The Pig in the Year of the Fire Snake 2026
Pig Pic by @elliespinelli
Who is a Pig? 
Years: 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007,2019.
Month*: November
Hour: 09:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Day: you’ll need a Chinese Calendar..
* Caution: the start of the Chinese month can be as early as the 4th & as late as the 9th, depending on the year. We can let you know this too.
What is a Pig?
The weakness and the strength of the Pig (who is predominantly yin Water and therefore often reluctant to communicate) is that they think they know what is good for them. And they are right often enough to make advice close to impossible. By extension this means you Pigs may believe you know what is right for everybody else.
Technically the Pig is a cocktail of Water, Wood and Earth. This makes for extraordinary versatility. But this combined with the Pig’s weakness at emotional disclosure, can mean that they lack a support system just when they most need one. Consider Fire Pig Hillary Clinton and her rogue email account; the story goes that she simply could not master her Blackberry and could not bring herself to seek appropriate help. That’s a Pig.
Versatile and wilful, gifted at whatever they do, the Pig is the sign of the inventor. Edison was a Pig and Elon Musk, as is recently deported Wikileaker Julian Assange. Perfectly-balanced Pigs can literally do almost anything but they don’t much like reflective advice from others and they are liable to hate uncertainty. Remember Fire Pig Elton John in “Rocket Man”? And Elon Musk’s social media tiffs?
Vagueness is uncomfortable for the Pig: Edison was of course an obsessive patenter, Hillary determined to get Wall Street onside while retaining her liberal credentials. And Assange, confident that he knew better than anyone else what the world needed to know – and he was mostly right btw. Brexit and the Trumpreich might have fallen differently but for some of these guys. This does not mean they were mistaken but the truth can be a moveable feast.
A balanced Pig (perhaps March birth around mid-afternoon) is a great audience and typically gets the listening/talking ratio just right. An unbalanced one can shoot off at the mouth and give (or take) away the farm before she knows it. Does any of this sound like – to pluck a name from nowhere – Earth Pig Simon Cowell?
More likely, you are prone to withdrawing into silence. Sometimes the Pig sulks but more commonly withdraws out of pure disinterest and can be perfectly cheerful when challenged on the withdrawal.
The Pig child needs just the right mixture of carrot and stick. Too much disincentive and he is suppressed or resentful. Too much carrot and he can be smug. The balanced Pig is the most sensitive of the animals; the unbalanced one has undergone an empathy bypass. As the parent of a Pig, just remember you are instrumental in this process. Your Piglet does not need to become a boor.
The Pig harbours the Wood of creativity so they can be as adept with the written as the spoken word and indeed the yang Earth of deep concentration. Many Pigs prefer to study in noisy rooms and many are effortless A-students as teachers of brilliant 2007 Pigs may notice. Bear in mind though that there is a near-epidemic of depression and anxiety among millennials and post-millennials and that Water is the associated element. Don’t ever take a 1995 or 2007 Pig’s good cheer for granted or their call for help as crying wolf.
The Stevie Smith poem “Not waving but drowning” is about a Pig. They look so competent. And they are. Until they’re not. If you care for a Pig beware of their apparent endless confidence. There are crucial gaps.
The Pig does not tend to like the Snake; one way or another they immobilise each other; there are mutual issues of trust, truth and sincerity. And the Monkey, the Snake’s intimate, can be a source of annoyance also. The Pig’s most natural team is with the Rabbit and the Sheep. This alliance is quintessentially domestic; together these three can make anywhere home. A perfect family might be Pig father, Rabbit mother and Sheep first-born. Once home, the Rabbit entertains while the Sheep ensures compatibility and the Pig performs the tasks that are beyond the scope or interest of her partners.
Traditionally the Pig also enjoys the company of the Tiger as Elton John’s husband Water Tiger David Furnish can attest. You might think a Pig would be more cautious but they know that the Tiger is uninterested in conquering anyone he considers easy meat. Of course he’s missing something here but the Pig’s fearless approach often disarms the Tiger before they realise. And by the bye, Pig’s literary ambition often burgeons in a Tiger year and flourishes in a Rabbit one.
Although she may herself be more adventurous, the Pig also understands the loyal and consistent Dog. She respects the fact that every home needs its guardian. These two will tend to develop a camaraderie with its own distinctive banter but it will probably never be a meeting of souls as each is technically the other’s gip sat or force of obstruction. The Pig respects the Dog’s diligence and the Dog knows the Pig will compensate for his weakness.
