Using Cardology to understand your Chinese Zodiac/Numerology Enemy Years
I started my self development journey as soon as I could get to a bookstore on my own and have always been intrigued about merging different esoteric sciences to help get a fuller picture. I started with Western Astrology, then Numerology, Cardology, and finally Chinese Astrology. During my readings and analysis I will bring in elements of each system to help confirm what I am seeing in the cards.
I have started to see a lot of people bring up enemy years in Chinese Astrology and Numerology and wanted to share how you can better manage your Chinese Zodiac “enemy year” by using your yearly Cardology spreads.
First, I want to explain the “enemy year” concept. It’s the idea that certain years are challenging for people based on their birth animal. It’s basically a clash of animals, or on the Chinese Zodiac wheel, it’s the sign directly opposite of you. So it shows up like an opposition as we know it in Western Astrology.
Let’s do an example for 2025. We are in the year of the Snake. Directly opposite of the Snake is the Pig. Therefore, the enemy of the Snake is the Pig and for the Pig, this year represents an enemy year. It’s a year where perhaps the Pig needs to lay low, not start anything big or monumental. You can take it as a warning to tread lightly, be more conservative or introspective and find ways to spiritually grow. Some people take this to the extreme and will avoid all Pig energy for 2025. This means not buying cars or clothing from companies that are Pigs. It also means not eating pig, hanging out or being around anyone with Pig energy as they don’t want that energy to rub off.
It’s a lot to look into and probably very difficult to live that way, but the thinking is that the more you align to the current energy, the easier it will be to find your flow and good things will happen for you.
Next year will be the year of the Horse. The enemy of the Horse is the Rat. I am a Rat in Chinese Astrology and will use the Rat enemy years as examples in this article.
Let’s start by just listing out some Horse Years.
Year of the Horse (Enemy of the Rat)
1990 (age 5-6)
2002 (age 17-18)
2014 (age 29-30)
2026 (age 41-42)
2038 (age 53-54)
2050 (age 65-66)
2062 (age 77-78)
Using Cardology Spreads to better understand your enemy years.
What I noticed from looking at spreads overtime is that our first enemy year will occur around ages 5-6, and then every 12 years after that. In Cardology, you have a 7 year spread that not only gives you the planet that rules your year, but the cards that rule the year as well.
So then I tracked my enemy years and looked at my cards during that time. Now my birthday is June 2nd, which is kind of right in the middle of the Chinese Zodiac new Year, so I do split time between two different yearly spreads. The results are below.
January 27th, 1990
Uranus/Neptune
February 12th, 2002
Jupiter/Saturn
January 31st, 2014
Venus/Mars
February 17th, 2026
Neptune/Mercury
February 11th, 2038
Saturn/Uranus
February 1, 2050
Mars/Jupiter
February 9th, 2062
Mercury/Venus
What do you notice? Each enemy year is represented by a different planet in your 7 year spread. After you complete a cycle of 7 enemy years, you start back over. So this leads me to believe that some enemy years are just not that bad. In fact, I have not found them to be bad, but I have found that some decisions I made during this time were not terrific. However, there were ample warnings or red flags prior to make these decisions.
So using the planets we might be able to determine what areas where will provide lessons to us during our enemy year, or at least where we may be challenged.
Mercury Enemy Year
Issues or challenges around our communication, transportation, social media, contracts, paperwork, computers, commerce, trade, nervous system, hands, lungs, thieves and messengers.
Venus Enemy Year
Issues around love, dating, relationships, fashion, jewelry, art, music, luxury goods, real estate, skin, reproductive system, florists, influencers.
Mars Enemy Year
Issues with being too forceful, or too passionate. Military, police, war and weapons can be an issue as well as sports, competition, personal training, surgery, blood, muscles, explosives and risk takers in general.
Jupiter Enemy Year
Jupiter years are years of blessings in Cardology, so the expectation still would be that a Jupiter year could offset the negativity of a Chinese Zodiac Enemy year. However, in the case that it is full of challenges, it could bring issues around finances, big business, clergy, judges, CEOs, higher education, professors, publishing, religion, immigration and sports leagues. It can also challenge your personal growth and self-development.
