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How Chinese Astrology Works |
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Astrology is an important part of Chinese culture and has been for about five thousand years, but the 12 sign zodiac we know today is a relatively recent (in Chinese terms) interpretation. The Chinese Zodiac as we know it today is perhaps only two or three thousand years old.
Like Western astrology, Chinese astrologers believe the combination of
a person’s time of birth, birth day, birth month and birth year can
tell you about a person's personality, and their destiny.
Jupiter and its 12 year orbit was a key part of early Chinese astrology
and ultimately gave rise to the Zodiac consisting of 12 animals
beginning with the rat, buffalo (ox), tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake,
horse, goat (sheep), monkey, rooster, dog and pig.
The legend behind the Chinese zodiac is that the Buddha invited all the
world's animals to race each other, saying that the first twelve across
the river would earn a place on the Zodiac. The Rat came in first
because (like thetortoise and the hare) he used his brain rather than
his brawn. In fact, according to the legend, he hitched a ride on the
buffalo across the river, but once on the other side,leaped off and
beat him to the finish line. So the Ox (buffalo) came in second after
the Rat.
The tiger being a strong fearsome animal crossed third with the swift
rabbit coming in next. Actually the rabbit was helped by the dragon
(the only mythical creature in the Zodiac). Like the rat, the snake
used its cunning to outwit the horse. The snake apparently hid in the
horse's hoof until the last minute when it jumped out and scared the
horse. The sheep, monkey and rooster all helped each other. The dog
made it too and the pig, which had to stop for a feed came in last.
There are other versions of this story such as the legend that these
animals were invited to Buddha's birthday/New Year/ funeral.
But there are not just twelve animals in the Chinese Zodiac. Chinese
astrology is way, way more complicated than that. Not only is there a
different animal each year on a 12 year cycle, there are five elements
that cycle also - Metal, Water, Wood, Fire, Earth. So that if one year
is the Year of the Metal Rat (1960), 12 years later will be the Year of
the Water Rat (1972).
Ah, but wait, this is way more complicated than that even. The Chinese
horoscope includes not only the year you were born, but then there are
inner animals and secret animals. It's when you get down to these
animals that things really start getting accurate when it comes to your
Chinese horoscope.
If you would like to know more, read on.
While the 12 main animals signify general character traits according to
a person's birth year, the inner animals and the secret animals are
associated with your birth month and your birth hour. So there are 12
month animals and then another 12 hour segments (the hours are
calculated in 2-hour long segments).
Combine all these possible variations 12 years, 5 elements, 12 months,
12 hours you get a potential 8.640 combinations. So even though you are
born in the Year of the Rat, it's way more complicated than that. You
also have the inner and secret animals that add to a better
understanding of your inner being and the secret you.
It works like this. The year animal determines the outer
characteristics, the things that even casual associates will recognise,
but the animal representing your birth month determines your inner you,
or the person you aspire to be, or the way you see yourself. Finally,
the secret animal, determined by the hour of your birth will determine
the person you really are but that you hide from the rest of the world.
In fact, the inner and secret animals are probably more important in
understanding a person's character according to the Chinese Zodiac. The
inner animal, for example, the animal of your birth month, is more
important for understanding who you are compatible with and the secret
animal, being the most accurate being set by your actual time of birth,
it perhaps the most accurate representation of a persons personality.
It is these two animals that are used by Chinese astrologers to
foretell the future.
The Elements
The five elements are a core part of Chinese astrology and Chinese
culture itself and they form a complex web of interrelations that
colour the 12 animals of the Zodiac. The elements (wood, fire, Earth,
metal, water) are each associated with our Solar System and represent
the five major planets (Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus and Mercury)
respectively.
To understand the action of the elements it's helping to understand
they each have a 'generating' and 'overcoming' relationship to the
others. Like the paper, scissors rock game. Water generates wood and
wood generates fire, but water overcomes fire etcetera.
To interpret Chinese astrology and the elements you also need to take
into account the way each element represents or correlates to other
things in nature. Wood represents the direction East, and the color
blue for example. Getting it? Good, because there's one more
complication here. For each element there's a Yin and a Yang
(female/male) version. So you might be a Metal Yin Monkey, or you might
be a Metal Yang Monkey before you even start considering your month and
hour of birth.
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