(Currently being edited-Jump to Video for completed analysis)

The Great Race

In the Chinese zodiac there are 12 animals, representing 12 years, and they go in the order of the Jade Emperor’s Great Race.

To explain this in the most basic way possible: The Jade Emperor was like “I’m gonna take all of my favorite animals, and then I’m gonna have a race to see who wins, and then we’re gonna go in order of that for our Astrological years in the Chinese Horoscope, alright?

So, the rat is the first one, which was actually where we get the term “The Rat Race” from. You see the Rat actually didn’t win the race fair and square—but it still came in number one, because it hitched a ride on the back of the Ox.  The Ox is a very diligent animal, so it actually made it first, then the rat jumped off and went won.  So the rat is first, Ox is second, and each one of these animals follows suit and there’s a reason for where they are in order, and there’s a reason for you, as well, and the natural order that you fall in.

The Chinese zodiac is about competition and success and doesn’t have to just belong to the rats, and that’s what I’m going to show you about yourself.  How do you wield your success, even if you aren’t first place?

Now, your element matters too, and how you get to that, is by knowing the last digit of the year you were born.  So if you were born in like in 1984, 1985, 1994, 1995 and so on, your last digit would be 4 or 5, and those fall in the same element.  You can scroll down to read more about Elements, after you get your Zodiac Sign.

Your Element by Last Digit of Year:

0, 1: Metal

2, 3: Water

4, 5: Wood

6, 7: Fire

8, 9: Earth

The Rat

This is how you’re going to gain success being born as a rat.  You need to recognize your ability to cut corners and to to charm and manipulate—it’s one of your powers, but you need to also use this skill to unlock the genius inside of you, and not always just for cutting in front of the people outside of you.

You also have to make sure that you find time to emotionally connect with the people around you so that you are more inclined to love them, and not just want to take from them.  The only reason you would do this is, is because it’s a lonely journey when you’re the first one to arrive and no one likes you. If you want to live successfully and happily you can’t just win the race you also have to have a family of loving arms around you, and that is true happiness—true success. You can’t have a win without a friend, or a friend, who holds you back from winning. You know that one without the other is a terrible way to go. The Rat genuinely loved the Ox for taking him on her back, and knows he has to give the Ox the world, and so he does.

You have a really sharp wit, so use that to progress society as a whole, and not just to progress your life in general.  You have won the race now, so what do you do with that? You change the world, and you change it for the better.  Don’t change the world for what makes sense to you, but by a broader scope that you learned, when you hitched a ride on someone more focused on the win–The Ox.  You got to see outside the race, and saw the needs of humanity, while the Ox focused on the path.  That’s how life is created, you use information that you gained by observation, to help everyone else progress with you, help humanity to see what you see, and know what you know, and for you to give it of yourself freely, out of love.  This will give you the most success.

You will also find that you are just like the Ox when you’re at your peak, as you are one with the Ox. The Ox didn’t make a big fuss when you jumped off her back, because the Ox also enjoyed your company and your observations, and liked the friendship. The Ox wasn’t going to hurt you, and wasn’t ever trying kill you. The Ox didn’t care that you hitched a ride at all.  So remember that about people—they don’t hate you, they don’t want to screw you over—all of that might just be a projection of your own reality, that you are the one capable of screwing others over, not necessarily the other way around.  People will love you, and people will take care of you, and they want to be around you, you don’t have to hurt them first. So as a Rat, understand that you are in the position of already succeeding, based on your birthright of being first, and now it’s just about what you want on top of the win, that’s when you will be able to align yourself with true success.

Golden Rule for Success: Love the people who help you get ahead, and give back to them. Observe and report for those who are too busy to see. Enjoy your company and love your life–you’re a winner.

The Ox

I will first say because I (Alyssa Sharpe) am an Ox, I sounded like maybe I could be resentful of the Rat, like it’s personal—like I’m taking this personally that I didn’t win, but it’s not about that, right?  It’s just that there’s one aspect to the Ox that’s the most important part—why didn’t the Ox win? It’s a leader, it’s strong, it’s powerful, it’s steady, it can carry you to Oregon on a trail of tears. So it should have won, but it didn’t. Because it was taken advantage of, and so it’s not about saying that you need to watch your back or whatever, but like seriously watch your back—there might be a Rat on it.  It’s also about just being aware of

your surroundings and being aware of what you really want. Did you even want to win? Or did you want a friend? Or did you want to help people who wouldn’t have had a chance without you?

