In the Chinese calendar, 1997 is the "fire cow" year. What does this mean?

The desigination Fire Cow means the cosmic forces are working much stronger than in other years of the Cow. In other words, when the upper celestial branch of the year is in the fire element, it will strengthen the quality of the animal. For instance, a cow has a big head and the upper part of its torso is large, symbolizing the forces work much stronger in the first eight months of the year. These are statistics made by ancient Chinese astrologers which are good for our reference .

Chi Kung Culture Society of TAIPEI