Chinese Astrology

Chinese Astrology is a field of study which grew out of a philosophy. Chinese astrology is often difficult for Westerners to comprehend. Chinese astrology has its origins in three very different yet interdependent philosophical concepts essential to Chinese thoughts:

    Yin and Yang;

    The five Elements; and

    Chinese Calendar

    Yin and Yang:

Yin and Yang are the two main opposite but equal Chinese philosophical forces. The power of Yin is something interpreted as passive, female, docile, receptive and society-oriented. Conversely, the Yang energy is said to be aggressive, male and socially indifferent. To the Chinese, everything in life is either Yin or Yang and the track to achieving harmony is knowing how to balance Yin and Yang so they operate in synergy rather than clash.

The five elements:

To allow for movement to occur and bring about change. Chinese philosophy calls upon the five elements as agents of change and reaction. Changes, derives from the influence of the five main elements - Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water.Each of these fiveChinese elements has the ability to control and destroy the previous elements, and is capable of producing the element that directly follows it. In the regenerative cycle of the elements, water engenders wood. Wood begets fire. Fire burns to earth. Earth creates metal and metal gives way to water.

    Wood :-Wood is characterized by the color green. Wood heralds the beginning of life, springtime and buds, sensuality and fecundity. Woods influence affects the liver, the gallbladder, and by extension, the digestion. The wood person will be expansive, outgoing and socially conscious.

    Fire :-Wood in its turn, can create and nourish fire. Fire's signatory color is red. Fire is hot weather, satisfaction of nature, aridity and dust. The tongue and the small intestine are the centers of attention in the fire person's body.

    Earth :- Earth is created from the ashes of the fire. Earth's favorite color is yellow, which represent the equanimity between beginning and ending.

    Metal :- The earth grows metal in her veins. Metal is cool, crisp weather. Metal's effect on the body centers in the lungs and respiratory system. Metal signifies the onset of winter. Its influence can sometimes add sadness or gloom to an astrological chart.    

    Water :- Metal begets water. Water's color is blue. Its season is full - blown winter. Water is always moving, fluids and mutational. In our bodies, water's influence affects our plumbing systems, the kidneys and the bladder. Hence people born in water ruled years are frequently musical. They pick up on everything.

The Chinese calendar:

The Chinese calendar year contains either twelve or thirteen moons. Chinese year is a flexible entity which never begins or ends on the same date twice in a row. The Chinese year may terminate any time between late January and mid-February on English calendar.

The Chinese divide up time differently too. Christian calendar is made up of centuries that cover one hundred years and are subdivided by ten parts into ten year periods called decades. The Chinese have 'centuries'' too but they are only sixty Chinese years long.

The Chinese are not in the twentieth century of their calendar. They are way ahead of us not only because they started earlier and didn't bare everything in their calendar on the birth of Christ, but because they have shorter six dry year centuries. The Chinese entered their seventy-eighth 'century', dating from way back in 2367 B.C. at the Emperor Huang Ti, February 2, 1984. The next Chinese sixty yearlong 'century' will start in 2044.