羊 Goat

Characteristics

The Goat is popularly linked with gentleness, kindness and creativity — a calm, compassionate figure said to love beauty and harmony and to have a quietly artistic streak. Folk descriptions credit it with patience and a peaceable nature. These belong to the sign’s cultural image in tradition, not to any individual.

History

Eighth in the cycle and the earthly branch 未 (wèi), this sign is named by the character 羊, which covers goats and sheep alike, so it is translated either way. It carries warm associations of gentleness and filial devotion — a lamb is said to kneel to nurse, an old emblem of gratitude to one’s parents — and it stands broadly for peace and a mild, kindly temperament.

In the Great Race

The Goat crossed the river together with the Monkey and the Rooster, the three helping one another onto a raft and working it through the current as a team. Once on the far shore the Goat, with its gentle manners, was the first of the three to present itself to the Jade Emperor and so took eighth place — its courtesy as much as its effort earning the spot.

The five elements

Over the sixty-year cycle the Goat takes on five elemental tones: a Wood Goat is described as warmer and more giving, a Fire Goat as more outgoing, an Earth Goat as steadier, a Metal Goat as more resolute, and a Water Goat as especially gentle and sympathetic. They are cultural shadings of the same kindly sign, not forecasts.

Recent & upcoming years

Further reading

• Wikipedia: Goat (zodiac)
• Wikipedia: Chinese zodiac
• Britannica: Chinese zodiac (owner to confirm)