The Ox
Who is an Ox?
Years: 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009.
Month*: January
Hour: 01.00-03.00am
* 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 an Ox?
The distinctive quality of the Ox is insistence, not persistence because the Ox’s yin Earth makes for a certain fragility, more of a curtain than a rampart. The Ox is in many ways, the most sensitive year animal. This is often expressed in what looks like obstinacy but is better understood as puzzlement at being disagreed with. In discourse you may find that an Ox has firm principles that on examination are not principles at all but more like prejudices or assumptions. They are often nonetheless firm as well as correct for all that. As a rule, don’t expect flexibility of mind from an Ox; they know what they know and are often not keen to venture beyond.
The Ox’s gifts are very often practical rather than intellectual. The intellectually gifted Ox is extraordinarily powerful. Because of her position between the Rat and the Tiger, the Ox can sometimes vacillate between a fierceness that does not suit her and a Rat-like charm that she may not be able to sustain.
With her allies the Snake and the Rooster, she forms a team which is of the metal element. That is to say that the alliance is linear, judgemental and competitive. Where the ground rules are clear, this is an unstoppable combination. These three make a great legal team with the Rooster charming the jury, the Snake unearthing information that no one else could find and the Ox sticking to the point. When the rules are unclear however, the metal alliance can falter. Then the Ox can become judgemental in a more covert sort of way, being less liable to argue than to judge silently. Without the Snake and the Rooster, the Ox is more barrack room lawyer than barrister.
Working in such a team, the metal, that is the qualities of logic, reason and competition, is less important than consistency. In dealing with the Ox, it is important to remember not only that the metal is there but also that the Ox may deny this fact even to herself.
The hour of the Ox (01-03.00) is the time that the worlds of spirit and flesh are closest. She has a deep spiritual agenda. The gifts of mediumship and divination are essentially Ox gifts.
The Ox may be attached to ancestral dogma. Fundamentalism of all sorts – political and social as well as religious – is a common trait. She is not always good at questioning tradition or second-hand wisdom that has come down on good authority. She will often quote great men not because their words are wise but because they are great.
With the Dragon, Dog and Sheep, the Ox forms the Literary Alliance. Some call this confluence the Four Earths and think of it as negative. The fact is that it is a demanding combination. If the Dragon is missing for instance, many think of it as poisonous but to see this as an assembly of the vehicles of expression without anything new to say is probably more like it. The coincidence of these animals is a challenge to a strong ba zi and can be the ruin of a weak one.
Barack Obama may currently be the world’s most famous Ox and a good example. He actually has a Sheep in his month pillar. This makes for a home-loving and secure man. This is heightened by his day stem (the character that rules the day he was born) which has a special affinity both with the Ox and the Sheep. This like so many Oxen, is a man who loves his babies.
The challenge to Obama in 2011 is to make up for the missing Dog. The Rabbit is the secret friend of the Dog and will tend to make this an easier process than otherwise. Without the Dog. the Ox and Sheep squabble over detail. The Dog stands for completion. Obama must see the job through. I’d suggest to Barack that he wears a Dog amulet by the way.
The Ox has a love-hate relationship with the irritatingly spontaneous and extrovert Horse to whom she can not help nonetheless being drawn. Nor is she that keen on the Rabbit who can help herself to the Ox’s fresh vegetables or the Tiger who somehow often manages to exploit her.
The Ox: Outlook for 2011
The Ox and the Rabbit are both among the less assertive characters of the Chinese Zodiac. However the demands, especially social that the Rabbit makes upon you are quite insistent. This will be proportionate; calls will not come as an onslaught, there are unlikely to be queues leading from your front door around the block but you will most certainly be in demand, especially if you are a male Ox.
At times you may feel provoked. Younger Oxen may find themselves in actual physical confrontation. Those with anger-management issues should seek counselling now as never before and those with fire Animals also present in their ba zi should ensure their blood pressure remains within the normal range.
The Ox is the seeker after truth which means that deceit is especially corrosive for you. This is (at least politically) a year of subterfuge which may tend to make your blood boil (see above). If you have not learned the lessons of 2009 when your influence peaked, you may be heading for serious frustration. People will only follow you if you make their agendas your priority; manipulation won’t work. This year you may feel attacked but if you pay close attention, you’ll know that you brought any opposition upon yourself. To an impartial observer it may well seem that it is actually you that is doing the attacking. The great thing about this realisation is that it offers you opportunities to mend fences and step forward. Learn to apologise.
You may have under-delivered and over-promised to date; if so, right now is the time to make up for it. Don’t point fingers. We all live in halls of mirrors and through the prism of the tao it becomes clear that all reproach is self-reproach. We attack what we see in ourselves and least like. Your respect for the truth must be expressed in self-examination. If you find yourself throwing stones from the door of the greenhouse you live in, you may need to take time out. In 2010 you may have been caught up in actions or motives that shame you; you know better than this. Forgive yourself, accept yourself. The only way through is through. Know your weakness thoroughly before you attempt to be strong.
This is a year in which you make considerable but subtle progress. Give no one a fresh excuse to condemn you. You may need time alone to plan and get things into perspective; early in the year may suit you best. As Richard Bach said, we teach best that which we most need to learn. Seek out Rats and involve yourself in their concerns. Seeds sown now bear most fruit in 2012.