Year Of The Earthen Cow

Monday brings the Chinese calendar's Year of the Earthen Cow. A quick look at the Chinese Lunar Calendar will tell you that from 26 Jan 2009 onwards, the male Rat gives way to the female Buffalo. Apparently, the sign allocated to those born in the solilunar year that is mostly in 1949 and also in 2009 is feminine/earth/ox. Heh.

Year Of The Flaming Swine

Oh yes, it certainly is. A quick look at the Chinese Lunar Calendar will tell you that from 17 Feb 2007 onwards, the Dog gives way to the Pig. Not much of an improvement, some might say - but the pig is apparently a more cultured animal, and one that is particularly easy-going, happy and honest.

(Note: Though I'm not one for supernatural explanations of individual human conduct when couched in such errrm... agricultural terms, I suppose that if one can believe in the supernatural at all, one ought to spare a second thought for the myriad other kinds of supernatural structure that one's fellow humans might believe in.)

That said, the same almanac structure tells me that I am a Fire Goat! I shall present the traits attributed to such a creature and those who know me can tell me if they are appropriate or not. The element of Fire is related to the cardinal South, the season of Summer, the planet Mars, the colour Red, the circulatory system & heart; Fire persons are supposed to be dynamic, energetic, passionate, enterprising, adventurous, restless, competitive leaders, who are strong and single-minded. Not all these traits seem compatible with the goat-character though, which is said to be domestic, cultured, sympathetic, artistic, and hankering after love and attention.

One almanac says this:

Deep inside the Fire Goat banked furnaces are slumbering. The addition of Fire does nothing to ruffle the placid Goat, at least on the surface. You maintain a shy, retiring exterior, but inside you’re a time-bomb ticking. You use your disarming tactics to take your opponents off their guard, and then move in for the kill. You have a capacious selection of weaponry to bring into play — brains, brawn, patience, luck, skill and a private fury that can be absolutely deadly if released. Take care how, where and when you fly off the handle, unless you prefer waking up in jail every morning.

I suppose I must be somewhere in between; certainly, I hope not to be of the lawless goatiness just described. Personally, I think that to make a system this complex simply creates so many possible combinations that you can't tell how accurate the system is - if at all.