Chinese astrology basic beliefs and strengths:

According to Chinese astrology, the year of birth tells not only your age but also indicates a certain phase or aspect of a sixty year circle of time.

According to ancient scripts, Buddha realized that the Chinese nation needed a reorganization. So on the occasion of the Chinese New Year (which occurs on different dates from mid-January to mid-February), Buddha called upon the entire animal kingdom for a meeting. But only twelve animals (rat, buffalo, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and boar) showed up for this meeting.

Buddha then honored them in the order of their arrival by endowing upon them with a year of their own. From then on, each successive year of the Chinese calendar bore that character of the animal that gave it a name and so, those born in specific animal years are marked by the nature of their natal animal.

Yet,all people born in the same animal are not the same literally and do differ from each other in certain aspects. These differences are determined by the various elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. Each of these elements distinguishes one person of the same animal from the other.