The Year of the Rat

The Year of the Rat

Having seen civilizations great and small rise majestically and then inevitably fall, the Baron is inherently multi-cultural. On that note, Chinese New Year is coming up. It is celebrated just after the second New Moon of the year following the Winter Solstice. This year it's on Thursday the 8th, and you can bet the Baron will be knee-deep in dim sum before the sun goes down.

Being unable to stand the masses' pitiful ignorance, the following is a brief offering on the nature of a holidate that well over a billion people celebrate.

Comparative Pop-Astrology

Although most people in English speaking countries are aware of their Sun-sign ("I'm a Taurus and I'm lazy!"), Western Astrology does not have a popular, accessible method of assessing the basic nature of a year. Though popular methods are limited to sometimes-tragic oversimplifications (Not EVERY Aries is an offensively spunky go-getter, just the ones you know), these simpler methods are not without value. In addition to their own validity, they may provide gateways to more in-depth astrological calculations.

Chinese Astrology also has a 12-part zodiac. Unlike Western Astrology, the Zodiac in Chinese astrology is most popularly applied to a 12-year cycle, rather than one of 12 months. The Sign in the Chinese Zodiac describes both the people born in that year as well as the quality of the year itself.

The Year Star

Though this information is often mysterious absent, the application of Chinese Zodiac to a 12-year cycle is not arbitrary. It is, in fact, based on the approximate position of Jupiter, which has a nearly perfect 12-year cycle.

Because of the numerous parallels between the Sun and Jupiter, it's interesting that each is used in a system of popular astrology to describe the simplified essence of a time period. Both represent the celestial bodies the 12-fold zodiac cycle fits best, the Sun having a 12-month cycle, and Jupiter having 12 year one. Or, to put it another way, a 12 Sun cycle.

The Sign of the Sun in Western Astrology indicates the quality of the individual self, manifest in life, works, and love. It reveals qualities of ego, identity, and higher spiritual purpose. It is the heart, the center around which the rest of the chart hangs.

The meaning of Jupiter is similar to that of the Sun, but, like its cycle in time, it occurs on a larger scale. Jupiter, the largest of the planets and the first one past the asteroid's scattered fencing, serves to connect what is special about the individual (the Sun) with the social collective they are born into. Jupiter is about finding the place where an individual's talents are nurtured, and, in turn, nurture the society which mothers them. It aims at cohesion between the micro- and macrocosm, the self and world, and is represented in Chinese thought as being of the Wood element. Its energy is that of organic growth and expansion.

It is because Jupiter maintains its position for nearly 1 year that Chinese pop-astrology can say that people born within the same year share certain characteristics.

A system of pop-astrology must be simplified enough for the layman or woman to grasp its dynamics. The point the system is simplified down is interesting in and of itself, as it reveals some of the culture's general orientation. The individualistic West simplifies Astrology down to the Sun- the seat of identity in a chart- while more collectively minded China reduces their astrology down to Jupiter, a planet whose concerns are more collective, and which sweeps a year's crop into the same bin. Its also interesting to note that in India, pop-astrology is concerned primarily with one's Moon Sign, and which of the 27 Lunar Mansions, or Nakshatras, it resides within. The Baron's a Rohini. Now you know.

Time: Planetary Cycles vs. Ideal Divisions

And so the Years of the Chinese Zodiac use Jupiter's cycle in order to anchor them. Jupiter will be in the Chinese Sign of the Rat for most of 2008, but there are years where Jupiter is not technically in the Sign of the Year when that Year begins, and may slip out of it during that year.

This is because Chinese Astrology utilizes an idealized notion of time drawn from and confirmed by celestial cycles, but not entirely dependent on it. A similar type of idealized time structure can be found in Western Astrology in the use of the Planetary Days. In use since ancient times, each day of the week is assigned a planet whose energy is said to pervade it. This is not based on any observable connection between the planets and the days of the week, but has none the less stuck around for thousands of years and presumably vindicated itself in practice. In fact, the names of days of the week in English directly reference Gods and Goddess whose quality reflects the character of the planet that they are attributed to.

Archetypal Arithmetic

Now, in addition to the 12 Year cycle, each of the 12 years is thought to manifest in the mode of one of the Chinese elements, or phases of energy- The Wu-Xing. They are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. Similar to the Greek concepts of the 4 elements, the 5 elements are often used in Indian, Tibetan, Chinese, Thai, and Japanese thought. Each Elemental mode persists for 2 years, manifesting sequentially in a Yang and then Yin phase.

These pairings are expressed by using a color to represent the element, and an Animal. The pairing of a cycle of 5 and a cycle of 12 makes for a total cycle of 60 years, considered very important in Chinese Astrology. A 60-year cycle is interesting, because it roughly equivalent to the time it takes for Jupiter and Saturn to come back around into the same relative positions.

The Yellow Rat

The Chinese year inaugurated on the 8^th is the year of the Earth Rat, also called the "Yellow Rat". This configuration is also referred to as the "Rat on a Crossbeam."

Taken as an image, an idea, the year of the "Earth Rat" is quite interesting in light of the various planetary positions that will be present through-out the year.

Earth Rat, Earth Star

"Earth Rat"- the cunning, bravery and caution of the Rat directed towards earthly or material affairs. If we are the Rats, then Saturn in Virgo must be our maze. Saturn is known in Chinese astrology as the "Earth Star," and it is a role that Western astrologers are quite familiar with. More than any other Planet, Saturn describes the structures that we scamper within. In the Tarot, Saturn is given XXI The World, the backdrop against which the Fool's adventure's find meaning.

"...I'm Still Just A Rat In A Maze"

In Virgo since September, Saturn has enacted a somewhat brutal change of scenery. The transition from star-powered and overhyped Leo to down-to-earth (and below) Virgo has shattered a number of egos (and markets), and will shatter more before its down. Saturn in Leo recognizes that all world's a stage, and is determined to put on a good show. But with Saturn in Virgo, the scene is a different one. The sets that Saturn in Virgo erects are the type of drama that occurs in the doctors office, college classes, or in the form of a termination letter from your boss. Saturn in Virgo sets us up to analyze our oppurtunities and potential pitfalls in detail, and is willing to marshall misfortune in order to point out cracks in these critiques.

In order to get through this particular maze, we'll need to be cunning, brave, and cautious. An attention to detail in general, with a specific focus on habits as they pertain to health, finances and information is key. Brute strength of person or persona is not the way here. You'll just tire your self out trying to take down the walls, or your opponents. Maintain yourself, find the cheese, and find the exit.
One only has to take a brief look at the state of the United States' pre-presidential races to see the would-be candidates scampering after electoral votes like mice after Cheez-Its. Indeed, with the state of the economy, the candidates won't be the only ones scampering after little valuable bits this year, as we all fight to bring home enough cheese to feed the ratlings and pay our car and health insurance.

Once You Go Cross-Cultural...

The Rat also holds an important place in the Indian pantheon. Chubby and lovable Ganesh, the elephant-headed little Babar of the subcontinent, has as his mighty steed is a rat. Ganesh is often petitioned to remove obstacles, or provide a way around them, as his humble steed, the Rat can negotiate confusing and difficult situations that mightier but simpler animals, like a horse, could never manuever through. So as you work your way through the maze of the year, pause to consider Ganesh and his unassuming but effective choice of vehicle.