The Dog in Chinese Astrology

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The Dog in Chinese Astrology

2006 Is The Year of the Fire Dog in Chinese Astrology

Sunday, January 29, 2006 through February 17, 2007 will be the Year of the Dog in Chinese Astrology. Each time a new year dawns, it is also associated with one of the five Chinese elements of Fire, Wood, Metal, Earth, or Water. This Dog year is a Fire year. Fire is dynamic and progressive, so this will be a year with lots of changes and potential upheavals on the world stage. Also, many people may hit a point in their own lives where they need to push ahead and break through stale energies in order to grow, and the Fire energy will help them to do that.

Spiritual Lessons for People Born in the Year of the Dog

Dog energy is very grounded, social, and intelligent, just like the animal. People born in a Dog year tend to be gregarious and popular. They get along with everyone. Sometimes, though, just like the dog, they can be a little too accommodating and loyal. There can be a surprising lack of confidence as the Dog person looks for a "master" to lead them around. So the core spiritual lesson for a Dog person is to realize that they need to stand up for themselves and display more power and confidence instead of being a people pleaser.

The Dog person needs to learn how to make unpopular decisions and to stick to his guns. The Dog person is usually presented with many challenges where he has fallen in with the wrong person who could potentially be leading him down a bad path. And his lesson is to learn to stand apart and say, "Whoa, this isn't right. I won't go along with this."

The Dog person's biggest fear is of not being liked. But sometimes, your only true power as a sovereign being comes from doing something that comes from the heart, which may piss off a few folks! Dogs must cultivate the ability to stand on their own and to realize that self-love and self-respect are more important than adoration from others.

Global Trends in a Dog Year

For all of us, whether we were born in the year of the Dog or not, this should be a social year in which we'll encounter lots of interesting people through business, family, and friendships. We'll be "sniffing around" and checking out the vibrations that different people carry to discern who might become a part of our "pack" or our tribe.

Dogs Are Psychic and They Are Empaths

Dogs are extremely psychic, and they are telepathic and empathic. This means that they pick up on the emotions that people around. If they are made to feel ashamed or like they are a "bad dog," with their owner projecting hatred and anger, the more sensitive dogs don't react well. They'll suddenly become antisocial, or they will internalize that negativity and become physically sick. Or they will act out and go through a dramatic change of temperament in response to what is going on around them.

This can happen even when anger isn't being directed at them and there is just a lot of hostility floating around in their environment. They soak up tension like a sponge, unfortunately.

I know one lovely golden retriever who was caught up in the negative vibes being broadcast by his owner and her on again, off again boyfriend. The woman was in love and was dying to get married. The guy didn't want any kind of commitment, he just wanted to hang out with her from time to time on his own terms. The constant roller coaster of their romance was acted out in lots of ugly fights and emotional drama.

The poor doggie was a healer who was trying to transmute all of that negativity. He had become very close to the man in the situation, who took him for walks and cared for him, but he was also loyal to his "mistress," the woman in love. Every day there was melodrama in that household. The couple was together, then they were separated; they hated each other, they loved each other. The poor doggie could do nothing about the situation except silently watch and stress out about it all.

After some months of this, the dog took ill and died of a fast-acting cancer. From a distance, I observed this and went, "Oh, poop! That wonderful dog absorbed all that negativity from those clueless yo-yos and sacrificed himself as he tried to take on TOO MUCH from them."

In a similar way, Dog people can soak up negativity like a sponge and assume too much responsibility for situations that are beyond their control. So Dog folks have to learn how to shield up and to bypass getting too involved with situations that need to play out on their own.

It's not easy to stand aside and watch people cause each other pain, so many Dog people become "Mr. or Miss Fix-It," always trying to solve everybody's problems because they empathically feel their pain. Eventually, doing too much of this can take a severe toll on the Dog person's health and vitality.

So you Dog people out there, watch it! Take better care of yourselves and tune out the rest of the world's problems more, okay? Don't be like the poor golden retriever who took on far too much of his owner's tension. Get out and chase a ball once in a while! (Don't chase cats, though. We here at LipstickMystic.com are partial to the kitties.)

Dog Years in Chinese Astrology

Here is a list of past Dog years. Remember that in Chinese astrology the date of each new year changes slightly. So some years start in January, others are in February.

1922     January 28, 1922 - February 15, 1923     Water Dog

1934     February 14, 1934 - February 3, 1935     Wood Dog

1946     February 2, 1946 - January 21, 1947       Fire Dog

1958     February 18, 1958 - February 7, 1959     Earth Dog

1970     February 6, 1970 - January 26, 1971       Metal Dog

1982     January 25, 1982 - February 12, 1983     Water Dog

1994     February 10, 1994 - January 30, 1995     Wood Dog

2006     January 29, 2006 - February 17, 2007     Fire Dog

And here's a good reference page where you can double-check the dates for the various Chinese years. You might discover that you're a different animal than you think if you were born in the winter, because the new year dates change. For years my honey was under the impression he was a dragon, but it turns out he's a sweet little bunny rabbit! (I have to say I suspected that all along.)

List of All Chinese Astrology Years (click here)

www.lipstickmystic.com/astro/dog_year_chinese_astrology.html

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All work Copyright © Jennifer Shepherd 2004 - 2006