Unique You in Chinese Astrology

INTRODUCTION TO CHINESE ASTROLOGY        Like our own western astrology, Chinese astrology uses twelve different signs or symbols to define twelve basic categories of human being. Similarly to western astrology, the Chinese system uses a person's birth date as the basis for his sign, so in some ways the two systems are alike. Now, let's have a look at how they differ.        Our own astrological signs are monthly. Each of our signs has a different heaven-inspired mythological name and corresponds to a period equivalent to a single Sun cycle. If you were born in the Sun cycle period labeled Aquarius, then in western astrological terms you are an Aquarian. Chinese zodiacal signs are yearly. Each Chinese sign has a different animal name and corresponds to a period equivalent to an entire Chinese calendar year. If you were born in a yearlong period which the Chinese label the Dragon Year, then in Chinese astrological terms you are a Dragon. Simple? Yes.        Chinese astrology is so simple that you need only know the year of your birth to find out which of the twelve signs is yours. But there is one tricky aspect to consider. The Chinese New Year falls on a different date every year. This holiday can occur as early as mid-January or not until late February. If you were born in either January or February, that is, if you are either Capricorn or Aquarius in western astrology, you need to know whether you were born before or after the Chinese New Year. This interpretation has calculated that information for you.        The Chinese animal symbols are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Cat, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. These animals always appear in the same order. Since the beginning of recorded Chinese time, 2637 B.C., the animal sequence has recurred faithfully every twelve years. It always begins with the Rat and ends with the Pig. And to make things even more convenient for us Twentieth-Century Westerners, 1900 was a Rat year. That means that the next Rat year was 1912 and 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984 were all Rat years. Anybody born in any of these years is a Rat.        Chinese astrology, in one form or another, was widely used all over the Orient from the fortieth century B.C. It became especially popular between 2953 and 2838 B.C. under the Emperor Fu Hsi and again under Shen Nung, who was born in the twenty-eighth century B.C. The zodiacal system and its philosophies as we know them today were codified by Ta Nao, an able minister of Emperor Huang Ti, born about 2704 B.C. It was made official in 2637 B.C. and was formally inaugurated, as were other historical events, at the sixtieth anniversary of the same popular Emperor Huang Ti's accession to the throne. For forty-six centuries thereafter, this system was used as the national standard and touched on all state affairs in China.        People born in Pig years are all somewhat naive and hate to say no; Rats are aggressive and talkative; Dogs loyal and ardent, Snakes altruistic and attractive; Dragons healthy and noisy; Horses independent and pragmatic; Goats dependent and creative and have no sense of time; Oxen slow and eloquent; Tigers rash and magnetic; Cats flee conflict and love tradition; Monkeys are entertaining and give lots of presents; Roosters are resourceful and bossy and adore clothes.                                                                                                                                                                  YIN AND YANG       Yin and Yang are the two main opposite but equal Chinese philosophical forces. The power of Yin is sometimes interpreted as passive, female, docile, receptive and society-oriented. Conversely, the Yang energy is said to be aggressive, male and socially indifferent. To the Chinese, everything in life is either Yin or Yang, and the trick to achieving harmony is knowing how to balance Yin and Yang so they operate in synergy rather than clash.        According to Chinese thought, any circumstance in the universe - a rainstorm, a night of love, a child taking its first steps, a wobbly bedstead, a frantic phone call, a dish of steaming pasta, a traffic accident, a dancing bride and groom or a washing-line in the sunlight - is the direct result of an energy balance or imbalance between Yin and Yang.                                                       THE FIVE ELEMENTS  WOOD, FIRE, EARTH, METAL, AND WATER        To allow for movement to occur and bring about change, Chinese philosophy calls upon the five elements as agents of change and reaction. Change, the Chinese think, derives from the influence of the five main elements - Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water - on the basic Yin or Yang energies. Like in the old rock, paper, scissors game, each of these five Chinese elements has the ability to control and/or destroy the previous element, and is capable of producing the element that directly follows it. In the regenerative cycle of the elements, Water engenders Wood. Wood begets Fire. Fire burns to Earth. Earth creates Metal and Metal gives way to Water.        Wood is characterized by the color green. Wood heralds the beginning of life, springtime and buds, sensuality and fecundity. Wood's influence affects the liver, the gallbladder and, by extension, the digestion. Wood needs moisture to thrive. Its two opposite yet equally emotional forces are rage and altruism. The Wood person will be expansive, outgoing and socially conscious.        Wood, in its turn, can create and nourish Fire. Fire's signatory color is red. Fire is hot weather, satisfaction of nature, aridity and dust. The tongue and the small intestine are the centers of attention in the Fire person's body. Fire makes heat, which either warms or burns. The Fire person must constantly seek to balance a tendency to explode and possibly destroy, against a desire to create coziness and warmth. Passionate by nature, this impatient, ebullient person must strive to keep his flame under control.        