Year:	Metal Ox
Month:	Wood Sheep
Day:	Earth Snake
Hour:	Wood Dog

Your elements are distributed as follows: 53220. This is slightly unbalanced but relatively normal, showing one, very strong, three, approximately average and one, weak area in terms of your capabilities and life stages. This is LUCKY, as you should have sufficient chi (energy/life force) to take advantage of opportunities and to deal with problems during the majority of your life, with only one period of weakness.

The first stage of your life cycle is ruled by the element, Wood, which is the natural element ruling new life. This is LUCKY, as your element is in harmony with the natural order. This not only favors you in the first stage but also throughout life, as your ruling element will match the natural element in every, succeeding one.

Your birth year element, Metal, has a constructive relationship with your fixed element, Earth. This is LUCKY as it boosts your chi (energy/life force), thereby increasing your chance of success in life.

You were born in the month of the Sheep, the sixth month of the lunar calendar. You are likely to be internally conflicted, encounter difficulty in your relationships and have a tough time progressing in your career. This indicator is, therefore, UNLUCKY.

The constellation ruling your date of birth is Lou, or Mound, which is associated with the Dog, West and longevity, and, therefore, LUCKY.

For you the moment of Opportunity is at Youth, which is NEUTRAL. It is possible this could denote, for example, acceptance to a prestigious school. Generally, however, you are more likely to derive greater benefit from a big break during the stages of Maturation and Adulthood than your school years.

Your chi rating at Maturation is above average. This indicator is LUCKY. In terms of your energy level you are likely to have a greater chance of success than the majority of your peers as you embark upon your career.

Your overall, internal compatibility is significantly above average, which is LUCKY. This can have a positive effect on your self esteem, self confidence and decisiveness, as you may be torn in very different directions by your conflicting desires.

Your Ox sign is UNLUCKY. Yours is a strong sign, but those born under it usually need that strength, as they end up having to carry the weight of others as well as their own.

You have seven LUCKY, one NEUTRAL and two UNLUCKY indicators. Your fate is that you are very LUCKY. You may find that you are luckier than most people. You will have many opportunities, but there will also be some challenges, and you are going to have to work to achieve your goals. You will be more lucky than not at certain times and in different areas, but there will be a few that cause you difficulty.

It is likely you have the typical Ox qualities of determination and persistence. Although you may not be that ambitious, you are still likely to progress in your work and thus your ability to accumulate Wealth. This, however, doesn't bestow any particular advantage, so this indicator is NEUTRAL.

You were born in a Metal year. Metal is the element that best indicates money and the accumulation of wealth. This indicator is LUCKY.

You were born in the month of the Sheep, the sixth month of the lunar calendar. This is an UNLUCKY indicator in considering your potential to accumulate wealth. You are likely to be held back by inner conflict and, or, relationship problems.

Your birth date is ruled by Lou or Mound, a favorable omen. It is associated with successful business ventures and acquiring wealth, and, therefore, LUCKY.

According to your chart the best way for you to make money is in the visual or performing arts. The notion of the starving artist has some truth to it. This indicator is UNLUCKY.

There is a chance you will have an opportunity to change careers. This does not necessarily signify acquiring riches, however, and should be considered a NEUTRAL indicator.

Your chi level at Maturation is significantly above average. This indicator is LUCKY.

Your chi level at Adulthood is low normal. This indicator is NEUTRAL.

You have four LUCKY, four NEUTRAL and two UNLUCKY indicators. Fate has decreed you are LUCKY and have a good chance of becoming prosperous. Since there are two, unfavorable indicators, you could, however, experience some setbacks as well as successes. You have the potential to accumulate significant wealth and are likely to end up being comfortable in retirement.

In truth the Ox is not the luckiest of signs. Your Health, however, is a bright spot and likely to be robust. Stamina is probably among your greatest strengths. And, if you have that steady, slow but sure, Ox approach, you have a good chance at achieving Longevity. This indicator is LUCKY.

You were born in a Metal year. A lot of Metal in a chart indicates longevity. Although it is your year sign, you do not have that much overall. This indicator is, therefore, NEUTRAL. Things you can do to improve your health include learning how to control your anger and be less rigid.

You were born in the month of the Sheep, the sixth month of the lunar calendar. You will probably have difficulty achieving inner peace as well as satisfying relationships, thus draining your energy. This indicator is, therefore, UNLUCKY.

Your birth date is ruled by Lou or Mound, an auspicious constellation. It portends a lot of happiness in your life and is, therefore, LUCKY.

Your chart shows this to be a slightly, below average area for you. This indicator is thus NEUTRAL.

In your later years your chi will be very weak, making this an UNLUCKY indicator.

You have a relatively small amount of one element. This makes you vulnerable to illness during only one stage of your life. This is LUCKY.

From the first section you know you have seven favorable indicators, with an overall rating of LUCKY. These blessings extend to many areas of your life and will greatly help you achieve and maintain good Health and longevity.

