Theresa Cheung

The Element Encyclopedia of Birthdays


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own research about them because their life choices may offer you further inspiration about your own life choices. If in your research about people born on your birthday you do stumble across less savory examples, don’t let that dishearten you. Every person is born a complex mix of positive and negative potential. There are saints and sinners born every single day of the year. Your personality is formed and your destiny created not by your potential for positive or negative, but by the choices you make every day and what you actually decide to do with your one precious life.

      Potential and Pitfalls

      Even though there may be certain similarities for people born on the same day, as mentioned earlier, never ever forget that every person is born unique and full of their own potential, just as every new day is also unique and full of its own potential. Bear in mind, too, that there are going to be both blessings and challenges associated with each birthday in the year.

      We all have free will. Each one of us has a choice. We can choose to maximize the blessings of the day or allow negative choices to drain our potential. The purpose of our lives is to evolve. It is only by facing and overcoming challenges that we learn and grow. Sometimes growth hurts, but this struggle isn’t necessarily a negative thing. It can be the very best thing for your evolution or spiritual awakening. In other words, if your birthday seems to focus more on overcoming challenges, this doesn’t put you at a disadvantage. Quite the opposite. It suggests huge potential for personal growth and living a life of deep meaning.

      The Basics of Chinese Astrology

      Chinese astrology is similar to Western astrology in that it helps its followers understand themselves and others better. It also consists of 12 signs and each of these signs offers profound insight into personality traits. And just as in Western astrology your horoscope consists of more than your sun sign, that’s also the case with Chinese astrology. Each sign has an element, a balance of yin and yang and divisions to consider.

      However, the similarities end there. The names of the 12 signs in Western astrology derive from constellations, whereas the names of the 12 signs in Chinese astrology derive from animals. The Chinese believe that the animal sign you are born under impacts your personality and destiny, as expressed in the saying, “This animal hides in your heart.” According to ancient myth, the Jade Emperor (some variations say it was the Buddha) called all the animals to take part in a race. But only 12 animals came, so these 12 were given the honor of having a year named after them according to their finishing place in the race, with the rat coming in first and the wild boar or pig last.

      Perhaps the biggest difference between the two systems is that Chinese astrology determines your zodiac sign by year of birth, while Western astrology determines it by day and month of birth. Also, the Western zodiac year begins at the spring equinox. In the East each Chinese sign is determined by the lunar calendar and begins at Chinese New Year, which is the second new moon after the winter solstice.

      So, given these differences, is it possible to find correspondences between Chinese astrology and the Western signs? The answer is yes, because the 12 Chinese signs that make up the 12-year cycle known as Sheng Xiao (“birth likeness”) actually correspond to the 12-year cycle of the planet Jupiter in Western astrology. It is therefore possible to match each Chinese sign to a Western counterpart. I have taken this East-meets-West astrology correspondence into account when creating each birthday profile.

      In the Heed Your Signs section of this book, you will notice that each sun-sign description also includes its Chinese astrology counterpart description. For example, if you are an Aries, your Chinese sign correspondence is the Dragon. You will therefore have a natural affinity with the symbolic qualities of that mythical animal.

      In addition to your Chinese astrology sun-sign match, you are also encouraged to read the relevant section for the animal that corresponds with your year of birth (see tables below). That animal may well be associated with a different sun sign to your own. For example, if you are a Taurus born in 1996, you should read your corresponding Chinese astrology sign, which is the Snake, but you should also read the section about the Rat, as you will have an affinity with both Snake and Rat characteristics and can discover much of value about yourself from reading both.

1921Rooster
1922Dog
1923Pig
1924Rat
1925Ox
1926Tiger
1927Rabbit
1928Dragon
1929Snake

      1930s

1930Horse
1931Goat
1932Monkey
1933Rooster
1934Dog
1935Pig
1936Rat
1937Ox
1938Tiger
1939Rabbit

      1940s

1940Dragon
1941Snake
1942Horse
1943Goat
1944Monkey
1945Rooster
1946Dog
1947Pig
1948Rat
1949Ox

      1950s

1950Tiger
1951Rabbit
1952Dragon
1953Snake
1954Horse
1955Goat
1956Monkey
1957Rooster
1958Dog
1959Pig

      1960s

1960Rat
1961Ox
1962Tiger
1963Rabbit
1964Dragon
1965Snake
1966Horse
1967Goat
1968Monkey
1969Rooster

      1970s

1970Dog
1971Pig
1972Rat
1973Ox
1974Tiger
1975Rabbit
1976Dragon
1977Snake
1978Horse
1979Goat

      1980s

1980Monkey
1981Rooster
1982Dog
1983Pig
1984Rat
1985Ox
1986Tiger
1987Rabbit
1988Dragon
1989Snake

      1990s

1990Horse
1991Goat
1992Monkey
1993Rooster
1994Dog
1995Pig
1996Rat
1997Ox
1998Tiger
1999Rabbit

      2000s

2000Dragon
2001Snake
2002Horse
2003Goat
2004Monkey
2005Rooster
2006Dog
2007Pig
2008Rat
2009Ox

      2010s

2010Tiger
2011Rabbit
2012Dragon
2013Snake
2014Horse
2015Goat
2016Monkey
2017Rooster
2018Dog
2019Pig