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Updated 2026-11-12

MouseOxTigerRabbitDragonSnakeHorseSheepMonkeyRoosterDogPig

Gold lines join the sign with its allies, the dashed line with its best match; red marks the opposite sign. Tap a sign to open it.

Tibetan Zodiac: the Mouse (Rat)

Traits and the 2026 Fire Horse year outlook for the Mouse (Rat) in the Tibetan-Mongolian (zurkhai) tradition.

Traits: Clever, resourceful, charming and thrifty.

In the Fire Horse year (2026): Mouse sits opposite the Horse this year — traditionally a year to be cautious and avoid overcommitment.

Brown rat — the Mouse (Rat) opens the 12-year animal cycle
Brown rat — the Mouse (Rat) opens the 12-year animal cycleImage: Zeynel Cebeci · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The Rat across the five elements

Over the 60-year cycle the Rat appears once with each of the five elements — each pairing gives a different character:

Wood Ratspring Fire Ratsummer Earth Ratthe turn of the seasons Metal Ratautumn Water Ratwinter

Years of the Rat

Recent years of the Rat: 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020, 2032. The Rat returns every twelve years, each time carrying a different one of the five elements — which is why a 2032 Rat and a 2020 Rat are read differently in zurkhai.

Mongolian gerbil in the wild — a small rodent of the Mongolian steppe
Mongolian gerbil in the wild — a small rodent of the Mongolian steppeImage: Alastair Rae · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Who the Rat gets on with

In zurkhai compatibility the Rat's closest match is the Ox — its Liu He, or "six-harmony", partner. Its natural allies are the Dragon and Monkey (together they form one of the four San He triangles), while its traditional opposite is the Horse, a pairing said to need extra care. These animal rules are only one of four parameters the app weighs — element, animal, menge and parkha — when it calculates full couple compatibility.

Check a couple's compatibility in the app. The animal match above is only one of four factors. The Zurkhai app for iPhone weighs all four — element, animal, menge and parkha — and gives any two birth dates a 1–5 star rating with a detailed reading. Check compatibility in the App Store →

Next 30 days by animal compatibility

Good for you 14 Nov, 18 Nov, 22 Nov, 23 Nov, 26 Nov, 30 Nov, 4 Dec, 5 Dec, 8 Dec

Tense 16 Nov, 28 Nov, 10 Dec

Good days are those of your allies, your best match and your own animal; tense days belong to the opposite sign.

The 12 animals of zurkhai

MouseOxTigerRabbitDragonSnakeHorseSheepMonkeyRoosterDogPig

Frequently asked

What is the Tibetan zodiac Mouse like?
Clever, resourceful, charming and thrifty.
Which animals is the Mouse compatible with?
The Rat's closest match is the Ox; its allies are the Dragon and Monkey; its traditional opposite is the Horse.
How does the Mouse fare in the Fire Horse year 2026?
Mouse sits opposite the Horse this year — traditionally a year to be cautious and avoid overcommitment.
How does the Tibetan zodiac work?
Tibetan astrology overlays a 12-year cycle of animals with a 5-element cycle (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water). Each element governs two consecutive years, so 12 animals × 5 elements form a 60-year cycle before the same animal+element pairing repeats. Every year therefore carries both an animal and an element — 2026 is the Fire Horse. The system blends indigenous Bon astrology, Chinese-derived element/animal astrology, and Indian Kalachakra star astrology.

The Fire Horse year 2026 → · What is zurkhai? →

Animal/element traits and yearly outlooks are presented as traditional belief, not fact, and vary between astrologers and lineages.