The Pig also operates well as factotum for a group consisting of the Snake (whose company she can’t otherwise stand for long) the Monkey (see above) and the Tiger. For these she is, interestingly, the peacemaker and setter of standards. Without the Pig this grouping whose common interest is travel and mobility, can’t get off the ground. Taron Egerton interestingly who impersonated Elton so effectively in Rocket Man, is a 1989 Snake as is Alexandria Ocasio Cortez.
One final note: the Pig suffers what is called the self curse. That is to say that she has limited patience with other Pigs. And as Rocket Man illustrates, a huge capacity for self-loathing. The Chinese character for a house is one Pig under a roof. Just the one. Approach them gently and listen.
2026, Hot, Hot, Hot
The outlook for the Year of the Fire Horse
Note: There are four (or five) Pillars in your ba zi, each with a different nuance. It is as unlikely that they are all ill-starred as it is that they are all blessed by any given year. Examine the portents for each and perhaps use that as an indication of how to respond.
2026 Animal by Animal: Pig
The Pig was in the invidious sui po position last year, opposite the Snake at the tai sui. Much better now. There are challenges but it’s ultimately a very positive year, one from which you emerge quite changed.
Gip Sat is quite a thing. In world politics it was the relationship between Veep Mike Pence and the Trumpster. Not comfortable. Be prepared to be blocked from time to time, in traffic maybe but also in pursuit of your goals. At such times look for the Rabbit and Sheep who are your helpers. Together you make Wood which is all about movement. Rise early, work in good light.
Most of the time however as Tin Yute Gwai Yan you will be the one consulted. You are one of this year’s helping hands and agony aunts, the other being the Rooster. You are likely to have earned this distinction which will keep you pretty busy. Typically the Pig is better at giving advice than receiving it.
The Yum San Star however implies bonding issues. This is an opportunity for profound healing. Bonding is the state of being in your boots, being one consistent person regardless of the context or company. My teacher and role model Chuck Spezzano says that bonding is effortless success; not entails or implies but is. It grows out of family where we learn the bulk of our lessons one way or another. Yum San speaks of a breakdown of this process, of unbonding, a bonding deficit and usually a grievance about our upbringing. If along with your Pig you have either Rabbit or Rat, the grievance is amplified. It may or may not be justified but hurt incurred so early is hard to rationalise away however developed and benevolent we may be.
Once released from such grievance, you fly. And not just this year.
The solution is direct emotional communication. At which the Pig, being Yin Water may not excel. In such a case recruit Rat and Ox to bring you Yang Water by triple combination. Yang Water is the deepest communication, the completion of emotional stuckness. Doesn’t have to be dramatic but can be. Won’t kill you though.
Heaven’s Blessing implies that the Force is with you in this as in other situations. You come up smelling of roses. Whether you recognise the above drama or not, this year you have the power to move centuries of upset and misunderstanding. This will tend to show up in your finally locating a reliable mode of creative output.
That’s quite something.
Healthwise be sure to stay hydrated.
Pig is usually pretty careful financially but in most areas poor at asking for help. You appear so competent. And you are. And then you aren’t and you have no support system. Use your role as Tin Yute to observe how support groups are constructed. You may need it some day.
It’s reasonable to assume that finances will work for you this year.
That Hexagram (Number 16, Yi) actually corresponds with the Fire Pig which may speak of a period of transformed experience when the most unlikely people assist you.
Lesson: Partnership
Best Months: March, February, July.
Worst Months: June
Theme: You want it darker
Hexagram: 16, Yi Enthusiasm.
Health: ☺/= Wealth: ==/☺ Relationship: =/☺
Where to find help: Rabbit, Sheep
Who should I be careful with: Snake, Monkey.
To hire me to draw up a full interpretation of your ba zi, that is (all) Four Pillars, email me at richardashworthfengshui@gmail.com. If you want to learn more about ba zi my book I Talk to the Animals is out now. Here’s a link to a chunk of text: https://amzn.eu/d/c6p72iK
This forecast is prepared by comparing your own Chinese year Animal with the Fire Snake of 2026. Your Year Animal is just one of the four that make up your Ba Zi or Four Pillars of Destiny. A fully-drafted ba zi can indicate possible futures and probable pasts as well as moments of decision. Knowing these moments can heal and prevent heartbreak as well make success and happiness more easily achievable. What is a ba zi?
© Richard Ashworth 2026