I wrote this to try and answer all the questions I had about restaurant placemats.
My intention in posting this is to help others understand subtleties that are often
joked about, casually dismissed, misunderstood. This is about cultural diversity.
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Chinese Astrology - Inner Companion
Inner Companion/Companion in Life
The Chinese concept of the companion in life does not refer to
another person, but rather to an inner person within an individual.
The inner companion acts as a guide, guardian or devil's advocate.
Your companion in life is determined by your hour of birth.
11pm - 01am Rat
01am - 03am Ox
03am - 05am Tiger
05am - 07am Rabbit
07am - 09am Dragon
09am - 11am Snake
11am - 01pm Horse
01pm - 03pm Goat/Sheep
03pm - 05pm Monkey
05pm - 07pm Rooster
07pm - 09pm Dog
09pm - 11pm Pig/Boar
The "Inner Companion" does not mean that you have the traits
of both animals, but that your "Companion in Life" modifies
the traits of your animal sign. They might provide more stability,
or increase the potential to balance the zodiac animals attributes.
It is also important to remember the Natural Elements for the
animals and the Yin and Yang attributes are assigned to each.
BOAR Yin-Water (Pig)
RAT Yang-Water
OX Yin-Water
TIGER Yang-Wood
RABBIT Yin-Wood
DRAGON Yang-Wood
SNAKE Yin-Fire
HORSE Yang-Fire
SHEEP Yin-Fire (Goat)
MONKEY Yang-Metal
ROOSTER Yin-Metal
DOG Yang-Metal
Chinese Astrology Elements and Signs
Twelve Earthly Branches & Five Elements
In Chinese Taoism thought, things in nature can be classified
in five types: metal, wood, earth, water, fire. These five elements
are not just the materials that the names refer to, but rather
metaphors and symbols for describing how things interact and
relate to each other. The original Taoist reference was about the
seasons (or the heavens), and they would then be more accurately
described as the five phases.
The year an individual is born into consists of two elements.
The first is the stem. The ten Heavenly Stems are the five elements
of water, wood, fire, earth and metal in their yang and yin state.
This essence of element is indicated in the last number of the
year one is born (note: does not follow odd=yang and even=yin,
which I think is because the year is not "the year” until it's over).
0 Metal Yang
1 Metal Yin
2 Water Yang
3 Water Yin
4 Wood Yang
5 Wood Yin
6 Fire Yang
7 Fire Yin
8 Earth Yang
9 Earth Yin
The second is the branch. The Twelve Earthly Branches are the
twelve animals of Chinese astrology:
Pig, Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog.
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The essence of the individual element is:
Pig (water yin), Rat (water yang), Ox (water yin),
Tiger (wood yang), Rabbit (wood yin), Dragon (water yang),
Snake (fire yin), Horse (fire yang), Sheep (fire yin),
Monkey (metal yang), Rooster (metal yin), Dog (metal yang).
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NOTE: Earth (Soil) is found in the first stem, but not the second branch.
“Earth” often relates to Moon.
The stem and branches express each other in a 60-year cycle
in terms of the five elements in their yin and yang states.
It makes me wonder about 60 second minutes, 60 minute hours,
24 hour days, and all such things, tracing back to Mesopotamia,
where our alphabet originated, written in the seasons and stars.