Zodiacs

The mist comes off the lake of the woods and covers the land. It's difficult to know exactly when the sun rises, where the sounds that punctuate the air come from, and whether they portend good or ill. Put your drumsticks down, crop your spurs and don't get your hackles up. If your vaunted sixth sense is no longer working so well, it's because the year holds a little good and a little less good, but no extremes of either.

Fire Rooster:
28 Jan 2017 – Feb 15 2018
31 Jan 1957 – 17 Feb 1958
Wood Rooster:
09 Feb 2005 – 28 Jan 2006
13 Feb 1945 – 01 Feb 1946
Water Rooster:
23 Jan 1993 – 09 Feb 1994
26 Jan 1933 – 13 Feb 1934
Metal Rooster:
05 Feb 1981 – 24 Jan 1982
08 Feb 1921 – 27 Jan 1922
Earth Rooster:
17 Feb 1969 – 05 Feb 1970
22 Jan 1909 – 09 Feb 1910

Fortune direction:

Southeast

Augmenting your fortune:

Small green plants

Lucky colours:

Purple

White

 Health

Send your feathers off to the dry cleaners, wings and tail to the aircraft maintenance division and book your comb in for a wash and trim; your goose won't be cooked by any means but you'll need to keep an eye out for approaching headaches, sleepless nights and general nerves. The headaches are in your head, fortuitously, and so is much of the rest. Have a rest, recharge and you'll be game to capon anything that is in front of you.

 Wealth

Regular streams of income should remain pheasantly stable and the other sources that you sometimes fret over may be running around like the proverbial chicken-who-shall-not-be-mentioned. It won't be that you aren’t wetting your beak, but just that it’s small and the trough is so large. The cosmic assistance squad is certainly there to keep you from the slaughterhouse, but they’ll not be offering much in the way of a free lunch.

 Love

No need to duck and weave, just keep the water fowl in mind when we suggest that there are plenty of other fish in the sea. Whatever is pullet on the heartstrings, it's a poultry attempt to divert you from where your attentions should be directed. If you’re biddying for the slow and cumulative love that builds in the background of a Hou Hsiao-hsien film, this year could be one to live inside the cinema. Comb through his back catalogue and put out a call to those who would pluck your emotional world to greater heights.

 Career

The balancing of positive and negative forces is manifest in your work or career environment this year. On the one hand, there is the Purple Fern Constellation, which augers well for any tests or exams that you may need to peck at. On the other hand, the Violent Failure Star, which has a nasty habit of discovering the bad hidden in the good and of causing small blockages, is circling around and climbing down the walls of the coop. Be forewarned.

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

Judgement:
Difficulty at the Beginning works supreme success, furthering through perseverance. Nothing should be undertaken. It furthers one to appoint helpers.
Image:
Clouds and thunder: the image of Difficulty at the Beginning. Thus, the superior man brings order out of confusion.
The Forest of Changes:
The army attacked in the direction of Bactria; in the north, they went out through the Jade Gate Pass. They invaded and fought the Xiongnu, but west of Pingcheng they were besieged, and after seven days were close to the end.
Verdict:
A telling warning about sending your forces out too far beyond what you can control this year; stay within your dominant range and judiciously choose where to employ your talents. Difficulty at the beginning is only there - but the beginning may last some time.