The night of January 31 – February 1, 2022:
The Ox exhausted at Winter’s End
trots away.
Young Tiger in Spring
leaps up.
A special New Year’s message from Prof. Dr. Mayke Wagner and Prof. Dr. Pavel Tarasov:
Dear friends and colleagues,
The time of the third of the twelve earth branches begins and brings with it the zodiac sign “Tiger”, a limitless brave, just and majestic guardian. In China it is said that the Jade Emperor sent him from the sentry post at the gates of his heavenly palace to earth to fight for mankind against the three greatest dangers: lion, bear, horse and later the turtle monster of the East Sea. He defeated all four of them. In gratitude, the Jade Emperor marked the fur on his forehead with three horizontal and one vertical line 王 , i.e. the sign for king.
The oldest image of a tiger in China is also linked to one of the most mysterious Stone Age burials. About 5000 years ago, an exceptionally tall man (1.84 m) was buried near the lower Yellow River with a striding tiger to his left, an alligator, the model of the Chinese dragon, to his right and the constellation of the Big Dipper at his feet. All figures were laid out with clams, in the constellation added two human tibias; no other grave goods were found that could provide information about his identity. A star walker with tiger and dragon at his side?
Through history to the present day, the tiger has remained a protective deity, especially in the densely forested areas of the south and northeast. Parents like to dress their children in tiger hats and tiger shoes, not to turn them into little tigers, but to put the power of the tiger between them and all dangers.
We wish you a happy Tiger Year with a powerful and righteous Tiger by your side.
Warmest greetings from Berlin
Mayke Wagner and Pavel Tarasov