The Cat and Goat Spirit Guardians

Together

The gentlest pairing in the twelve. Both communities are diplomatic, both are artistic, and neither needs the other to be impressive, which removes most of what people argue about. It is a genuinely restful bond, and it tends to build a home rather than a project — the two are easily mistaken for the same thing until something has to be defended.

What it costs

Nobody decides anything. The Cat Spirit Guardian is indecisive and the Goat Spirit Guardian worries, so a choice that has to be made sits between two communities each hoping the other will make it. Plant controls Earth here, so the Cat Spirit Guardian usually prevails in the end — quietly, and without the Goat Spirit Guardian ever having said no.

All 64 birth-year combinations

Grouped by the Cat Spirit Guardian's year. Within each group the branch relation is fixed and only the element cycle moves, which is the whole reason a pairing is not one answer.

These readings are the first of the board's four layers — the birth years alone — and it carries weight 0.30 of the result. The other three read the two charts rather than the two communities, so a strong or difficult year layer is where a reading starts, not where it lands.

Either community on its own

• The Cat Spirit Guardian
• The Goat Spirit Guardian

Frequently asked

Are the Cat and Goat Spirit Guardians compatible?

The board reads them as three-harmony allies, among the stronger branch relations in the twelve. On the first of four layers the pairing scores between 64 and 84, depending on which two birth years are actually being read — the branch relation is fixed, the year elements are not. That layer carries weight 0.30 and reads the birth years only; the other three read the two charts, so this is where a reading starts rather than where it lands.

Which birth years does this pairing cover?

1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023, 2035 on one side and 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027, 2039 on the other — 64 combinations in total, and they do not all read alike. The community repeats every twelve years but the year element turns on a ten-year cycle, so 1987 with 1991 and 1999 with 2003 are two different readings of the same pairing.

Does a strong branch relation mean this pairing always works?

No. It means the year layer starts high, and that layer is 0.30 of four. Two people whose communities agree can still differ everywhere the charts are read, which is exactly why the Cat Spirit Guardian and the Goat Spirit Guardian are not the whole answer about anybody.