Overview
After last year’s mutually beneficial, supportive relationship with the earth Pig, 2020 presents the year of the metal Rat. Both you and the Rat share the element metal. It is your natural element. This means that you get a double dose of it in 2020. You are twice as passionate about life, and you are two times as perceptive, expressive, resourceful, and resilient.
✨Year of the Dragon is here! Find out what's in store for you!✨
You will deal with the natural yin metal you’re familiar with and add an equal amount of yang metal. You’ve got to stay in balance or you could end up being too gentle when you should be strong, and vice versa, when events come at you in a fast-paced Rat year. There are differences between the Pig and the Rooster, but you’ve got to be on the same page as the Rat.
The transition from the year of the Pig to the year of the Rat ends one twelve-year cycle and begins another. Cycles don’t go backward. They go forward, and their purpose is to inspire you to grow. You will feel it this year, when more effort and focus will be required to keep things working well. You’ve also got to keep an eye on the approach to 2021, a personal five-star year.
You need to be prepared! Fortunately, Roosters are visionaries. Did you ever think of yourself as one? Your talent is not so much that of the prophet or futurist, per se, but more in the line of a wise, insightful thinker about what is realistically possible. It’s about how you can improve and make things better. Entrepreneurs are visionaries. Take a page from that book and go for it.
Love
The year 2020 is one of changes, including changes within close personal relationships. Change is good. One of the biggest changes you may be inspired to make is in balancing work with time for enjoyment with those people who are most important to you.
One thing worthy of remembering is how significant small improvements can be, even when it comes to your own performance. It’s easier to prove sincerity a little each day by following through on promises than it is to be insincere for days on end and mean it once. After a while, people get the idea that you don’t mean it, whatever “it” is.
The year of the Rat is the opportune time to mend fences. Venus, metal planet of love, is retrograde between mid-May and late June. You and significant others should use the moments during special reunions to forgive and forget. Big starts and fade-outs are Rat things, and they happen between June and July. Try to resist criticizing others. Who doesn’t want to hear praise, even for little things? It keeps people trying, and isn’t that what you want?
If you are unattached, double metal stimulates energy for looking and increases the number of people you meet (one could be a soul mate). Take your time and get to know someone, and don’t miss the opportunity to have a relationship that grows and thrives.
Family & Friends
Rats are charming and sociable creatures of the night who are ready to respond enthusiastically to invitations. They attend happily and are the life of the party. Springtime means your calendar fills with engagements, peaking in March and April and then dipping in May when people wind down for some rest after too much recreation.
Fall is “Rooster time.” September is your month, and your charm is on display on every occasion. The month’s Rooster new moon on the seventeenth puts the welcome mat out for new people. There are new places to see and be seen. The metal Rat also stimulates shared warm, private moments with friends and family. Although perhaps infrequent, they are so relaxing, especially when other parts of your life are too hectic (as they will be). The year of the metal Rat is an opportune time to add other social activities, like exercise, to temper the restlessness a bit. School’s in session, so to speak, so why not take a course!
Social events include business meetings or office parties, and this year the yellow (metal) light is flashing. Competitiveness can take the fun out of it. People who attract too much attention become targets, so heads up, Rooster! There is still great potential when you work quietly. It’s hard to be low profile, but it would be wise.
It sounds old-fashioned for 2020, but there are always socially correct paths. There are comfort zones as well. Put double metal into the equation and you have the courage to gently say no. You can even decline company events—not all, but some.
Work
Life is more enjoyable when we all get along. What a lovely world is that of productive working relationships! The optimistic Rat likes this, but the 2020 element is metal, and in its rawest form the energy is cutting and sharp. Metal has to be tempered while you are in the workplace. It’s all in your state of mind, and better you don’t reach the melting point. As with your social life above, be polite and discreet if people from upper management start to throw things, stomp their feet, and have temper tantrums out of frustration.
Through the year also be aware of people who are playing by rules that they’ve made up on their own. Your saving graces are your sense of correctness, your business acumen, and a sixth sense that becomes a “twelfth” sense in a double-metal year. Use them. Be on the lookout from March to May, when unobtrusively uncovering others’ agendas can help you craft your own. By the third quarter of the year, Rat people are paddling madly if they haven’t made the progress they had hoped to. Again, watch closely, because some will abandon things they don’t do well or search for greener pastures that allow them to showcase those things they excel at. By doing so, they will create opportunities for you.
Calm is the best weapon in a year of excessive rivalry. Don’t ruffle feathers, even your own. Beware of acting too quickly in a year when it would be all too easy to misinterpret a situation or even think you know who’s a friend and who isn’t.
Money
The good news is that this year’s animal, the Rat, is a moneymaker with a shrewd mind. The glitch is the Rat’s lack of caution when the going gets tough. Financial astuteness goes out the window and people make mistakes. This becomes a problem if your money is shared with others or an employer, for example. You need to be able to reap the year’s benefits without getting entangled in the metal Rat’s folly. A Rooster is like Robin Hood in feathers, able to save the day with keen perception and attention to detail. The earlier you recognize any potential trouble, the better things will be for you and others. Some people aren’t good money managers, but you are. Never underestimate this expertise. Nothing says “balance” like an equinox. It’s the perfect time to audit your accounts.
Now, you may be wondering if there will be any good times. Yes, indeed, there will be. May, the month of the Snake, offers new information and concepts to think about. June, the month of the Horse, brings allies to join you in turning ideas into reality. November is the month to begin to build the foundation for a five-star 2021. Don’t run out of patience or steam at this time. December, is auspicious, too. The Sagittarius solar eclipse stirs you emotionally toward a mission, going along with the above concerning the next Chinese New Year. Ideas capture your passion. First steps are investigation and research, and eclipses always provide a few “aha” moments of enlightenment. Remember, this year’s element shows you your destiny.