If you want to achieve success, you might have to go solo at times, when you really just want to be a part of a community.  You might have to protect yourself.  You might have to decide that it’s better if you just rely on yourself first—because once you’re at the finish line, once you find your success, then you can use that to lead people, out of a loving heart and not out of resentment. or from pain or oppression, or feeling like you were somehow screwed over.

You are honest and hardworking, and so attribute that to you—the Ox (and other Oxen), but not to everybody else. Honesty and Diligency don’t need to be things that belong to everybody, these traits particularly belong to the Ox. So test people so you don’t become tricked by them. Don’t let go of living in the moment, or living in the power of your creation.  You have the ability to create, you have the ability to lead so understand that all your trials and tribulations are leading up the apex of your existence, where you learn how powerful and strong you actually are.  Life is going to give you what you desire through Karma, because you did win, you had courage through the elements, and you were kind—and that is the measure of true success.

Golden Rule for Success: Have courage and be kind. Watch your back, and avoid predators, and people who don’t have your best interests at hand. Understand that you are in your own lane, but others just want to use you–they are not like you (even if you don’t understand why they wouldn’t be). Stay on your own path, and avoid harboring resentment after time has killed the vampires.

The Tiger

The Tiger came in third place. There was a river that all the animals had to cross, and so the Tiger jumped into the water, and it soaked him, slowing him down just enough to lose first place from the Ox (and the Rat who rode the Ox). Now, Tiger’s aren’t bad swimmers, they are actually the cats that like to swim, BUT in this story, the Ox was just better at making it through the raging rapids. So out of 12 animals, he still made it 3rd place, due to his speed, charisma and hot body.  I mean you are a fucking Tiger, so think about the hotness of an actual Tiger and go from there—that’s you. This is why you are the true 2nd place (See the Rat).

The Tiger is actually considered the unluckiest of all the Chinese zodiac, because of how hot-headed and quick-tempered they are. The inability to curb their feelings that become anger IMMEDIATELY, can actually ruin their own chances at success. A lot of Tigers believe that Anger is a primary emotion, and will blame their anger on others, when in actuality, anger is a deadly sin (wrath), or a secondary emotion that is in response to an actual primary emotion like “hurt” or “embarrassment” and needs to be sorted out, before the Tiger jumps down someone’s throat.  The Tiger can get offended really easily, because they are sensitive to a fault, but because their hot-headedness drives them to win,  they see the appeal and the desired outcome of their anger, and often times, choose not to curb it. This is okay in theory, but in actuality, success is thwarted when the Tiger chooses to be angry at someone more powerful than them—and when you are hot-headed, seeing red, flooded with emotions, etc, you can choose the wrong people to be angry at.

Sometimes the Tiger must learn to jump in the river (i.e. your full-on emotions) and choose not to win, but to feel. We as people, tend to be sensitive when we are afraid of our emotions. For example, we are more sensitive to the cold water if we stick our toe in there first, because our toes are like “Ahhh! I hate this.” But if you jump in full force, your body is immediately flushed with the water, and you’re no longer sensitive to it, in fact, you’re okay in it, and can thrive in it.

When you are emotionally sensitive, it’s because you’re not allowing yourself to fully engage in the feeling, and that is not giving you peace—it’s making you anxious, angry, and callous. So once you are one with the water—refusing to win until you have accepted all the feelings you have—that is when you’ll have the peace you want, not being irked by every little stupid thing. You are allowed to take that extra time to spend with yourself, and gain personal stability. You will arrive at your destination when you were meant to, when it’s fated, when it’s destiny for you to—not because you’re working too hard, and being held back by the currents, and you just want to win so bad you don’t know what it do except for fight.  It’s about finding your inner stability, and your inner temperance. Just being the Tiger will give you all of the success you want, because you’re the fucking Tiger—I mean seriously it’s weird that it’s unlucky, but it’s just unlucky because you get so offended. Other than that you’re perfectly fine doing you, being true to you, and finding your own success through your beauty, charm and sex-appeal.  Repeat after me: I am the Fucking Tiger. Now stop complaining.

