The Sheep in the Year of the Wood Dragon 2024

Sheep Pic by @elliespinelli

Who is a Sheep?

Years:         1943, 55, 67, 79, 91, 2003, 2015.
Month*:      July
Hour:          13.00-15.00

Day: you’ll need a Chinese Calendar.

* Caution: the start of the Chinese month can be as early as the 4th & as late as the 9th, depending on the year. We can let you know this too.

What is a Sheep?
Idealistic, yin Earth, not the top getter-onner with others, the balanced Sheep has well-meant judgements about everybody which can sometimes keep her stuck in first gear. For the unbalanced Sheep (July birthday and/or mid-afternoon birth) ambition and foolishness are pretty much the same thing. For the more balanced one, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Noel Gallagher, however, leveraging affability for fame and fortune is second nature. Such Sheep can not stand to be out of the zeitgeist. Why else would the Stones be touring into their 80’s?

The balanced Sheep, as well as being an expert judge of people, knows exactly what matters and is not easily diverted from it. The arrangement for instance that Wood Sheep Bruce Willis, his ex Demi Moore and her ex (and Bruce’s fishing buddy) Ashton Kutcher came to, whereby they stayed friends and the children avoided becoming conflicted is not usual, either in Hollywood or the world at large but it is archetypical Sheep behaviour. They can all change partners as often as a Jane Austen cotillion but Bruce gets to see his kids.

Conversely, the value of caution and conservatism is often clear in Sheep relationships. The most obvious of these is with the extrovert spontaneous Horse whose sidekick the Sheep often ends up being. With the Sheep beside him, the Horse’s fun may be a little less riotous but he will also stay out of serious trouble. The young Horse and Sheep of 1978 and 1979 for instance, are often a tag team who go out drinking and clubbing together. The Sheep may stand back in amazement at the daring of the Horse but is there both to pick up the pieces and to take advantage when these risks bear fruit. The Horse dances on tables, the Sheep ensures a soft landing.

This illustrates a psychological truth: the risk-taking the Sheep shies away from is exactly what attracts them most. Many a desirable partner has rebounded from a Horse only to find a life-long proposition in the Sheep. Read Marianne Faithfull’s revealing autobiography if you want to see how this applied to the afore-mentioned Rolling Stones. Don’t try this at home, kids.

Placed as the Sheep is before the Monkey in the Chinese Zodiac, they also understand monkey business. There is generally a certain wariness between these two as a team: they are unorthodox but magical.

The Sheep also forms a natural affiliation with the Pig and the Rabbit; a very domestic alliance, the Chinese ideograph for home is a Pig under a roof and the average Rabbit would happily stay home 24/7 if allowed to. The Rabbit is the diplomat and mixer while the inherently versatile Pig takes up the slack of whatever jobs there are to perform. The Sheep’s part is to make things secure. She will have ensured for instance that there are no sworn enemies on the guest list. Sheep is an ideal social secretary as well as a resolver of conflict. Psycho-therapy is among appropriate career paths. And of course this gift is one that can be abused.

The Sheep is passionate, representing the yin or feminine side of sexuality and so whether male or female, the Sheep is more seducer than chatter up. 1967 Sheep Michael Gove’s appeal is surely a subtle one; he clearly fits several of the Sheep patterns. But a seducer? Discuss.

Perhaps most interestingly, the Sheep can form a formidable team with the Dog, the Dragon and the Ox. Individually each of these three is somewhat intimidating to her but when this group gathers, her value becomes obvious. She can draw flexibility from the Dog, humility from the Dragon and cheerful co-operation from the autocratic Ox. Above all he ensures peace among them. Even if all they do is make the coffee, the Sheep is a comforter of the insecure. She understands that most barkers never bite and that aggression is simply inverted fear. If George was the Sheep aspect of the Beatles, Lennon and Starr the Dragons who was the Ox keeping everyone track? George Martin. And perhaps the charge that Paul was a natural solo is accurate; he’s a Horse after all.

