Arcanes

The Chinese horoscope · the twelve animals·11th of twelve

The Dog

狗gǒu

  • Branch 戌 · xū
  • Fixed element: Earth
  • yang
  • Hour: 19:00 to 21:00
  • Direction: WNW

In a word

Loyal, fair, always on the alert.

What tradition attributes to it

  • Faithful: when they are there, they are there for good.
  • A sharp sense of justice, for themselves and for everyone else.
  • Honest, direct, they don’t play games.
  • Protective, they watch over their own.
  • They keep their commitments, even when it costs.

The other side

  • Chronic worry: they see danger everywhere.
  • Pessimistic, they expect the worst so as not to be disappointed.
  • They judge fast, and forgive slowly.

In love

Faithful and protective, they look for safety and trust. They need reassurance about the other person’s loyalty; vagueness eats at them.

At work

At ease in what protects and what serves: the law, care, security, community work. They work hard for a cause, less so for a number.

What helps

Name one worry that is going round right now, write it down in one line, and next to it note what actually happened last time. Compare.

By the element of the year

  • Wood Dog: more sociable and more flexible, they gather people easily.
  • Fire Dog: more fiery, more charismatic, they charge for their ideas.
  • Earth Dog: the most stable and the wisest, a rock for everyone else.
  • Metal Dog: the most severe, uncompromising about their principles.
  • Water Dog: more intuitive, gentler, less strict, they listen before they judge.

The Year of the Fire Horse

This year for the Dog

The animal of the year belongs to its affinity triangle (sānhé): three animals four years apart, who understand one another without effort, says tradition. The year is supposed to fit it like a glove.

The element of the year feeds its own (Wood feeds Fire, Fire makes Earth): a year that carries rather than takes.

Chinese tradition reads the year by comparing this animal with the year's animal, then their two elements. It describes a mood, not events.

The years of the Dog

  1. February 14, 1934 → February 3, 1935Wood Dog甲戌
  2. February 2, 1946 → January 21, 1947Fire Dog丙戌
  3. February 18, 1958 → February 7, 1959Earth Dog戊戌
  4. February 6, 1970 → January 26, 1971Metal Dog庚戌
  5. January 25, 1982 → February 12, 1983Water Dog壬戌
  6. February 10, 1994 → January 30, 1995Wood Dog甲戌
  7. January 29, 2006 → February 17, 2007Fire Dog丙戌
  8. February 16, 2018 → February 4, 2019Earth Dog戊戌
  9. February 3, 2030 → January 22, 2031Metal Dog庚戌
  10. January 22, 2042 → February 9, 2043Water Dog壬戌

From Chinese New Year to the last day of the Chinese year. If your birthday falls in January or early February, your animal is often the one from the year before: check your birth date in the list.

With the others

  • Its affinity triangle: the Tiger and the Horse. Three animals four years apart, who understand one another without effort, says tradition.
  • Its secret friend: the Rabbit. The quiet pair, the one that gets along without showing it.
  • Its opposite: the Dragon, six years apart, directly across on the wheel of the twelve animals. Not a ban: a difference in pace, one you can learn to work with.

Traditional affinities, not verdicts. Two people are two whole charts, not two birth years.

And you?

Your sign is based on the actual date of Chinese New Year, and your birth time gives your animal of the hour.

See my sign