Let’s Learn About: The Chinese Horoscope
5 February 2007
Welcome to the end of the Year of The Dog 4703 and the beginning of the
YEAR OF THE PIG 4704! 
Wikipedia tells us that in the Chinese horoscope, the five basic elements of Metal, Water, Wood, Fire and Earth, which make up all matter, are combined with the twelve animal signs of Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Lamb(or Ram, Sheep, or Goat), Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig to form the sixty year cycle.
One’s Chinese horoscope is based on which lunar year in this sixty year cycle one was born.The Chinese Zodiac refers to a pure calendrical cycle: there are no equivalent constellations like those of the occidental zodiac that we are used to hearing about. In imperial times there were astrologers who watched the sky for heavenly omens that would predict the future of the state, but this was a quite different practice of divination than the popular present-day methods.
The ancient Chinese astronomers called the five major planets by the names of the element they were associated with: Venus corresponds to Metal (gold); Jupiter to Wood; Mercury to Water; Mars to Fire; Saturn to Earth. It is said that the position of these planets, along with the positions of the Sun, Moon, any comets in the sky as well as time of birth and Zodiac Sign can determine a person’s destiny according to Chinese Astrology. I didn’t know that….did you?
Since the (traditional) Chinese zodiac follows the (lunisolar) Chinese calendar, the switch over date for the zodiac signs is the Chinese New Year, not January 1 as in the Gregorian calendar. Therefore, a person who was born in January or early February have the sign of the previous year. For example, 1990 was the year of the horse, but anyone born from January 1 to January 26, 1990 was born in the Year of the Snake (the sign of the previous year), because the 1990 Year of the Horse began on January 27, 1990. The start of a new Zodiac is also celebrated on Chinese New Year which this year falls on February 18th.
In our house, I am a Wood Snake, Brett is a Fire Sheep, P1 a Metal Snake and P2 a Water Horse. If P3 was born in the Lunar year 2005 she is Wood Rooster or 2006, a Fire Dog so everyone will be different. Hmmm, wonder what that says about us…
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What a cool post!
Very informative. Funny, but just yesterday my husband was asking what next would be and now I can see in your post!
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Hey love your hair, will your concoctions work on very coarse hair? My hair has not really grown and I have been natural but wearing braids. I want to take out the braid and go natural but I am just concerned about the coarse texture and what to actually do with it.
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