This projects purpose is to dig deeper into Chinese Astrology. The goal is to understand the origin and
meaning of the twelve animal zodiac signs The Chinese animal zodiac is a repeating cycle of 12 years, with
each year being represented by an animal and its reputed attributes. These signs are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit,
dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. This project also looks into the five elements and
how these are each related to a zodiac sign. The five elements are the symbols of the five
planets, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth corresponding to Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, and Saturn.
They are thought to be the ruling planets or elements affecting the compatibility between two astrological
Chinese zodiac signs.
For my research I analyzed popular website sources, academic sources and read three novels from
practitioners of Chinese Astrology. Instead of writing a paper I decided to make a book that would have a
page dedicated to each zodiac symbol and one for each element as well. In order to understand the Zodiacs
you must first understand where they come from, which is why the introduction of the book focuses on the
story of how the 12 animals were chosen to represent each month.
This bears some similarities to my class, Shaking the Spirit. We learned about different Afro-Cuban religions originally coming from Africa, brought here by the slave trade. In a religion called Santeria there are multiple Gods, called Orishas. These Orisha each stand for different things. Each has its own attributes just as the Chinese zodiac signs. Not only that, but you mention elements that each sign also has. For example, there are Orishas for some of the same things like water, metal, etc. I find it interesting that these completely different subjects can still draw parallels between them.