Chinese animal years - origins
Chinese animal years were devised thousands of years ago as an original calendar and many tales were told about its formation. There range from a swimming race for the Jade Emperor in which the Rat tricked the Ox to arrive first, to the order of Chinese animals that said farewell to Lord Buddha before his ascension to heaven. Nice notions and perhaps even ways of remembering the order of Chinese animal years, but as you may expect it has no basis in fact.
Chinese animal years – Tai Sui
The Tai Sui or Grand Duke is actually the planet Jupiter which takes 4333 Earth days, to orbit the Sun. At this is almost 12 Earth years each year is assigned one of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. These Chinese animals form a continuous cycle of 12 consisting of Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. In ancient times only the Emperor was allowed to dig and lay foundations in these annual directions and at certain times activated by the Tai Sui. This brought the most vibrant energy close to the surface and into a particular direction that foundations were dug and buildings erected to tap into this vital qi.
As we have 12 months in a year each month is also assigned its own Chinese animal. Similarly there are 12 Chinese double hours in a day and these also have a fixed Chinese animal assigned. As days also have the same Chinese animals collectively these are known in Chinese astrology as the Four Pillars of Destiny. Not wishing to make this more difficult that it has to be, you may have noticed that your Chinese animals are assigned elements, for example someone born in 2010 would be a Metal Tiger, or Yang Metal Tiger to be precise. This is because we add the five elements to the Chinese animal cycle and this produces a cycle of 60, comprised of 5 elements x 12 Chinese animals.
Chinese animal years are Earthly branches with Heavenly Stems
In feng shui and Chinese astrology we deal with 3 different energy sources: these are astral or heavenly, like the Sun and Jupiter, the natural forces of the seasons, and then there is the energy of man. In essence, the Chinese animals show us which of the five elements are timely or strong at any particular time.
The Chinese animals are actually called Earthly branches and have the energy of the seasons in which they occur. For example the Winter season has the Chinese animals of Pig and Rat and have the energy of water. The spring months have the Chinese animals of Tiger and Rabbit have the energy of wood. In summer the Snake and Horse have fire energy and in the autumn the cooling energies of metal are assigned to the Monkey and Rooster. The earth element Chinese animal’s signs of Ox, Dragon, Sheep, and Dog comnplete each season and represent the stabilising force of nature.
The astral energies are called Heavenly Stems and these refer to the quality of light and other EMS influences. They also follow the five element sheng cycle and are divided into 5 yang elements and 5 yin.
Chinese animals putting it all together
Each Chinese animal or earthly branch is paired with a heavenly stem, for example the Chinese animal year for 2010 is the Yang Metal Tiger, Yang Metal is the heavenly stem and the Tiger is the earthly branch. Professionally, we view these in their respective elements of Metal for the stem and Wood for the branch and determine how they affect our energy, in terms of health, relationships, wealth and quality of life. You can check your own Chinese animal compatibility here.
In general terms, the stem rules for the first six months of the Solar year, from February to July and the Branch leads for the second half from August till February 4th 2011. If either element presents a problem we can balance using the five elements cycle.
Generally speaking it will be a good year for those born under the Tiger, Horse and Dog. Changes will affect those born under the Monkey, Rat and Dragon to see which aspects of your life are affected click here. Those born under the Pig sign should also have a favourable year whilst those born under the Rabbit sign may suffer setbacks. If you are having a problem or are concerned that you might we strongly suggest having a professional horoscope reading.
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