Want Good Fortune This Year? Do This With Your Lights Before Midnight
Turn your lights on before midnight to follow an age-old custom meant to attract happiness, prosperity, and positive energy in the coming year
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Tonight marks the start of the Lunar New Year and the beginning of the Year of the Horse. 2026 is specifically the Year of the Fire Horse, a rare combination that occurs once every 60 years, symbolizing energy, passion, and new beginnings. It is also a time for a centuries-old tradition that's easy to practice in many households: lighting up the home with lamps, candles, and lanterns.
Like many Lunar New Year rituals, this practice has its roots in ancient Chinese beliefs about the power of light to bring fortune and protect against misfortune. For centuries, people kept lights burning in their homes to ward off darkness and evil spirits and to invite positive energy, happiness, and good luck. The glow of lanterns and lamps was thought to create a welcoming environment for blessings in the year ahead, and it's just as powerful today.
It may be too late to shop for new lamps and candles ahead of midnight. However, I've rounded up some accessories (including these candlesticks from Amazon) that are said to promote good luck around the home, regardless of the time of year.
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It might be too late to light these candles for the Lunar New Year, but their charm can be enjoyed at any time of the year, whether on your dinner table or in your living room. The intricately hand-carved dragon and phoenix symbolize good fortune, joy, and well-being, soaring together in pairs to represent a century of harmony.
Crafted from a gemstone with a serene finish, this talisman is designed to bring harmony and healing to any space. Known for infusing living rooms with tranquility, it offers quiet support whether on display or held close.
The Hamsa Hand is known for warding off negative spirits, making it a trusted symbol for inviting good luck into your home. Its intricate, layered design adds a refined, meditative touch to your coffee table or console, offering both peace and protection.
For a practical twist on the aforementioned Hamsa Hand, I love this jewelry holder. Crafted from high-quality glazed ceramic, it's designed for long-lasting color, so you can store your jewelry and other trinkets with confidence.
This stunning pleated table lamp brings soft, ambient lighting to any living room, nook, or shelf, the Scandinavian way. It is made from recycled plastic and finished with a decorative solid wood knob, creating the ultimate Scandi-inspired aesthetic.
This red lamp combines chic, deco-inspired design with a striking red-and-gold finish, bringing effortless elegance, warmth, and vibrancy to any space. It deserves to illuminate your home every night of the year (not just tonight).
In some spiritual interpretations, turning on the lights is believed to ward off negative energy and is considered by some to be a way to invite good fortune at the start of the new year.
Philosophical experts explain more about the general power of light in some spiritual beliefs.
'Physical darkness is the absence of physical light. The darkness itself is not real. It is merely an absence of something that is real,' comments Owen Waters on the symbolic power of light. 'Likewise, spiritual darkness is the absence of spiritual light. Spiritual darkness itself is not real. It is merely an absence of something that is real.'
Ultimately, lighting itself carries protective power. Just as spiritually light dispels negativity, keeping lamps or lights on in the home symbolically pushes out misfortune and darkness as we begin a new Lunar chapter. I'll be practicing this tonight, won't you join me?
