The goat, in the myth about the race along the Jade River, was one of the animals that chose teamwork as a strategy. The goat, the monkey, and the chicken all came together to build a raft. They arrived at the finish line together and discussed who would finish the race in what order cooperatively.

Both the monkey and the chicken decided that the goat should finish the race before them. Why?

Goats live in the mountains. Not that many animals live in the mountains. There’s falcons, mountain cats, bears, some small dogs, and vultures. Then there’s goats. Mountain life isn’t the bustling life found in a marsh. Mountains are not teeming with life. In fact, mountains are quite stark. Mountain life is difficult and treacherous. You have to be really careful when you’re on a mountain. Otherwise, you’ll fall off a steep cliff.

Notice that most of the animals living on a mountain are predator type or scavenger type animals. Goats are not. Goats are herbivores.

So, goats live these extreme lifestyles on steep mountain cliffs while surrounded by large hungry predators. They’re literally born on cliffs and have to learn to walk almost vertically as kids. They provide a key source of food for all mountain predators. Usually, a goat carcass is eaten several times. First, the cats get at them. Then, the bears and dogs. Finally, the vultures pick the bones clean. Nothing is wasted.

Everything about a goat is measured. You watch a goat walk up a cliff. Every step matters. Every angle must be considered, felt out, and balanced. Nothing about a goat’s life is wasted. Even in death, its body isn’t wasted. Mountain life simply leaves no room for error.

We learn something about the goat here. We learn that goats are deeply considerate. They plan for everything. They don’t miss a single detail. The character for the earthly branch of the goat actually means “to not do” or “to eliminate.” It’s a negation word. This word tells you to consider the things that you shouldn’t do, the things that you should reduce.

Why does the monkey and the chicken place the goat in the honored position of winning the race before either of them? The goat wasn’t the leader of the team on the raft. The chicken was.

Goats are adventurers. They have learned to live where no other large prey animal can really thrive. Goats are the first to try something. They’re hardy creatures. Goats can actually eat almost anything because they don’t even hibernate in the chilling cold of winters. Wintering on a mountain means that you live in conditions of almost -40º F. Their stomachs can take anything. If they eat too much indigestible material, they just make these bezoars that they then expel.

For the team on the raft, the goat played a crucial role. It went where the other animals could not go and told the monkey and chicken about the danger areas and safe passages. To be able to do that, the goat had to venture into unknown territory. It took on personal risk so that the team could arrive together.

So, that’s why the monkey and the chicken honored the goat at the end of the race. Both people wanted to recognize the goat for its courage and sacrifice. The goat risked its life for the team.

Goats are sacrificed quite a bit. I’m not just talking biblically. Actually, 80% of all goats die each winter. Their deaths create the opportunities for the entire mountain ecosystem. If it weren’t for goats, then no one could live on mountains.

I think that this is why goats are associated with sacrifice. A scapegoat is someone who is blamed for something unfairly and then cast out of a community. Goats take on risk. They go where no one else goes. Ecologically speaking, goats are sacrificial animals. Western myth casts goats as Pan, a figure associated with the devil. Women who had too much sex were called Pan girls. The word panic goes back to Pan. The killing and sacrifice of goats was seen as holy.

In the Chinese zodiac, the goat is also known for its hedonism. Goat people love luxury and love sex. Most of all, goats are known for their strangeness. Goats are peculiar people. In colloquial Chinese slang, people will call someone a “strange goat” or guai yang if they think that person is really weird, contrarian, or difficult to understand. Basically, a strange goat is someone who resists all social conventions.

I think that the Greek god Pan is connected with the hedonistic goat. Pan’s origins lay in South Asia and South Asian myth had considerable influence on Chinese mythology. The reason why Pan, a god of the mountains, was seen as hedonistic was because he ruled over the wild and undomesticated world.

Are goats really that hedonistic? If hedonism is about having a lack of control, then I don’t think so. Goats live on the mountains. Every single movement they make is highly controlled.

But hedonism isn’t really about a lack of control. Hedonism is about prioritizing pleasure, about finding pleasure in anything. Goats eat anything. They find a way to derive nutrition from any plant. They find a use for everything. Is that a form of hedonism? If so, then goats may be hedonists.

In the Chinese zodiac, the goat is an earth sign. Every earth sign stores something. The goat is the earth sign that stores a little wood. This is wood that has survived the drainage of summer. In the bellies of goats, one often finds actual wood fiber in the form of bezoars. Bezoars can be used as medicine to eliminate toxins from the body. Again, the word for goat earthly branch has to do with elimination.

What it really comes down to is that goats are people who will try anything. They are adventurers. They’ll jump out of a helicopter with a parachute. They’ll try new and risky ideas. Goats are outliers because they don’t do what everyone else is doing.

But goats are still pack animals. They’re not people who go off and try strange things on their own. Goats travel with a group. You might notice this about goat people. They’ll dress very strangely but they’ll do so with a group of fashion loving people. They express startling opinions but on issues where they already have support.

Goats are socially oriented people. They will push the new but not for their own sakes. They will only do it for the sake of advancing the whole community. They just want to try something different but they actually want to be supported. Goat people usually run into relational tensions because they want the assurance of support but they don’t want to be told what to do. If you try to tell a goat person what to do, you’ll find that they resist your message at all costs.

So, that’s what it’s like to be a strange goat. Strange goats support a community. They’re measured and strategic because they're drawn to risks. They are highly contrarian. Under any kind of social pressure, they’ll buckle and resist. They’re in charge of elimination and habitually say no. Despite their strangeness, they’re usually found in groups. Their friendships are strong. They make friends with those who accept them for who they are. After all, contrarianism is a crucial component of any collaboration.