Determine Animal Year from Your Age:
The 12 orange dots indicate various positions in this technique. The animal years are arranged for the year Roka (2005). This shifts annually. The current animal year begins at the brown arrow (second knuckle of your index finger) and moves clockwise through the years. Start at the green flower star if the age is 10 or older; otherwise, start at the blue star marked as 1 and count counterclockwise.
- Begin counting from the tip of the index finger (green flower star) clockwise every second position, considering only the multiples of ten like 10, 20, 30, and 40 until you reach the tens digit of the specific age. For example, for 35, count 10, 20, and then 30.
- If the age is a multiple of ten, that is your final spot. Otherwise, continue from the current position by counting backward (counterclockwise) one position at a time until you reach the exact age. For 35, from the initial position, count counterclockwise 31, 32, 33, 34, and then 35, landing at the dot marked 11 Jor.
- The final step is to identify the animal associated with that final position. Start counting the current year’s animal at the brown arrow *. Count clockwise until you reach your final position. That indicates the birth animal year for that age. *Notes: This method has been adjusted. Originally, the year started at the blue star (lowest point of your index finger). This was off by one year, so the start position was moved up to the brown arrow.
Calculate Your Age from the Animal Year:
This presumes you have a rough idea of your age within a 10-year span. Use the table on the right to determine the number of counts for a specific age.
- Use the multiple of ten of your age to find the count. For instance, if you are around 30, the count is 6.
- Start from your animal year and count forward to the successive animal years the number of times found in step 1. For example, if born in the year of the Dog (Jor) and you are around 30, count 6 times: Kaor, Jute, Chlov, Karl, Thos, and Rorng. Do not count Jor as 1; begin with Kaor, the following year.
- Use your finger to track the count, continuing until you reach the current year. Add this final count to your multiple of ten. For example, if the current year is Roka, count: Masagn as 1, Momee as 2, Momay as 3, Voke as 4, and Roka as 5. Thus, you are 30 + 5 = 35 years old.
Source: Cam-CC.org