In this year of seeking acceptance and endorsement, or suffering from the lack of it, the idea or portrayal of obsessive love will be widely used as an excuse for harmful behavior. Watch for intentions that are not as sincere, pure, or straightforward as they are purported to be.

Down the Rabbit Hole

If you’re familiar with the song Little Bunny Foo Foo, maybe you’ve read the title of this post and thought I’ve made a typo, but no. I meant to write fou fou, because frankly, this year is going to be/already is crazy. This song has been stuck in my head since I started writing the Annual Animal Fortunes back in November. At first it was annoying, but then, because I find so much meaning in the strange intersections of life I asked myself, why? Why is this song so persistent right now?

As the lyrics say, Little Bunny Fou Fou is certainly showing some uncharacteristic behavior, e.g. scooping up the field mice and bopping them on their heads. Maybe you can already see where this is going. It seems that Little Bunny Fou Fou is a song about the Ingratitude Penalty – 2023 edition.

What has made this Rabbit go mad? I want to talk about March Hares marching in the streets, madness and mayhem. Okay maybe I’m being overly dramatic with mayhem (am I?), but it sounds great, doesn’t it? And after all, as the Cheshire Cat says, by now “We’re all mad here”. Why not enjoy it when you can?

I find it strange that no one has thought to identify a Gallic origin of Little Bunny Fou Fou. Surely someone has, have I missed it? How is foo foo not a corruption of fou fou? These are important questions.

When my children learned this song in kindergarten, they sang it to the tune of Alouette, a French Canadian children’s song which might be about food prep: plucking the feathers from head of a lark? In a Rabbit year, my mind immediately goes to the Rooster.

So, with Little Bunny Fou Fou, we’ve got a song about a Rabbit (Bunny Fou Fou) going against their usual nature and hurting the Rat (field mice). There’s also a fairy (Horse?) who threatens to transform the Rabbit into a “goon” if they don’t stop their bad behavior. Little Bunny Fou Fou has three chances to change. That’s it.

Incidentally, the origin of the word goon is gony, meaning a large clumsy bird. Is the fairy threatening to turn Little Bunny Fou Fou into a Rooster? That would be a fate worse than defeat or death, right? I think this is a portent of how it may be hard to tell who is the Rabbit and who is the Rooster in 2023. Maybe we’re all prepared to go to extremes to make things right, whatever that means to us.

Rabbit, Rat and Rooster are the protagonists this year. Horses too, but Horses who want longevity will play and stay under the radar. This year you can do that and still get all the attention you want.

The Ingratitude Penalty of Rat 子 and Rabbit 卯

In a Ba Zi, the Rat is called the 桃花 Tao Hua (Peach Blossom) of the Rabbit meaning they are irresistible to the Rabbit. It is said that Rabbits get into difficult situations or may be penalized in the context of their relationship with Rat. At the same time, however, the Rabbit seems to crave the Rat’s attention, no matter how badly they feel the Rat treats them. Should we blame the Rabbit for being attracted to the Rat and wanting their approval? I think not. Should the Rat be blamed for having the whip hand in this relationship? Not necessarily. What a conundrum – unless each party has the capacity to take responsibility for themselves.

The root of the problem here is a power inequity, which in a Ba Zi is called the Ingratitude Penalty. The term penalty here is a shorthand for elemental imbalance, but to be clear, we are talking about being attracted to something/someone that is inevitably going to be in a position to hurt you. Notice I didn’t say they will do it. That’s always up for discussion.

Some masters see the Penalty as a very, very bad “romance” while others see it as intergenerational conflict. I see it as the place where power inequity meets love and the possible abuses of that situation. Amor fou. The Ingratitude Penalty is about power, and plays out in the context of love or family relationships. Of course, it can happen at work too. It can happen wherever there is inequity and disregard for others capacity.

What did the Rat do that made the normally peaceful Rabbit angry enough to become fierce and bad? What does the Rabbit intend to obtain through their “bad” behavior? Revenge? Reparations? The expression amor fou carries a sense of impending doom of one or both parties. I’m hoping it doesn’t have to go that far, as much as I realize it just might.

Why now, in 2023, will there be protests regarding every kind of freedom and right that we feel we’ve lost, are losing, or never had? Why do we have to reclaim rights over our own bodies? Why do we need to revive unions? Why would there be protests in academic environments? These are all topics related to the energy of the Rabbit.

In this context of the Ingratitude Penalty, we might also think of the Rat as people who hoard wealth and resources. The Rabbit is cast in the role of everyone else. Now the Rabbit is in charge. Will we be bold enough to drive change as far as it needs to go?

It’s a Water Rabbit year, and from the Rabbit’s perspective, the Rat has gone too far, for too long. The Rat has been relying on the Rabbit to keep the peace due to their smallness, their love of nurturing and growing, and their disinterest in fighting. The Penalty is an illustration of the tension between the concept of being provided for in every way* vs having authority and using it to manage your resources.**

For a real life example of the Ingratitude Penalty, we might look to the lockdown of China’s Zero Covid Policy that began in early 2020, a 庚子 Metal Rat year. The lockdown ended on December 7, 2022 which was the start of the 壬子 Water Rat month, just before the year of the Rabbit began to phase in.

Although the original intentions may have been good, the lockdown went on too long and the regulations were too strict. People actually lost their lives because of the Zero Covid Policy. The government went too far with restrictions, but like a rebound effect, when all precautions were abandoned, the population rapidly saw high rates of infection. It was hard not to see the complete abandonment of regulations as not done out of spite for the ingratitude of the Chinese people, if you see what I’m saying. See also, USA.

The Windsor Family is another well known example of the Ingratitude Penalty, and let’s not forget, no one has been crowned yet. Unfortunately, 1948 戊子 Earth Rat Charles III is trying to kick off his reign in a year of Ingratitude Penalty, and 1947 丁丑 Fire Ox Camilla (on her second round of Covid) is along for the ride. What could go wrong?

It’s hard not to make the same mistakes your ancestors did. I wonder if Charles and Camilla have noticed that people don’t feel as enthusiastic as they used to be about the monarchy with their lives of material privilege and joy deprivation. Perhaps 2023 is not the right climate for asking people to celebrate their ancestral wealth and royal pageantry. We have “royal families” in the US too, in case you didn’t know.

In terms of date selection, I’m not sure I would have chosen the first day of summer in the Chinese calendar for the coronation, and I’ve got some ideas about where their line may fail that relate to this timing. But what do I know?

I know that we all have peace to make with family and others right now, and that’s true regardless of whether you actually have a Rabbit or a Rat in your Ba Zi. Don’t wait. Balance the power.

*I don’t think this is a possible reality.
**I think this is a possible reality.

Next up, Part 3: Wild Speculations