The Tibetan 12-year cycle is "ruled" by twelve Animals: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Bird, Dog, and Pig. In various Eastern astrological traditions, the list of animals may vary, but in Tibetan astrology, it is defined in accordance with the legend. Buddha wanted to see and to bless all animals before attaining the final liberation of parinirvana, but only 12 animals came and they came in the order in which they now alternate in a 12-year cycle starting with Rat.
Animals are universal multivalued symbols. In particular, they determine the personal characteristics that a person receives. The general psychological portrait of the 12 Animals can be found in the corresponding chapters of this book.
Tibetan astrological tanka, XIX century
The Five Elements are potencies, dynamic principles, qualities of cosmic energy or matter: Wood – Fire – Earth – Metal – Water. One should not understand these symbols literally. For example, Wood is not a tree, it is the potency of growth and development. Elements have the following characteristics:
– Wood is vitality, growth, creation,
– Fire is an upward movement, heat, passion, joy,
– Earth is stability, fertility, heaviness, concreteness,
– Metal is hardness, coldness, purity, sharpness,
– Water is the moisture, flowability, penetration, cold, night.
All Elements interact with each other. It can be represented as a diagram:
External arrows show the productive cycle: Fire produces Earth, Earth – Metal, Metal – Water, Water – Wood, Wood – Fire.
Internal dashed arrows show the controlling cycle: Fire controls (suppresses) Metal, Metal – Wood, Wood – Earth, Earth – Water, Water – Fire.
Each year has its own set of qualities and Elements. Each person has a set of characteristics corresponding to the year of birth. Knowing the basic principles of interaction of Elements (production and suppression) you can compare the quality of the coming year with the quality of the year of birth of a person and predict how favorable the coming year will be.