The Rabbit in the Year of the Wood Dragon 2024

Rabbit Pic by @elliespinelli

Who is a Rabbit?

Years:         1939, 51, 63, 75, 87, 99, 2011. 2013
Month*:      March
Hour:          05.00 am – 07.00

Day: you’ll need a Chinese Calendar.

* 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 Rabbit?
The Rabbit is yin Wood, essentially gentle and domestic. Their time is early morning; the legend has it that she and the Rooster swapped places which is why the Zodiac Rooster crows not at dawn but at dusk. The Rabbit rules the Spring therefore – think of March Hares and Easter Bunnies – and the Rooster the autumn. This story may also serve to illustrate the mistrust that can exist between Rabbit and the yin Metal Rooster.

The Rabbit is subtle, in keeping with her yin nature. She provides service readily and is often suited to catering and caring. But her preparedness to roll up her sleeves makes her the unexpected queen of networking. If you want to be introduced to the person in charge, ask a Rabbit.

Although giving an impression of reluctance to be in the spotlight, Rabbits are often performers but equally often are more at home behind the scenes. Writer-composer Tim Minchin fits this bill. Devoted Dad David Beckham perhaps also and strangely introvert ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown. All clearly pretty good at making connections also.

The Rabbit can wait her turn; vigilance and patience are typical. Their natural allies are the Pig and the Sheep. This is a house-proud team and the Rabbit is a team player. Her unexpected friend is the Dog who values her ability to charm without threat.

The Rabbit also belongs to the gathering known as the Flowers of Love# (or Plumflowers) along with the Horse, the Rooster and Rat. She may often find herself clearing up behind these three extroverts and quite often the cuddle-bunny will obtain a life partner from the leavings of more obviously glamorous colleagues.

Rabbit tends to be conservative with a small “c”. Early rising is typical but the yang of early alertness may be balanced by the yin of sleeping in. Lazybones or insomniac, sleeping is an issue. This is yin and yang.

In Vietnam this Zodiac Animal is called the Cat. Intuitively this does not sit right, the ideogram so clearly has ears. Furthermore yin Wood relates to the late Spring, leaves and flowers and grass, none of which are obviously feline attributes. Btw the song “Year of the Cat” written by 1945 Rooster Al Stewart in the Rabbit Year of 1975 illustrates again the misunderstanding that often occurs between Rabbit & Rooster.

In some ways the Rabbit epitomises yin. Yang Wood may be characterised as an upwards movement like the growth of a tree. Yin Wood is more of an outward expansion like the spread of grass. What these two expressions of Wood have in common is irresistibility. But they are very different types of irresistibility. To counter yang Wood we need yang Metal: an axe will cut down the biggest tree. But you could attack a lawn with that same axe and not remove all the grass in a lifetime. This is the power of yin Wood.

Wood is both stubborn and flexible. Yin Wood (as characterised by Soen, the wind of the South East) is thorough as well as organised: “gentle and thorough but ultimately adamant” as the Book of Changes has it.

Hexagram 53 of the Book of Changes, “Gradual Progress” describes this: the tree on the mountain grows against all the odds either because it throws itself absolutely upon the mercy of the tao or because it has a detailed plan that it follows meticulously. Or both.

The Rabbit is said to cause the Dragon (next in sequence) to lose money. Perhaps the Dragon is distracted by a neighbour so apparently different in nature. These two are not a great pairing but the fact is that the Rabbit sitting between the Tiger and the Dragon, shares qualities with both.

Partnership with the Tiger is sometimes formalised as the House of Progress#. The Rabbit offers carrot while the Tiger wields a stick. This arrangement exemplifies the truism that more is achieved with a kind word and a gun than with a kind word alone. This alliance is particularly visible during 2022.

Wood represents bone, spine and hair as well as eyes: the light is Fire but the receiving organ is Wood. The Rabbit is often not strong in these regards unlike the Tiger. This again, is yin and yang. Liver is Wood also and for the acupuncturist might be the place to address all of the above.

Finally it’s worth appreciating that the wooden table you’re probably seated by is wood but not Wood. Wood is always growing which is not true of anything else; not animals, people, cutting edges or stones. Usable Wood in feng shui terms, is alive. Many Masters consider dead Wood to be Earth, motionless and ashen.

Rabbit in The Wood Dragon Year 2024

Yeung Yan Goat Blade

Dare to let go.

Yeung Yan is possibly the most complex of the San Sat (or Special Stars) to fathom. Often referred to as Goat Blade, the ideograph consists of a sheep and a knife. There’s so much to it but as we shall see, it is essentially about timing. Another way to put this is that Yeung Yan speaks of someone in this case the Rabbit, out of touch with the tao. That will make for poor timing and positioning: too early or too late. But forewarned is forearmed.

