What happens when Wood and Metal get together? This is what we could learn this month.
We might summarize the conflict of 木 Wood and 金 Metal as the interplay of elements. For the Wood, the Metal provides an unforgettable intrusive experience, literally leaving a scar. The Metal is offended by the space the Wood demands, as well as its expression (words or 火 Fire).
Metal finds the words of Wood offensive and wants to negate them. Wood finds the words of Metal (that is, 水 Water) make it want to take up more space. Both Wood and Metal are shorthand ways of describing process or movement. Wood expands, Metal contracts.
This conflict dynamic between Wood and Metal can be understood as an elemental cycle where the missing element is Earth. So maybe what is missing is loyalty, reliability, and stillness.
The Sheep is yin Earth technically, but it is the last month of the season of Fire. After Fire season, Metal season comes. The missing link is Earth again. The contrast between Sheep month and Monkey month feels like going down a step that is slightly disporportionate with the others in the staircase. It startles the nervous system.
There are four pillars that embody this Wood/Metal conflict energy: The Wood Monkey, Wood Rooster, Metal Tiger, and Metal Rabbit. If you read bazi, you know that wherever this pillar appears there is some inherent conflict in that part of the person’s life. Some people seem to “suffer” from the conflict while others will surprise you with creativity and transformations.
| yang Wood | yin Wood | yang Metal | yin Metal | |||
| 甲 | 乙 | 庚 | 辛 | |||
| 申 | 酉 | 寅 | 卯 | |||
| Monkey | Rooster | Tiger | Rabbit |
Each of these pillars has an energetic signature so to speak. For example, the Wood Monkey is a decision maker. In the year pillar, it might indicate a person who was charged to take care of a family at a young age. It’s overwhelming and this may reinforce the Monkey’s tendency not to reveal their plans due to feeling like when they do, they get thwarted by responsibility.
The Wood Rooster has a similar experience, but they might be more prone to negotiating a better outcome than the Monkey would. The Rooster will want to handle things in a more subtle way, maybe even seeking religion or other ways of anchoring their ethics to practical matters.
The Metal Tiger is maybe the harshest one, but if you’re Metal sitting on Wood, it might feel like you have to be that way to survive. With the Metal Tiger it controls from the top down. The Wood Monkey is trying to control what heaven has given, the Metal Tiger is trying to control things on earth. These are just a few ways to think about these pillars.
In reading bazi, I like to always remember what these symbols are trying to say. For example, yes you could interpret yang Wood as a tree, and yang Metal (Monkey) as an axe. Wood and Metal clash, but when we see these characters together the first thing you might notice is how similar they are.
甲申
When you see this pillar, you know right from the start that discernment is needed; this person is going to need to be discerning. This is a theme of their life, but in the lens of yin/yang they might be very careful, or they might be very careless!
The Wood Monkey pillar is often the sign of an important decision that is pressing and I think we are all feeling that in August 2025. This pillar can also indicate a person who has to make important decisions.
For example, Harry Truman, who was the 33rd US President, authorized the use of the atomic bomb in 1945. He was born in a Wood Monkey year. He made the authorization in a Wood Rooster year, close to the start of a Wood Monkey month. His year pillar and month pillar match Giuliani’s and maybe this is a testament about how one person having too much power can lead them into doing things that they might avoid otherwise; things that they might profoundly regret.
This is a challenging year for the Wood Monkey because it’s a Wood Snake year, and the Monkey and Snake have a unique kind of relationship. Elon Musk has a Wood Monkey day pillar. As such a public figure we know quite a bit about his antics so he’s a good case study.
You see, Monkeys tend to have problems with third party relationships in a Snake year, and that’s Elon for sure. The 申 Monkey may or may not know about the third party. A Monkey might be the third party, but this is true for 巳 Snake and 寅 Tiger too. The so called Fire Penalty only exists in the context of relationships. That means it can be influenced by our behavior.
Monkey and Snake are Secret Friends, and they also carry each other’s breakup sign. This is sometimes called a Destruction in a bazi. It’s complicated.
The last Wood Monkey year was 2004, so 21 year olds like Millie Bobbie Brown* are impacted by the Snake this year, as well as 81 year olds like Rudy Giuliani.
b. May 28 1944 at 14:30
Earth
Fire
Water
Earth
Wood
Fire
In 2001, a Metal Snake year, Rudy Giuliani was the mayor of New York city and was thought to be a hero. That was his last year in office. The Snake is not kind to him as you can see if you look at his career history. Each time a Snake comes, he experiences endings.
His experience of the Snake is magnified by the Snake in his month pillar. Do you see how it combines from top to bottom with the year pillar? An interesting feature of this is that his output (Wood) can be transformed to his officer (Earth). Unless he is careful, his words and deeds can get him in trouble with authority. This might be more problematic for a Water day master than any other. I think when there are Earth signs in the stem or branch Rudy Giuliani gets some consequences and health issues too.
Mr. Giuliani kicked off the Year of the Wood Snake in the Tiger month with the Fire Penalty, which for him involves his money element.
He is a Water person, so his money and success element is Fire. In February 2025 he settled a lawsuit where I’m sure he lost a big chunk of change, but I’m thinking he didn’t lose as much as he could have even though he committed serious violations of ethics. Why? Probably because he is a strong Water guy.
His powerful day pillar of Water Dragon is the same as Putin’s year pillar, and it clashes top to bottom with Trump’s year pillar of Fire Dog. My take on Rudy is that when he fell in with the wrong “friends”, his career tanked. I don’t think Water is a helpful element for him. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2024. I think you can see the potential for this in his bazi.
While bazi is often calculated using solar timings, you might decide to use the lunar calendar instead. From that perspective, Rudy Giuliani was born in an intercalary lunar month. I picked up on this because this summer I have been learning Zi Wei Dou Shu, which is calculated with lunar timings. I haven’t done enough research yet to tell if there might be something significant about being born in an intercalary month.
If you are interested in a Zi Wei Dou Shu reading, I will be offering it as a service soon. Watch for an announcement here on the blog, or receive a notification in your email by subscribing to my Substack.
I wish you (and Rudy) well in this month where decisions are pressing in. Let your relationships guide your actions. Where do you want to be this winter? Who else will be there?
*Born in a Tiger month, Millie Bobbie Brown is experiencing the Fire Penalty this year too. Based on her life, I suspect Fire is a favorable element for her.
