Guide · Learn
How to read an affinity
Fact, tradition and Molino's reading: the three layers of every Affinities page.
What you'll learn
- What concrete data Molino knows about each entity
- Which slot the entity falls into relative to your sign
- Why there are no percentages or scores
- What an affinity is NOT telling you
What it is
An Affinity page compares your Chinese zodiac sign with that of a real entity — a country, a city, a brand, a university, a famous person or a movie. It doesn't measure compatibility or predict anything: it tells you which slot of the cycle that entity falls into relative to you.
How it works
It all starts with a verifiable fact: the entity's event of origin, with its exact date — a founding, a birth, a release. Molino uses that event to calculate the entity's sign, with the same Chinese New Year cutoff it uses for yours.
With the two signs, the entity falls into one of four slots: your own sign, one of your two friends (三合 San He), your enemy (六冲 Liu Chong) or the rest of the cycle. They're read in that order, and the enemy is read as what's best avoided.
The slot always appears next to the event that supports it. Never separated from the historical fact.
How Molino uses it
There's no percentage or score: the relationship is categorical. Within a slot, all entities have the same relationship with your sign, and a two-digit number would suggest a precision the system doesn't have.
The other relationships the tradition mentions (Liu He, Liu Hai) stay in the rest of the cycle. Fewer slots, more signal.
Fact, tradition and Molino's reading
Fact
The entity's name, its type and the documented event of origin, with an exact date and source. If only the year is known, the sign can't be stated: the page says so and My Map doesn't use it.
Tradition
The two relationships of the cycle of twelve that appear in every source: friends of the same triangle (三合 San He) and the direct opposite (六冲 Liu Chong).
Molino's reading
Molino places the entity in a slot and explains why, naming the two signs and the real event. There's no secret formula: it can be checked by hand.
Examples
Your own sign — Spider-Man (2002)
The release of Spider-Man in 2002 falls in the year of the Horse. If your sign is also Horse, Spider-Man is in your own slot.
Friend sign — YPF (1922)
YPF was founded in 1922, the year of the Dog. Tiger, Horse and Dog form a triangle of friends (三合 San He, Fire element). If your sign is Tiger or Horse, YPF belongs to one of your two friends.
Enemy sign — Corrientes (1588)
The city of Corrientes was founded in 1588, the year of the Rat. The Rat is the enemy of the Horse (六冲 Liu Chong): its direct opposite. If your sign is Horse, Corrientes is what's best avoided.
What it does NOT mean
- An affinity doesn't predict how a relationship will go or determine whether something is good or bad for you. It's a symbolic reading built from documented data and a tradition.
- Molino doesn't measure 'compatibility' in any scientific or psychological sense — there's no study, survey or prediction algorithm behind an affinity.
- An entity belonging to your enemy isn't an alarm: it's the most tense relationship in the cycle, nothing more and nothing less.
Where to keep exploring
Want to see this applied to your own map?
See my map