Golden Rule for Success: Don’t allow your anger and sensitivity to imprison you. Remember to always be mindful of your inability to think clearly, it’s not your fault, it’s just your nature to pounce–it’s also your duty to tame the beast. Don’t blame others for making you angry, instead, understand your own issues. just be hot.. and kind.

The Rabbit

In Vietnamese Astrology, the Rabbit is also known as the Cat. It is interesting when you consider the Cat, because there’s a story in The Great Race that involves you being a Cat, and not a Rabbit.  In this story, the Rat and the Cat lived together—the Rat actually won the race in the end, but before that, the Rat was supposed to wake the Cat up and tell her to go to the Great Race.  Now, because the Rat hated that the Cat could not wake herself up and needed the Rat to help, the Rat felt justified in going in her place. The Rat woke up and left to the Race, without waking the Cat. This is why the Cat has a lot of resentment for the Rat—and for now until forever, the Cat will chase the Rat and try to kill him. However, the Rat doesn’t actually think himself to be in the wrong, because why should the Cat even have a chance to win, if she couldn’t even wake herself up, and needs a crutch to survive?

In the end, the Cat never got a chance to compete, and the Rabbit ended up in the Cat’s natural 4th place, in what the Rabbit describes as “the Rat stole the Rabbit’s place” by coming in, instead of the Cat. This is why the Rabbit also has an issue with the Rat, and considers herself “Anti-Rat Race” even though she came in 4th place (not 12th), and is highly competitive and wanted to win the Rat race, and wanted to call it “The Rabbit Race”.  So as a Rabbit, you might find yourself a little contradictory, dishonest, self-righteous, or always after some “Rat” you made up in your head as the reason you are behind—when in reality, you are 4th place because that is the place you ended up in, not because of the Rat, but also because you are not a Tiger or an Ox. The Rabbit is in 4th place fair and square, no matter how you cut it.

The Rabbit is a symbol of fertility and springtime, and because of that you’re seen as very kind, sparkling, sweet-natured, soft and friendly—and this is what allows you to move up in the world.  You’re moving up, because you have the power of charm, AND you’re not the Rat. The Rat is so easy to hate, and the the Rabbit is not—but they share the same wit and instinct—it’s just that the Rabbit comes off as a sweet sort of vermin, where the Rat is a gross vermin to people. Most people who have owned rabbits, or bunnies, know that bunnies are just like rats, but cuter, and just as gross.

Rabbits have a lot of babies, so as a Rabbit, you have a lot of babies and they’re all you’re trying to focus on.  But you can’t focus on all of them at one time, so it’s important that you find your favorite babies, or your favorite creations—the things that you really are capable of focusing all of your attention on, and to the detail, otherwise you will end up putting out a lot of mediocre shit—that you don’t even remember doing, or that nobody remembers you giving. If you want to progress yourself and become successful, you’ll find it in being a master of a huge trade, not a jack-of-all.  You have to be able to focus your attention and to be powerful in completed projects. If you do put out things that are mediocre, they won’t end up being any benefit to you. or any measured success in the world.

You have the ability to make a huge dent in the earth—because you are the rabbit and are so well-liked— but you just have to be able to put out content or ideas that are actually good and well-thought out. Your success lies in your ability to see who you are, and to stop blaming everyone else—you’re not the Cat, in all fairness, you would have done the same thing the Rat did to the Cat. So see yourself as first, but don’t harbor resentment for those that actually won.

Golden Rule for Success: Avoid creating straw-men to tear down. Jump on opportunities, because you aren’t the cat, and you do like to win. Admit that the thrill of the win, is worth it’s weight in gold. Don’t try to be heaven almighty–you’re a rat in prettier clothing.

The Dragon

The Dragon is considered the luckiest in Chinese Astrology.  Now the dragon should have been first place, and the Jade Emperor even wondered why the Dragon did not appear first. It’s just that the dragon was flying high, being reckless, and burnt down a village.  He couldn’t allow that to happen, because then the world would see he’s a mess, so he had to go back and save everybody from the mess he created. You see the dragon is so powerful and so fast, but sometimes he’s so big picture that he can’t even see the damage that he might be doing, as he’s going from one place to another.  But as long as the dragon is kind and generous, those things won’t matter because he’ll take care of the people around him. Think about the fire the Dragon breathes as passion and desire—so when you look at the Dragon destroying, you can see that he’s actually full of passion, desire and romance, and these things move you in life.  These ideas are power on earth, and so they do make you lucky wherever you go.  The Dragon is breathing love on everyone, but sometimes his passion and desire can burn people down, and they can feel like “Wow you’re a lot right  now.”

