Ireland's OWN: Pagans and Animal Symbols

The Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Dog

The Year of the dog started on 29 January 2006 this year.

The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up” with the solar calendar, the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years out of a 19-year cycle). This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.

The Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.

There are 12 animials in the Chinese Zodiac. They include, the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.

This year, 2006, is the Year of the dog. If you were born in the following years, your Chinese Zodiac sign is the Dog: 1910, 1922, 1934,1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994 and 2006. The next Year of the Dog will occur on 16 Feb. 2018.

Personality-wise, those of those born during the Year of the Dog are thought to be possessed of a sharp tongue, which they use to defend passionately their cause of choice. Usually they are idealists to a fault, with impeccably moral qualities. Dogs also are quickly turned by the slings and arrows of the world into sour cynics, riddled with doubt and anxiety at the state of affairs of a planet that that had no personal hand in creating, yet somehow feel responsible for anyway.

Additionally, people born in the Year of the Dog are lconsidered oyal, honest and trustworthy; but they can also be stubborn and selfish. Dogs get along best people born in the Years of the Horse, Rabbit and Tiger.

Famous people born in The Year of Dog include, but are not limited to actress, Ava Gardner; actor, Sylvester Stallone; former president of the U.S., Bill Clinton; former presidential candidate of the U.S., George McGovern; David Gilmour, guitarist and vocalist of Pink Floyd; David Bowie, rock and roll musician; and Elvis Presley, rock and roll musician.

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See Also: The Celtic Dog