Sheep 2013
Who is a Sheep?
Years: 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003.
Month*: July
Hour: 01:00 pm – 03:00 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 Sheep?
Idealistic, yin earth, not the top getter-onner, the 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. On the other side of the fence the grass is not greener; it’s actually brown on both sides. The balanced Sheep though, 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 Sheep Bruce Willis, his ex Demi Moore and her ex (and Bruce’s fishing buddy) Ashton Kutcher have come to, whereby they stay friends and the children avoid becoming conflicted is not usual, either in Hollywood or the world at large, but it is typical Sheep behaviour.
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 of course illustrates a psychological truth about the Sheep: the risk-taking they shy away from is exactly what attracts them most. Also, many a desirable partner has, on the rebound from a Horse, found a life-long proposition in the Sheep.
Placed as the Sheep is between the Horse and the Monkey in the Chinese Zodiac, the Sheep understands also the trickiness of the Monkey. There is generally a certain wariness between them but this unorthodox team is capable of magic.
The Sheep also forms a natural affiliation with the Pig and the Rabbit. This is 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 Pig who is inherently versatile takes up the slack of whatever jobs there are to perform. The Sheep makes things safe. She will have ensured for instance that there are no mutually sworn enemies on the guest list. The typical Sheep is an ideal social secretary as well as a master resolver of conflict. Psycho-therapy is among the appropriate career paths.
The Sheep is passionate, representing the yin or feminine side of sexuality, but whether male or female, the Sheep is more seducer than chatter up.
Perhaps most interestingly, the Sheep forms a 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 unique gifts become essential. She can draw flexibility from the Dog, humility from the Dragon and cheerful co-operation from the autocratic Ox. Above all she ensures peace among them. Even if all she does 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.
Sheep 2013:
Stars include: Sky Dog, Yik Ma, Bao Wei Conflict.
At some sort of vague odds with the Snake, you appear about to flop through the year like a floppy thing. The Snake’s yin Fire is not enough to power you but it’s enough to push you into a corner. If that’s where you want to be. In 2013 you can come out of the naughty chair.
Truth is, like many directly affected by the Fire of the Snake, you might actually be jealous of the expressive, the extroverted and the magnetic people around you. There are a number of things you can do with that realisation: sulk or step up are the obvious ones. You are a good-hearted honest team player, a safe pair of hands and it’s about time that was recognised, isn’t it? But what if it never is?
The answer is that, regardless of recognition, your job is to pick up the stragglers. The Sheep is the beast of the Bhodisattva Vow. You let the back markers in before the gate closes. And bless you for it. No one is excluded by the Sheep.
As a rule you’re not impulsive. Trust that. The last couple of years may have been demanding, You may feel unfairly treated. You certainly have a story. The thing is that so do the other protagonists and some of them are defenceless and in need of your help. Some of them matter to you a great deal and you may have been ignoring them, You didn’t give the order, so it isn’t your fault. That doesn’t mean that these people you care about aren’t hurting.
You’re a better RSM than C-in-C. You’ve grown used to accepting orders. This year you’re asked to show initiative. Even that’s a bit of a contradiction in terms, isn’t it? There are no orders on the way. This year you have to decide what you want. And live with it. You will have no one else either to credit or blame. How uncomfortable is that?
Your emotions are usually kept in check which doesn’t mean you aren’t run by them but you don’t much want to own up to it. The Year of the Snake in the Grass concerns itself with issues of truth and honesty. In your case this is to do with emotional truth and the preparedness to own your own. As far as you have been concerned if you toed the line everything worked out. That’s called the Nuremberg Defence by the way and it’s not got a great track record.
The Sheep is composed of Earth Wood and Fire. Too much Fire pushes you into a corner, hardens you like a baked lump of clay. Just enough gets you thinking: has it worked for you to delegate your decisions?
Health: care of skin and the fluids of the body.
Money: more likely to end the year down than up. Don’t gamble whatever you do.
Relationship: better for rams than ewes.
Feng Shui: seek due South.
Readers’ Digest Version: remember who you are and make it count.
Richard Ashworth©2012