Have you ever looked at the placemat in a Chinese restaurant and wondered
what all these animals have to do with our familiar Zodiac? I, for
example, am a Virgo, which--it's been drilled into me--means I'm
critical, perfectionistic, and hyper-neat (in other words, a compulsive
neurotic). But I was also born in the Year of the Cat, which is supposed
to make me aloof, isolated and insecure (okay, guess I'm just....a
compulsive neurotic). Anyway, Chinese astrology is frustrating because
it's seems so broad: How can everyone born in 1975 be crazy and plagued
by self-doubt, but those in 1976 gregarious leaders?
So I loved "Chinese Power Animals," which melds Chinese and Western
astrologies to create a single set of archetypes. You can figure out
whether you're a Cat, a Sheep or a Rooster, what this has to do with your
rising signs, what meaning it has based on which month you're born in and
at what time of day--in short, hours of narcissistic fun. The system is
a little complicated, but somehow that just makes it all the more
satisfying. Great for people looking for a simple heuristic to tell them
who they "really" are--and an interesting exercise in multiculturalism
for anyone.