The Wheel

Even though the Monkey is the year breaker, I think 2022 might be most challenging for the Rat who is coming down from a prolonged peak of power, strength and stamina. Why does it have to be right when you were hoping to dominate your current situation most?

This is why timing is important. Unless you understand that last year was for completion, and this year is for growth, you might be disappointed. You’ll need to depend on yourself more this year because the kind of support you had may no longer be available as consistently. There are many others looking for the same resources that you are looking for but they are not the kind of competitors you are accustomed to encounter.

Much of what the Rat experiences this year will be the outcome of what they’ve learned about power balance in relationship. How do you manage when you have the whip hand? Because you’ve had it for awhile now. You may have been called cold and sometimes maybe you are. People feel jealous of your comfort with discomfort, both theirs and yours. To you this is where you live. Consider these ideas if you want change. If the Rat is in your day pillar, this might apply to you and your current partner, maybe the feeling is mutual. Try learning their language before looking for someone new. If you need to leave, do it clean and in the open.

The Rat is the only sign to whom I will say: go with the Water Tiger’s flow. The Rat generally enjoys learning and transferring their esoteric knowledge. In 2022, that may be the best way to focus your energy. Start in February if possible. The work you’ve been consistently nurturing during these last three difficult years will become known more widely in 2022. Your work is out there and you can make money from it. Ride what you’ve already accomplished. Write and teach. Enjoy the success you can have from these endeavors. This is the part of 2022 that will be easy.

In 2022, what’s hard is Rats may feel used, used up, especially in February, March, June and July. What might be hard is having the warm relationship you crave without seeing it as a job, i.e. something you put up with for its other compensations. You might be fresh out of ideas about your next iteration. You’re at a point of completion and you know it’s time for something new, but what?

If it’s too hard to let go of the idea of being “the one” in your field for now, I think you can to trust that whatever you just gave birth to is going to be enough to sustain your momentum until you figure your next project. Let the year reveal it to you. It will require some long term commitment.

Water doesn’t have a regular form. Its shapes are endless and it is always shifting and moving. Maybe this is why the Rat is comfortable with the abstract. In a way Water is the most simple element, and yet, a snowflake can be quite complex. Try to hold onto Water and it will slip away. You can influence it, but you can’t imprint it. Like the Rat, Water wants to wash things away to make way for the new beginnings. Floods can devastate but can also return the land to fertility. A Rat can make these kind of choices too. Wait for the new pattern to reveal itself.

It’s a Rat’s vocation to give in 2022, but you might feel like that’s a bad idea because you don’t have as much support as you’d like. If relationship is your goal, do give even if you feel it weakens you. This might also sound contradictory, but make it your mission to seek opposition. Catch up with “opponents”. Find out what they are working on. This is where you will get ideas. Question everything you are sure is true. Steer clear of mining your own content and presenting it as new.

In case you receive difficult feedback about the credit you’ve taken for ideas and innovations you’ve presented, hopefully you have acknowledged your sources. If not, there are some embarrassing things that may surface publicly. If that should happen, take it as a reminder that it’s your approach to relationships that needs attention. If ideas about intellectual property and plagiarism emerge, ask yourself why. Are you cherry picking someone else’s work? Or is someone cherry picking yours? Is there such a thing as an original idea?

The Rat’s Water is both a Monkey’s tool and a Tiger’s support, so you’ll want to be careful of inadvertently being in drawn into their juvenile disputes in February and August. Steer clear of ideas about who is right and facilitate communication instead, but don’t get caught up in talk at the cost of action. As is my advice for all this year, cultivate flexibility. For a Rat, this might mean seeking a relationship with Fire as opposed to, you know, trying to put it out. If you’re caught between Tiger and Monkey, Fire is the way to go. Turn on the warmth. Trust yourself to act spontaneously. Practice that. Your turn at the top of the wheel is over for now so it’s time to change your strategy regularly.

I’m not sure there could ever be enough recognition for a Rat and I get it. There’s so much you do with out anyone asking or even noticing. There’s always that conflict between you wanting to touch others with your work, but also being unwilling or unable to be touched back. If this is true for you, consider that this has to do with your relationship to Fire. I want you to try being vulnerable to Fire in 2022. I know you can think of a million things that could go wrong, but that is true at any moment in time. You have the flexibility to make it work. Making the choice to be open to Fire could be as simple as taking on some realistic optimism and encouraging it in others. If you can learn that skill this year, I think it will save you substantial heartache in 2023.

After the first half of the year, it may be more difficult to express yourself. With the Pig in a more authoritative position than you, your normally strategic ways of communication may be too slow or go unheard. Pay more attention to the timing of your words and what you mean to accomplish with them. Maybe being right all the time is not always helpful. Predicting disaster is the low hanging fruit these days. Clash yourself by predicting happy events too.

If you want to continue to be recognized for your intentions as a helper, avoid raining on other people’s parades. If there’s anything to celebrate, let it happen. When does that future come where you say you will celebrate? Keep offering advice about caution, that is, caution as a strategy as opposed to “not doing”.

Most importantly, 2022 provides a big window opportunity to get in touch with children, parents and any estranged family members. Go with that flow, even in March when it will tend to be more fraught. 2023 will bring events and work to do in the context of family. If there are apologies to be made, or relationships to revive, break the ice now. In know you’ll be glad you did.

Amulet: Pig
Rather than thinking of an amulet as something to use, or something to protect you, cultivate the idea of a partnership with the energy of the Pig. Become versatile. Rise to the occasion. Transform yourself through spontaneity. Be seen and touched.

Summary: Bad behavior is learned through neglect. Good behavior is learned through example.

February: Take care with intellectual property, yours and others’.
March: Get in touch with family.
April: Draining.
June: Spontaneity and flexibility will make life smoother.
August: In case of conflict, careful of taking on more than you can handle alone.
September: Frustration with partnership may bring uncomfortable thoughts.
November: If it’s a creative bust, wait until next month.
December: Ending on a high note, but indiscretions of the year may be revealed.