Chinese Astrology 101

Chinese astrology can be traced back about 5,000 years. As with the astrological arts of other cultures, Chinese astrology is based on the lunar calendar. Horoscopes are formulated by using the positions of the planets of our solar system and the visible stars for each of the twelve signs of the zodiac in the year of the birth of the person. Ultimately, as with the practice of other astrological arts, the signs existent at the time of a person's birth allow for the prediction of factors and elements of that person.

The Twelve Chinese Signs, presented in their order of repeating occurrence are:

Rat
Ox
Tiger
Rabbit (or hare or cat)
Dragon
Snake
Horse
Sheep (or goat)
Monkey
Rooster
Dog
Pig (or boar)

These twelve signs, according to legends, were arrived at by the prophet Buddha. Close to Buddha's end of time on earth, he called the animals of the world to come to him and bid him adieu. Only twelve animals came, and they arrived in the order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar. To reward them for their compliance and allegiance, Buddha named a year after each of them. He named the first year after the first animal to arrive, the Rat, and he named the final year after the final animal to bid him farewell, the Boar.

The twelve Chinese signs equate to the twelve American astrology signs (signs of the Zodiac): Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. In Chinese astrology, each sign is allocated (or represents) one year, whereas in American astrology each sign is allocated (or represents) one month.

In Chinese astrology, the five elements are Metal, Water, Wood, Fire, and Earth. These elements share a redundant cyclical relationship, both in positive and negative ways, so that:

Water makes Wood
Wood makes Fire
Fire makes Earth
Earth makes Metal
Metal makes Water

And also...

Water destroys Fire
Fire destroys Metal
Metal destroys Wood
Wood destroys Earth
Earth destroys Water

In Chinese astrology, the Chinese calendar covers a 60 year period. The 60 years are divided 5 times, by 12. Each animal is repeated only once during any twelve year period. And every year has one of the five elements assigned to it. So, all years can be expressed with one of the animals and one of the elements. Examples would be Boar/wood and Goat/water.

Here is a table showing some years during the baby-boomer birth era:

From 25 Jan 1944 to 12 Feb 1945 in Chinese astrology, the year of the WOOD/MONKEY
From 13 Feb 1945 to 01 Feb 1946 in Chinese astrology, the year of the WOOD/ROOSTER
From 02 Feb 1946 to 21 Jan 1947 in Chinese astrology, the year of the FIRE/DOG
From 22 Jan 1947 to 09 Feb 1948 in Chinese astrology, the year of the FIRE/PIG
From 10 Feb 1948 to 28 Jan 1949 in Chinese astrology, the year of the EARTH/RAT
From 29 Jan 1949 to 16 Feb 1950 in Chinese astrology, the year of the EARTH/OX
From 17 Feb 1950 to 05 Feb 1951 in Chinese astrology, the year of the METAL/TIGER
From 06 Feb 1951 to 26 Jan 1952 in Chinese astrology, the year of the METAL/RABBIT
From 27 Jan 1952 to 13 Feb 1953 in Chinese astrology, the year of the WATER/DRAGON
From 14 Feb 1953 to 02 Feb 1954 in Chinese astrology, the year of the WATER/SNAKE
From 03 Feb 1954 to 23 Jan 1955 in Chinese astrology, the year of the WOOD/HORSE
From 24 Jan 1955 to 11 Feb 1956 in Chinese astrology, the year of the WOOD/GOAT

Here is a table showing past and future Chinese astrology "years of:"

The Years of the Rat: 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008
The Years of the Ox: 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009
The Years of the Tiger: 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010
The Years of the Rabbit: (Cat/Hare) 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011
The Years of the Dragon: 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012
The Years of the Snake: 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013
The Years of the Horse: 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014
The Years of the Sheep: 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015
The Years of the Monkey: 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016
The Years of the Rooster: 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017
The Years of the Dog: 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018
The Years of the Pig: 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019

Some astrology snippets…

Astrology evolved into astronomy, probably around 1600 during the time of Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) – the scientist who wrote the Laws of Planetary Motion. Kepler, with is mathematically perfect explanation of retrograde orbits, undeniably proved that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the solar system.
While there is no basis in fact for astrology, it is thousands of times more popular and better known than astronomy. This is why there are daily horoscopes in every newspaper, but no daily comments on astronomical matters.
Astrologers were once highly ranked officials of many successful cultures. Some cultures made it against the law for anyone but the official astrologers to read the signs of the skies. Often, death was the penalty for failing to obey these laws.
Often in history, when momentous astronomical events occurred such as solar eclipses and comets, astrologers were executed for failing to predict them.
We still have popular expressions and terms left over from the time of astrology. We still say "the sun will come up" tomorrow. In fact, the sun does not 'come up,' our planet rotates.