Lunar Zodiac · The Moon's Cycle
Rat
“Won the race without swimming a stroke of it.”
Polarity: yang · Direction: north · Element: water
The Rat opens the cycle, and it did not get there by being the strongest or the fastest. It got there by thinking about the problem differently from everyone else in it. This is the sign of resourcefulness, timing and quick assessment: alert to opportunity, thrifty by instinct, and comfortable in situations that reward wit over force. The story is worth telling exactly. The Jade Emperor called a race across a wide river to decide the order of the years, and the Rat, who could not swim it, persuaded the Ox to let it ride along. The Ox agreed, being the kind of animal that agrees, and swam the whole distance carrying a passenger. At the far bank, with the finish in sight, the Rat jumped from the Ox's head and landed first. Twelve years of the calendar were decided by one animal working out that the race was not actually a swimming contest. Rat people are quick, charming and highly observant, with an eye for the opening nobody else noticed and a strong instinct to provide for their own. They are excellent in a crisis and rarely without a plan. The cost is the jump: an ability to see the advantage so clearly that it gets taken before the question of whether it was fair has been given much of a hearing.
Years of the Rat
A Rat year opens at Chinese New Year, which falls between late January and the middle of February, so it does not line up with the calendar year. Anyone born in the weeks before it belongs to the animal before.
- 1912February 18, 1912 to February 5, 1913
- 1924February 5, 1924 to January 23, 1925
- 1936January 24, 1936 to February 10, 1937
- 1948February 10, 1948 to January 28, 1949
- 1960January 28, 1960 to February 14, 1961
- 1972February 15, 1972 to February 2, 1973
- 1984February 2, 1984 to February 19, 1985
- 1996February 19, 1996 to February 6, 1997
- 2008February 7, 2008 to January 25, 2009
- 2020January 25, 2020 to February 11, 2021
- 2032February 11, 2032 to January 30, 2033
Rat Ancient Zodiacs
Every sign someone born in the Year of the Rat can be, one for each Western sun sign.
- Kangaroo: Aries Rat, “Built for forward, and physically unable to reverse.”
- Badger: Taurus Rat, “Inherited the house, extended it, and will defend it.”
- Squirrel: Gemini Rat, “Thousands of plans buried in a thousand places.”
- Possum: Cancer Rat, “Survives by going quiet, and it is not an act.”
- Meerkat: Leo Rat, “Stands up first so everyone else can keep eating.”
- Porcupine: Virgo Rat, “Slow, unbothered, and covered in thirty thousand reasons.”
- Gazelle: Libra Rat, “Settles it with elegance so it never becomes a fight.”
- Ant: Scorpio Rat, “Small, relentless, and part of something much larger.”
- Hummingbird: Sagittarius Rat, “Crosses an ocean on a body that weighs nothing.”
- Chipmunk: Capricorn Rat, “Already has next winter handled, and the one after.”
- Bat: Aquarius Rat, “Sees the room in a way nobody else in it can.”
- Mosquito: Pisces Rat, “Small, patient, and impossible to ignore for long.”