February 5 marks the Lunar New Year and the beginning of the Year of the Dragon. Chinese astrology groups people into different personality types according to the year they were born. Each year is named for an animal over a twelve-year cycle: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.
People born in Dragon Years are said to be charming, energetic, generous and successful. They love to help out when things go wrong. Perhaps this tells us something about the nature of dragons.
Dragon years in the 20th century are:
1904
1916
1928
1940
1952
1964
1976
1988
2000
Famous Dragons include:
Louisa May Alcott, Lewis Carroll, Bing Crosby, Salvador Dali, Sigmund Freud, Martin Luther King, Shirley Temple, Raquel Welch, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Bruce Lee, Tom Jones, Robin Williams and Christopher Reeve.
Chinese tradition says that the Dragon is a very lucky sign-it’s lucky to be a Dragon, and to be friends with a Dragon!
Don’t be too disappointed if you’re not a Dragon. I know I’m not. Maybe you are friends with one, or, better still, you might be related to one!
