Arcanes

The Chinese horoscope · the twelve animals·5th of twelve

The Dragon

龍lóng

  • Branch 辰 · chén
  • Fixed element: Earth
  • yang
  • Hour: 7:00 to 9:00
  • Direction: ESE

In a word

Ambitious, brilliant, born to be seen.

What tradition attributes to it

  • Energy to spare, and momentum for everyone around.
  • They aim high and are not afraid to say so.
  • Generous, frank, they don’t count their gifts.
  • Luck, the old books say; nerve, at the very least.
  • They inspire: people follow before they know where.

The other side

  • Pride: they cope badly with not being first.
  • Impatient, they can crush people without meaning to.
  • They flare up, and drop back just as fast.

In love

Wholehearted, intense, they need to be admired and to commit to something big. Lukewarm sends them running; the other person’s independence attracts and irritates them at once.

At work

Made to lead, to launch, to represent. They need a stage, a goal bigger than the everyday. Repetitive execution work puts them out.

What helps

Let someone else decide one small thing today, and do it their way. Watch what that does to you.

By the element of the year

  • Wood Dragon: more creative and more open, listening before they rule.
  • Fire Dragon: the most flamboyant, the most commanding, best not crossed.
  • Earth Dragon: steadier, realistic, building what the others dream about.
  • Metal Dragon: the most absolute, inflexible, tenacious to the point of obstinacy.
  • Water Dragon: calmer, more considered, able to wait for their moment.

The Year of the Fire Horse

This year for the Dragon

Between the animal of the year and its own, tradition names nothing in particular: no triangle, no opposition, no secret friendship. An ordinary year, where the element counts for more.

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 Dragon

  1. January 23, 1928 → February 9, 1929Earth Dragon戊辰
  2. February 8, 1940 → January 26, 1941Metal Dragon庚辰
  3. January 27, 1952 → February 13, 1953Water Dragon壬辰
  4. February 13, 1964 → February 1, 1965Wood Dragon甲辰
  5. January 31, 1976 → February 17, 1977Fire Dragon丙辰
  6. February 17, 1988 → February 5, 1989Earth Dragon戊辰
  7. February 5, 2000 → January 23, 2001Metal Dragon庚辰
  8. January 23, 2012 → February 9, 2013Water Dragon壬辰
  9. February 10, 2024 → January 28, 2025Wood Dragon甲辰
  10. January 28, 2036 → February 14, 2037Fire Dragon丙辰

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 Rat and the Monkey. Three animals four years apart, who understand one another without effort, says tradition.
  • Its secret friend: the Rooster. The quiet pair, the one that gets along without showing it.
  • Its opposite: the Dog, 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