Earth is created from the ashes of the Fire. Now we are in the soothingly satisfying late summer cycle. Earth's favorite color is yellow, which represents the equanimity between beginnings and. endings. The weather of Earth is mild or temperate. In the human body, Earth influences spleen, pancreas and mouth. Earth's two opposite but equal forces which need to be kept in constant balance are enhancing and smothering. On the one hand Earth gives care and allows for growth and improvement. On the other, Earth buries roots and snuffs out breath. Earth people are gifted for fairness and have the ability to commit themselves to protracted projects and complete Herculean tasks with ease. They must struggle against a penchant for worry.        The Earth grows Metal in her veins. Metal says white and autumn. Metal is cool, crisp weather. Metal's effect on the body centers in the lungs and respiratory system. It only secondarily rules the large intestine and the nose. Metal people like to communicate. They need to keep discord and harmony in constant balance. Metal signifies the onset of winter. Its influence can sometimes add sadness or gloom to an astrological chart. Two of Metal's emotional forces are melancholy and romance. I see Metal as Wagnerian. Metal people must guard against a tendency to wallow in nostalgia.        Lastly, Metal begets Water - groundwater trickling its way through layers of the Earth's core. Water's color is blue. Its season is full-blown winter. Water is always moving, fluid, and mutational. In our bodies, water's influence affects our plumbing systems, the kidneys and the bladder. The ear, too, comes under the spell of Water. Hence people born in Water-ruled years are frequently musical. They pick up on everything. Be it good or bad, they never miss a vibe. Water-ruled creatures are always very sensitive and sometimes even mentally fragile. The downside of Water's influence, then, is a stressful nervousness. To balance that fidgety, squeamish, overly sensitive side, Water endows its subjects with the noblest quality of all, kindness and sympathy. Sometimes too permeable, the Water-ruled must take precautions against drowning in the chagrin of those they see as less fortunate than themselves.        So, the five elements cause the commotion and are responsible for creating and maintaining both balance and imbalance - for moving things around and making life interesting. These purveyors of change can be controlled or not, depending on how one manages them.        Each animal year of the Chinese zodiac has been assigned one of the five elements. The elements each turn up twice in the cycle going away for another ten years. The five elements are always presented in the above order. Once we know this, we can understand how the elements directly affect us and pertain to individual characters.        The elements work by governing each animal sign once through the sixty-year "century" You will not come across a Water Horse more than once in sixty years. This fact alone accounts for sixty different basic character or destiny types. Further, when a learned Chinese astrologer draws up a chart for an individual person according to the Chinese astrological system, he takes into consideration the month and the season, the time of day and the type of weather on the day of birth as well as certain astral configurations at the moment of birth. In all, good Chinese astrologers deal with a base of no less than 512,640 different possible personality charts. This means that only two people in a million stand a chance of being born same.                                A Short Depiction of your Unique Traits

THE PIG /THE BOAR

GALLANT PIG,        You are a model of sincerity, purity, tolerance and honor. You want to do everything right. You have a fine feeling for aesthetics and a flair for authenticity. We seek your common sense advice and enjoy your convivial company. You delight in country living. Rustic sensuality and off-color jokes tickle you silly. Gourmet food is no stranger to your lips either. You are a bona fide bon vivant. However, you are far too accommodating. People take advantage of your yielding nature. Then, when you've exhausted yourself by giving too much, you fly into fits, tantrums, or blind rages. We all run for cover when you're angry, reappearing only when you are re-ensconced in your favorite velvet armchair, your attention riveted on an expensive art book, smacking your lips characteristically while downing a stunning box of imported chocolates. Phew!        Pig people often become rich. You can't help it. You're mad about opulence. Silks, handcrafted silvers and 18 carat gold candelabra befit your sumptuous tastes. In romantic matters, you get on very well with hot-blooded Dragons, creative Goats and classy, countrified Cat/Rabbits. Whatever you do, don't let an elegant Snake slither into your heart. Hands off practical Roosters, too. Peace of mind sets in once you have learned to say NO, loud and clear. Then, usually post middle age, your surges of rage will abate and life will become a real wallow. Try, in the interest of healthy self-defense, to exercise your right to refuse to serve others. Just say no. And remember ... practice makes perfect.        THE PIG ID CARD        Lasting symbols have special powers. Enhance your self-image by surrounding yourself with tangible signs of your own identity. Make these symbols known to your friends and loved ones. Use them daily and they will bring you luck, security and a feeling of personal worth.        YOUR BEST        Your best color is royal purple, flower is the calla lily, fragrance is ambergris, tree is the acacia, flavor is sweet and sour, birthstone is moonstone, and lucky number is 5.        YOUR FAVORITE        Your favorite food is foie gras, animal is the cat, drink is Bordeaux, spice is cloves, metal is purest silver, herb is oregano, and musical instrument is the harp.        THE PIG IS YIN.  THE PIG'S MOTTO IS "I PRESERVE."        When wallowing contentedly along, you are sensible, sensual and sensitive, sweetly naive, caring, self-sacrificing, erudite, talented, open-handed, candid, outgoing, amusing, charitable, obliging, graciously hospitable, and virtuous.        But when your elastic generosity has been stretched beyond its limit, out pops your darker side. Then, you become hot-tempered, pessimistic, outrageously epicurean, earthy to a fault, sardonic, snobbish, snide, authoritarian, competitive, know-it-all, stingy, victimized and sometimes downright criminally angry at the world.

