Chinese Year of the Rat

Saturday, January 25th is the start of the Chinese New Year of the Rat.

How does this effect you?

Rat is the first sign in the Chinese astrological calendar. There are twelve signs all listed below. After the name of each sign is a parenthetical list of the birth years associated with each sign.

If your year is not listed just add 12 years to the last year listed, or subtract 12 years from the first year listed. Each sign repeats every 12th year.

Use this to understand the impact of the Year of the Rat on your Chinese astrological sign this year.

Rat (36/48/60/72/84/96) – Water and Earth are the elements of a RAT year. Eat small meals more often. Good year. Greatest advantage to rats is outside the house in work and community. Parent/child relationships will have some stress. Tend to be miserly, live in complete clutter or perfect order. Tend to be paranoid.

Ox (37/49/61/73/85/97) – pretty good year. Tend to only remember what they agree to. They don’t have opinions they just know it’s right. Predictable. They carry everyone. Good year for a fresh start. You can drop the reins on an Ox but they get stuck in the turns. They only know how to deal with situations by remembering. Year to drop their idealism.

Tiger (38/50/62/74/86/98) – skidding type of year. Been very busy but you can’t stop and you’re skidding through the year. Let things progress. Watch the diminishing of your energy. A good year to let someone else help you. Tigers tend to look at people helping them as losers – this is the year to drop that attitude and accept the help because you can’t stop the momentum by yourself. Let others take responsibility. Don’t spend as much in time, energy or money this year. Tigers offer security for others, usually by demeaning others.

Rabbit (39/51/63/75/87/99) – Skidding a little. If you’ve been adventurous the last few years you’ve exceeded your boundaries so this is the year to pull back. Rabbits find their power in safety. They must have a safety boundary. You are not immortal so you need to establish your zones of safety this year.

Dragon (40/52/64/76/88/00) – Do okay all the time. This is a highly advantageous year for Dragons. It would be nice for Dragons to also assist others this year. Dragons are natural leaders. Isolation will not bring as many benefits as sharing the largess. A good year for the Dragon to be a student as well as a teacher.

Snake (41/53/65/77/89/01) – Similar to the Tiger a bit of skidding year. It’s okay but this year is based on what you’ve done the last three years. The boundaries set, or boundaries extended. The Snakes are an internal self-sufficient type who ignores much around them except for their internal love. The outside world is just what you do. So start this year by being who you are. Not a group player. If you’re doing something in the world then don’t mess it up this year. Let it ride. The Ox year, 2021, will be slightly better.

Horse (42/54/66/78/90/02) – The Horse is the diametric of the Rat so the energy is opposite for the Horse. The Horse is big and strong. This year the Horse is most disadvantaged. The Horse tends to try to take care of everything. “Don’ worry I’ll do that.” Horses have been getting red flags this past several years because of their attitude of “I’ll do it”. They even see relationships as something they have to do – but you can’t do other people. They don’t know how to say No. The Horse can’t make the shift from the body to the Heart without difficulty. Renegotiate all your bad relationships so that you don’t get damaged this year. That includes physically, emotionally and mentally. Fix all your relationships. Every one owes Horses since Horses take on all types of jobs/roles. What Horses don’t deal with will manifest as a physical problem. This is a good year for friends of Horses to help out the Horses. Shit hits the fan for Horses. Horses will either learn this year or have a limp for the rest of their lives.

Goat (43/55/67/79/91/03) – This is an editing year for Goats – getting rid of things; stop controlling things; cut back; do less will bring huge benefits to Goats. This is not the time for expansion. The Goat will become stronger in 2023 when all their dreams come true. This is a good time for planning, if you press forward it will bring injury and negativity.

Monkey (44/56/68/80/92/04) – This is a great year for Monkeys. They’ve been using their cleverness to get out of trouble that they aren’t certain this is a good year. Often a Monkey will make trouble just to show how they can get out of trouble. There is a opportunity to the newness of a Rat year that Monkeys can use to their advantage. Hold back, watch, look for opportunities then move forward. Don’t make big investments in the newness, hold back a little. This is good year to learn a language or other skills to let them become a teacher. Reinvent yourself.

Rooster (45/57/69/81/93/05) – It hasn’t been going well for Roosters for several years. The power for a Rooster comes through pride. The Rooster is owning their past mistakes and trying to hold onto their pride which is making it worse for the Rooster. It’s time to let go and say you meant to do it the way you did it. The year 2021 will be a better year for the Rooster. If you keep pushing you’ll get more and more tired. Stop looking down your nose at your helpers.

Dog (46/58/70/82/94/06) – Dogs get anxious around the smell of Rats. It’s a good family year for Dogs. If you have children then focus on the children. Adult Dogs should express appreciation for their parents. Stick with the people and situations with which you’re familiar.

Pig (47/59/71/83/95/07) – Put on the brakes. The last two years were good for the Pigs. In order to continue to have a good year then invite other people. If you have a Pig partner you can even ride their success. The Pig may miss some of the Spring energy because they’re riding the momentum of the last two years. In the next two years it will be an ideal time for Pigs.

恭喜发财 (gōng xǐ fā cái) “Wish you wealth and prosperity.”