A final word: the dark side of the Sheep is to leverage gregariousness for power. Brazilian “strongman” Jair Bolsonaro and cynical media mogul Rupert Murdoch don’t fit the pattern of the easygoing Sheep at all. But they are the Sheep that needs the herd to be on their side. They have to belong; sometimes even when that involves falsity and betrayal. Donald Trump was born on a Sheep day, making his deepest quality the need for approval. This is not only the Sheep’s nature but often their weakness. In this sense they are not so much “strongmen” but weaklings because their only strength is in the endorsement of the herd. Populism is so much easier than conviction.

Sheep in The Wood Dragon Year 2024

Tin Yute Nobleman Helper.

Sui Sha Year Curse

Counsel

In 2024 many come to you for advice. You’ve probably always been an attentive listener but influence may have eluded you. As a Sheep you need to belong and more than once you may have bent yourself out of shape to be invited to the party. This year the party comes to you.

It won’t be all play. The Sheep is an observer and it’s likely you have drawn many useful conclusions about your fellow animals from the outside of many groups. Now that perception as well as your wisdom and compassion are in demand.

You usually expect to minister to the Horse. You’re used to reassuring their egos. But this year it’s open house. First comes the Ox, not your closest companion but aware that your differences stem from what you hold in common. You may not like their associates.

Then the Tiger who shares the restlessness of Wood with you, may call for reassurance that it’s not just him that’s frantically busy. You’d do well by the way to talk him out of any course of action that is basically vengeance.

Rabbits are your natural confidantes, you understand and have confided in them. but most such traffic will be the other way round this year; if you seek a reward from the Rabbit, ask for a useful introduction.

In the Rabbit Month you will need a rest, and travel is recommended. Also in November. The Rat and Ox Months either end of the year may be the opposite: sound and fury.

You’ll be subjected all year to the most destructive side of the Dragon whose anger can pretty much kill with a word; be ready to comfort them even when you disapprove of what they may have done and you are yourself intimidated. Know that a Wood Dragon is tempted to self-destruction and self-sabotage. If they make it your fault, It’s just their agony talking.

Some Snakes may be prepared to be frank with you alone. That is both compliment and privilege. The other Sheep to whom you generally relate may well be too busy to indulge their own misgivings. Monkeys will dump upon you and Roosters talk at you, Dogs may alone of the Animals stay aloof – your relationship with them (technically a Break Up) is as fragile as it gets – but Pigs will be all over you, Rats too. Quite a year.

The opportunity is rehabilitation, a return to society, family, club, community or whatever grouping has seemed to exclude you. Most Sheep are in desperate need of belonging. The principle is clear: include if you are to be included. Connections made this year could be for life. Your call. There is no need to be on the outside looking in any more.

One thing to be wary of is your tendency to compromise for popularity. Whether it’s the (1943 Water Sheep) Rolling Stones, the 1955 Sheep Jair Bolsonaro or Donald Trump whose Day Animal (representing his deepest personality) is a Sheep, Sheep can sell their souls to belong. The most twisted populists are Sheep and that distortion of self is ultimately a high price to pay for acclaim.

Sheep don’t readily get on with Dragons or in Dragon years. If they are to do so they have to identify their own true strengths and values. Your opinion can not be a function of who’s listening. Cultivate being present in your body – which may be a function of simple good breathing – and flaunting your truth.

Quite apart from the above the Sheep is the visionary of the Chinese Zodiac. You are likely to be adept at visualisation and manifestation. You have a gift for alpha-rhythms. This ability is one to cultivate before and after rather than during any key meetings you may attend. Know what outcome you want and then be grounded when interacting; let your inner eye wander before and after and use that that period after as an opportunity to learn. This gift will support you as you counsel, which will be what consumes most time this year.

Romance: Hot. March or Nov (at least) dependent upon your inclination.

Wealth: some challenges.

Health: minor and contagious.

Hexagram: 34 Jin The Sunrise.

This forecast is prepared by comparing your own Chinese year Animal with the Wood dragon of 2024. Your Year Animal is just one of the four that make up your Ba Zi or Four Pillars of Destiny. A fully-drafted ba zi can indicate possible futures and probable pasts as well as moments of decision. Knowing these moments can heal and prevent heartbreak as well make success and happiness more easily achievable. What is a ba zi?

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