Monkey 2014
Who is a Monkey?
Years: 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004.
Month*: August
Hour: 03:00 pm – 05:00 pm
Day: ask us
* Caution: the start of the Chinese month can be as early as the 4th & as late as the 9th, depending on the year. I can let you know this too.
What is a Monkey?
The image of the Three Wise Monkeys, see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil is a mediaeval Japanese summary of the qualities of the metal Monkey who is yang metal and a particularly unbalanced primate. The image is of someone of course who shrinks from involvement. In elemental terms, this is about too much yang metal. What is meant by yang metal essentially is competition. Often the Monkey is so competitive he dare not enter the race. For many Monkeys, a man is an island. He is, like Hugh Grant’s character in About a Boy, “bloody Ibiza”.
As well as competitive, the Monkey is typically charming, loveable, dextrous, logical and quick witted and has a gift for precision. The balanced Monkey uses these qualities constructively and in the service of his fellow man. The unbalanced Monkey (with say an August birthday and a late afternoon hour) does not clean up behind himself. He is in short a monkey.
The Monkey is often the most acquisitive as well as the gentlest beast but he is above all, competitive. In the extreme this means warfare. In its milder forms it is the ruthless competition that involves the belief that another’s gain is our loss. This is a mistake. It’s what leads to steroid abuse in athletics and ballet dancing in the penalty box; Metal Monkey John Terry can take a bow here. The metal Monkey may learn this lesson early; it’s what makes him gentle and all Monkeys subscribe to this delusion to a greater or lesser extent.
Just as you’d expect, the pitfall of the Monkey is frivolity. If he can’t win he takes the Mickey. The Monkey’s natural allies are the Rat and the Dragon. This is a pretty heavy-duty grouping, perhaps the most powerful in the Chinese Zodiac. The naturally dominant Rat and the egotistical Dragon are not, as a rule, a bundle of laughs. But they get stuff done; most of the big revolutions of ideas involve this team. The influence of this trio spreads everywhere: Sigmund Freud perhaps the most influential thinker of the 20th Century, Michele Obama possibly the most influential woman in the world, Dragons. Even Jesus if you take AD32 as his birth year.* And somewhere in there if we delve deeply enough, we find unsung Monkeys and Rats making it happen. The Rat plots, the Monkey gets out there and competes. Probably St Paul was a Monkey, the man who sold Christianity to the world. Someone who is a Monkey for sure is Karen Armstrong author of a History of God, founder of the Charter for Compassion and arguably the most important thinker of the 21st Century. This is a Monkey who has learned to speak no evil while seeing much.
The Monkey tends to understand engines; he is the grease Monkey. He also tends to understand maths, science and argument. He is suited very often to a career in engineering or the law, also accountancy. Unbalanced, he neglects all of the above. The Monkey month of August spans Leo and Virgo and to see him as a hybrid of Virgo control and Leo passion is not far from the truth.
When the Tiger and the Snake meet the Monkey there is trouble. The Monkey both co-operates with and fights the Snake. The presence of the Tiger pushes this competition over the edge. Keep them apart. So the Monkey should mind his p’s and q’s every February, the month of the Tiger and every May, the month of the Snake.
So that’s the Monkey: argumentative, practical, mischievous, so competitive he can withdraw altogether. But you knew that already didn’t you?
* That’s up for debate of course but presumably he was a Capricorn anyway.
Monkey in the Wood Horse
Stars include: yik ma Travel, di sang Loss
In 2014 the Monkey is in a crossfire. The Fire of the Wood Horse acts as stimulant, irritant and inspiration. Which one applies to you depends on the strength of the Metal in your ba zi because the dominant Metal of the Monkey bristles or rises to the occasion when Fire is strong. Put simply it’s about how you respond to a challenge. Making good use of contrary energy is like sailing a yacht into wind, a skilled mariner can get exactly where he wants to regardless of its prevailing direction. In everyday life this means planning, negotiation and consideration of the objectives of others. It’s a cliché but if you want to receive something, give it.
The Monkey is playful, mischievous and prone to dissociation. In 2014 you need to engage. You probably won’t make much use of the challenging Fire unless you receive it full force. Hiding or turning your back will just make for wasted time. The Metal Monkey of 1980 is best equipped to rise to the occasion because your Metal – that is ability to plan, strategise and be in the real world – is stronger than that of your fellow primates. Trust your instinct and when things get tough, bring it on. You will gain power, influence and discipline. This suggests a pattern of onwards and upwards. Metal Monkey takes a while to commit. But when they do, they do.
The same forces apply to other Monkeys. The Wood Monkey of 1944 may make heavy weather of this as may the Water Monkey of 1992. But the Monkey’s detachment is a strength (you give truly impartial advice) as well as a weakness – you may hold back sometimes when you need to pitch in. Gangs are not your thing. You’re charming, not gregarious.
This last (1992) Monkey is one of the leaders of 2014. The world may be sleepwalking into disaster. Along with the Metal Horse of 1990 and the Metal Sheep of 1991 you may be called to bring change. This is unlikely to be easy; it may indeed prove to be a life’s work. At this point in the world’s history we need perhaps to oppose the forces of selfishness and myopia but not get lost in opposition, while taking responsibility for the chaos we have allowed to build around us. You’re in the hot seat. If you rise to it, you may save the world. Rather you than me.
Health: care with skin, lungs & over-commitment. Metal Monkey (1980) most vulnerable.
Money: more a year of investment.
Relationship: best for women and certain gay males.
Feng Shui: top up Metal at geng (West1 247½° to 262½°) or tsun (277½°-292½°). Metal is subsidiary (ie Stem) Wealth.
Readers’ Digest Version: turbulent but extraordinarily promising.