little ominous.  But I trust in my own heart, and we can all trust in our hearts, and we can take courage during any challenging times that lie ahead.

In celebration, eat some mandarins for luck, a traditional New Year’s treat, and then maybe it’s a good time to contemplate D.H. Lawrence’s quote:  “The living self has one purpose only: to come into its own fullness of being, as a tree comes into full blossom, or a bird into spring beauty, or a tiger into lustre.” We can hope for so much for our children and for ourselves.

And in literary tradition, nothing says ‘tiger’ quite like William Blake’s The Tyger.

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forest of the night
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?

And What shoulder, and what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? and what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

And Shakespeare’s words from King Henry V, with war and terror waging around the world, are certainly worthy of note:

“In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man/As modest stillness and humility;/But when the blast of war blows in our ears,/Then imitate the action of the tiger:/Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,/Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;/Now set the teeth, and stretch the nostril wide,/Hold hard the breath, and bend up every spirit/To his full height!”