The Dragon
Who is a Dragon?
Years: 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000.
Month*: April
Hour: 07.00 am – 09.00
* 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 Dragon?
The Dragon is yang earth, the most egotistical of the branches as well as being generally considered the most powerful. Putting aside conventional rules of animal compatibility, everyone is either fascinated by the Dragon or suspicious. Many are both.
Though charming and affable, like the Pig, the Horse and the Rooster, the Dragon suffers the self clash which makes him unsuited to working with his equals. 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, sometimes thinks the Dragon is a high maintenance prima donna. Even the Dragon’s 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. The steadfast Dog whose workings always lead to a logical answer detests 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.
The Chinese ideogram for thunder is a Dragon under a raincloud. Remember that 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. The character of the Dragon is like the awkward times before a storm breaks.
The Dragon does not naturally co-operate or easily share confidences. He will however grudgingly 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. These three may not mix socially however. 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 he feels like being. He can instantly magic up wealth and as rapidly squander it. Neither Horse nor Rooster are much help in this regard although a benevolent Rat and a diligent Monkey would be.
The Dragon and the Snake form the House of Magic. The Dragon is the Sorceror, the Snake his apprentice. So 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 all his carefully laid plans and go off-piste. In a Rabbit year he may have to defend himself but either is preferable to the Tiger year which will have found him settling into quicksand.
Note to Employers: A Dragon employee is the best there is if the task suits him. It had better suit him because he will do precisely what he feels like either way.
The Dragon: Outlook for 2011
The Dragon forms one of the Four Vaults or Four Earths of Chinese Astrology. This means that when an Ox, a Sheep and a Dog appear together the Dragon is not only creative and magical but becomes grounded, consistent and reliable.
The Tiger has little patience with the Dragon whom he may consider up himself. So in 2010 the Dragon may have felt exposed and without support and endured challenges that came close to felling him. But the Dragon always picks himself up. In the words of Primal Scream, the Dragon “gives out but doesn’t give up.”
The Tiger year was hard. The Rabbit year is different.
Traditionally the Dragon experiences loss of wealth at the appearance of the Rabbit and wealth is not just about money. It can mean any sort of asset. In Chinese metaphysics, the term choi means both money and wife, for instance. Not husband, wife. In 2010 the balance of your closest relationships may have been upset because of your neglect. If you had not got your attention out, you could even have lost them. This year you can re-choose. It’s a question of priority. What matters to you?
In the course of soul work I am often asked by clients what their purpose is. “If I knew my purpose, I’d run at it,” they say. We do know our purpose. It’s simply what we want. After we strip away what sounds good, what our peers might approve of, what’s sensible and what’s undemanding, it’s what’s left. We can feel it. What is it? If you are telling yourself the truth about it, it becomes achievable. 2011 is the year it comes about.
This year you are thrown onto your own resources. You may often feel alone. You aren’t. Solicit input from those who care about you and whose viewpoint is worth sharing, listen very carefully to their advice and follow it. This could be a very demanding year otherwise.
If you are clear of your objectives and follow them through single-mindedly, this could be the year you break through in all the ways that matter to you. It’s unlikely to be comfortable and you may experience despair on the way. You may in fact recently have been close to breakdown but breakdown as Ron Smothermon wrote, comes shortly before breakthrough. It may even come before breakfast.
Work on yourself this year, learning, growing and integrating are long overdue. Retreats and workshops are timely. You may find that this is the direction in which you will find not only progress and indeed the prospect of wealth but allies and partners of all sorts. The Dragon is proud and can be self-deceiving. In 2011 humility and truth are the order of the day. Your family are likely to be your greatest asset and support; do not squander them.