What it means
Think of the Pig as the zodiac's host. Pig people tend to be big hearted and trusting, happiest sharing a good meal with good company. They usually work hard so they can enjoy the results, and they give generously. Their trusting nature is part of their charm, and it can also leave them open to being taken advantage of.
Strengths
Generosity, sincerity, kindness, patience and a talent for enjoying life.
Challenges
Naivety, overindulgence, avoiding conflict and trusting people who haven't earned it.
Pig years and dates
A Pig year starts at Lunar New Year, not on January 1. Pig years since 1950: Earth Pig, February 8, 1959 to January 27, 1960; Metal Pig, January 27, 1971 to February 14, 1972; Water Pig, February 13, 1983 to February 1, 1984; Wood Pig, January 31, 1995 to February 18, 1996; Fire Pig, February 18, 2007 to February 6, 2008; Earth Pig, February 5, 2019 to January 24, 2020. The next Pig year, a Metal Pig, starts on January 23, 2031. If you were born in January or February, check the start date: a birthday before it belongs to the year before.
Element
Every Pig year also carries one of five elements, which cycle so the same element and animal meet only once every 60 years. A Pig born in 1983 is a Water Pig. The Pig also has a fixed element of its own, Water, and is a yin sign.
Best and hardest matches
Traditional Chinese astrology puts the twelve animals in four groups of three, and in six opposite pairs. The Pig gets on most easily with the Rabbit and the Goat, the other two in its group. Its opposite is the Snake, six years apart, which is said to bring the most friction.
How Cosmic Array reads it
Cosmic Array reads your animal next to your Western Sun sign. Together they give your Primal Zodiac, one of 144 combinations: a Capricorn Sun born in a Pig year, for example, is a Warthog. The Architect blueprint shows your animal, its element and your Primal Zodiac, worked out from the exact Lunar New Year date, and reads them against the rest of your chart.