“Let’s not revolve our lives on a zodiac sign.”
John Vincent Castro, the executive director of Sugbo Chinese Heritage Museum, gave this advice yesterday on the first day of the Year of the Snake.
Castro, who is also curator of the Sugbo-Chinese Heritage Museum, said that people should work hard to make their destiny and not rely on these astrological
factors.
“Ninety-percent of these factors will depend on ourselves. So work hard. It can be a guide but 90 percent of our destiny depends on what we do and how we go about things,” Castro said of the Chinese zodiac signs.
“Work really hard for what you want in your life. Destiny is something we create for ourselves. The moment we based our life on zodiac signs and astrology, we’re limiting our capacities as human beings to fulfill our full potential,” he said.
“It’s fun to read, sometimes it can apply, but you have to remember that there’s no scientific basis to this. In a way it reminds us of the Chinese tradition. After all, these are Chinese zodiac signs,” he said.
Castro was with parishioners and the Christian Chinese-Filipino community who celebrated the Chinese New Year at the Archdiocesan Shrine of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, formerly known as the Sacred Heart Parish in D. Jakosalem St. yesterday.
Organizers of the event said the festivity was a family affair, which was a time for reunions and thanksgiving.
Yesterday’s ceremony is part of the events which started last Feb. 9 to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Water Snake.
Characteristics
The water snake is the sixth animal in the Chinese zodiac signs.
Castro said that people born in the year of the snake are hard workers and work best under pressure because they find complex problems interesting and challenging.
“It allows them to show their highest potential,” he said.
“Snakes are also very creative and problem solvers. However, they do have the tendency to jump from one job to another because they become easily bored when they are no more challenges to be met at their place,” Castro said.
He also said that those born in the Year of the Snake also tend to panic and were impatient.
Lucky Numbers
Castro said the lucky numbers this year are 1, 2, 4, 6, 13, 2, 4, 42, and 46.
Shades of Blue and Black are also the lucky colors for the year.
Castro said that it would be a good year for the Arts and culture of Cebu.
“Cebu is booming. I see a lot of investors coming to Cebu this year, especially in the work of Arts and Culture, it’s gonna boom this year,” he said.
“We have one of the best museums in the Cebu-Sugbu Chinese Museum. This museum is envisioned to be the number one in the Visayas region and it’s envisioned to be one of the best in the Southeast Asia, once it’s up and running and operational,” he said.
Religion
Chinese culture and tradition are already part of the Cebuanos.
“Cebu is one big China town. So Chinese traditions, culture and heritage, art should really be well-remembered because it allows us to have a glimpse of the past; to understand where we are at present, and for us to have a better future,” said Castro.
Amid the revelries to welcome the Chinese lunar new year, Castro said faith is important above all these.
“Religion and culture, go hand and hand and for the Chinese Cebuano, in a way there’s a special connection,” he said.
“What’s important is you have faith in God but more than this it’s the way we treat people. It’s the goodness in our hearts that matters at the end of the day,” Castro said. /Correspondent Tweeny M. Malinao