Zodiacs

Who is looking better this year? The Heavenly Virtue Star is in your mouse hole and shining brightly on all your cheese. Known as the beneficent deity of cheese-making, this being can turn a supermarket cheddar into a crumbly and creamy aged delight. Beware, behind the sparkling cheddars are shiny traps - it might be the year to keep in mind that while the early bird gets the worm, the second mouse gets the cheese.

Metal Rat:
25 Jan 2020 – 11 Feb 2021
28 Jan 1960 – 14 Feb 1961
Earth Rat:
07 Feb 2008 – 25 Jan 2009
10 Feb 1948 – 28 Jan 1949
Fire Rat:
19 Feb 1996 – 06 Feb 1997
24 Jan 1936 – 10 Feb 1937
Wood Rat:
02 Feb 1984 – 19 Feb 1985
05 Feb 1924 – 24 Jan 1925
Water Rat:
15 Feb 1972 – 02 Feb 1973
18 Feb 1912 – 05 Feb 1913

Fortune direction:

South

Augmenting your fortune:

Spherical celadon vases

Lucky colours:

White

Silver

 Health

If they keep placing traps farther away from the mouse hole, you will need to consider your health this year - is it really worth it to run to and fro for small returns? Even a magician has trouble trying to pull a habit out of a Rat, so perhaps this year a little more compromise in your schedule would not hurt. Keep your head down and for a time revel in being anonymouse. If you are not moving and they cannot see you, strength for the future will come.

 Wealth

Rabbits will try to eat your lunch. They do not eat cheese, so you will never catch them directly raiding your larder. However, en masse they will eat all the grass that feeds the cows, sheep and goats who work so hard to make your delicacies. If you want to become the big cheese, or even make steps in that direction, you will need to be circumspect and carefully choose where you place your investments.

 Love

This part of your life is possibly the best for the year, as you have the Sublime Crimson Bird of Love Star visiting. Preen those whiskers and polish that nose and even cats will find themselves falling for you. You will be known as the mice guy or girl, and should be able to finish every meal with a serving of cake and mice cream.

 Career

As it is the year of the velvet treadmill, you have woken up to find yourself back in the lab, Rat. Whatever secrets the cosmos is hiding from you, it will take hard work to make any progress at all. Work itself should not have extended periods of being either too busy or too quiet, but it may also not offer much in the way of opportunities to advance. If that is the case, then spend your time on firming up connections and waiting for the following year.

Guiding hexagram from the Yi-Jing (Book of Changes)

Judgement:
Approach has supreme success. Perseverance furthers. When the eighth month comes, there will be misfortune.
Image:
The earth above the lake: the image of Approach. Thus the superior man is inexhaustible in his will to teach, and without limits in his tolerance and protection of the people.
The Forest of Changes:
Two men out walking, each has lost his wallet. The swan has lost its pearl, all now is unclear.
Verdict:
The warning from the Forest of Changes is clear. In a year when not too much is happening, any loss of concentration can give rise to a loss of direction and purpose. Focus on your focus and it will gradually come into focus. Really? If you lose your wallet, go to the police station and report it.