LUNAR Calendar
January
4th – Full Moon – Finish a project
20th – New Moon – Start a new endeavor
21st – Mercury goes retrograde – relax and catch up on reading and reconnecting with old friends
February
3rd – Full Moon – finish that endeavor
5th – Solar year begins – have your 2015 cures in place*
11th – Mercury goes direct – carry on…
18th – New Moon in Aquarius
19th – Chinese New Year of the Sheep/Ram begins
This coming year is the year of the wood (green) sheep or ram. Over the past twelve years we have looked at the personalities of the different animals. Now it is time to notice that the animals also have nature elements attached to them. There are twelve animals and five Chinese elements (water, wood, fire, earth and metal) so there are 5 different element types of sheep. Every twelve years the same animal repeats. In this upcoming year of the Ram or Sheep is the year of wood. The element cycle repeats every sixty years so if you are turning sixty this year, you were born in 1955, the last time we had the year of the wood sheep.
The supremely stylish ram is peace loving and a devoted family member
The 木 Wood element adds:
Generous, Warm, Persuasive, Co-operative, Seeks to expand and grow
Idealistic, Ethical, Enthusiastic, Seeks to explore
The ram meets the “black sheep of the family” and loves him despite his recessive gene that causes a rare color that stands out in a herd of sheep. (What’s wrong with that? Standing out isn’t undesirable, is it?) The traditional idiom about this sheep is a derogative term for an odd, disreputable or wayward member of a family group. Not an issue for those of us in feng shui because the black sheep are water sheep ( colors of blacks to blues). Water Sheep were born in 2003 or 1943 and they are wonderful..
Feng Shui Tip:
An easy way to determine what element rules your Chinese animal whatever that animal is:
If your birth year ends in:
0 or 1 — metal
2 or 3 — water
4 or 5 — wood
6 or 7 — fire
8 or 9 — earth
Check out to see if your partner’s element supports or conflicts with your element. For example: the water element supports the wood element — water feeds wood. IF you are wood and your partner is fire — wood supports fire and you support your partner. On the other hand, water puts out fire. This is in the destructive cycle. There could be disharmony.
There are more important cycles to consider in the scheme of things. Remember the compatibility of the animals themselves is a factor.
The animals most compatible with the sheep are the rabbit and the pig.
YIN /YANG
If that isn’t enough information about the differences in types of animals, you could also consider the masculine/feminine influences:
Chinese animals also have yin or yang energy associated with them:
The yin black and the yang white sheep (Every animal in the Zodiac is either yin or yang)
Of the 12 zodiac animals in order, all the odd numbered animals are Yang
Yang: (1) Rat, (3) Tiger, (5) Dragon, (7) Horse, (9) Monkey, (11) Dog
and the even numbered animals are Yin.
Yin: (2) Ox, (4) Rabbit, (6) Snake, (8) Sheep, (10) Rooster, (12) Pig
So you can see that there are many more considerations about Chinese animal signs than just the animal, just as all Virgos, Leos and Capricorns aren’t alike, neither are all Goats, Sheep, Rams or whatever you choose to call this animal. The Four Pillars chart using the year, month, day and time of birth is much like the Western zodiac in giving more individual information. Already this may be more than you wanted to know about Chinese astrology but in customizing a home for people who are going to live in it, we use all the information we can to make it the best it can be.
Next month we will go into what kind of a year is predicted for each animal sign.