Who is an Ox?
Years: 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009.
Month*: January
Hour: 01.00-03.00am
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 an Ox?
The distinctive quality of the Ox is insistence, not persistence because the Ox’s yin Earth makes for a certain fragility, more of a curtain than a rampart. The Ox is in many ways, the most sensitive Zodiac Animal. This is often expressed in what looks like obstinacy but is better understood as puzzlement at being disagreed with. In discourse you may find that an Ox has firm principles that on examination are more like prejudices or assumptions. They are often nonetheless firm as well as correct for all that. As a rule, don’t expect flexibility of mind from an Ox; they know what they know and are often not keen to venture beyond. Never forget however how sensitive they are.
The Ox’s gifts are very often practical rather than intellectual. The intellectually gifted Ox is extraordinarily powerful. Because of her position between the Rat and the Tiger, the Ox can sometimes vacillate from a fierceness – that does not really suit her – to a Rat-like charm that she may not be able to sustain. Watch out for the Ox who you seem on first acquaintance to have known all your life but then becomes uncontactable. In certain contexts this is called “ghosting”
With her allies the Snake and the Rooster, she forms a team which is of the Metal element. That is to say that the alliance is linear, judgemental and competitive. Where the ground rules are clear, this is an unstoppable combination, not when they’re not. But these three make a great legal team with the Rooster charming the jury, the Snake unearthing information that no one else could find and the Ox sticking to the point. When the rules are unclear however, the Metal alliance can falter. Then the Ox can become judgemental in a more covert sort of way, being less liable to argue than to judge silently. Without the Snake and the Rooster, the Ox is more barrack room lawyer than barrister.
Working in such a team, Metal, that is the qualities of logic, reason and competition, is less important than consistency. In dealing with the Ox, it is important to remember not only that the Metal is there but also that the Ox may deny this fact even to herself.
The hour of the Ox (01-03.00) is when the worlds of spirit and flesh are closest. She has a deep spiritual agenda. The gifts of mediumship and divination are essentially Ox gifts. He is above all extraordinarily sensitive.
He may nonetheless be attached to ancestral dogma. Fundamentalism of all sorts – political and social as well as religious – is a common trait. She is not always good at questioning tradition or second-hand wisdom that has come down on good authority. So she will often quote great men not because their words are wise but because they are great. Bob Dylan’s advice “Don’t follow leaders and watch your parking meters” goes over the head of the immature Ox but is the credo of the life-wisened one.
With the Dragon, Dog and Sheep, the Ox forms the Literary Alliance. Some call this confluence the Four Earths and think of it as negative. The fact is that it is a demanding combination. If the Dragon is missing from it, for instance, many think of the alliance as poisonous but to see this as an assembly of the vehicles of expression without anything new to say is probably more like it. The coincidence of these four animals in time and space is a challenge to a strong ba zi and can be the ruin of a weak one.
Barack Obama may be the world’s most famous Ox and a good example. He actually has a Sheep in his month pillar. This makes for a home-loving and secure man. This is heightened by his day stem (the character that rules the day he was born) which has a special affinity both with the Ox and the Sheep. This like so many Oxen, is a man who loves his babies. Both UK Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn – reluctant to let go of influence in a Rat Year as you might expect – and Presidential contender Elizabeth Warren are Oxen also. Watch this space. Ox is the Wizard behind the curtain this year.
The challenge to the Ox in 2020 is to topple the toxic Fire Dog. Three of the last four American Presidents (Clinton, W. Bush, Trump) have been Fire Dogs born 1946. The Fire Dog is past his peak now; it’s time to make way. The current chaotic world order may represent this shift of power.
Fire Dogs btw may be best suited to light entertainment as David Gilmour, Roy Wood and John Prine among many others, demonstrate. It may be that the above presidents took an important wrong turn.
The Ox has a love-hate relationship with the irritatingly spontaneous and extrovert Horse to whom she can not help nonetheless being drawn. Nor is she that keen on the Rabbit who can help herself to the Ox’s fresh vegetables or the Tiger who somehow often manages to exploit her.
For the Ox however, there is a foreshadowing right now in the Ox month of this Pig/Rat handover; real power beckons. Don’t waste it.
Richard Ashworth© 2020
www.imperialfengshui.info
The Ox in 2020
It’s the Rat year and you rule. You even have a regal quality. You have followers and you are meant to serve the people. Your job, if you choose to accept it, is to find the remedies and solutions others are seeking. Team up. There’s another leader who will empower you to complete their project.
Your increased authority is due to a boost from the work of others. Listen to the observant Rat if you want to know what they think of you. You may be out of touch with that. Your thoughtful withdrawal could be interpreted as snobbery. Remember this in January.
2020 will be a lucky but demanding year requiring a faster pace than is your wont. Don’t worry. You will have enough time to accomplish everything. As the Emergency Warning Broadcast System says: This is only a test. Don’t hurt yourself (or others) in the rush to get back to your quiet place. Set an example for friends Snake and Rooster who will also be feeling impatient with the noise this year. Give blood or have teeth cleaned to decrease the chance of physical harm.
If there’s justice to be dealt check in with colleagues for a balance to your strictness. As a guide to action, consider the outcome you want to experience in 2022.
Oxen are not known for taking the initiative. This is the year to do it willingly if you want advancement. Expect a breakthrough with that in September. Be careful not to block your own success and creativity or that of your partner. It’s often your way to take small measures to slow things down. This year your job is to remove them. Both Ox and Rat may experience fertility issues in the Rat and Ox years. Be gentle with yourself and your partner.
Your best advice is inadvertent and comes from your common sense, not from your position of authority. If attention passes you over in favor of those who are flashier and faster, it doesn’t matter. For better or worse you’re in charge for the next two years. You are the influencer. When you are at your best, your consistency brings relief in the midst of chaos. We all know 1949 Earth Ox Elizabeth Warren is going to keep plowing the same field regardless of the outcome of the presidential race. She is making a difference in American politics. No acknowledgment or endorsement is needed to make that true.
Those born in the second fortnight of the Ox month can expect an especially lucky year. Those birthdays could be as early January 19th or as late as the first week of February so ask if you’re curious. Here are the days where you can get away with almost anything:
February 27 2020
April 27 2020
June 26 2020
August 25 2020
October 24 2020
Use them wisely. With great power comes great responsibility.
All Oxen are in a for a powerful year but the Wood Ox is special. They can expect to receive more authority as a result of conforming to certain standards and alliances. Make it temporary if it’s not a good fit.