                                  THE PIG PERSONALITY 

In China, this sign is called the Wild Boar. One doesn't meet up much with Wild Boars in our temperate climes, so I preferred to use an animal symbol we all know and call this sign the Pig. If finding out that you are a Pig person offends you, wait! It's a great sign.        In rural communities the pig is the staff of life. Each small farmer or peasant in Europe kills at least one pig every year. Pig-killing is a messy process, the details of which I will spare you here, but for farmers, the pig is the main provider. From bristles to bacon to sausage and hams, a pig can keep a farm family alive all winter - and then some!        In human life, you, the Pig member of a family, are the solid, settled pillar of strength upon whom everyone can count, in whom everybody confides, and from whom one can always get a quick loan. You are generous of spirit. You are actually kinder than the rest of us.        When people first meet you, you seem too good to be true. You are careful and caring, worried about how you may strike others, courteously hesitant to call them by their first name, and so opulently well-mannered as to make them wonder if you were raised in a convent by a strict sect of puritan nuns who used to be British nannies.        Maybe this gentle, cultivated approach is one reason why you are always so attractive. Marriage-minded men (swashbuckling slave-trader types) find docile, gracious, cultured Pig women irresistibly wifely. Obviously, you Pig girls are the easiest to marry off in Chinese culture. Then, too, marriage-craving women, reputedly an especially ruthless species, grab you Pig men right off Mama's apron strings and hog-tie you for life.        You are the person everyone admires most. You are the nicest, most loving and scrupulously caring person around. You have the warmest, most graciously furnished living room, the most infallible good taste, and a magical gift for making guests feel both satisfied and special. Whether for gourmet meals, a cup of coffee, fashionable cocktails or lavish wedding receptions, you are born to receive.        You are attuned to others, geared towards exteriorizing your goodness. You seem born to give, to yield and to serve. You are constantly sacrificing your own happiness and comfort for the sake of somebody else: a child, a mate, a lover, a dog or cat, a neighbor who's sick or a colleague at work. If you have even just a minute, you'll gladly give it to someone with a smile. If you don't have a minute, you'll probably tailor-make one.         Complex machinations are definitely not your specialty: you are so innocently obliging that you are frequently misused in business by those less scrupulous than you. You are so gullible that many are forever being dragged through inextricably messy love affairs, falling victim to long-winded stormy divorces and suffering enforced bankruptcies.        Not only are you easy to fool, you like it that way. You cling to the idea that everybody is beautiful and good. No matter how old you get, you never cease to believe that humans are basically good.        You are naive, innocent, unwitting, artless, guileless, unsuspecting and childlike, and you prefer it that way. No matter what your IQ, you prefer to face each new day with a tabula rasa, non-judgmental frame of mind. You never forget. But you forgive easily. This is the positive side of your self-enforced innocence and hapless ingenuousness. You always give everyone breaks, indulge thieves, shield meddlers. You even try to understand the motives of fiends. It can be exasperating, but it is admirable. You are generous with the benefit of the doubt, incurably sympathetic to the underdog and rarely take issue with the behavior of someone for whom you have affection.        You are a charmer. You know how to appeal to people of all sorts, you make friends easily, and you are rapidly adopted as a crony by all. You please without trying and use honest praise wisely. You know how to make everyone you like feel more special than anyone else. As a result, everyone wants to be your best friend.        An invitation to your home is flattering. You receive your guests well, feed them amply, and spoil them with attention. You also are willing to bring food with you when you visit. Food is one of your little sins. It is rare if you remain thin into adulthood. You adore fresh wholesome food, and you also thrive on all the trimmings: cigars, port, cognac, liqueurs and after-dinner chocolates. Like your animal counterpart, you often overeat, but unlike your glutton barnyard brother, you are a cultivated, discriminating gourmet with a well-developed palate.        You may make slurping noises when you eat. It's not terminal. It is indeed curable. Just have someone film you as you tuck into a big tasty meal. Make sure the sound is turned up. Watch the film. Listen to yourself eating. As soon as you hear the astounding smackings and other disturbing eating noises coming directly from your mouth, you will immediately want to clean up your act. You deplore the very idea of bad manners.        You can be perceived of as meek. This is because are a confirmed pacifist and never exhibit visible signs of aggression. Always the lady or gentleman, you do more than your share of bowing and scraping. You may even behave in an apologetic and self-sacrificing way. Fact is, you tolerate almost every type of behavior in others and never show your reactions openly. Anyone who thinks you are meek and mild should look into your investment portfolio and examine the antiques in your salon and old master paintings on your walls. When you want something, you know how to go after it. But you often conceal hostility.        This self-effacing conduct may appear martyr-like or strike people as boy-scoutish. But is genuine: you would do almost anything to avoid tension or guilt. You learn early on that one way to avert stress or self-recrimination is to surrender your position or conceal your anger before you've even been challenged. Your apparent meekness is part authenticity and part strategy.        Further, you deplore quarrelling and despise open argument. When called upon to take a stand and be firm with a fellow human, you usually avoid the issue or beat a quiet retreat. If attacked, however, you are tough and will aim accurately at the jugular, but you refuse to clutter up your life with malcontents. You flee from disgruntled folk who might incite you to a rare towering rage. You are ultra-sensitive and fragile: conflict upsets your placid nature. You are so non-violent that you would usually prefer to appear stupid or lose an argument rather than enter the fray. You are a master of the art of changing the subject, skirting thorny issues, and turning the music up to drown vituperation..         