I would choose the Tiger. According to the Chinese Zodiac, I am a Tiger. Upon reading the traits that Tigers are said to have, it’s a sliding scale on how much I agree with each of them, the least of which being bravery. I hope that would be the quality transmitted to me. I don’t mean being brave as in going on roller coaster, sky-diving, or stunt driving. I mean bravery to conquer fears of failure, butterflies, and to stop having horrible visions of slicing my fingers to the bone whenever I use a sharp knife. Seriously, I’m afraid of butterflies.
What I find interesting about all this is that my favourite animal is the horse and I feel like I identify with the traits of the Horse on the Chinese Zodiac about as much as I do the Tiger’s. Though it evolved completely separate from the Astrological Zodiac, both are related to a spirituality I cannot fully subscribe to because of the inconsistencies between defining my traits and ‘predicting the future’. According to an old episode of “The Eyes of Nye” (starring host: Bill Nye) regarding the signs and dates associated with them, the Earth’s orbit and rotation has changed over the past 1000 years to the point of shifting almost everybody’s sign to the one before it. A Cancer born in early July would now be a Gemini. However, someone born mid-August would still be a Leo.