The Oriental Lunar Calendar marks the Year of the Metal Rat as beginning with the new moon on January 25, 2020. As you probably know, each year is symbolized by one of twelve animals and each of those animal years cycles through affinities to the five elements – fire, earth, metal, water and wood. We now come to the Year of the Metal Rat, which occurs every 60 years. The Rat is the first animal in the hierarchy, so this is the beginning of a new 12-year cycle.

In this post, we will make some predictions for what may occur in the coming year. These predictions are not based on a belief that I am any more (or less) psychic than you are, or upon the traditional analysis used in Chinese astrology, Rather, we are looking at what has happened in previous Rat years and trying to extrapolate to the present.

A review of previous cycles is a bit difficult due to the nature of Rat years. Rats are seen as intelligent, shrewd, creative, freedom-loving and even downright sneaky. They don’t fall into established patterns like many of the other animals. Continue reading →