Since ancient times, Chinese Astrology, suggests that the position of the planets, along with the sun, the moon and any comet in the sky, along with our date of birth and zodiac sign, can determine our future. Each person is related to an animal, according to the lunar year of their birth, and this is what differs Chinese astrology from Western astrology. Each cycle is made of 60 years and has dozens of animals, each with five possible elements.
The animals on it are rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. The legend says that there was a festival for the Jade Emperor, and only 12 animals were invited. The Jade Emperor wanted to select twelve animals to represent the different years as totems. The cat was very good friends with the rat, but the rat deceived the cat and told him the festival would be in a different date, so they became enemies forever.
Moreover, the binary cycle allows for the perfect geometry of the universe, “Yin and Yang”. If we divide the zodiac cycle of the twelve animals in two, the snake will always be yin and the dragon will always be yang, which creates a period of 60 years. The current period started in 1984. This binary period is divided in 5 elements which are wood, metal, water, earth and fire, and each of these elements have particularities which apply to the years and the animals, and each of the 12 animals are governed by an element plus a Yin Yang direction.
To determine your Chinese zodiac sign, many elements must be taken into account. It’s not only about an animal being attributed to a year. That animal is actually the main one, but there are also an internal one and a secret one, and every being has three animals; so a person may be born in the year of the dragon, but could have a snake inside, and could also be a secret ox… the first animal means how other people see you. The second represents the month you were born and is referred to your personal love life. It is also a determinant factor of your compatibility with other signs. The last represents the hour of birth, which determines your personality.
Different stories have been told about why the animals have the positions they have in the zodiac, and most always have to do with competitions among them, where some have not been as honest as others in their desire to be the first. Another story says that near the end of his life, Buddha was meditating in a jungle, to keep in touch with nature, when he invited twelve animals and named them by order of arrival and gave each of them a year.
ALFA