The Menagerie's map
Zodiac crossings
Twelve signs across, twelve years down, and one animal waiting in every cell. The whole 144, laid flat.
Answer first
How do you read the 12 by 12 zodiac grid?
Read the grid like a map. Your month and day pick a column, one of the twelve Western signs. Your birth year picks a row, one of the twelve Chinese year animals. The cell where they meet names your animal, one of 144, and the link in that cell opens its crossing.
The grid
All 144 crossings
Begin somewhere
Three finished cells
Three doors in, if you want to see finished cells first: the Chambered Nautilus, Cancer in a Snake year, the Emperor Penguin, Cancer in a Rooster year, and the Fossa, Aries in a Rat year. Every other cell reads the same way.
New here? Start with how the crossing works, or let the reader find your cell from a birth date. The Menagerie holds all 144 animals in one room.
Common questions
Questions about this crossing
How many zodiac crossings are there?
There are 144. Twelve Western signs crossed with twelve Chinese year animals make a 12 by 12 grid, and each cell carries its own named animal with its own reading.
What do the rows and columns mean?
Columns are the twelve Western signs, set by month and day. Rows are the twelve Chinese year animals, set by birth year against the lunar New Year. One column plus one row points at exactly one cell.
Which crossing is mine?
Find the column for your Sun sign and the row for your birth year's animal, then open the cell where they meet. If you were born in late January or early February, check the year finder first, because the lunar New Year can move your row.