As a Dragon you are learning how to be stable, secure, and not too much for everyone. You don’t want to be always cleaning up your messes before other people know what you did. Your true directive is to be together with those you care about—BUT you have an issue with those around you, because they are not always up to par with the magnanimousness of the Dragon, and so you have to be patient with people (not your strong suit). The Dragon was born with  fire and gold in their eyes, they have “The Dragon Energy” down, and that’s good energy. It makes them very powerful and successful, no matter what—you just need to build compassion for others first, and then you will succeed in whatever you put your mind to.  Passion and desire are with you always, compassion is a virtue you can learn, and with all of that, you will have the success you desire.

Golden Rule for Success: Avoid cleaning up the mess you made, by not making the mess in the first place. Allow other people to grow to get on your level. Use your luck to help others, but also know you are the best and that everyone around you doesn’t have it so good, so be benevolent.

The Snake

If you are a Snake, you are a dick. Just kidding. Snakes aren’t dicks. The Snake is actually pretty cool—you’re also very charming, just like the Rat and the Rabbit.  You are mentally agile.  You learn and you grow through every project you tackle, so you definitely love to revel in information.

The Snake is always taking in and delivering wisdom and knowledge. Think about the snake being wrapped around the tree of knowledge and tempting Eve with the Apple.  You know that’s what the snake wants.  It learns, receives, and gives all the knowledge about everything, everywhere, all at once, and it can manipulate anyone or anything, with said knowledge. The one thing you need to learn as the Snake, in order to be successful, is how to take that energy and not manipulate with it, but actually educate people.

You don’t like to be bored, but it’s very interesting because you can find a lot of fun out of things that bore regular people. Like reading the newspaper get’s you going, bringing your bible to school to read at recess is your cup of tea over the whole “Who’s dick is bigger” scenario that gets everyone else going. You’re always trying to expand your mind, which brings you the most success, so for you life is about learning and growing. The snake is going to have the most success and the most happiness in life, without the thrill of the win. And I say that sweetly, you didn’t come in last place, you just refused to sacrifice your moral ground to come in first. This moral standing, is the only behavior that separates you from the Rat and the Rabbit. Otherwise, you are 3 conniving peas in a pod.

In order to thrive as the Snake,  you can’t care about what other people are doing, because once you are on a lower wave, or a lower mental wave, your progress and your success will be thwarted by others. That’s another reason why the snake didn’t win the Race. But it’s also why the Snake beat the Horse. The Snake could go unseen, and slither through everything—and nobody even knew that the snake was there. But if you go low and yell a lot, and draw attention to yourself, everyone knows you’re there and tries to hurt you.  The Horse is all vanity and ego, and the Snake—you are not. The Horse was so full of herself, she didn’t even see you coming. The snake got a pretty high place in the end, coming in sixth place, which is the end of the first wave, while the egoic Horse was locked out by you.  The cool thing is that you made it with knowledge alone, and sneaking around, quietly.  How did you get there?  You’re small, you’re not an apex predator or extremely strong, you can’t fly, you can’t run on feet—you slither. You got there, because you are smart.

The win at the end of the first wave was all about what you know, and the lack of ego, but to go with your strengths over what you wish you were.  To be like that’s incredibly sexy. It’s important to accept yourself and to accept what you know, over what everybody else is capable of doing, and to not lose your power in order to be like the rest of us.  This will help you remain successful and happy in life.

Golden Rule for Success: Collect knowledge always. Understand that you are conniving and manipulative and that these are strengths as well as deterrents–so use them wisely. Be smart in all your endeavors, and never give up, you’re not as far behind as you think you are.

The Horse

Horses are really fun to me, because as a little girl I loved horses, and this is exactly why I loved horses and what you are: Horses are both beauty and power. If you are a horse you have a power about you and that power brings you success, but you also are a natural beauty.  You have this charisma that might not actually be that charming, but it’s definitely a little scary and a little bit like I want to stare at it.  If you think about a horse and how majestic they are, there’s only one thing standing in between you and success, and that is your own confusing knowledge of self, and your intense vanity.