Saturn Enemy Year
A Saturn year in general is very difficult and requires hard work to succeed. Saturn restricts us and places karmic challenges in our life. It also rules anything with structure - issues with law enforcement, regulations, bureaucracy, tradition, skin, teeth, joints and how we take responsibility in our lives.
Uranus Enemy Year
Uranus years are unpredictable and possibly full of surprises. There can be issues around aviation, planes, drones, new technology like the internet, social media, AI and blockchain. It also rules electricity, lighting, innovation, earthquakes, astrology, revolutions, protests, the nervous system and neurological issues.
Neptune Enemy Year
Neptune years can be kind of dreamy/foggy and full of illusion and dreams. We generally find issue with traveling over water, oceans, floods and oil spills. We can also be challenged with opportunities for deception, scams, mental illness, and addiction to drugs/alcohol. There are escapism behaviors built into people with heavy Neptune influence so it’s important to try to lay low and not make major decisions during this year.
Some General Rules to lay low
You don’t want to start a relationship or anything major/important in an enemy year.
You also want to avoid starting a relationship with someone who is your enemy year as the energies oppose each other. (Note: you will be very drawn to your enemy sign or number like a moth to a flame).
During your enemy year you will be challenged. For example, in a Venus enemy year you may have an ex come back or challenges in relationships. The wrong people may come back into your life temporarily to help you learn.
You would also want to not buy a car, house or anything major in your enemy year as it has enemy energy imprinted on it.
The goal is to lay low and not engage in risky behavior. You can go for it during your friendly years or even your own Chinese Zodiac animal year, but being more cautious with enemy energy is always preferred.
The Cardology Perspective on Enemy Years
In Cardology, really the only year you may consider very difficult would be a Saturn year. Even then, you can work hard and work through it. I tend to enjoy my Saturn days as they seem full of hard work and very predictable. One of the first books about this system is called the Mystic Test Book and the reason for the name is so that you can go out and test all of this yourself and see how you experience these years.
Additionally, if you want to get more complex, you can also add in your Numerology enemy year. I won’t get too far into it here, but I do believe that a solid Numerological year and Cardology year will heavily offset most challenges that a Chinese Astrology Enemy year would bring up.
For example, as a Lifepath 3, my enemy number is 7. I 2014, I was in an enemy year in Chinese Astrology (Year of the Horse) and 2014 equals 7 in Numerology. So this was a double dosage of enemy energy. In Cardology, I was in a Venus and then Mars 7 Year Planetary Period which brought challenges in relationships and finding my life or professional purpose.
So in this example, there were 2 indicators (Chinese Zodiac/Numerology) that lined up together as enemy energy and Cardology helped to fill in the details of what the challenge was around. Still, it was not a horrible year, though it was trying at times. Had this been a Saturn year, it may have been more difficult as all 3 systems would have lined up with challenged energy.
Cardology helps to paint the picture in great detail
This is my 7 Year Spread below. What’s great about Cardology is that not only do I understand the Planetary Year I am in with my 7 Year Spread (Venus Year highlighted), but it also gives me my cards to play for that period.
My 4 of Diamonds offered financial protection or physical protection at home and in my relationships. It’s a card of protection and strength, so generally any 4, 8, 10 or the Queens/Kings will help to offset other difficult influences. In my Planetary Ruling Spread I had a 5 of Hearts and in my Decanate Ruling Spread I had a 7 of Clubs. These two cards would be considered challenging, especially with relationships in Venus.
In my Mars Spread, I have some 6s as you can see, which bring karma or destiny/purpose. But I also had a 7 of Spades (not shown) in my Planetary Ruling Spread which is my 1st Karma card. So, you can see there are some confluences there. When we have our Karma card in a position like Mars, it can bring some trouble and you must make sure not to over do it.
Additionally, you have a yearly spread that shows you what planet you are in every 52 days. My yearly spread for 2014 is below. I won’t dive into the specifics of the cards here, but there is plenty of information that can guide you during the year.
So there is a vast information here in your spreads that help you to understand the precise energy influences that are with you at every moment. This can really help to guide you during difficult years. Conversely, when you are in a 7 Year period where your Chinese Astrology and/or Numerology align with your energy, Cardology will help you learn when to get aggressive and go for whatever it is you want.
I may expand on this a bit and include more Numerology/Chinese Zodiac info in the future, but for now let me know your thoughts in the comments!