The Dragon in the Year of the Water Rabbit 2023

Dragon Pic by @elliespinelli

Who is a Dragon?

Years: 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012.
Month*: April
Hour: 07.00 am – 09.00

Day: you’ll need a Chinese Calendar.

* Caution: the start of Chinese months can be as early as the 4th & as late as the 9th, depending on the year.

What is a Dragon?
The Dragon is yang earth, the most egotistical of the branches as well as perhaps the most powerful. Putting aside conventional rules of animal compatibility, many of us are either fascinated by the Dragon or suspicious. Or both. Shameless mischief-maker Vladimir Putin and Trump tribute act Boris Johnson are Dragons. So however is Marianne Williamson, whose Presidential ambitions may be over but whose influence continues to grow. It was she who wrote Nelson Mandela’s mantra:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are weak. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.”

These are powerful people. Be aware however that the Dragon is not always issued with a moral compass. He or she may take a lifetime locating it. Indeed they may have spent lifetimes already.

The Dragon is just as charming and affable as (s)he feels like being at any given time, but like the Pig, the Horse and the Rooster, they suffer the self clash which makes them unsuited to working with their peers. Dragons often live alone and enjoy their own company. Sometimes they claim to even when they don’t. Often what he experiences as joy is a subtle experience that others find puzzling. The Horse for instance who likes to dance on tables, may consider the Dragon a high maintenance prima donna. Even his ally the Monkey, contrasts his own goonish delights with the impassive Dragon and can make no sense of it.

And yet the Dragon delivers. Sometimes awkward and gauche, the Dragon can appear incompetent and yet still win. Steadfast Dogs whose workings lead to a logical answer detest this about the Dragon and may sabotage him. Put simply the Dog thinks the Dragon goes on a bit. The Ox and the Sheep share something of this attitude but are more passive about it. If you are a Dragon, know this: you are likely to induce jealousy. However gracious you are, they know the level of your self-esteem.

The Chinese ideogram for thunder is a Dragon under a raincloud. And all over the world rainclouds speak of plenty; drenched is good if you’re looking for growth. The Dragon month is April, the time of sudden change. Dragon times are the tense moments before a storm breaks.

The Dragon does not naturally co-operate or share confidences. He will however work with those he considers his inferiors as long as they are very clear about the pecking order. This is the central weakness of the unbalanced Dragon. King Lear was a Dragon, where Othello may have been a Tiger and Hamlet probably a Snake.

The Dragon’s traditional partners are the hands-on Monkey and the plotting Rat although these three may not mix socially. They need a task to cooperate upon, otherwise they find it hard to connect. Socially the Dragon will seek out the Rooster and the Horse both of whom can act as pr or spokesperson. Alone or teamed-up, the Dragon is just as creative as she wants to be. He can magic up wealth and as rapidly squander it. Neither Horse nor Rooster are much help to them in this regard although a benevolent Rat and a diligent Monkey can be.

Dragon and the Snake form the House of Magic#. Dragon is the Sorceror, the Snake their apprentice. Merlin was a Dragon and his story illustrates the other central weakness of the Dragon: that he can be beguiled by the glamour of the Rooster. This coupling takes the Dragon off track. In a Rooster year the Dragon may forget carefully laid plans and go off-piste, tempted – typically – by wealth or sex. In a Pig year they may have to re-think their approach to life ready for the boom times of the Rat year that follows. In an Ox Year there are break-ups, in this Tiger Year confrontation unless they think well ahead..

Note to Employers: A Dragon employee is the best there is if the task suits them. It had better suit them because they will do precisely what they feel like either way.

Final Note: As I said the typical Dragon has to seek her own moral bearings. Which means that unbalanced Dragons are the worst: take predators Philip Green, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein. Who’d have thought these three shared ba zi charts?!? Or that they could justify the unjustifiable for so long? Of course as these guys show, the Dragon has the luck of the Devil – technically this is called fiu gong and calls for a preventative calculation.

Containment: The Dragon in 2023

Well this year is going to prove a good deal easier from most standpoints than last. The Dragon is said to draw jealousy and in the Tiger Year you will probably have done plenty of that. If it wasn’t painful you are probably an extremely advanced soul. If it was and nobody knew, you’re probably (1964 Dragon) Boris Johnson.

It’s that ego thing; the Dragon is said to suffer the “Self Clash” which means they don’t play well among themselves. Perhaps any teachers out there could confirm that about school years of kids born in say 2012?

Dragons can transform things in a moment and the smart Dragon knows that their true calling is healing and teaching and that both pursuits involve sublimating the ego to the student or patient. No process is ever too far advanced to transform. Which is just as well because you contain such conflicting impulses, some you have been containing a very long time.

And your inclination to introspect does not help. In 2023 your attention needs to be out.

Chinese tradition runs that the Dragon incurs losses when he encounters the Rabbit which would of course be set to take place all year but be at its height during the Dragon Month of April. This prognosis is really just an extension of their elemental relationship: Yin Wood feeds upon Yang Earth. You can think of this as being like a plant growing at the expense of the underlying earth or the Rabbit digging their burrow in the ground. In Chinese metaphysics each Animal has a distinctive aggression or if you like, will to live. And indeed this “clash” relationship (technically kun-choi) represents an appropriate man-woman relationship. As Rabbit is challenge to Dragon so man is challenge to woman. For some Dragons it will feel like you’re being ripped off. For others it may feel more like being in love. If you’re following this, it further implies that neither Dragon women nor gay Dragon men will lack for company this year. That aspect is related to the Hong Yim Star which hovers over them all year.

This last is of course is a bit of a generalisation but following the above through, expect Rabbits to win in the Earth months (January, April, July and October) and if there are losers – in love, commerce, war or politics – their ba zi is likely to feature Dragon. Someone might like to pass that on to 1952 Dragon Vladimir Putin who will claim a pyrrhic victory come November.

Because loss is a point of view. Nature abhors a vacuum; there is no such thing as nothingness. Everything that appears lost is replaced by something else. And if during these intermittent reversals you become anxious, remember that the Dragon is the most powerful of the Zodiac by most accounts. Your power lies in your ability to transform. Transformation is the process by which that which has always been one way has always been another. If that’s too theoretical watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Three to see transformation played out in front of you.

The Dragon can transform any situation any time. You ought by now to know that about yourself if only by counting the number of times you’ve pulled defeat from the jaws of victory. And you’ll remember that your profound ability to sulk didn’t help.

To do it to order the other way round you need to approach it like this:

Feel what you feel. Most defeats are expressed in a feeling and truth is that’s the part you don’t want. Breathe into it, feel it, make no attempt to heal it, understand it, change it or define. And let it go.
Remind yourself what you actually want. And let that go too.

It may sound bonkers but then so much of what I’m putting down in words here does. Take it or leave it. And here’s the thing: if you can discipline yourself to transform when necessary, this year will not be a year of loss but of boundless gain.

Lesson: Trust

Best Months: August, September, December.

Worst Months: March, April, October.

Theme: Expanding

Hexagram: 47 Kun Depression.

Health: = Wealth: ☺ Relationship: ☺

This forecast is prepared by comparing your own Chinese year Animal with the Water Rabbit of 2023. 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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