This passion for serenity and unwillingness to deal with life's sharper angles can handicap you. It can also be a pain in the hambone for your friends and family. You are supremely emotional and your reactions are almost always subjective. When a jagged edge rises suddenly up before you, you start back in horror, bumble, trip, and apologize profusely. You often wish you didn't have such overwhelming emotional ups and downs. You dream of being tougher and more heroic. You are not a lily-livered sniveler, but your excessively active emotions curse you with a squirmy, uncomfortable feeling of vulnerability.        In reaction to tension, you often become skittish or squeamish and may then behave irrationally. You will lead a more balanced life and view events more objectively once you succeed in conquering your tendency to hyper-emotivity and curb your subjective reactions to emotional stimulus. But, if you are comfortable as a non aggressive soul, you should pursue this type of emotive behavior - even if it strikes others as cowardly or wimpish - it is your way and must be respected by those who want to remain in your favor. Truth is, you are anything but a wimp and people who know you well and love who you are, are patently aware of your true nature.        You are a born culture vulture. You may prefer to live in the country and lie about listening to music or baking rough country bread to consume with fresh butter and homemade jam. But once you have access to a city, you never miss an exhibition, concert or ballet. You scour antique shops and haunt auctions for new treasures to buy for your sumptuous penthouse or opulent farmhouse retreat. You are always aware of what's happening in the art world. You keep up with theatrical events, movies, rock concerts and ballet, opera and symphony orchestras as well as who is doing what to whom in the celebrity world.         You are a traditionalist and believe fiercely in learning from the lessons of the past and using them as a guide to the future. An avid reader, you study historical events, recall landmark battles and when asked, can list hundreds of names of kings, generals, and their mistresses. You often feel that the best way to do something is the way it was done in the good old days.        In company, you often wax pedagogical. You never tire of expounding on some moot point or reaching up into the bookshelf at the end of a big convivial meal, dragging down a heavy leather tome or two, and relating wild and woolly tales of the intrigues of days gone by. In private, too, you read books the way six-year-olds consume chocolate cookies. You also collect information to back up your basic theories. You love to uncover examples of how truth, purity and goodness invariably win out over wickedness and evil.        Your secret inner life is chockablock with dreams of heroes rescuing damsels in distress; princes and princesses whose blameless virtue saved the kingdom from destruction; warring factions finding a peaceful means to a truce; love winning out over hate, and hate, in its turn, obtaining absolution. Deep down, you sincerely long for all to be well on Earth, which, in turn, is under the perpetual protection of a benevolent God. You visualize a spotlessly incorruptible band of merry saints who float around up there on gold-tinged clouds playing Mozart on well-strung harps.        Some people claim that you are snobbish. Manners, breeding and good taste are of enormous importance to you. The inside story is that you were born with an excellent nose for style in everything from dress to furnishings. You want to live in an ambience of luxury and if you possibly can, you do.        Authenticity is of optimal importance to you. You would rather have one gold earring than thirty phony ones, one real pearl instead of drawers full of glass beads.        To compound your reputation for snobbery, you are sometimes guilty of name-dropping. You can list bevies of big name acquaintances till you've forgotten what you were talking about in the first place. You are a kindly and humble person, but you are far too easily impressed by hotshots. But as you travel and become more sophisticated, you eventually realize than snobbery doesn't travel well. Nobody in Cost Rica cares that you had lunch with the finance minister of Croatia the week before. When you come to the realization that, from one country to another, nobody knows who Caroline of Monaco is married to and that he spoke to you in a bar in a skin resort in Austria is of absolutely no interest to anyone outside of that small circle, you will curb your habit of trying to impress others with who you know.        Another notable characteristic is your distinct lack of desire to change the world, to stand out from the crowd, or be publicly honored for good deeds. You swerve sharply away from competition and eschew scheming, wheeling and dealing. Yet, paradoxically, you almost always manage to get your sticky little trotters on pots of money. In China, Pigs are identified with plenty and prosperity and are often endowed with great wealth. Good luck seems to pursue you in everything from playing the stock market to slot machines. Sometimes you inherit money but even if you do, although you may appear languid or slow, you perpetually and diligently engage in money-gathering. You are patently unafraid of hard work, as well as purposeful, tenacious, and intelligent. Success in almost any profession is assured.        If you believe everything you are told, flee from artful plots, reject shady deals, deplore conflict, and are willing to give anyone the benefit of the doubt, how do you manage to accumulate so much money? Self-reliance and stoicism are two of your most salient features. You rarely ask for help and cannot graciously accept it.        You are possessive, jealous and exclusive. You don't often make much noise about it, but you are achingly conscious of trivia such as how much younger other people look, or how many fancy cars they have.         You usually keep impeccable books, pay your taxes on time, and rigorously declare every last cent of what you earn. Yet, you can be wildly extravagant. The more anxious and fearful you are, the more you tend to squander. You are always aiming to provide extra comfort and achieve grander grandeur. You covet and buy well-cut clothing of the best fabrics, and sometimes have a wardrobe full of softest leather shoes. You are lavishly generous with those close to you. You are ever conscious of the need to create or provide some reliable form of endurable purity, a cocoon wherein you and your tribe can increase in opulence and generate a spirit of goodwill worthy of your noblest aspirations.

