by Henning Hai Lee Yang, author of The Year of the Goat
This is to be a very peaceful and quiet year following the energetic and active Horse. Now it is time to relax and make peace with yourself and people around you. Things will proceed slowly and everyone will find himself to be more sentimental and emotional. The influence of the Goat will make us stay at home and spend time with our nearest and dearest. We will be caring more about those close to us, and this is also a good year for conceiving and giving birth.
For those who are involved in the arts, the Goat will bring out the whole of your creativity. But many of us will be more productive and imaginative in artistic and aesthetic ventures. In 1955, a previous Year of the Goat, the film Rebel Without a Cause, starring James Dean, was released. In the same year the Opera House in Vienna reopened to the public, having been out of operation for some years, and in the Soviet Union the first performance of Hamlet was staged since the overthrow of the Tsar in 1917.
The Goat also has a tendency to be rather careful and somewhat pessimistic. Most of us will be oversensitive and fretful of little problems. In our daily lives, we may be easily discouraged or hypercritical when things do not turn out to our liking.
On the world scene, things will be quiet and subdued. In 1919, a momentous Year of the Goat, the World Peace Conference was held, and in June of the same year, a peace treaty was signed between the Allied powers and Germany in Versailles, following the end of World War I. In 1955, the world's leading scientists appealed to the world to give up all war because of the terrible destruction a hydrogen bomb might cause. In 1967, a treaty was signed that outlawed the use of atomic weapons in outer space, on the moon or any other planet.The Year of the Goat, by contrast, is also the year of gossip and scandal. In 1979, a former leader of the Liberal Party in the UK, Jeremy Thorpe, appeared in court accused of having planned to kill his alleged love, Norman Scott. Strangely enough, many weak men and tough women are born in the Year of the Goat.
Albert Einstein died quietly in 1955 in Princeton, USA, having founded his theory of relativity, which revolutionized scientists' thinking about time and space. His formula E=mc2 was they key to the development of atomic energy.
In the Year of the Goat, you will find plenty of time to make new friends and travel more extensively, which brings with it the opportunity to invest in art and antiques. However, you will be forced to keep a tight hold of your purse strings, as there could be unfortunate repercussions from overspending.
Luckily, the Goat's love of harmony and desire to co-exist with his enemies will preserve this year from many conflicts and upheavals. Though war in the Middle East between the USA and Iraq seems to be imminent, the moderates and those peace-loving individuals will be heard and heeded. Wars, international conflicts and mutual animosities will usually come to a close in the Year of the Goat.
The peaceful and easy-going Goat will slow things down for the more intensely active signs. After all, this is not a year for hasty moves or whirlwind activities - it is a year when we can all take life easy.
Talk about peace and keep away from speculation. Drink chilled wine through long summer nights, if that's your fancy, and enjoy eating chocolate and reminiscing about old times. During the Year of the Goat, we shall have to apply our best instincts so that this year will lead us to a good life!