Chinese Year of the Ox bodes well for Barack Obama presidency

The Year of the Ox begins Monday

President Barack Obama is an ox. And this year – 4706 on the Chinese lunar calendar – that could be a very good thing.

Monday marks the beginning of the 15-day Chinese New Year celebration, or Spring Festival, a major holiday observed by Chinese and other Asian cultures throughout the world. In the United States, although the Chinese New Year is not an official holiday, many ethnic Chinese hold large celebrations in Chinatown neighborhoods in a number of major cities.

The Chinese lunar calendar is based roughly on a 12-year horoscope, approximating the solar orbit of the planet Jupiter. Each year in the cycle -- or Chinese zodiac -- is named for one of 12 animal signs: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Lamb, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.

One's Chinese horoscope is based in-part on which animal year in this 12-year cycle one was born.

Obama was born in 1961, a Year of the Ox. Four 12-year cycles later, 2009 is also a Year of the Ox, which means this could be Obama's year -- and, in turn, all of ours as well.

The Ox, according to one astrological source, symbolizes prosperity through fortitude and hard work. It is the sign of a born leader, steadfast, solid, dependable and “possessing an innate ability to achieve great things.” Oxen are tireless workers who never lose sight of their goals and believe in doing things right the first time.

Sounds good. Yet, I'm not so sure. I really don't believe much in astrology. But then, those of us born in the Year of the Horse tend to be skeptical about most everything.

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Other world leaders born in the Year of the Ox, for better or for worse, include: Menachim Begin, Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolph Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Richard Nixon, Princess Diana, and Margaret Thatcher.