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Your Chinese Pillars: Animal/Element Birth Reading, Astrology
Your birth year is one of 60 pillars or combinations
Did you know that in Chinese Astrology, there’s a lot more to reading your sign than knowing what animal year you were born into?
Many of us have heard about the 12 monthly Animals of the year. However, in the Chinese system, there are also polarities of either Yin (feminine) or Yang (masculine) and five elements that interact with the animal totems.
The Five Elements Theory is an intrinsic part of the foundation of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which says that each of our five main vital organs .
Each Animal has a fixed Element, but the 5 elements are also paired with each Animal totem. As there are 12 Animal signs and 5 different Elements, one Element is paired twice in any one cycle or set of 12 animal totems.
In a cycle or a year of 12 months / 12 animal totems, there are changeable elements. This is because the influence or energies of certain Elements during particular lunar months have been observed over eons of time.
Each Element has a color associated with it. Elements are referred to as Heavenly Stems, while Animal totems are referred to as Earthly Branches!
Metal (ruled by Venus, color=white)
Water (ruled by Mercury, color=black)
Wood (ruled by Jupiter, color=green)
Fire (ruled by Mars, color=red)
Earth ( ruled by Saturn, color=brown)
Yang wood (Jia) RAT 🐭
Yin wood (Yi) OX 🐮
Yang fire (Bing) TIGER 🐯
Yin fire (Ding) RABBIT 🐰
Yang earth (Wu) DRAGON 🐉
Yin earth (Ji) SNAKE 🐍
Yang metal (Geng) HORSE 🐴
Yin metal (Xin) SHEEP 🐑
Yang water (Ren) MONKEY 🐵
Yin water (Gui) ROOSTER 🐓
The 60 year cycle
There’s a bigger cycle of 60 years of animal/element combinations. Each combination can be referred to as a Pillar.
Each set of 10 combinations of a polarity with an animals starts with Yang Wood and ends with Yin Water. Vicki Iskandar who created the Chinese Five Elements Oracle cards says that. And each of the 6 sets have a particular energy theme.
12 Animal signs x 5 Elements = 60. There are 5 sets of 12 animals in one 60 year cycle.
Each Animal has a changeable element because 5 elements are assigned to each of 12 years / animal totems.
If you look at the Table below, you will see how it works with the cycles of 60 years. It will show how a pillar or combination of Element and Animal occurs only once every 60 years!
For example, I was born in a Year of the Water Rabbit. The Rabbit’s fixed Element is wood, as shown below.
Metal: Monkey and Rooster
Wood: Tiger and Rabbit
Water: Rat and Pig
Fire: Snake and Horse
Earth: Ox, Dragon, Goat, and Dog
The Element of water (the changeable element for me) nurtures wood (my fixed element), so the combination of Water and Wood works well. My article on Substack explains how the 5 elements influence each other.
A Water Rabbit person is different to a Metal Rabbit person or an Earth Rabbit person, etc. I have a wonderful book, “” by Damian Sharp, which sets out how the different Elements assigned to an Animal sign result in different personalities or life approaches.
Your Month, Day, and Hour of birth matters
Furthermore, there’s an Element and an Animal for the month, day, and hour that you were born!
The BaZi chart calculator below can give you your Elements and Animals for your month, day, and hour of birth !
Important: After you enter the data that you know, pressing Calculate will generate a beautiful Chart, which you must take a screenshot of — — because you can’t save it as an image or otherwise download / save it to your computer.
I have heard/read that your Day “pillar” or combination is most useful or important. My Day pillar is the Yang Metal Monkey 🐒 with the BaZi calculator saying that “Yang Metal” is my “Archetype.” The description from Vicki (that she emails you to if you fill out the form) suits me perfectly!
The Monkey Earthly Branch assignation also indicates a “mischievous” or daring or fun personality. I would say that, for me, I do like to test the waters or push the envelope” sometimes, to use some metaphors! The “Monkey” influence is also associated with curiosity, and I am very curious about many things.
( P.S. According to Western Astrology, I am a Virgo, with a love for information/data. The combinations of astrological influences, from independent observations over eons of time, West and East, are magical and helpful, in my opinion. Then there’s Numerology influences also, for example my Life Path is Master Number 33.)
After calculating your chart, using the page above, scrolling down you’ll find a form to fill in. However, after I filled in the form, I received an email just with a list of the 10 Heavenly Stems (e.g. Yang Wood, Yin Wood) and their meanings.
In other words, you do NOT receive a copy of your Chart by email ! 😲 That is why you should screenshot your Chart.
Above is a screenshot of actress Nicole Kidman’s BaZi chart. 😄 I generated it using Vicki’s online calculator by entering in Nicole’s birthday! You can see she was born in a Year of the Brown Goat, i.e. year of the Goat with the Earth element (brown) and the Yin polarity.
“Goats” (or Sheep) are said to make new friends effortlessly, are dreamers, were born with a gift for creative pursuits, and tend to be incredibly perceptive and nurturing. They’re peacemakers who would prefer not to rock the boat. Patient, polite, and persuasive, they possess a quiet determination to achieve even the loftiest goals.
[ Source: ]
This reading together with the reading of Nicole’s “personality” pillar or Day pillar being the Yin Rabbit, combines beautifully. It illustrates how Nicole has a pleasant, approachable, and patient attitude. She is diplomatic and creative.
Chinese Astrology/Astronomy in Summary
The foremost origins of Chinese astrology are shrouded in the haze of ancient times. Chinese astrology is based on a lunar cycle of twelve lunations.
A lunation is the time between a New Moon and the next, with the New Year beginning when the New Moon appears in Aquarius (sometime between mid-January and mid-February).
In the Western world, the years are dated from the birth of Jesus Christ, for example, 2003 means 2,003 years after the birth of Christ. This represents a linear perception of time, with time proceeding in a straight line from the past to the present and the future.
In traditional China, dating methods are cyclical, cyclical meaning something that is repeated time after time according to a pattern.
A popular folk method which reflected this cyclical method of recording years was the naming of Twelve Animal Signs.
Every year within a cycle (cyclical period) is assigned an animal name or “sign” according to a repeating cycle: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep/Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar/Pig.
Every twelve years the same animal name or “sign” would reappear. The Chinese lunar calendar (used in China for determining dates of festive events such as Chinese New Year) is made up of five cycles of twelve years each, with a bigger cycle taking sixty years.
These numbers of years were determined from mathematics, astronomical observations, and analyses of people and events on Earth. Each year has characteristic influences which are repeated every 12 years or every 60 years.
Under the Chinese astrological system a complete analysis of an individual would have to take into account the year of birth, the element, the yin/yang polarity, the month of birth, the day of birth, and the hour of birth.
Did you know?
Shao Yung declared that there are bigger cycles of time than a year.
Recurring over “time” there were and are great cycles of 180 years each.
These 180 years, referred to as San Yuan, are divided into 3 Eras of 60 years.
The current Great Cycle began in 1864 and ends in 2044. All planets in our solar system will then align!
If you’re interested in knowing more, please request my Guidelines on the Great Cycles of Time, by visiting this page ! 😍
How to receive your Card for your Element and Animal Year signs!
I run a spirituality blog on Substack called “Soul Connexions.”
I have many decks of oracle cards, including Vicki Iskandar’s “The Chinese Five Elements Oracle.” The card featured at the top of this article is from Vicki’s deck.
If you would like me to send you the image of YOUR card and a short reading of your personality / energies; please follow the instructions on the page below.