PIG HEALTH        Fragility characterizes your health picture. You often feel impelled to miss a day's work or feel the urge to slow down or slip out for a nap because of the onset or persistence of some chronic (and perhaps psychosomatic) ailment. Sometimes you are not as sick as you think or feel you are. But physical discomfort - even the slightest headache - impresses itself on your hypersensitive nature. You may be overwhelmed by the force of the unexpected. Even a broken fingernail can kick-start your overactive imagination, revving it into a whirlwind of self-examination, diagnosis and undue worry about the future.        You worry about your health. You are a panicker and when it comes to conjuring yourself into a physically disabled state, you become terrified. Subconsciously, you live in fear of both suffering and death. Sometimes, you fret so hard that you acquire the symptoms you are so afraid of and can, without trying, torment yourself into an actual illness. Better to avoid reading medical information in books or on the Web. Refrain from watching hospital dramas and documentaries on TV.        If you do fall ill, you usually regress: you may want to be spoiled and treated like a child. You need enormous morale-boosting and support to resist the temptation to feel sorry for yourself. You can be demanding and insist on indulging in forbidden foods or drinking what you ought to leave alone. You will need at least third and fourth opinions on every minute aspect of your disorder and may phone your physician continually for clarification of every real or imagined new symptom.         You may develop stomach trouble: the stomach is your weakest point and requires careful attention. You are hardly unaware of your tummy's frequent dysfunctions. You really do feel those stabbing pains and suffer the colic and cramps, but you have a difficult time preventing yourself from overeating or drinking. You impose an extra workload on your fragile digestive system, and you are frequently laid up with every gastrointestinal indisposition known to man, plus such gourmet delights as gout and acne rosacea. You can be subject to ulcers and are often besieged by attacks of embarrassing flatulence. Still ... you love to eat, drink, and make merry.        You may also suffer from chronic insomnia which manifests as an inability to get to sleep. This resistance to sleep stems from a nagging paranoia that death may strike you in the night. You hear non-existent prowlers who have come to beat you senseless in your sleep. You are jerked awake by the horrible hunch that you have forgotten to lock the downstairs door. You lie in bed from 4 a.m. till dawn, arms crossed corpse-like over your pounding chest, wondering how you will dare to face the unknown terrors stalking your new day. Moreover, anxiety plus indigestion do not always equal a good night's sleep.         Your health will be stronger if you live in the country. When you reside amid the noise and pollution of big city life with all of its real dangers and frenzied vicissitudes, you feel afflicted. You are born unarmed against the din, and your natural rhythms are thrown into confusion by the artificiality of the urban setting. When comfortably ensconced in peaceful, safe surroundings, you will thrive. Your tortured spirit will grow calmer. Your fears will be quieted. Your true self will emerge and allow you to get on with what really concerns you in life, which is family, sex, work, pets, friends, culture, reading, painting, gardening, viewing nature's glories, and of course, occasional royal banquet-giving.        Because you so often feel the need to calm a relentless inner raging, you are bound to be drug and alcohol prone. If you have not developed the skill to relax in other, healthier ways, you will be tempted to abuse all sorts of drugs. Sports, such as swimming, sailing and surfing, are good for you Strenuous sports, such as football, boxing or wrestling, requiring strong muscular structures, don't suit you. You can excel at more gracious, noble sports such as tennis or golf. You hate to have to move quickly avoid skating or handball or spinning. You would be quickly accomplished at Yoga, Tai Chi and/or other such quiet physical pursuits.         Certain Pig ailments are specifically female. You tend to develop varicose veins and even high blood pressure at an early age. Your endocrine system is highly strung and can easily become unbalanced. Hyperthyroidism and its reverse, pancreatic disorders and diabetes, are possible. You also have to keep a close eye out for breast problems such as recurrent cysts and occasional changes in the breast tissue. Mammograms are always a good idea after the age of thirty.        Allergies, although rarely life-threatening, can be life-altering and ought to be dealt with naturally, treated with proper diet.        To protect your health, you must learn to refrain from excess. Your life is plagued by the desire to go to extremes in everything from food and sex to work, spending, and over-exertion. You are born fragile. You cannot commit yourself to the fast lane for long or you will succumb to life's most dreadful ailments. You should eat in moderation and ingest only fresh organic foods. A good diet for you includes dairy products (especially yogurt), fish and shellfish (if you aren't allergic), fresh fruit, and vegetables. You should refrain from eating sweets and avoid gaseous beverages. Alcohol? The rule for you is the same for everyone else ... only more so: Drink wine with food. The better the quality, the lesser the quantity.         