The Year of the Pig geocoin was made exclusively for Shop Geocaching by designer Christian Mackey. It is trackable at Geocaching.com with a unique icon.<\/p>\n
Here are some design notes from Chris Mackey:<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Pig<\/span>\u00a0is the final sign in the Chinese Zodiac and will end the 12\u00a0year<\/span>\u00a0reign of the earth element cycle.\u00a0 According to ancient Chinese mythology, the\u00a0pig<\/span>\u00a0was the last member of the zodiac to arrive when called to gather by the Jade Emperor. There are numerous tales as to why the\u00a0pig<\/span>\u00a0arrived last, but all agree\u00a0Pig<\/span>\u00a0was the final attendee. The\u00a0year<\/span>\u00a0of the Earth\u00a0Pig<\/span>\u00a0is a particularly good\u00a0year<\/span>\u00a0in the zodiac cycle.\u00a0Pig<\/span>\u00a0in the earth element is stronger than ever and combined with his static element of water, which is easily absorbed by earth, his powers of influence are formidable. Despite sometimes being regarded as a dubious figurehead, the\u00a0pig<\/span>\u00a0is renowned as the archetype of hard work, aesthetics, beauty and intellect. It is symbol of hard work, creative and tactful leadership and financial stability.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n On the face of this coin we see the Earth\u00a0Pig<\/span>\u00a0with its\u00a0traditional script sign overhead, its lucky flower (lily) and it’s static water symbol surrounding it within a 5 sided and 5 ringed base reinforcing his primary lucky number (5 of course).\u00a0 He actually has several lucky numbers: 5 is his primary, but also 2, 6 and 8. These numbers are matched throughout the design in numerous places on both sides. How many can you find?\u00a0 From the number of petals in a flower, the stamen, stems, and more, these numbers will repeat again and again on both sides of this coin.<\/em><\/p>\n On the reverse side, the single greatest component of\u00a0Pig<\/span>\u00a0is represented… Love! The soul of a\u00a0pig<\/span>\u00a0is overflowing with love. Being caring, self-sacrificing and sensibly empathetic creatures by nature, they are ideally suited for love and the fine art of loving relationships. The Chinese have a beautiful symbol for this kind of love roughly translated to ”double-happiness”. This symbol is commonly used to depict a perfect union of love\u00a0and a favorite charm for\u00a0marriage. This symbol is encased in a heart shaped frame and bracketed by lucky flowers, in the Earth\u00a0Pig<\/span>’s lucky color yellow. Being a static\u00a0water symbol and and end of cycle symbol,\u00a0Pig<\/span>\u00a0is also a harbinger of winter so we have to include snowflakes into the scene as well. Lastly, the Earth\u00a0Pig<\/span>\u00a0resides heavily in the Yin symbol as an earth based entity.\u00a0Pig<\/span>\u00a0really does have it all!<\/em><\/p>\n The icon: ![\"10861\"](\"\/WebRoot\/vilkasfi02\/Shops\/2016102603\/MediaGallery\/10861.gif\" "\\"Year")
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