The Sheep in the Year of the Water Rabbit 2023

Sheep Pic by @elliespinelli

Who is a Sheep?

Years:         1943, 55, 67, 79, 91, 2003, 2015.
Month*:      July
Hour:          13.00-15.00

Day: you’ll need a Chinese Calendar.

* Caution: the start of the Chinese month can be as early as the 4th & as late as the 9th, depending on the year. We can let you know this too.

What is a Sheep?
Idealistic, yin Earth, not the top getter-onner with others, the balanced 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. For the more balanced one, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Noel Gallagher, however, leveraging affability for fame and fortune is second nature. Such Sheep can not stand to be out of the zeitgeist. Why else would the Stones be touring into their 80’s?

The balanced Sheep, 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 Wood Sheep Bruce Willis, his ex Demi Moore and her ex (and Bruce’s fishing buddy) Ashton Kutcher came to, whereby they stayed friends and the children avoided becoming conflicted is not usual, either in Hollywood or the world at large but it is archetypical Sheep behaviour. They can all change partners as often as a Jane Austen cotillion but Bruce gets to see his kids.

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 illustrates a psychological truth: the risk-taking the Sheep shies away from is exactly what attracts them most. Many a desirable partner has rebounded from a Horse only to find a life-long proposition in the Sheep. Read Marianne Faithfull’s revealing autobiography if you want to see how this applied to the afore-mentioned Rolling Stones. Don’t try this at home, kids.

Placed as the Sheep is before the Monkey in the Chinese Zodiac, they also understand monkey business. There is generally a certain wariness between these two as a team: they are unorthodox but magical.

The Sheep also forms a natural affiliation with the Pig and the Rabbit; 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 inherently versatile Pig takes up the slack of whatever jobs there are to perform. The Sheep’s part is to make things secure. She will have ensured for instance that there are no sworn enemies on the guest list. Sheep is an ideal social secretary as well as a resolver of conflict. Psycho-therapy is among appropriate career paths. And of course this gift is one that can be abused.

The Sheep is passionate, representing the yin or feminine side of sexuality and so whether male or female, the Sheep is more seducer than chatter up. 1967 Sheep Michael Gove’s appeal is surely a subtle one; he clearly fits several of the Sheep patterns. But a seducer? Discuss.

Perhaps most interestingly, the Sheep can form a formidable 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 value becomes obvious. She can draw flexibility from the Dog, humility from the Dragon and cheerful co-operation from the autocratic Ox. Above all he ensures peace among them. Even if all they do 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. If George was the Sheep aspect of the Beatles, Lennon and Starr the Dragons who was the Ox keeping everyone track? George Martin. And perhaps the charge that Paul was a natural solo is accurate; he’s a Horse after all.

A final word: the dark side of the Sheep is to leverage gregariousness for power. Brazilian “strongman” Jair Bolsonaro and cynical media mogul Rupert Murdoch don’t fit the pattern of the easygoing Sheep at all. But they are the Sheep that needs the herd to be on their side. They have to belong; sometimes even when that involves falsity and betrayal. Donald Trump was born on a Sheep day, making his deepest quality the need for approval. This is not only the Sheep’s nature but often their weakness. In this sense they are not so much “strongmen” but weaklings because their only strength is in the endorsement of the herd. Populism is so much easier than conviction.

Still included: Sheep in 2023

You may occasionally feel accident-prone this year possibly because you’re desperate. Truth is that there is always enough time. Yeung Yan represents the errors we make and risks we may take when we’re in a hurry. It may be that your timing is poor. One quality of the Rabbit is constant movement, so travel or re-location is likely this year – mostly in search of belonging, if you drill down into your priorities. Pay heed to signs like delay or inconvenience which may indicate you’re too early or too late.

Sometimes those priorities, skewed or lacking, bend you out of shape. This is one of those years. There’s a feeling you may associate with spring time, a feeling of hope you don’t always trust, which overlays the year. Dare to be hopeful. Making new friends is certain – Rabbit and Sheep are at ease together – fresh (or refreshed) relationship is on the cards too. Friends, as the song goes, can be lovers too. Friendship is a pretty healthy beginning. Timing is crucial.

However advanced in age you may be, yours is an initiate’s path. Which can often be misunderstood. Expect on your travels the friction that comes from misunderstanding and make it welcome. Puzzlement is not the same as criticism.

Younger female Sheep may see fertility boosted; there may be operations for others. Yeung Yan appears several times this year: its meanings include the giving of birth for a fertile woman, mishaps for many of the rest of us. The traditional Chinese preventative advice is to give blood and to cut your nails and hair regularly. Best not travel with Snakes.

You may experience some kind of break-up during October, probably around the 18^th. Be ready. You can probably identify the subject now though this split may be at work or play, social, professional or domestic. And it will release a great deal of energy. So bring it on; despite the tugs of the Tiger Year you’ve been stuck a while.

Creativity may have become uncomfortable. Now you’re awash, tap into it right away as you don’t know when it will be gone. If an idea comes to you, pursue or at least note it when it comes because you may not remember it later. And try not to run from your feelings, they may seem overpowering but they won’t kill you and once you’re through, you’re through.

A break-up leaves a space. And space is what we need to make use of opportunity.

Money is no problem either to manage or create this year particularly early on when the Fire is present in your Hidden Stems. And despite it all, relationships flourish, especially in July and November.

Lesson: Detach especially from easy popularity.

Best Months: March, July, November

Worst Months: January, December, October.

Theme: Tack into wind, time it right.

Hexagram: 8 Hsiao Chu Getting smaller ducks in a row.

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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