What
has a clock, the elements and animals got to do with one another? The answer is
compatibility.
In
Chinese Astrology, the year in which we were born is represented by one of the
12 animals in the zodiac and one of the 5 elements in the universe i.e. wood,
fire, earth, metal and water. Each of the animal symbolism is associated with
an element which has a polarity of Yin and Yang. For example, a person can be
born in the year of the Rat with the element of Yin Wood. This is based on the
Chinese system of counting the years known as the 60 year cycle. In
this cycle, the years are formed by the interaction of 10 celestial stems and
12 terrestrial branches. These stems and branches are also called heavenly
stems and earthly branches, simply because our luck is governed partly by
heaven’s decree and partly by human action. The 60 year cycle is an important feature
in Chinese Astrology known as the Four Pillars of Destiny
or BaZi which takes into consideration the year, month, day and hour of birth. For want of simplicity, we can take just the
year pillar to determine the compatibility between animal signs.
Most
people are familiar with the 12 animal signs in the zodiac namely Rat, Ox,
Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.
But
do you know that by looking at the positions of these animals relative to one
another on the face of a clock, we can find out their compatibility?
For
instance, if you belonged to the animal sign of Rat, you are most compatible
with the Dragon and the Monkey. How? Well, a clock has 12 divisions based on
the hour hand. By positioning the Rat at 12 o’clock, you can see that the
Dragon and the Monkey, being 5th and 9th in the order by
which they take their place in the Zodiac, are 4 and 8 positions apart respectively
from the Rat and therefore, takes up positions at 4 o’clock and 8 o’clock on
the face of the clock. In other words, they are also 4 hourly apart from one
another. On the face of the clock, they formed a “triangle of compatibility”
also known as 3 harmonies based on the Four Pillars of Destiny. Hence, these
animals get along well with one another. By extension, all animal signs that
are 4 numbers apart in the zodiac are considered most compatible with one
another
The
combinations of animal signs and their intrinsic elements that form the
triangles of compatibility are listed below:-
Pig
(Yin Water) - Rabbit (Yin Wood) - Goat (Yin Earth)
Tiger
(Yang Wood) - Horse (Yang Fire) - Dog (Yang Earth)
Snake
(Yin Fire) - Rooster (Yin Metal) - Ox (Yin Earth)
Monkey
(Yang Metal) - Rat (Yang Water) - Dragon (Yang Earth)
If
you were to observe closely, in each of the above 3 animal combinations, they
are all 4 numbers apart in the zodiac and correspondingly, 4 hourly apart on
the face of the clock.
On
the contrary, if these animal signs are 6 numbers apart from one another in the
zodiac or directly opposite each other on the face of the clock, they are considered
to be most incompatible. For example, the Rat and the Horse, being 1st
and 7th in the zodiac, takes 1 o’clock and 7 o’clock respectively on
the face of the clock and hence, formed one of the most incompatible twosomes
in Chinese Astrology. In other words, they clash with one another.
The
following are the 6 clashes between the animal signs in the zodiac:-
Rat – Horse
Ox – Goat
Tiger – Monkey
Rabbit – Rooster
Dragon – Dog
Snake – Pig
As
you can see, the animal signs we are born with and their relative positions in
the zodiac or on the face of the clock will determine whether we get along with
one another or clashes. A case of exhibiting animal magnetism or law of the
jungle so to speak!
This is just one of the simple ways to find out whether two persons are compatible with one another. Please note that the three animal combinations and the six clashes are solely based on our Year Pillars. For more sophisticated method, a detailed analysis of our natal chart is required where all the four pillars (Year, Month, Day and Hour) are taken into consideration for better accuracy of reading on compatibility between two persons.