If you actually look at the the Race, the snake beats the Horse right before the Horse is about to cross the finish line—She never saw the snake coming, because she was up her own ass, staring at her reflection in the water, and the Snake just beats her–like that.  That’s because the Snake had more awareness and knowledge than the horse did.  As fast as the Horse is, and as strong as the Horse is—it’s the knowledge that’s missing, and this is the knowledge is what the Horse desperately needs to find success. You love to adore to be adored, but what is adoration, without accomplishment? How can you accomplish, if you are lacking knowledge in anything?

You have to decide for yourself that you would rather win, than just gaze at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself how amazing your baseline is, and decide to become more. Sometimes you feel like you are not getting enough recognition, and that maybe you should just give up altogether, but what is hard for the Horse to see, is that recognition is earned.

You don’t just become a racehorse overnight. You don’t just become a show-horse overnight. You might have been “bred” to be better, but just because you were bred better doesn’t mean that you don’t have to put the work and the energy in, in order to make yourself smarter/better/faster/stronger. And so what I would say to you, is to not let go of your path, until you know for sure that it’s a lost cause.  Don’t just feel above things, because they’re a little bit beneath you—they can still beat you, like the Snake did. The little snake that you could step on, beat you in the race for the first wave, and sent you to embarrassment.  The racehorse came in as the first, of the last, instead of the first wave, because the racehorse didn’t see it coming.  Sometimes people work a little bit harder than you, and they make it into power, even though you were born with more.

You have to sacrifice your need for power, in order to make the power actually happen–through your own hard work undercover, where no one is praising you.  So don’t be afraid to not always be the show-horse. Once you know everything about yourself in a realistic light, and once you know what you have to do, to get to the apex of your existence—it’s then that you will succeed.  When you are smart and observant about yourself and your surroundings, you will win. It’s then that you’ll be happy and you’ll feel confident in yourself, and confident in the people around you, as well.

The most powerful thing I can tell you about being the Horse is that it’s just about knowledge and awareness of what you have and don’t have.  You are naturally on the high horse, but you don’t have to get on your high horse. You can look “beneath” you, and see that there might be other things going on that you have not been made aware of.  Once you have achieved awareness, you can prance across the finish line, and get that recognition you so desire.

Golden Rule for Success: Look around you, you’re not the only one in your life. Remember that your ego cost you the first wave, so be your own checks and balances, no one else is going to do it for you, because they LOVE to win against the racehorse and the show-horse, and enjoy rubbing your vanity in your face.

The Goat

The Goat (AKA the Sheep) is the actual Greatest Of All Time. There is a whole ass Capricorn vibe to the Goat—he enjoys working really hard, because he loves to win. When you are born as the Sheep or the Goat, you are all about climbing up the mountain, and screaming from the rooftops:  “I’m awesome! I’m here! I can do anything! It took me forever! But I did it! It was HARD! But I’m strong and brave, even if my body is not created for these elements, I still made it, and made it better than all you guys, because I had LESS. Read it and weep.”

If you are the Goat, you feel like you were born to climb, but because there are both physical and emotional limitations within your birth year, you have difficulties, and due to your pride, these are difficulties that you do not wish to acknowledge. It’s important that you take into consideration those that are helping you ascend, because you cannot do it yourself, nor should you have to, but you have to understand that you need these people.  The Goat can go straight to the worst-case scenario in any circumstance, because he feels that it’s just too fucking hard to get where needs to be—“I’m never gonna get up there,” and “there’s too much shit in my face.” In this regard, he can become pretty emotional, or just like devastated and depressed, because he can’t climb the mountain in a timely manner that allows him to finish first.

Just like the Tiger, the Goat is considered one of the unluckiest Zodiac signs and it’s because it’s just harder for you. Like Capricorn (The Goat) is ruled by Saturn, there’s a little bit more karmic energy to the Chinese Goat, as well. There’s a little bit more holding you back, because you were meant to take your place as an authority, but you can’t be an authority if you haven’t gone through the shit. Even if you follow the Zodiac where you’re the Sheep instead of the Goat, think of yourself like a sacrificial lamb—there’s a part of you that might be sacrificed, so a better part can grow. Only after you have been transformed, can you get up to the top of the mountain.

