Happy Lunar New Year of the Metal Rat!!!!!!( Saturday the 25th) This is a special New year as it begins a whole new 60-year Celestial cycle, and so I felt it deserved an article to celebrate the occasion🙂*The Chinese New Year is almost always the 2nd new moon after the winter Solstice.
A little bit about how the Chinese zodiac works:
In the Chinese zodiac there are 12 celestial animals( Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake,Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig), 2 polarities(Yin & Yang) & 5 elements(Metal, water, wood, fire, earth) .
It is the Celestial Animal year that you were born to (each Animal has its own elemental influence-or Fixed element- that is factored into the overall celestial animal character) modified by the polarity & the element of that year that guides your destiny….well, as well as a few other things that I will leave out as this article needs to be a little shorter lols.
*For example:
I am the celestial animal- Dog, Yang polarity, the fixed element for Dog is Metal, but I was born in a Water year.
What does this mean you may ask?
Well, the metal element is Ambitious, hardworking, driven, a bit rigid and unyielding-given over to a great deal of black & white thinking- But the element of water wears away the harsher edges leaving a more open mind and with more compassion & empathy while still allowing the hard work & determination to shine through. While the Yang polarity makes me more direct and to the point, a bit more adventurous, a bit less patient, and a lot more no-nonsense(among other things).
This is how the polarity, Fixed element and the element of your birth year swirl together to make your awesome destiny.
What to expect in the coming year?
It will be an industrious, hardworking year filled with many opportunities. Follow our celestial rat brothers and sisters example & Be ever mindful this year of grabbing up golden opportunities, as well as silver and copper ones too lols. There will be a tendency to be more on the go this year, to get out and do things and be more adventurous- my advice is to make each and every adventure purposeful- if you have always wanted to take a trip to the grand or even try that little pizza place by your house, do so.
There can be abit of a tendency to run in circles abit in a yang year, make sure that with your motion you are moving in a forward direction :)There will be bouts of magnanimous behavior, if you are the one being generous be sure that you will NOT regret it later- I urge a practical mindset on this front.
And always make abit of time for introspection!!!
If one opportunity or set of circumstances doesn’t go your way, always know there is another right around the corner. Resist the urge to sink into depressive thoughts or to allow personal insecurities to blossom into realities- when you start to feel down go adventuring (or get up and clean the house! Just get up and MOVE).
Rat energy in a nutshell-
A yang polarity celestial animal whose fixed element is Water.Rat energy is abit more cautious & introspective then the rest of its Initiator trio pals (Monkey & Dragon) but no less adventurous & ambitious.
Rats are born to look for and take advantage of opportunities, and are talented in any area they set their minds to pursue- having determination , a very keen & clever mind and the chutzpah to ask for what they want, but must overcome immense personal insecurities & the tendency to burn bridges impulsively. Diplomacy is abit tougher of a road for most yang signs, but can be more so for Independent the Rat- as they have a strong streak of “I will just do it myself, outta the way”. Celestial rats are also very magnanimous when they want to be.
*Every sign has its shadow side/toxic traits, here are the celestial Rats:
Shadow side celestial Rats are highly dependent and opportunistic to a fault. General boredom, then laziness sets in and before you know it, presto you have a very mentally unhealthy rat. Which is why constant mental stimulation and movement, goals and challenges are essential for a healthy celestial rat 🙂
*And Rats really weather challenges quite well as long as they have a good way to vent their stress.*
What to do If you are born in the year of the rat-
Its time to hunker down and not take any huge risks. If there is a safer path, now is the time to take it. this is a year of hard work and planning for Rats, your hard work will come to fruition after the changing of the year in 2021. Whatever projects were started before the turning of the year will turn out well.
Celestial Rat Birth years-
Feb 5th, 1924 to Jan 23rd, 1925 Jan 24th, 1936 to Feb 10th, 1937 Feb. 10th, 1948 to Jan. 28th, 1949 Jan. 28th, 1960 to Feb. 14th , 1961 Feb. 15th,1972 to Feb. 2nd, 1973 Feb. 2nd,1984 to Feb 19th, 1985 Feb 19th,1996 to Feb. 6th, 1997 Feb. 7th, 2008 to Jan. 25, 2009 Jan. 25, 2020 to Feb. 11, 2021 *Cause apparently now WordPress is allergic to actually listing stuff without taking up an entire PAGE for each entry…siiiigh wordpress!*
***There is so much more to delve into, but I wish to keep this article concise & easily digestible for anyone reading this.*****
So by all means, please feel free to dig deeply into the subject of Eastern Astrology, it is an absolutely fascinating subject and a very powerful tool for interpersonal & self harmony as well as self-discovery.
In my opinion, Eastern astrology gives you a chance to learn your “pro’s & con’s” and affords you the ability to use your “pro’s” to the best advantage while learning to work with your specific “con’s” and turn them to your advantage as well. Or at the very least negate the worst of the effects that your “con’s” have on your life.
Plus it allows you to integrate your total self, giving you the ability to weave your light & shadow sides together and recognize that they are good or bad depending on what YOU wish to make of them. They are all just pieces of the fascinating, dazzling, intriguing puzzle that is YOU 🙂
“Every Answer begins with a question”
Alicia Anspaugh-McCullough