Chinese Astrology

According to Chinese astrology, a person's destiny can be determined by the position of the major planets at the person's birth along with the positions of the Sun, Moon and comets or asteroids and the person's time of birth and Zodiac Sign. The system of the twelve-year cycle of animal signs was built from observations of the orbit of Jupiter. Following the orbit of Jupiter around the sun, Chinese astronomers divided the celestial circle into 12 sections, and rounded it to 12 years (from 11.86). Jupiter is associated with the constellation Sheti.

Upcoming Years	Animal Sign	Glyph	Ruling Hours	Fixed Element	Direction
2008, 2020, 2032	The Rat		11pm - 1am	Water	Yang
2009, 2021, 2033	The Ox		1am - 3am	Water	Yin
2010, 2022, 2034	The Tiger		3am - 5am	Wood	Yang
2011, 2023, 2035	The Rabbit		5am - 7am	Wood	Yin
2012, 2024, 2036	The Dragon		7am - 9am	Wood	Yang
2013, 2025, 2037	The Snake		9am - 11am	Fire	Yin
2014, 2026, 2038	The Horse		11am - 1pm	Fire	Yang
2015, 2027, 2039	The Ram		1pm - 3pm	Fire	Yin
2016, 2028, 2040	The Monkey		3pm - 5pm	Metal	Yang
2017, 2029, 2041	The Rooster		5pm - 7pm	Metal	Yin
2018, 2030, 2042	The Dog		7pm - 9pm	Metal	Yang
2019, 2031, 2043	The Pig		9pm - 11pm	Water	Yin

The Chinese Zodiac

The Twelve animal zodiac signs in Chinese astrology represent twelve different types of personality. The zodiac traditionally begins with the sign of the Rat, and there are many stories about the Origins of the Chinese Zodiac which explain why this is so. Each animal is given an element as well as a Yin or Yang direction.

The animal signs assigned by year represent what others perceive you as being or how you present yourself. It is a common misconception that the animals assigned by year are the only signs, and many western descriptions of Chinese astrology draw solely on this system. In fact, there are also animal signs assigned by month, day, and hours of the day. The combination of one's birth year, month, day and hour are a part of the 'four pillars' of Chinese astrology which determine one's fate. To sum it up, while a person might appear to be a Dragon because they were born in the year of the Dragon, they might also be a Snake based on their birth month and an Ox based on their birthday and a Ram based on their birth hour.

The 4 Animal Trines

These three signs are intense and powerful individuals, capable of great good or great evil. They make great leaders, but the three may have different approaches. Frustrated when hampered, these signs are ruled by highly potent energy and unpredictability. At their worst, Rats are ruthlessly power-hungry, vindictive, and Machiavellian; Dragons are inflexible megalomaniacs and narcissists; and Monkeys are destructive manipulators and hedonists. They are intelligent, magnanimous, charismatic, charming, authoritative, confident, eloquent and artistic. They can also be tyrannical, bombastic, prejudiced, deceitful, imperious, and ruthless.

These three soul mates conquer life through endurance, application, and slow accumulation of energy. Although each sign is fixed and rigid in opinions and views, they are geniuses in the art of meticulous planning. They are hardworking, discreet, modest, industrious, charitable, loyal, punctual, philosophical, patient, and good-hearted individuals with high moral standards. They can also be self-righteous, vain, critical, judgmental, myopic, narrow-minded, and petty. They are also natural leaders, but are better natured than the first trine.

These three signs seek a true lover, and are like-minded in their pursuit of humanitarian causes. Each is a gifted orator and excels at verbal communication. Relationships and personal contact are of highest priority and each one seeks their intimate soul mate. Idealistic and impulsive, the Tiger, Horse and Dog follow the beat of their own drummer. Defiant against injustice, these three signs wilt without large amounts of physical affection and loyal support for causes. They are productive, enthusiastic, independent, engaging, dynamic and honourable. They can also be rash, rebellious, quarrelsome, hot-headed, reckless, anxious, moody, disagreeable, and stubborn. Although these three signs are loyal, they can be very protective when lied to. The three signs do not enjoy being told what to do, but will listen when it is a person they love or trust whole-heartedly.

