We are in an eclipse moment. The first of two, an annular solar eclipse, occurs overnight Sunday to Monday at 6+ Aquarius. [Here is NASA’s official page on the eclipse.] This is Tet, the Asian New Year. Tet is held on the first New Moon after the first Full Moon after the winter solstice. This year it happens to be a solar eclipse that brings in the Year of the Ox. The qualities of Ox are diligence, tolerance and persistence. It is a stoic sign, whose natives are known for speaking little but showing quiet strength.
The approximately equivalent Western sign is Capricorn, a cardinal earth sign. This is interesting because Capricorn is now such an important focus of Western astrology, as Pluto has taken up residence here.
Wikipedia’s page on the Ox year relates the traditional wisdom that it’s “the sign of prosperity through fortitude and hard work. This powerful sign is a born leader, being quite dependable and possessing an innate ability to achieve great things. As one might guess, such people are dependable, calm and modest. Like their animal namesake, the Ox is unswervingly patient, tireless in their work, and capable of enduring any amount of hardship without complaint.” Like Capricorn, there can be a quality of mischief and devilishness at the center of Ox stoicism, though it does not emerge easily or often; natives of this sign like to maintain the appearance of propriety and are easily embarrassed if seen to be childish. But most of what they experience as different or unconventional occurs within the interior of their lives.
A Chinese year repeats every 12 years. Each Chinese year is associated with a color or element, which move in a 60-year cycle. We are now entering the year of the earth Ox, and the last time that happened was 60 years ago, in 1949.