Year of the Pig Archives - Owl Medicine: Shamanic Healing

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A Tale of Five Pigs

Happy New Year (again)!

While I realize it’s highly unlikely that many of you share ‘Boar’ status with me, I suspect there are at least a few of you who do. In fact, I know there are at least a couple of you out there, so I don’t feel too bad about indulging in a little bit of Boar-ology.

Actually, in spite of the appearance of self-indulgence, I’m only using the Year of the Pig as an example, since this subject is far too complicated to cover even superficially in a short blog post. But I thought you might find some of these descriptions interesting.

The Five Elements

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, there are five different variations attributed to each Chinese Zodiac animal. These differences are based on the elements, and change with each 12 year sub-cycle within the overarching 60 year cycle.

Last night I wrote about the five elements each particular sign expresses in any given year, which continue to rotate in order every 12 years:

Metal Water Wood Fire Earth

I must confess, I do not have anything but the most cursory of cursory understandings of how each element associated with a sign shapes the expression or experience of those born that particular year. While I am aware that there are quite a number of books and other materials available on Chinese Astrology, as well as the meaning and significance of The Five Elements in Eastern philosophy and study, I am using only two reference materials for this short post:

The Handbook of Chinese Horoscopes (6^thedition) by Theodora Lau; and Pig, from The Chinese Horoscopes Library by Kwok Man-ho.

Chinese Astrology is a Complex Subject

The first of the books mentioned above is a 415 page treatise that probably only scratches the surface of the intricacies of this field of study. Not only are each of the twelve signs discussed, but the author then explains how the Chinese not only apply one of the five elements to each sign in a particular year, but also assigns seasons and ‘stems’ (a positive or negative energetic component – as opposed to a value judgment) to each sign. Not surprisingly, the system further breaks things down into two hour increments of a 24 hour day, assigning an animal sign to each of those twelve portions of the day as well, all of which influences the expression of the individual born at that time.

Learning the meanings and interactions of the five elements with and between each other appears daunting to me, and I know this is actually a very complex field of study.

Just for fun, though, I wanted to share with you the following intriguing descriptions of each type of Boar, which I believe are tied to how the particular element applies to the sign that year. I found these descriptions in the second book I reference above, Pig , which would probably qualify as a ‘pocket reference,’ it’s so small.

Anyway, following are the Boar years spanning the last century or so. Beside each set of dates, you’ll see the element associated with those years and, beside the element, I’ve quoted the poetic description and first paragraph of how that element is interpreted by the author of Pig.

1911 and 1971: Metal – “Pig in the Garden” – “This is a very complex Pig. Its natural intelligence is combined with a certain brashness and lack of innate wisdom, which can lead to unnecessary trouble.”

1923 and 1983: Water – “Pig in the Forest” – “This is a classic Pig. It leads a solitary life, it is obstinate, yet it remains essentially fortunate. It does not worry about the consequences of its actions.”

1935 and 1995: Wood – “Pig Passing By” – “This is a classic Pig personality – although you may suffer while you are young, you should invariably enjoy happier times as you grow older.”

1947 and 2007: Fire – “Pig Passing the Mountain” – “This Pig possesses great talent and self-assurance. Unfortunately, it also has a quick temper, which might lead it to unwise decisions and hasty actions.”

1959 and 2019: Earth – “Monastery Pig” – “The ultimate threat to any Pig is being eaten. Chinese monks are vegetarian, however, and since this Pig lives in a monastery, it will never be threatened.”

This Just Scratches the Surface

I guess the upshot of all of this is that over the next year, there will be lots of little pampered Piglets being born. Hopefully they will be pampered, but not spoiled!

One last thing I’d like to mention is that my description in yesterday’s post on how the Chinese new year is determined each year may not be entirely accurate, although I know it is connected with the new moon. I of course recommend that you study up for yourself if this is something that piques your interest.

I’d really wanted to get a photo of the seven or eight little black pigs that just took up residence near us. They’ve scampered out of their wooden shelter and tumbled over each other to greet me at the fence alongside the road almost every day this past week. Today, of course, since I was hoping to take their photo for inclusion in this post, they acted weirdly shy.

Silly little piglets! Go figure.

