Chinese astrology signs: how the signs of the three animals are calculated

I get asked a lot about Chinese astrology, mostly because I’ve always wanted to include it on my website, but haven’t done so yet. There is a good reason for this and it is the simple fact that Chinese astrology is complex while web pages need to be simple and quick to assimilate. A single Chinese astrology web page quickly turns into several pages of fine detail. It is also very different from Western astrology, using different reference points both astronomical and cultural. Most of us will be able to say “I am a Dragon/Tiger/Rat etc.” and have a broad idea of ​​the very general characteristics of that sign, but few of us will clearly understand your Chinese star signature and how it is determined. So here, as we begin the Year of the Rabbit (Metal, Yin), Cycle 78 (or 79 depending on which version of the calendar you ascribe to) there is a potted summary…

Western astrology is based on a simple repeating cycle of twelve months: the zodiac. Chinese astrology has a 12-sign zodiac, the earthly branches, but it is based on a sixty-year cycle. The mechanics of this are quite simple: Chinese astrology developed alongside astronomy that originally recognized five major planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Astrology attributed key elements to these planets: water (Mercury), metal (Venus), fire (Mars), wood (Jupiter), earth (Saturn). Each of the twelve signs spans one year – this was derived from the orbit of Jupiter (11.86 years) – and each sign comes in five elemental varieties (e.g. Water Rat, Metal Rat, Fire Rat, Fire Rat). Wood, Earth Rat). 5 x 12 = 60. Simple? To some extent, yes. But the sixty year cycle also stems from two separate but interacting cycles – the earthly branches, as mentioned above – the twelve zodiac signs rat, ox, tiger, rabbit (aka cat), dragon, snake, horse , sheep (also known as ram or goat), monkey, rooster, dog, and pig (also known as boar), and in that order; and the ten heavenly stems – these are the five elements mentioned above, each in its yin and yang forms – 5×2=10. As the 12 earthly branches, which give us the animal signs, are divisible by two, each of the animal signs is a Yin year or a Yang year and this is known as the polarity of the sign. Yin years end in odd numbers, Yang years in even numbers. While every animal sign is either Yin or Yang (rats are always Yang, oxen are always Yin, for example), this is tempered by the celestial stem that adds the element. From 0 to 9 the order is metal, metal; water water; wood, wood; fire Fire; Earth Earth. And Yang and Yin, in that order:

0 yang-metal

1 metallic yin

2 Yang Water

3 Yin Water

4 Yang Wood

5 Yin wood

6 Yang Fire

7 Yin Fire

8 Earth Yang

9 Earth Yin

Therefore, years ending in 0 are Metal, Yang years, years ending in 1 are Metal Yin years: 2010 was a Metal Yang Tiger year, while 2011 is a Metal Yin Rabbit. It will not be a tiger year again until 2022, when it will be a Yang Water Tiger. Tiger is always Yang. Rabbit is always Yin and next year Rabbit will be a Water Rabbit in 2023. It won’t be a Metal Tiger year again until 2060.

In its true order, the cycle actually starts with Metal Rat (Yang) and ends with Earth Pig (Yin). Today we are 28 years into the current 60 year cycle (cycle 78 or 79 depending on which calendar is used). Chinese astrology uses a lunisolar calendar that begins with lichun, literally the beginning of spring, around February 4, this being what we call the Chinese New Year. It is necessary to take into account that someone born, for example, in January 2011 is, for the purposes of Chinese astrology, born in a year that ends in 0, that is, Metal Tiger and not Metal Rabbit. This applies, of course, to all years.

All five elements are of crucial importance in Chinese astrology, at least equal in importance to the animal sign, and the emphasis added by the Yin or Yang factor shows the importance of the trinity in Chinese astrology: earth, water, and heavens. . Those familiar with the I Ching will not be surprised to learn that the elements of Chinese astrology are regarded as transformative agents of change or transformative energies, not unlike the I Ching concept of ‘moving lines’, but quite different from the elements of Western astrology that are seen as building blocks.

Just when you realize the importance of how different a metal tiger can be from a wooden tiger or a water tiger, a higher degree of complexity enters the picture. Locating a person within the Chinese astrological system requires a calculation involving the day of birth, the season/month of birth, and the time of birth. In addition to the year of birth, this means that a person’s star signature in Chinese astrology is made up of kiln signals. Three of these are the key elements for any person:-

1. The year of birth is related to a person’s family background and position in society, strongly linked to family ancestry, grandparents, which is a much stronger cultural emphasis in Chinese society. As of today (February 4, 2011) is a Rabbit (Metal) year – remember, the order of the signs, as stated above, is Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, pig. Next February brings the Year of the Dragon.

2. The month or season of birth (note that the months are different according to the Chinese calendar) determines the ‘inner animal’; this indicates child rearing, a transformative influence on character and behavior that manifests itself in adult life.

spring sees

El Tigre from February 4 to March 5, El Conejo from March 6 to April 4 and El Dragón from April 5 to May 4.

summer go

La Serpiente from May 5 to June 5, El Caballo from June 6 to July 6 and La Oveja from July 7 to August 6.

autumn brings

El Mono from August 7 to September 7, El Gallo from September 8 to October 7, El Perro from October 8 to November 7.

winter sees

El Cerdo from November 7 to December 6, La Rata from December 7 to January 5 and the ox from January 6 to February 3.

3. The birth hour determined to the person’s ‘secret animal’ – the real person inside often only revealed under stress:

23:00 – 01:00 Rat,

1 a.m. – 3 a.m. ox,

3 a.m. – 5 a.m. Tiger,

5 a.m. – 7 a.m. Rabbit,

7 a.m. – 9 a.m. Continue,

9 a.m. – 11 a.m. Snake,

11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Horse,

13:00 – 15:00 sheep,

3 p.m. – 5 p.m. bun,

5 p.m. – 7 p.m. hen house,

7 a.m. – 9 p.m. dog,

9 a.m. – 11 p.m. Pig

The day of birth also has something to do with it – each animal sign rules a day but that works on a 5 element x 12 sign basis, each elemental type of animal, and this makes a 60 day basis and things get complicated. This is more a feature of day-to-day horoscope forecasting than birth charts and is beyond the scope of this article.

Interestingly, however, just when the two astrologies seem to be at their most diverse, essential similarities become apparent. Western subjects often focus on the Sun sign without considering the importance, meaning, and contribution of the Moon sign and Ascendant in the natal chart. Good Western astrology also divides each sun sign into four ‘sub-signs’ and can be further focused for fine detail by looking at the actual day.

Chinese astrology focuses on temperament and character and the interactions and tensions between these two facets, the first being predisposition, inclination, and tendency, while the second is that of actual behavior, habits, and disposition (current). ) learned. It attempts to identify the natural, innate person as opposed to the personality that has been mutated and transformed by life experience, to find nature before nurture, and to help us understand our lives by looking at them. backwardas Kierkegaard suggested, living them forward.