Last time on part 1 of this series, I went on and on about qi, stems and branches and a lot of mumble jumble on astrological theories that were supposed to form the basis of how to tell when you will be having a bad day. Today I will get into the nitty gritty of it all (I’ll try to be brief).
Some days are generally lucky, others are only lucky for certain people and some days, you just want to stay in bed. There are many specific and general ways to tell if a day is going to be auspicious. Like there are different ways to forecast the weather, there are also different methods to calculate the daily forecast using Chinese astrology. I’m still trying to learn some of these methods, but for the layperson who just wants to know the general auspiciousness of a day, there is a simple method based on the 12 animal signs (or earthly branches, refer to this post on stems and branches).
Among the 12 animals of the zodiac, there are four groups of three animals each that are most compatible with each other—compatibility meaning that they have a universal affinity to each other: they’ll make good friends, love mates or business partners.
* The Rat, Dragon and Monkey will always be compatible.
* The Ox, Snake and Rooster are lifelong friends.
* The Tiger, Horse and Dog will be able to get along.
* And , the Rabbit, Goat and Pig will be able to understand each other.
On the other hand, each animal has a mortal enemy or incompatible sign––a person who has the potential to harm them at worst or someone they won’t get along with at best. This animal is the opposite animal found on the Chinese zodiac.
Rat — Horse
Ox — Sheep
Tiger — Monkey
Rabbit — Rooster
Dragon — Dog
Snake — Pig
These pairs will clash with each other and find it hard to form good partnerships in any social or business settings. Keep in mind that there is a sign for each hour, month, day and year you were born and therefore these compatibility/incompatibility characteristics can only be generally applied.
In other words, if you were born in the year of the Tiger and your spouse is a Monkey, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you are doomed to divorce. Your Monkey spouse might have Horse and Dog signs for their day and month of birth, for example, thus explaining why you might be good for each other.
Any other combinations not mentioned (i.e. Tiger and Tiger OR Tiger and Rat, etc.) will depend on the general personality of the animal and a person’s specific astrological chart.
These basic compatibility traits also apply to the calendar. Each hour, month, day and year will have a corresponding animal sign. Therefore, if a day’s animal sign isn’t compatible with the corresponding month’s or the year’s animal sign, it will be an unlucky day.
According to the Chinese almanac, May is a ding si month. The earthly branch “si” is equivalent to the Snake (see “Chinese Time” post for more info on stems and branches). The Snake’s incompatible sign is the Pig. Therefore, during the month of May, any day with a Pig sign will be unlucky, no matter your animal sign. If you were born in the year of the Snake, you really have to look out for Pig days. Snakes are compatible with Oxen and Roosters. Likewise, any Ox and Rooster days will be generally good during the Snake month. Depending on your animal sign, it might be an especially good to fair day for you.
Also, 2008 is a wu zi year. Zi is equivalent to the Rat. Therefore those born in the year of the Dragon and Monkey will have a generally good year (depending on other factors). Horses will have an especially bad year, and will have to watch our for their health, business and/or personal issues.
This is generally speaking. The stem “wu” represents the yang earth element, while the branch “zi” or Rat is native to yang water. The Rat is the first sign of the zodiac, so this year signifies new beginnings. However, these beginnings might not necessarily be auspicious. There is a conflict between wu and zi. Based on the five element theory, earth destroys water by soaking it up, so this year should be good for Rats, but is a bit of a struggle because of the conflicting elements. If it was a ren (yang water) zi year, it would be lucky for everyone.
Chinese astrology is all about balance: the balance of the animal signs, the balance of the elements, etc. You have to analyze the stems and branches, their respective elements and yin/yang polarities—all in relation to each other—to get a complete picture. It is more about the interactions and relationships of these factors rather than the actual characteristic of an individual sign that help to determine an astrological forecast.
As it is rather complicated, you cannot definitively predict the outcome of your day without professional guidance. But you can get a general idea. To generally tell if a day is going to be good or bad, compare the relationship of the day’s animal sign (branch) to the month’s and year’s animal signs. To be more specific, you can analyze your animal sign to the day’s, month’s and year’s signs. To be dead on specific, compare your birth hour, month, day and year to the current hour, day, month and year and you will know exactly what kind of a day you will be having. 