A common interpretation is sacrifice. The Rabbit knows her place in the food chain. It may be for that reason that he is the top networker. They put on no airs, not with the boss and not with the hired help. Rabbits never abuse waiters, cleaners or nurses. So the sacrifice I’m referring to may equate to consideration for others. The Rabbit is in any year renowned for that. As she is for her networking ability, these things may be connected. In a Dragon Year he may overdo selflessness. And he may as easily be behind the beat rather than on are ahead of it. Notice your feelings at such times. What are you trying not to feel either by hesitating or rushing?

The Dragon is said to lose wealth with the arrival of the Rabbit which may mean of course that in a Dragon Year the Rabbit gains it. Dragons could well have received confirmation in 2023 of that pattern which obviously enough runs into 2024. Elementally it describes how the Rabbit’s Yin Wood feeds upon the Yang Earth of the Dragon. Other interpretations are that a male Rabbit will generate wealth this year. Choi which is the term for wealth and success, stands also for wife or mistress (not husband) so a solo male Rabbit may be solo no longer this year. Note that this balloon could burst on the spikes of Yeung Yan. That would suggest something like losing what you’ve gained through inappropriate generosity. Consider perhaps why you might do that.

The early part of the year may be onerous, your Christmas/Holiday Season ends early with the small but irritating blockages and obstacles that represent the Ox (of the month) demanding attention. Friends, family and acquaintances born in 1997, 1985, 1973 and 1961 may need you in a big way. Since Ox and Dragon indicate separation, this may be the topic where your advice and support is called upon. A typical Rabbit is by a nature a sympathetic ear, a supportive shoulder and perceptive in response.

You are essentially Wood of course, so the overriding Wood both of the year and the spring find you especially active. Wood is broadly identical with movement. This may mean travel (mainly for 1987 Fire Rabbits) but it will mean agitation and busyness. It may mean business also. If your business has been becalmed a while, the Dragon year will tend to bring new prospects. First sign is probably early in February. Spring is the time to make hay. Be prepared to be busier than may be comfortable. And if there are margin calls on whether you travel or not, go. Best destinations: North West (best for a gay man) and South West but not due West.

In April Yeung Yan is reinforced because it is the Dragon’s month. Its meanings are considered to include pregnancy for a younger woman, otherwise certain types of minor injury. And this is where my ramblings and more orthodox forebodings of doom part company. The fact is that you are unique so no astrological description is ever going to do you full justice and you always have choice. Yeung Yan does not inevitably carry any risk, it is more a question of doing the right thing at the right time. If you are in a hurry, that may not be easy. More haste less speed. Or conversely risk spontaneity. Turn your riffs to genuine improvisation. You may discover wisdom you never knew you had. And aim to let go of thinking you know the implications of things. We are all spinning alone in darkness on an imaginary ball of mud. Control is generally illusory.

One client of mine with this Star in view arrived to pick me up once from his local railway station deep in the leaves of Kent, with a wing mirror missing from his smart – and large – BMW. Yeung Yan; minor damage caused by going just a little too fast down those country lanes. The same client took off for the Middle East having left a saucepan of milk boiling on his stove. Oops.

Your central lesson this year is respecting the tao. We all know that moment in conversation when we want to make a point and if we say it too soon it’s lost, too late and the conversation has moved on. When we are in touch with the tao we drop it in at exactly the right moment. Musicians and stand-ups do this stuff naturally. We can feel the right moment.

As Seal said in an interview: “When I walk up to the mic and open my mouth I’m letting go and trusting that I will be caught by the hours of preparation that I have put in. I am trying to relinquish control.”

Trying to lose control.

The Fire months draw more creativity from you than usual this year. Best set aside time to write or construct between May and August. Locating South (or South West) will tend to draw the best from you. Notice how getting started requires overcoming the truth that whatever you do stops you doing something else. Jettison your bottomless potential and concentrate. Allow a little time to complete around the 3^rd week in October. There may be disappointments in September so lower your sights and detach. You will have a great deal to show for the year by the end of November. And finally continue to breathe and be present during December when enforced inactivity may have you obsessing. Note the unwanted feeling that underlies the obsession and feel into it. It is not feeling that hurts but not feeling. This year may not be easy but it may triumphant in a hundred ways that you are currently shielding yourself from. You can’t shelter the river from the rain and there’s little point trying.

Romance: promising

Wealth: also promising, cast your net on the other side.

Health: minor accidents

Hexagram: 5 Xu Waiting.

This forecast is prepared by comparing your own Chinese year Animal with the Wood Dragon of 2024. Your Year Animal is just one of the four that make up your Ba Zi or Four Pillars of Destiny. A fully-drafted ba zi can indicate possible futures and probable pasts as well as moments of decision. Knowing these moments can heal and prevent heartbreak as well make success and happiness more easily achievable. What is a ba zi?

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