Monkey 2012

Who is a Monkey?

Years: 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004.
Month*: August
Hour: 15.00-17.00
* 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.

The Monkey: Outlook for 2012

Nobody ever told you to lighten up. The Monkey is the sign of the joker, the trickster. The Monkey is naughty, cheeky, impish. Funny how these apparently negative words carry such approval. We all like the person who can stay cheerful. There is in point of fact, pretty much nothing to which the most appropriate response is not a smile and the Monkey knows it.

The Monkey’s weakness however is a reluctance to become involved. The most extreme of these is the Metal Monkey of 1980. If your good cheer is a function of withdrawal this is a year that will change you. For some people it is only possible to be frivolous while they remain uninvested. This year you are offered long term opportunities that will change your life. Take it or leave it but know that it’s your choice either way. There are no ironies in real life.

Many Monkeys are financially aware. Not necessarily astute. The traditional time for financial crises is the first week in August when the optimistic Fire of the Sheep, the last summer month, gives way to the reflective Metal of the Monkey. The riots took up that slack this year. Rebellion is a central Monkey characteristic not shrewdness. This year, if you stay open, you become part of a team which offers you wise reflection on your every choice before you leap. There are few greater gifts in life.

The Dragon is the Monkey’s team mate, roomie and homie but the Dragon is also the bringer of sudden change and as you are in the team, this is going to include you. You are involved deeply whether you thought so or not. This year you are likely to be faced with the opportunity to commit. It’s your decision but my advice is to take it. You may be terrified of the end to your freedom but you may never have tasted the true freedom that comes with mature cooperation. It may be your nature to dread even asking for directions but you may be being offered a co-pilot who can map read while you drive. Your relationship with the Dragon is going to be focused and personal with a measurable outcome.

This is not just about sexual politics. At work you will be offered preferment that tends to make you even more vulnerable to the decisions of others. Seek Rats to work with if there is a choice. If you employ Snakes let them know you will take them at their word.

Money probably flows out more than in this year but especially in April and May, there are big opportunities for long term prosperity that may not pay off for some time.

Your health will be generally sound. The Monkey’s weaknesses are to do with skin and breathing. Support yourself with sound lifestyle choices.