To ensure your emotional well-being, you must attempt to achieve a balance between reality and your exaggerated, anxiety-laden approach to life. You must strive to be more casual and relaxed about your taboos, more open and free with things you resist and fear. However, if you can't do this by yourself, you should seek the help of a therapist, psychiatrist or psychologist to gain both objectivity and perspective. Without help, your stubborn tendencies can develop into serious life-threatening health problems after the age of forty. Unresolved emotional problems cause you to become a sitting duck for psychosomatic illnesses, tachycardia, asthma, anxiety attacks and depression. Curing these maladies is difficult, sometimes even impossible, unless you agree to become seriously involved in effecting a real lifestyle change. You must subject yourself to many hours of soul-searching psychotherapy, develop relaxation skills through yoga, exercise and acupuncture and, in short, learn as an adult what nature did not confer on you at birth - the art of being cool.

PIG COMPATIBILITIES         Pig with Rat        Indeed, you two make marvelous mates. In China, your sign of the Pig symbolizes affluence, which alone keeps a anxious Rat from tooth-grinding. Your practical approach mellows the fretful Rat, and you are lucky with money. Money alone paints a full time grin on the face of the satisfied Rat, but your gentle nature counts for a lot too.        You share a common love for food, holidays, and the glories of continental cuisine. The restive Rat, now safe in your presence, finally lets go, surrendering worry beads and tranquilizers for a glamorous wallow in luxury.        Despite your bent for squandering, you are both potential hoarders. Having robust savings to depend on will make the jolly Rat jollier. Overly kind and sensitive, you are not always as clever as the Rat in business dealings. The circumspect Rat's counsel is welcome here.        The two of you, gregarious and delightful, are on every host's A-list. Genuine love marks your union. You can expect piglets to abound. You delight in lovemaking. You not only tickle the lusty Rat's erogenous zones, but emotional and financial security allow the Rat to surrender fully in bed - where it counts!        Pig with Ox        Oxen and Pigs get on famously. You are so good-natured and malleable that (even if your rule the roost) the Ox will end up thinking he or she really is boss.        Let's say that at the summit of a beautiful hill in the mountains, or an equally exquisite location, the two of you own a home. This home is so well cared-for that it sparkles. You love to cook, and don't mind cleaning up after dinner. Before bedtime, the careful Ox turns off all the lights and puts out the garbage and the cat. Then the two of you cuddle in bed. It's ideal. You are well matched.        Early morning, you wake to the sound of the birds, setting a harmonious tone for the day. Of course, the birds are fed daily by the regimented Ox, who keeps this ship running on the tightest of schedules. But you buy the birdseed. You love animals, adore country life, and are lavishly generous.        Downside? The Ox is not much of a talker and doesn't share emotion easily. You love to yammer on about what you think and feel and how many people you saw that day and what they said ad infinitum. Ox might possibly hide behind a newspaper, a computer screen or a sewing project, while you attempt (in vain) to interest her or him in your chit chat. Having children together is advised. At least that way you would have a few people to keep you company during Ox's long silences.        Sex between you two country folk is lusty and satisfying. The Ox is a bit square and rude at first, but your rich sensuality soon takes over, and you enjoy making a lovely, languorous lifetime of love.        Pig with Tiger        The basic characters here are vastly different. You are scrupulous and peace-loving. Tigers strategize every move and carry banners for their own noisy causes. Yet with the proper amount of gentle understanding from you and the sort of generous reasonableness for which Tigers are famous, the two of you can make a real go of marriage.        You admire the Tiger's punchy gall and the Tiger respects your guilelessness and purity of spirit. You are mostly even-tempered and good-natured, while the Tiger is pathologically changeable. You find Tigers too mobile but you don't mind staying at home and holding the fort while the Tiger rushes about being self-important. Instead of clashing, you two complement one another.        Your physical relationship is full of tenderness and mutual understanding. You are sensual, adore pleasure, and are lavishly generous. The Tiger needs a lot of affection and cherishes the sort of warmth and homey comfort you offer his or her restless nature. Steamy cuddling sessions abound in the Pig/Tiger household.        Pig with Cat/Rabbit        Here's a pair tailor-made for successfully carving out a bucolic country life together. Both of you love nature and thrive in rural, bourgeois opulence. You both covet ownership of the finer things in life. With time, the two of you can expect to lead civilized, charming lives together in peace and tenderness, without suffering want or lack of mutual respect.        The Cat/Rabbit, of course, has an artistic side, and will be the one to maintain decorum, keep neat flowerbeds and establish house rules. You, an earthier character given to rustic manners and relaxed, even sloppy habits, will appreciate the Cat/Rabbit's attempt at forging a pristine existence for you. You are both malleable enough to accept each other's shortcomings and honor your partner's needs.        