One cell of 144
Leo + Year of the Rat
Two calendars cross at your birth date. This is the cell where Leo meets the Year of the Rat, and the animal that lives in it.
Answer first
What animal is a Leo born in the Year of the Rat?
A Leo born in the Year of the Rat is the Golden Lion Tamarin. The month and day set the Leo half, the birth year sets the Rat half, and the crossing points at one cell in a grid of 144. Read the Golden Lion Tamarin for the full reading of that cell.
The two halves
What each calendar brings
The Leo half
Leo runs from July 23 to August 22, fixed Fire under the Sun. You warm whatever faces you. The heat stays lit whether or not anyone is clapping, and people quietly plan their winters around it. Read Leo in the Western wing.
The Rat half
The Rat opens the twelve-year cycle and runs in a trine with the Dragon and the Monkey, the quick and inventive third of the wheel. You find the way in that nobody posted. Recent Rat years are 1996, 2008 and 2020. Read the Year of the Rat.
The crossing
What Leo and the Rat make together
Leo brings a heat that holds the center of the room. The Rat year brings the wit that finds the unposted door. The Golden Lion Tamarin is what the two look like sharing one body.
You burn brightest when the people you love are watching, and the empty room is your one hard audience.
The Rat runs in a trine with the Dragon and the Monkey. Held to the same Leo season, those years give the Rhinoceros Hornbill and the Regal Jumping Spider, the two crossings whose engines run closest to yours.
The boundary
Born near the boundary?
The Chinese year does not turn on January 1. It turns at the lunar New Year, somewhere between late January and mid February, so a birthday in those weeks can belong to the animal before this one. The year finder checks the real date for any year you give it.
Common questions
Questions about this crossing
Is the Golden Lion Tamarin the same as being a Leo?
Leo is half of it. The Golden Lion Tamarin is the specific crossing of Leo with the Year of the Rat, one cell out of 144. Two people can share a Sun sign and carry different animals, because the birth year changes the second half.
What if I was born in January or February of a Rat year?
The Chinese year turns at the lunar New Year, which lands between late January and mid February. A birthday in those weeks can belong to the previous animal, so the year finder checks the real boundary before the grid names your crossing.
Which crossings share the Golden Lion Tamarin's trine?
The Rat runs with the Dragon and the Monkey. Held to the same Leo dates, those years give the Rhinoceros Hornbill and the Regal Jumping Spider, the two animals whose instincts sit closest to the Golden Lion Tamarin's.
One step away
Neighboring crossings
Or start over at the full 12 by 12 grid, or read how the crossing works.