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Many families pay great attention to how to set up their new year's altar, a tradition that has been around for a long time and is quite important. According to belief, from the 23rd of December lunar calendar, families start burning incense to bid farewell to the Kitchen Gods and welcome their ancestors back home for Tet. However, how to clean and set up the new year's altar properly to avoid taboos is something not everyone knows well.
Preparing and Arranging the Altar to Welcome Prosperity in the New Year
Honoring Ancestors with Worship Rituals: A Common Belief among Vietnamese People, especially during the Lunar New Year. Preparing for Tet involves rituals like changing incense bowls, preparing trays of five fruits, or arranging the new year's altar to welcome blessings. With the aim of seeking a safe and prosperous new year, with the protection of the divine. Let's explore how to arrange the altar below.
1. Precautions before cleaning the altar.
2. Absolute Avoidance to Prevent Bad Luck All Year.
2.1. Incense bowls should not be left uneven and not in the center of the altar.
2.2. Absolutely avoid using stone incense bowls on the altar.
2.3. Avoid rearranging incense bowls on Tet.
2.4. The altar-cleaning tools must be clean.
2.5. Do not place the altar in a bad direction.
1. Precautions before cleaning the altar
Before cleaning the altar, you must bathe, dress neatly, and place a plate of fresh fruits on the altar, then light an incense stick to ask for permission from the ancestors before cleaning. When cleaning the ancestor's area, move their photos aside and use warm water and clean cloth to wipe.
Especially, when changing incense bowls on the altar, it's necessary to perform a ceremony to change to a new incense bowl, while slowly scooping out ashes, not pouring all at once. This is a belief that small actions signify luck and taboos regarding sacred items on the altar.
Positioning the altar in the central area of the house, facing towards the sunlight to welcome the sunshine. Facing towards the house's entrance is considered the most ideal area because it symbolizes the yin-yang position within the house.
2. Absolute Avoidance to Prevent Bad Luck All Year
2.1. Incense bowls should not be left uneven and not in the center of the altar.
According to the customs and beliefs of Vietnamese people in particular and Eastern cultures in general, the altar is considered the most sacred and important place in the house. The largest incense bowls, symbolizing the positions of ancestors, must be placed in the center. Other incense bowls, if placed on the same altar, can be positioned on the sides for balance and accompanied by corresponding offerings.
2.2. Absolutely avoid using stone incense bowls on the altar
Incense bowls are primarily made of porcelain or bronze. Absolutely avoid using stone incense bowls because typically, stone ones are more suitable for temples rather than for household use.
2.3. Avoid rearranging incense bowls on Tet
The incense bowl on the altar must be securely placed in one position. If there's a need to change, the homeowner must perform a ritual to ask for permission before making any changes. Especially on Tet, it's advised not to change the position as it could adversely affect business for the entire year.
On the 30th of Tet, families usually have a habit of changing incense bowls. You can do it yourself after performing necessary rituals, but only remove the burnt incense sticks, leaving the ashes in the bowl for further use.
2.4. Altar cleaning tools must be clean
Cleaning cloths and altar cleaning brushes must be used separately, absolutely clean, not using leftover or shared items with other purposes. This reflects respect and taboos in worship rituals and ancestor worship.
2.5. Do not place the altar in a bad direction
The positioning of the altar is of significant importance, bringing luck to every family. Depending on the space in your house, you can consider suitable positions, but it's best to face towards the door to harmonize yin and yang within the house.
Above are the contents related to how to arrange the new year's altar to welcome prosperity that Mytour wants to introduce to readers. Hopefully, families will apply these to welcome a prosperous and lucky new year.
Tet is approaching, with the advancement of technology era, everyone has a smartphone in hand, sending Tet wishes to each other is no longer difficult as before, just sitting at home and composing Tet messages using various available templates, just replace the recipient's name and you can send Tet wishes to your friends, regardless of geographical distance across the country or internationally.
Grandparents are the ones who gave birth to your parents, so the first thing in the new year is to send longevity wishes to your grandparents. If you haven't prepared the best Tet wishes for your grandparents yet, take some time to gather Tet wishes to give to your grandparents.
Not only send Tet wishes to grandparents, parents, siblings ... your relatives, but also send Tet wishes to the teachers who have guided you during your school days, Tet wishes to teachers not only warm up the teacher-student relationship but also help you become a model and kind student.