(T-1026)

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Year of the Boar

Happy New Year! Happy Year of the Boar (Year of the Pig)! Technically, we’re not moving from the Year of the Dog until tomorrow (Monday, February 4^th, 2019), but since most of you don’t read my posts until the morning after I publish them, I’m just paving the way for you to hit this new year running and give you the chance to celebrate all day.

Of course, I’m speaking of the Chinese New Year. And since the Chinese calendar is based on lunar cycles, the new year begins tomorrow at 4:04 p.m. EST, the time of the new moon.

You might wonder why I’m so excited to wish you these porcine-centered felicitations. A big reason might be that I am a Boar, having been born between February 8, 1959 and January 27, 1960.

And to make this year’s Year of the Pig even more ‘special’ for me (and those born in that same time span I just mentioned), since the Chinese Lunar Calendar is based on the number 60, this year signifies a full turning of the astrological cycle since we were born. This will be a year of completion or ‘coming full circle’ for those of us born between the dates listed above.

Twelve Signs of the Chinese Zodiac

Just as you’re aware of the twelve signs that comprise our western zodiac, which begins with Aries and ends with Pisces, there are twelve signs in the Chinese Zodiac as well. The western zodiac signs change every 30 days or so, though, giving us twelve signs within each calendar year.

The Chinese system assigns a single symbol to an entire year, with the Year of the Rat, for instance, being considered the ‘first’ sign of the zodiac, and the Boar the last. However, each ‘year’ begins and ends on a different date according to the moon’s cycle in January/February of each year. Specifically, each new year in the Chinese system begins at the occurrence of the first new moon following the first full moon in a calendar year.

The signs, with the year in which each ‘mainly’ appears, are as follows:

Rat 1924 1936 1948 1960 1972 1984 1996 2008 2020

Ox 1925 1937 1949 1961 1973 1985 1997 2009 2021

Tiger 1926 1938 1950 1962 1974 1986 1998 2010 2022

Rabbit 1927 1939 1951 1963 1975 1987 1999 2011 2023

Drago 1928 1940 1952 1964 1976 1988 2000 2012 2023

Snake 1929 1941 1953 1965 1977 1989 2001 2013 2024

Horse 1930 1942 1954 1966 1978 1990 2002 2014 2025

Sheep 1931 1943 1955 1967 1979 1991 2003 2015 2026

Monkey 1932 1944 1956 1968 1980 1992 2004 2016 2027

Rooster 1933 1945 1957 1969 1981 1993 2005 2017 2028

Dog 1934 1946 1958 1970 1982 1995 2007 2018 2029

Boar 1935 1947 1959 1971 1983 1996 2008 2019 2030

Obviously, if your birthdate falls toward the end of January or through about mid-February, you’ll need to check the specific dates for when each cycle began and ended in the year you were born. (I’m sure you can google it; but I’d be happy to post the specific dates for anyone who requests.)

The Five Variations of Each Symbol

Every twelve years, the cycle repeats. It’s important to remember, though, that the larger cycle recognized in this system is the 60 year cycle.

Thus, each symbol is repeated five times within those sixty years. And each of those five variations on the theme corresponds to an element: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water.

Every 12 years, then, a different variation of the particular sign occurs, with the cycle repeating itself for the first time after 60 years have elapsed.

It’s quite intriguing to read about the variations in characteristics of the different signs as they are manifested every twelve years. You can just imagine the differences between, say, a Fire Rooster, a Metal Rooster, and a Water Rooster. (I use that as an illustration because I happen to have lived with these ‘variations’ for much of my life: specifically, my husband and two of my three sons.) (Which is also why I decorated our downstairs bathroom in fall colors, filled it with many roosters, and dubbed it our ‘cock room.’)

And with that image fixed firmly in your minds (a ‘cock room’ – you just know that’ll stick with you!), I am going to complete this post. I’ll write a bit more about the Year of the Boar tomorrow, and describe a bit more of the elemental attributes distinguishing the variations that occur every twelve years.

The point of all of this is that there are so very many ways we humans have developed, across cultures and across time, to help ourselves understand and make sense of who we are and what we’re here to experience. There are maps for us all over the place. We just need to look around and find the ones that work uniquely for us – and then dive into a deeper understanding of their keys.

Happy New Year!

(T-1027)