In addition to the hardships, the Goat actually had to stay back and help the Monkey and the Rooster get ahead, because they are all good friends, and the Goat valued the help and the company (If you are the Goat, your best friends really are the Monkey and the Rooster). At the finish line, the Monkey and the Rooster actually let the Goat go ahead of them in their triad, because they felt like the Goat was the glue that held them all together, and that he deserved the higher rank. If you want to be true to yourself, and grow into your power and strength, you’ll see that there is love and nurture already around you—ready to help you out, and ready to put you above them, because they recognize who you are and where your rightful place is. They know that you’re meant to be at the top, and they want to help you. Understanding that forging power takes pressure and time, but that you are not alone on the journey, will give you the immediate feeling of success, and the rest will come when it’s ready.

Golden Rule for Success: Remember that your friends and your community are your biggest supporters, and are cheering you on. Know your limitations, but also keep moving forward. You got this.

The Monkey

We all know that actual monkeys are adorable–they like to pick at each other, laugh, dance around, and steal things, and that is no different than the Chinese Monkey. The Monkey communicates through their feelings, not necessarily their words, and that’s why they are so much fun to be around.  You, as a Monkey, are a lot of instinct and emotions, but you don’t actually have to think with your head to be smart, and you know this. You can understand other people, and know what makes them tick, because you know psychology like the back of your hand. You understand those around you, and you know why they do the things they do. You are very observant, but also the life of the party. The Monkey is a fun time, but it doesn’t mean you aren’t also prone to depression, because you are.

The reason for the Monkey’s sadness is the reality of the life we live here on earth. We live in a society that means you work, and if you don’t want to work, you don’t get paid, and if you don’t get paid, you’re homeless, and that’s not so fun for you to think about. So you work hard, and feel like life is pointless. You often feel like you’re not successful finding balance between work and play, because for you, the balance is only found in a life full of play, without the work tagged on.  If you want that success, you have to love what you work at, and is has to be fun. You also need to put some standards of excellence on yourself–you can’t just be running crazy all the time, because then you won’t have time to find an exciting career that fits you, and you’ll just be locked in a box of someone else’s choosing.

Sometimes the Monkey can live in chaos and not even realize it, and then all of a sudden that chaos causes a mass confusion, and then you don’t know what to focus on, and can feel ADHD AF. You just have to remember that this life is not a life that you need to win, nor do you even care about winning—for Christ’s sake, you let the Goat go in front of you. So take that desire to win out of your head, you’re not a part of the Rat Race, your success is in finding yourself a good life that you enjoy waking up to.  Think about Peter Pan, there’s a part of you that needs to never grow up, because as soon as you do, you feel dead. You probably want to work for yourself even, because you don’t need that annoying authority yelling at you.  You don’t need anyone trying to tell you who to be, when you’re definitely different than the rest of them, and being like everyone else is a death sentence. Your Success is in your ability to be fun and happy on a daily basis.

Golden Rule for Success: Be brave enough to be yourself and never grow up. Actively seek out a profession that is fun, so you can enjoy the work you do.

The Rooster

The Rooster loves to be up at the break of dawn to crow.  Crowing at dawn to wake everyone is your thing, and most of the time you stayed up all night to get there. As the Rooster, you love to be awake at night to look up at the stars, because you are a huge dreamer, and are incredibly powerful because of what you gain from stargazing—whether it’s astrology, celebrity culture, or astronomy and science, the Rooster takes in the spectacular, and the spectacular becomes them.

It’s funny because the name Rooster doesn’t necessarily give me star vibes, but the Rooster is star vibes, anyway. The Rooster is a dreamer, and desires more than what this earth can give them. As a Rooster, you enjoy being awake in the darkness, because you like the idea of bringing your dreams to you in real time, and who wants to sleep through dreaming? Not you. The idea that you could bring the other worlds to you to explore, is exciting, and being the first person on a discovery is more important to you than being first in the Rat Race.

It’s just important that the Rooster remembers to ground themselves and become one with the cycles of the earth, or the Moon. Also know that as much as you want to live at night, you are more valued by others in the day, because you are the star, and the reason everyone else wakes up—or as a metaphor you make people “Woke” with your intense wisdom, and they need you. Your life becomes more valuable to people when they can see what you have in the daylight, because when they see you at night—you are just one with the stars, floating around and people “just don’t like, get it.”

