Rather than operating in a 12-year cycle, the Chinese Zodiac is actually based on a system of 60 years. The twelve animal signs are paired with five elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water to create 60 different combinations. That’s why we have “Fire Monkey”, “Wood Goat”, etc. Each element has its own set of distinct characteristics that affect the animal signs.
Wood
- altruistic, generous and compassionate
- ethical and idealistic
- self-confident, outgoing and socially conscious
- like to explore, seek to grow and expand
- enjoy planning, actions, adventures and challenges
- enjoy the company of others
- tend to be spendthrifts
- tend to take on more than they can handle and do not know their limits
Fire
- warmhearted, charming, outgoing and social
- courteous, polite, eloquent and expressive
- decisive, dynamic, love adventure and excitement
- artistic, creative, passionate and enthusiastic
- make good leaders
- restless, impatient and impulsive
- susceptible to mood swings
- do not enjoy their own solitude, prefer to have company
Earth
- practical, logical and methodical
- stable, conservative and disciplined
- kind, supportive and patient
- thoughtful and hardworking
- honest, loyal, reliable and responsible
- stubborn, unadventurous and lack of imagination
- good planner, focused and realistic
- good at handling money
Metal
- very determined and powerful
- independent and self-reliant
- self-disciplined, detail-oriented, organized and clean
- righteous, confident and ambitious
- focused, meditative and spiritual
- natural problem solvers, prefer to solve their problems alone
- tenacious, unyielding and rigid
- seek perfection, likely to be serious artists and craftspeople
Water
- very flexible and go with the flow
- intelligent, imaginative, and resourceful
- good memory
- enjoy thinking, deep thinkers
- charming, sensitive and compassionate
- quiet, calm and peaceful, enjoy their own company
- good people skills, communicative
- indecisive and inconstant
Don’t know your sign and element? Click here to find out.
