Chinese New Year and Zodiac Signs
I don't know how many people reading this know their Chinese zodiac but those who do and are interested in it should definitely look out for the Chinese new year. In total there are 12 zodiac animals. Every year it's time for the next one and in the end, it repeats. They iterate through and restart with the first one. If we start with our current year it looks like this:
- Dog
- Pig
- Rat
- Ox
- Tiger
- Rabbit
- Dragon
- Snake
- Horse
- Goat
- Monkey
- Rooster
Since this repeats over and over we can even lookup future years as well as previous years. Here's a small table.
| xxx0 | xxx1 | xxx2 | xxx3 | xxx4 | xxx5 | xxx6 | xxx7 | xxx8 | xxx9 | |
| 196x | Rat | Ox | Tiger | Rabbit | Dragon | Snake | Horse | Goat | Monkey | Rooster |
| 197x | Dog | Pig | Rat | Ox | Tiger | Rabbit | Dragon | Snake | Horse | Goat |
| 198x | Monkey | Rooster | Dog | Pig | Rat | Ox | Tiger | Rabbit | Dragon | Snake |
| 199x | Horse | Goat | Monkey | Rooster | Dog | Pig* | Rat | Ox | Tiger | Rabbit |
| 200x | Dragon | Snake | Horse | Goat | Monkey | Rooster | Dog | Pig | Rat | Ox |
| 201x | Tiger | Rabbit | Dragon | Snake | Horse | Goat | Monkey | Rooster | Dog | Pig |
| 202x | Rat | Ox | Tiger | Rabbit | Dragon | Snake | Horse | Goat | Monkey | Rooster |
| 203x | Dog | Pig | Rat | Ox | Tiger | Rabbit | Dragon | Snake | Horse | Goat |
I Don't Know My Sign
It's not as complicated as with the zodiac signs you may know. If you're born in the year or the animal you are that animal. So, for example, I was born in 1995. Going back to 1995 in the table tells us I'm a pig. So basically all you need to know is when you were born (only the year) and which zodiac animal matches the same year. Well... basically. It gets a bit tricky since the Chinese new year is on the 16th of February. This means if you were born before this date it's the previous zodiac animal. For example, if a child was born before the 16th of February this year that child would be a rooster, not a dog. If the child is born tomorrow, for example, it's zodiac animal would be the dog.
Great! I'm a Dog! This Is My Year!
Well according to Chinese superstition, it's great not at all. It is said that you will offend the god of age every time your zodiac animals year comes which in return brings bad luck. Aside from the year of your birth, this happens every 12 years. So with the ages of 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, 96, 108, 120 and last but not least 132. No, I did not count this high for fun. In Qi Gong it is told that it is saved in our body that we can get 135 years old - just a small side note.
So I'm basically telling you that every 12 years you're gonna have a bad year? No, don't worry, there's a solution to it.
Preventing Bad Luck In Your Year
Some Chinese traditions are said to prevent bad luck from happening. So without holding you have any longer from averting your misfortune here you go.
Wear Red
In Chinese culture, red is believed to avert misfortune and bring luck, prosperity and drive bad spirits away. The downside to this is it can't be something red you bought yourself it must be from someone else. Even better if it's a family member or friend.
Wear Jade Accessories
I haven't gotten into gemstones yet, but jade is one of the gemstones whose purpose is said to be protecting one as well as bringing you good luck. So obviously that's a good choice then.
Turn Away From The God of Age
The god of age is said to be an imaginary star as well. This star moves 30° every year. So it's wise to look into the opposite direction of it in your year. Since the rotation starts with the year of the Rat you'll get these positions.
| Zodiac Animal | God of Age position | Approximate direction | Opposite position | Approximate opposing direction |
| Rat | 0° | North | 180° | South |
| Ox | 30° | Northeast | 210° | Southwest |
| Tiger | 60° | Northeast | 240° | Southwest |
| Rabbit | 90° | East | 270° | West |
| Dragon | 120° | Southeast | 300° | Northwest |
| Snake | 150° | Southeast | 330° | Northwest |
| Horse | 180° | South | 0° | North |
| Goat | 210° | Southwest | 30° | Northeast |
| Monkey | 240° | Southwest | 60° | Northeast |
| Rooster | 270° | West | 90° | East |
| Dog | 300° | Northwest | 120° | Southeast |
| Pig | 330° | Northwest | 150° | Southeast |
By the way, there is another way to prevent this from being your unlucky but that one takes more time to write and it's a bit of another story. So some other day, sorry.
