Luckiest Pig Year in 600 years?

Lucky indeed! ...that I looked up all these fascinating cultural-isms so we know what to expect in the coming year and can abide by formalities that further our chances of a successful year... imagine if you did not know these...!

Other New Years beliefs/rituals include:
- Pay off all debts before the holiday to avoid a negative start
- Lending is considered bad luck on New Years Day as is Crying -- if you do any of the those things, you'll do them for the rest of the year.
- On New Years day, people give out red paper packets called "hong baos" which are normally filled with crisp notes in sums that do not comprise the number four, because Chinese for four sounds like Chinese for death. The number eight, however, is lucky.

For this year in particular:
- South Korean fortune tellers predict this could be the luckiest pig year in 600 years!
- Babies born in the Year of the Pig are particulary lucky
- According to tradition, this is not a good year for weddings
- This year is especially unlucky for people aged 29
- The pig is the 12th animal in the Chinese zodiac and anyone whose age is a multiple of 12 should put a small electric light in a temple for protection and be mindful of accidents
- It is also advised that people to put a strip of yellow paper with red lettering in the living room during the pig and snake years as a tribute to two gods and pray quietly.
But the piece of paper, about the size of an average bookmark, should not face the toilet.

Whew! Note to self: do not to pray to the Pig and Snake Gods while on the pot!