by Tanja Cilia

Created on: February 18, 2007   Last Updated: May 11, 2007

Hogging The Limelight:

The Year of the Pig

Calling someone a pig, hog, swine, boar will cease to be an insult as from February 18, the Chinese New Year... that's today!

For this is the Year of The Pig and contrary to the tarnished reputation this cute creature has in the Western World the Pig of Chinese Astrology is the most talented, noble, generous and honourable Sign of the Chinese Zodiac. I know. I am one of them.

The ancient Cretans had the right idea too they held Swine as sacred because Jupiter was suckled by a sow. The Jews and Muslims hold the animal to be non-kosher and non-halal, respectively - and in Naval slang, when the suffix pig' is added to a noun, this is done in a derogatory manner. Technically, a hog is a swine that has been castrated and is being raised for slaughter.

Western tradition does not help the cause, either; the five marks on the inner side of either foreleg are supposed to have been made, originally, by the devils that entered the swine in the miracle at Gennasaret.

But all this, of course, has nothing to do with the Pig as it is seen through the equivalent of rose coloured glasses, in the Chinese Horoscope.

Pigs are altruistic; we have enough perfectionism for the rest of you to think we are obsessive, but this is offset by our generosity, manners, and taste. And humility, wit, tolerance, modesty, patience, resilience and intelligence. Suffice it to say that the Chinese name for this sign is Zhu, sign of honesty. With us, it's definitely not a question of buying a pig in a poke for what you see is what you get.

Alas, we do tend to get drunk on the milk of humankind-ness, to the point of gullibility. That is why people whom we have thought of as honest friends sometimes take us for a ride on a one-way ticket. We are magnanimous and give each person we love a part of our soul, and we are ready to go without so that others may be happy. Bad blood troubles and frightens us, and that is why we often end up as Peacemenakers.

If push comes to shove, however, Pigs can dip their pens in poison ands dribble sarcasm when crossed; although the threshold of this is very high. Having said that, it must be emphasised that we do not go out for revenge. Indeed, the Hog's shoulder is always there for support.

A Pig/Boar/Swine/Hog usually prefers to keep away from the limelight but those that go against this rule, "go the whole hog" and work in the media, politics, or the entertainment industry.

We are fuddy-duddy creatures of habit and dislike being out

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