Expert: Bill Hajdu - 8/10/2011

Question
Hello Bill,

I am interested in chinese astrology and wondering about the influence of animal and element concerning month, day and hour. Do they have a specific influence on one's character (e.g. Month is about love and day on careeer? I really don't know, those are just example) or does they just give more insight about a person in any field. Plus, should we use solar time hour (that means convert hour depending of location) or use time itself of the place of birth?
I know it is lots of question but if you can help me to have a better understanding of myself. I am born on the  31st of march 1976 (3.17am) and was wondering espacially about career, but any insight about my own character and what i should improve is welcome.

I want to thank you for your free service here too. Do you have by any chance a website?
Thank you!

Answer
Hi Charlene,

Yes, yours is a very complicated question. I will do my best to give you a direct answer in the time I can devote to it.

My approach is holistic, so I do not focus on what each of the Four Pillars (year, month, day, time and hour of birth) tells about a person. Generally speaking I focus on the Year sign (animal and element) as the foremost among equals. Occasionally I do look at the month sign as the one involving relationships. For another view, you can Google/Bing the term, "daymaster" or the astrologer, David Twicken.

Yes, I have a web site. It is www.onlinechineseastrology.com. The Chinese Astrology pages at www.astrology.com are produced by my son and me as well. If you like www.onlinechineseastrology.com, please "like" it on Facebook and tell your friends about it. My son has put a tremendous amount of work into making it a good site.

As for your chart, you were born during the year of the Fire Dragon, month of the Water Dragon, day of the Water Horse and hour of the Water Tiger. A complete career analysis would run many pages, so let me tell you the two, main things I see.

First, all four of your signs tell me you love independence and being in charge. You probably would be stifled sitting at a desk in some bureaucracy.

Second, your great strength is Water. This element is associated with communications, interpersonal relations and education. So your best chance of career success is by working at jobs involving these areas.

As to what to improve, you lack Metal. This element is associated with determination, persistence and a fighting spirit. An easy fix a Chinese would adopt is to wear a lot of Metal (gold jewelry). I wouldn't overdo it, but it wouldn't hurt to always wear some gold. You can see a Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor and get a checkup, especially to see if you have any blockages due to your element imbalance. If that is the case, the doctor could recommend herbs and specific foods (to calm your Water and enhance your Metal), as well as do some acupuncture. And, of course, you can just focus on being more determined and competitive. No one can change their basic personality, and I'm not suggesting you try, but rather to just make a minor adjustment in the direction of being more persistent and competitive.

If you would like to learn more about Chinese Astrology, I recommend Susan Levitt's Taoist Astrology. Also, please visit my web site, www.onlinechineseastrology.com. If you would like a detailed analysis, there are several products available at the site for a modest charge.

Thank you for your question.