You may occasionally shock your elegant Cat/Rabbit mate with a ribald pleasantry or off color joke. You have an affection for seamy stories about sex and sometimes even recount naughty bathroom stories. And of course, you are lavishly sexual. Cat/Rabbit is not. You are rampantly erotic. Cat/Rabbit is borderline prudish. At first, there may be some misunderstanding in this area, but in the long run, your sensuality and open-mindedness about sex will break down the Cat/Rabbit's hesitancy, and a good old sexual entente can be established for life.        Pig with Dragon        Most Dragon/Pig marriages last forever. You two have just enough in common and just enough differences to keep each other interested. You are compliant and easygoing. You always give the benefit of the doubt to the other fellow and admire gutsiness and audacity in a mate. The Dragon needs an ally, a helpmate, a shoulder to cry on and someone nice to boss around, preferably someone who forgives easily. You amply fill the bill.        Both of you adore opulence. You applaud the Dragon's successes and turns a blind eye to all chicanery. In turn, Dragon protects and admires your scrupulousness. In short, you help the Dragon maintain the shine on an overactive ego. The Dragon adores being put on a permanent pedestal and makes it clear that your homemaking talents are all he or she has ever dreamed they could be. The sex is good. You cleave to sensuality and the Dragon just plain loves sex, and lots of it. You want romance, so Dragon must temper crudity and learn a thing or two about the value of hearts and flowers.        Pig with Snake        The Snake is your nemesis. Chinese sages always advise against this relationship. They say that the rapacious Snake will eventually overwhelm and strangle you. Because you are an earthy, warm-hearted pushover for beauty and cultural savoir-faire, it's no trick for the Snake to twist him or herself around your chubby self. Inevitably, the first gorgeous, sex-loving Snake to come along knocks you for a loop. You simply cannot resist.        Superficially, your love of luxury has much to recommend to a Snake lover. You are scrupulous and mostly honest. You usually know how to make lots of money, which the Snake loves to lavish on your joint lifestyle. You both adore things traditional like antiques and vintage wines and castles in Spain.        The problem here revolves around the weaknesses the two of you share. Neither you nor the Snake is a world-record decision maker. You change your mind as readily as Snake changes his or her outfit. The Snake procrastinates. You wallow and wonder. You are sexually compatible to a fault, but little is accomplished in life by lying about twisted up in each other's limbs.        You don't much care about appearances, making rude noises and smacking your lips when you eat. Eventually, a fastidious Snake grows critical of your sloppy habits. The Snake's jibes bring out the worst in you, and you whimper, which only makes the Snake more impatient and even cruel. You can never do enough to please the Snake, so you finally just wither sadly away and leave all your money to the voracious beauty whom you couldn't resist marrying.        Pig with Horse        Poor you! Horses are notoriously headstrong and willful. You simply cannot say "no" to the Horse's winning ways. And even though a right-thinking Horsey knows better than to walk all over an acquiescent mate, it happens anyway. Because they are often very striking, Horses attract you.. In your turn, you win the heart of the Horse because you are so willing, generous, and tantalizingly compliant.        Sexually, you two are well matched. The Horse finds your overt sensuality liberating. You like the forceful side of the Horse's sexual nature and are turned on by his or her handsome appearance. The sex between you might, at first, strike you as perfunctory. But with time, you come to appreciate the practical methods utilized by the Horse for pleasing you in bed and then sex with your Horse mate will become as necessary to you as a drug.        You attract money. Horses work hard and know how to make money. But they often gamble it away. You are a natural homebuilder and nurturer. The Horse is an outdoors person, so you complement each other. Providing you can endure the Horse's frequent absences and accept the outgoing side of his or her personality, the two of you can create a sound basis for a felicitous and prosperous family.        Pig with Goat        You just love the Goat to pieces. And the Goat returns the compliment. In this couple we find one of the happiest possible combinations. The atmosphere between you and the Goat is mellow and smooth. You may have minor differences of opinion over small things, like taste in furniture or which sort of friends to visit most, but the Goat likes security, and you enjoy the creative nuttiness of the charming Goat.        You are lucky in money matters, so you can support the gentle Goat, allow him or her free rein to dream and aimlessly invent or reinvent life. You have endless patience and seem to be composed of goodwill and indulgence for the capricious Goat mate. The Goat could not be better matched where emotional stability is concerned. You usually stay in the country, away from madding city life, where the Goat can safely cavort, unhindered, in your own fertile fields.        