You have five LUCKY, three NEUTRAL and two UNLUCKY indicators. You have the good fortune of having a great chance of enjoying good health and a long life. Since there are two, unfavorable indicators, you can expect some problems. Generally, however, your robust health should contribute to your achieving your goals and enjoying life, giving you an overall rating in this area of LUCKY.

The roots of Chinese astrology go back thousands of years. Needless to say in the course of millennia a number of different systems have been used. There are two main types, those that rely on birth data alone, and those that use birth data but rely primarily on positioning of stars and planets. Most use the lunar calendar (see appendix 1 for more info on the Chinese calendar) which bases its calculations on the cycles of the moon. That is why Chinese New Year falls on a different date every year. Some Chinese systems use the solar year as Western astrology does. Both, however, make use of Chinese five element theory. The five elements are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water, always being given in that order. It is said to be a productive cycle, that is Wood produces Fire; Fire produces Earth; Earth produces Metal, Metal produces Water, and Water produces Wood, thus continuing the cycle. The balance of these elements and their positioning in a Chinese chart determine many components of a person's luck and fate. Chinese astrology is a complicated set of systems of analysis, which is not unlike life itself. It rarely yields a simple answer. Even when there is a single indicator, it does not tell the whole story. A person's health, for example, is likely to vary over the course of a lifetime. Overall health may be rated good, but during a period of weak chi a person could still be susceptible to problems. There is one more very important thing to know about Chinese astrology. Chinese astrologers are not strict determinists. In other words they do not believe a person’s fate is sealed in stone at the moment of birth. What they do believe is that a person’s time and place of birth set parameters, boundaries within which a person has more or less freedom. What happens within these boundaries is influenced not only by free will but also by external indicators such as financial status of the family, the culture, and the local economy. In one way this is just common sense, not unlike what people in the West already believe. If your adult height is five feet one inch, you’re not likely to be a professional basketball player. If your IQ is less than 100, you’re not likely to be a chemical engineer. There is of course a whole body of Chinese philosophy and culture underlying the precepts and findings of Chinese astrology. The subject of Chinese studies, as fascinating as it is however, is well beyond the scope of this basic introduction. One point worth mentioning, though, is that balance plays a central role in Chinese thought. Even this idea has Western counterparts, Aristotle’s golden mean for example. In Chinese thought a star athlete who flunks Algebra is still weak. True strength comes from balance. A strong chart will be balanced in terms of both signs and elements. Ideally a person will have, for example, a mix of strong and gentle signs as well as of elements. And, if a person has a variety of signs as opposed to, say, two Monkey and two Pig signs, so much the better. That means the person has a wider range of capabilities. Much of the above discussion has been about personality and abilities. Originally, however, the primary purpose of Chinese astrology was fortune telling. The focus is usually on what will happen to people in various stages of their lives or a specific duration of time, or on what people should do on a particular day or in a certain month or year. Most of the information you will find in English on Chinese astrology will be about personality. This reading does not address that area. It is strictly about your Fate. Please understand, however, that there is no magic bullet, no single answer. Human life is complicated; there are ups and downs. People enjoy good luck as well as bad.

The Chinese calendar differs significantly from the Western calendar. The primary difference is that the months of the Chinese calendar are directly tied to the phases of the moon. These phases, however, do not fit in with the length of the year as measured by the Earth’s revolution around the sun. The Western calendar is fixed in the sense that each New Year begins on solar/Western calendar date January first. Because the Chinese New Year must correlate with a moon phase, it falls as early as January 22nd and as late as February 19th on the Western calendar. This has significant implications for Chinese Astrology. First, however, it’s important to understand the primary difference between Chinese and Western astrology. Chinese astrology focuses on the year sign, and Western astrology focuses on the month sign (Aquarius, Pisces, etc.). Chinese astrology does, however, have month signs. This can be confusing because the month signs have the same name as the year signs. Furthermore, when we say a Chinese sign corresponds to a Western sign, e.g., Ox to Capricorn, we do not mean the person was born in a Capricorn month. Rather, we mean the person’s Chinese year-sign traits roughly correspond to the traits of that Western sign. Adding to the confusion is the fact we can’t know a person’s Western sign simply by knowing the person’s Chinese month sign. For example, a person born on the first day of the seventh month (July 1 in Western terminology) of the Chinese calendar year 1979 was actually born on August 23rd of the Western calendar. Since July 1st is Cancer and August 23 is Leo, it’s easy to see the confusion. As with the months, neither do Chinese and Western years match exactly. Thus, even though we might know a person’s Chinese sign, we still cannot be sure of their year of birth. Conversely, if we know a person’s year of birth, we cannot be sure of their Chinese sign. Let’s say someone was born in 1978 (Chinese year of the Horse) on the Western calendar. They would only be the Horse sign if born after February 6th; since, Chinese New Year was February 7th by the Western calendar. The Chinese Horse year 1978 actually has the Western calendar dates included in the period February 7, 1978 through January 27, 1979. This is especially important when evaluating compatibility. Signs most compatible with the Horse (Tiger and Dog) are not nearly so compatible with the Snake, which is the sign of people born in 1978 but earlier than February 7th on the Western calendar.