Your success is found in the balance of night and day, and in grounding and in flying high. Basically, don’t lose yourself to the night so that you’re not productive, but also don’t lose yourself to the day just because everyone likes you there, and you get the recognition you deserve.  The Rooster really is very lucky, one of the luckiest actually, and that’s not without working for it—it’s just that you love what you do, and you have no desire to do anything that you don’t want to do, so authority legit has nothing on you.

Golden Rule for Success: Learn all you can and share all you can. Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing, or what the Race asks of you, you’re everyone’s favorite.

The Dog

The Dog is the friendliest in the Chinese Zodiac. You are the most natural nurturer of all of them. We don’t deserve dogs and that’s true and there’s a possibility that the people around you don’t deserve you, either. As a Dog, you might find yourself jumping from relationship to relationship, in order to nurture a new person and to support a new person, when you feel that the one you were just with has used you all up. It sounds a little backward, but if you are a Dog you get it—you get support through supporting, it feels like it mutually benefits you, but it doesn’t. You end up in servitude towards another person, so that they can take care of you—like a domesticated dog and that’s not the kind of dog you are. You are a wolf.

You need your freedom and you need to be able to go and do whatever you want to do. Dogs need jobs.  You need to work to make money, and create freedom for yourself, but you also need to have fun and you need to be taken care of in a loving/nurturing way.  Just as you give so much to people,  you need to be given the same in return.

You need to ask yourself: What do you want in life? What power do you want to bring to the world? Otherwise, you’re gonna stop your life for a partner, all the time.  That’s just what dogs do, they stop what they’re doing to love the people that they’re with.  Sometimes you got to let the dog run free. sometimes you need to not let other people crate you, and keep you.

The dog could have run and won the race, but the dog was like “Stop! I gotta catch a frisbee!” Or whatever. Maybe you got put in the pound, because people are shitty and they’re like “No, dog, you shouldn’t do that anymore! You can’t be free! That’s bad!”  It’s all metaphor—so just remember that you’re in control of your choices, you’re not a real dog, in real life, you’re human and you have power over yourself.  The power lies in you. If you’re not getting attention and love from the people closest to you, you need to remember that attention and love from followers, or from the limelight, etc, is also not gonna fill that void—because you want close connection.  You don’t need everybody else’s love of you.  You don’t need stepping stones either. You need real real love and affection, you want a best friend—somebody to stay with you, and to be with you, and to allow you to be free.

The kind of success that you want is the kind where you don’t win, because you love to catch frisbees. You actually enjoy having fun, living in the moment, and being free. It’s not always a race you have to win.

Golden Rule for Success: Live in the moment. Fuck all the rest. Remember that you don’t want to win, you want to have the best life, full of the best wives/husbands.

The Pig

The Pig is the last one in the Chinese Zodiac, but you’re not even considered the unluckiest—and the reason why is that you remind everybody to take pleasure in their life.  In the Great Race, the pig had to stop and eat, just for fun, and that’s what you do—and that’s what you need to remember to do. Just because you didn’t win and were the last, doesn’t mean you actually wanted to win, so don’t get it twisted.  Sometimes you do have to tell yourself that you want to win and try to find the satisfaction in competition—other times you honestly just need to live your life and stop and smell the flowers, roll around in the mud, eat, drink and be merry, and then walk across the finish line eventually.

We’re all going to die, so you remind us to enjoy life and let the first be last and the last we first. The Rat might have won the race, but at what cost to his ego and reputation? The Pig won in his own eyes, because he enjoyed himself. Don’t let other animals tell you how to do things—lead yourself.

Maybe you could have a little bit more of a competitive streak, and maybe there are things that you could fight for, and you do fight for, but don’t let other people tell you what those things are, because when you see them, you’ll know.  When something makes sense to you, it makes sense to you. Remember you can always lead people from behind—when I was growing up, there was always the adult leading us, and the other adult following to make sure that nobody gets left behind, and that’s the Pig’s duty and honor in this life. You are watching over everybody as a protector, so you can ask yourself what that means for you, and how do you protect people by reminding them that life is not only a rat race, but sometimes you got to pig out. That was a good metaphor, wasn’t it? Anyway.

Golden Rule for Success: Eat, drink and be merry. Smell the roses and pick them too. Pick your battles, and remember you’re not always the one trailing, it’s just your strong suit-sometimes you can run for it when it actually matters to you.