The sexual side of this affair is also enviably harmonious. You two have similar sensitivities. You will undoubtedly be jealous of the Goat's incessant dalliances and disapprove of his or her unfortunate tendency to try to take up with almost every attractive person who comes to call (the flirtatious Goat lacks tact). But, never mind. Once your pain has passed, the darling Goat will be forgiven and you both will return to your familiar devil-may-care, bucolic existence.        Pig with Monkey        Be cautious here. You must treat this relationship with less blind indulgence than you do most. Monkeys can be ruthless when necessary. Your naivete is no help when it comes to dealing with a beloved, yet sometimes unscrupulous, Monkey.        Unlike the Snake, whose intentions in your regard are plainly lethal, the Monkey means no harm. You and the Monkey share tender hearts and are mightily compatible, but your thinking processes are worlds apart. You must adapt to the Monkey's ways or your couple is doomed.        As you are very malleable, adaptation is not an unreasonable demand. But you must be careful not to lose your purest ideals to Monkey's constantly expanding bag of tricks. You live by intuition. Monkeys cleave to logic. If the two of you can get your mutual talents to cooperate, it will assist your union's progress. If not, there will be major rows. An angry Monkey is a hopping mad mini-volcano who forgets about it two minutes after the eruption. You, on the other hand, are fearsome, relentless, dangerous and vengeful.        Monkey should accept and enjoy your smothering and homely charms. And you should try to see how innocently the Monkey needs room to wander and squander. If these concessions are made, you can have a lovely, long-lasting life together.        Pig with Rooster        This partnership can succeed brilliantly. Roosters who find themselves in bed with you, the willing, sensual Pig, are truly in luck. My advice to the lucky Rooster is to hang on tight! You, Piggy, are willing to adapt and change, modify your personality and lifestyle to suit the one you love.        The Rooster definitely benefits from your nurturing, understanding presence. As for you, the Pig in this relationship, you will gain much from the pure rigor and frank style of a Rooster partner. Roosters like things as they are. They are not revolutionaries. You also enjoy tradition and respect the basic tenets of good society. Your common interests will flourish and after the first few years you two will go very far toward achieving dreams and goals you only dreamed of before meeting.        Sex, too, is favored for the two of you. The Rooster can take charge in lovemaking. You appreciate being moved to exotic heights in bed, adore almost anything sensual, and make an excellent cuddler for the roughshod Rooster to learn to snuggle with. If I were a Rooster, I think I might seek you as a mate. Lifetime comfort and financial security (Pigs attract money) would be assured.        Pig with Dog        Intimacy between you and the Dog promises great enduring love, respect and passion. The two of you are complementary in thought and feeling. You both believe in the basic good of humankind, love the countryside and adhere to sanity as a fine way of life.        Mind you, there are some basic differences to contend with: you love opulence while the Dog couldn't care less about luxury. You tend to be conservative; the Dog is liberal. You are a sensualist, while the Dog is inclined to rigor.        But all these differences are worked out between the two of you because you are each willing to respect and even admire the other for individual tastes and preferences. The Dog loves the cozy security you provide, and you see the Dog's politically active friends as perfect guests.        You may at first be flummoxed by the Dog's seeming sexual indifference. But you have clever (sometimes devious) ways of getting people's attention, and will always find a way to your Doggie's heart. You are infinitely patient. You know how to bide your time and cajole until you get what you want and need out of your basically sweet-tempered Dog partner.        Providing you husband and promote your mutual talent for goodwill, the two of you can be blissfully content for a very long time.        Pig with Pig        An excellent match. Here we have two interesting, nature-loving, sensitive, and sensual people whose mutual quest for culture and respect for creative imagination are guaranteed to fend off boredom for a lifetime.        Money will never be a problem: Pigs attract piles of it. You are not only lucky, but you are hardworking and fair-dealing in all transactions. Two Pigs are better than one in the financial arena, because you will be able to advise each other as to spending: which art to buy and which to sell, what stocks and bonds to invest, and which houses or other property would protect your future.        There is a streak of masochism in the Pig character. Following an unfortunate incident or business betrayal, one or the other might slide into a depression and be beset by pessimistic notions. If luck is with you, the other Pig will know how to respond and help you out of the doldrums.        When things are going well, both Pigs have real talent for pleasure. You mutually enjoy a dirty joke and have few inhibitions about things sensual. The sexual conjugality of this couple is sublime. You are likely to be very vocal in bed, just as you make lots of noise when you eat. Neither will ever correct the other's manners, so the ambiance at table around the Pig house is mighty relaxed.

MORE TO COME....................later.....readers!!!

Repost if you like it!!!RememberFriend----zzVenus Astrology online

Sometimes the bad things that happen in our lives put us directly on the path to the best things that will ever happen to us.