Astrology is an interesting aspect of our lives that looks into the potential factors which impact our personality and fortune. No matter whether you are firmly entrenched in it or just have a passing interest, it’s an interesting topic to consider. However, more often than not people end up narrowing their view of astrology as a whole. They focus solely on Western zodiac signs without taking into account what the Chinese equivalent may hold. Up next, we will look into the advantages of the often overlooked horoscope and what it has to offer.
The similarities
When you first compare the two zodiacs it’s easier to spot similarities rather than differences. You’ll note that both have twelve main signs. Each sing has specific interactions with other signs and is supposed to give an estimate of your personality and compatibility with other people through these signs.
The less apparent similarity is that both Western and Chinese astrology have been created with the same template. This being the Babylonian horoscope, which is the first known horoscope in history. Of course, as with other societal and cultural traits the astrology of Babylon spread. The effect of this astrology remains even millennia after the empire that invented it fell.
While these similarities may make somebody think of them as the same thing they couldn’t be further apart. Every other factor of the two zodiacs is widely different. Even the way they assign zodiac signs to people differs. While Western astrology bases it on the month of your birth, the Chinese one determines your zodiac sign depending on the year of your birth. It also has different names for the twelve zodiac signs: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. Other similarities or a quick rundown can be found on ChineseZodiacSecrets, while the following article will cover the deeper aspects of it.
Chinese zodiac isn’t set in stone
This may be the key difference between the two and a fundamental factor that sets them apart. While the Western zodiac has matter-of-factly readings whose flexibility is shaped by those reading it rather than signs themselves, the Chinese zodiac acts more as a source of warning signs.
In the Chinese zodiac, nothing is set in stone. You are able to influence your fate in a myriad of ways, making it both more involved and complex. Think of it more as a source of advice than fortune-telling. The readings of a Chinese horoscope are supposed to give you proper motivation for tasks and hurdles that you will face in near future. Their lack of strictly determined fortune only means that you can make your own. Of course, this assumes you are abiding by its rules still. It’s all about knowing how to affect other factors of the horoscope in order to live out the best possible outcome of any situation.
If you want to learn more about Chinese Astrology Compatibility, our friends from Cupid’s Light has written an in depth article about it. Go ahead and check it out.
Far more complex
The differences aren’t only in the fundamentals of observing one’s fortune. The factors of sign and their relationships are far from the only worrying factor when discerning your fortune. There are also five elements to worry about. These elements are: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. These elements affect each other, keeping everything in motion. For example, water nourishes wood while wood fuels fire. If we look further in, we can see that fire itself affects other elements which will make them have an effect on their related elements as well. Basically, it’s a whole slew of relationships that sprout from one another.
This keeps the cycle of creation and control in a perpetual state of change. This reflects our lives, which are frequently impacted by the world around us.
We should note that the Chinese horoscope also separates each year into twelve months, which are further separated into days with 12 periods of time. This means that time of year and day itself play a far greater role in our horoscope than they do in Western astrology.
It depends on more than just the stars
Going further with the complexity, it should be noted that the Chinese horoscope doesn’t exclusively look at the position of stars. The Chinese astrology chart also takes into account the earthly factors and even relies on them more. It can be easy to leave it all up to the celestial bodies when it comes to horoscope but Chinese zodiac doesn’t get bogged up by that.
As we’ve seen, our effects down here on earth have a heavy impact on our fate too. The everyday interactions can carry significant consequences which could shape a better future for us if we correctly respond. After all, among millions of factors Chinese zodiac uses it’s hard to attribute all of them to the skies.
Birth year
While you would expect your birth year to be more of a fortune-bound element of a horoscope that couldn’t be further from the truth. The year of your sign is the source of extremely bad luck. Worst yet, this bad luck sticks around for the whole year.
As a way of dissuading this bad fortune, Chinese people wear red clothes. There are other ways to combat it but the color red is the most present factor in all of these rituals.
Conclusion
While they share a similar origin and the same template, there are a ton of differences between Western and Chinese zodiacs. The more apparent ones crop up the moment you look into the signs themselves and how they are assigned. Sure, there are twelve of them but they are all different and will be the same for those born in the same year. This may even make it look simplistic if not for so many other factors that decide Chinese horoscope.
As we’ve mentioned, said factors include anything from the stars and below. We even have elements to worry about in Chinese astrology. Five of them in fact, and interact constantly.
However, the most important factor of Chinese horoscope has to be the fact that it can be changed. We aren’t shackled by the readings but rather motivated to alter them through our own actions. These can heavily change the fortune no matter who you are. That’s what makes it so much more involved, the part we play in it.
