It all began with the Jade King and his proclamations. He sent out 12 invitations to animals on earth to represent the 12 Chinese zodiac signs. Eleven of the animals showed up but there was one invitation that was “lost,” courtesy of the rat. That tricky rat failed to give the cat his invitation. The King wanted a 12th animal so a messenger was sent to earth and the first animal the messenger came across was a pig.
All Chinese zodiac signs work on a twelve year rotation with 2008 being the beginning of the cycle. The twelve signs for the Chinese zodiac are the rat, ox, tiger, dragon, dog, pig, ram (sheep), goat, rabbit, snake, horse and the monkey. People really do believe in their signs and trust what the predictions and generalized characteristics of their signs say about themselves. You will find that in the Eastern cultures there is a heavy emphasis put on a Chinese zodiac sign.
With zodiac signs there are many factors that people read up on everyday. They look for their daily horoscope to see what the day may hold for them in the way of financial decisions, details on how their day or month will go and even about compatible zodiac signs for their love interests. Some people take these readings lightly, while others believe whole heartedly in what their readings say. Could it be a case of prognostication coming through because of the power of belief in the reading? With zodiac signs, there is a devout following in both China and the rest of the world.
The compatibility between the zodiac sign of an individual and that of a romantic interest is probably the most sought after information. People base their entire romantic decisions and mates based on zodiac sign compatibility. Many people pay for readings from such places as http://chinese.astrology.com just to see how their romantic life will progress.
Oh, and by the way, the cat did show up to the court of the Jade King but he was too late. His place had already been given away by the Jade King to the pig. That poor cat missed out on being one of the Chinese zodiac signs, but perhaps in the end he got even with the rat by eating him. Who knows? It is a fanciful tale at the very least.