The quest for these three signs is the aesthetic and beautiful in life. Their calm nature gives them great leadership abilities. They are artistic, refined, intuitive, and well-mannered. These souls love the preliminaries in love, and are fine artists in their lovemaking. The Rabbit, Ram (Sheep) and Pig have been bestowed with calmer natures than the other 9 signs. These three are compassionately aware, yet detached and resigned to their condition. They seek beauty and a sensitive lover. They are caring, unique, self-sacrificing, obliging, sensible, creative, emphatic, tactful, and prudent. They can also be naive, pedantic, insecure, cunning, indecisive, and pessimistic.

The Earthly Branches

The Earthly Branches provide one Chinese system for reckoning time. This system was built from observations of the orbit of Jupiter. Chinese astronomers divided the celestial circle into 12 sections to follow the orbit of Suixing (Jupiter, the Year Star). Astronomers rounded the orbit of Suixing to 12 years (from 11.86). In correlative thinking, the twelve years of the Jupiter cycle also identify the twelve months of the year, twelve animals (mnemonics for the system), directions, seasons, months, and Chinese hour in the form of double-hours. When a Branch is used for a double hour, the listed periods are meant. When used for an exact time of a day, it is the center of the period. For instance, the Horse means noon or a period from 11am to 1pm. (The jie qi system provided single hours and 15-degree arcs in time and space.)

Chinese seasons are based on observations of the sun and stars, not the weather. Many Chinese calendrical systems have started the new year on the first new moon after the winter solstice.

The Earthly Branches are today used with the Heavenly Stems in the current version of the "traditional calendar" and in Taoism. The Ganzhi (Stem-Branch) combination is a fairly new way to mark time; in the Shang era it was the ten Heavenly Stems that provided the names of the days of the week. The Branches are as old as the Stems (and according to recent archaeology may actually be older), but the Stems were tied to the ritual calendars of Chinese kings. They were not part of the calendrical systems of the majority of Chinese.

Wu Xing

The Chinese word 'xing' literally means something like 'changing states of being.' In fact Sinologists cannot agree on one single translation. The Chinese conception of 'element' is therefore quite different from the Western one. The Western elements were seen as the basic building blocks of matter. The Chinese 'elements', by contrast, were seen as ever changing and moving forces or energies. The balance of yin and yang and the five elements in a person's make-up has a major bearing on what is beneficial and effective for them in terms of Feng Shui, the Chinese form of geomancy. This is because each element is linked to a particular direction and season, and their different kinds of qì or life force.

Wood

Fire

Earth

Metal

Water

The Chinese Calendar

The Chinese calendar is lunisolar, incorporating elements of a lunar calendar with those of a solar calendar. It is not exclusive to China, but followed by many other Asian cultures. It is often referred to as the Chinese calendar because it was first perfected by the Chinese around 500 BC (Link). In most of East Asia today, the Gregorian calendar is used for day to day activities, but the Chinese calendar is still used for marking traditional East Asian holidays such as the Chinese New Year (or Spring Festival, not to be confused with Lunar New Year, which is the beginning for several lunisolar calendars), the Duan Wu festival, and the Mid-Autumn Festival, and in astrology, such as choosing the most auspicious date for a wedding or the opening of a building. Because each month follows one cycle of the moon, it is also used to determine the phases of the moon. According to traditional beliefs, some form of the calendar has been in use for almost five millennia. Based on archaeological evidence some form of it has been in use for three and a half millennia.

The year 2009 in the Chinese calendar is the Year of the Ox. It lasts from January 26, 2009 to February 14, 2010. It is reckoned in the seldom-used continuously numbered system as 4705, 4706, or 4645 (depending on the epoch used).