The Tiger in the Year of the Wood Dragon 2024

Tiger Pic by @elliespinelli

Who is a Tiger?

Years:         1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022.
Month*:      February
Hour:          03.00-05.00am

Day: you’ll need a Chinese Calendar.

* Caution: the start of the Chinese Month of the Tiger falls on the 4th or 5th, depending on the year. We can let you know this too.

What is a Tiger?
Because the Tiger is generally considered yang Wood but actually consists of three different elements, he is an especially versatile predator. There is nothing wrong with being a predator of course, except that it can imply a very rigid view of the world. Tigers often don’t play well with others, not because their egos are in the way (unlike the Dragon, the Pig, the Rooster or the Horse) but because for them, work and play are very distinct activities. They can up to a point frolic with other Tigers but broadly every alliance is focused on an outcome. It’s no coincidence that 1974 Tiger Victoria Beckham is the Spice Girl who never looked back; she simply moved on. Tigers are directed.

The Tiger never forgets. For the unbalanced Tiger no slight, insult or rejection can be allowed to go unredressed.. He may wait a lifetime but he will get his revenge. Earth Tiger Joseph Stalin typified this approach to life as Leon Trotsky was able to confirm the hard way. On the other hand the balanced Tiger will always repay a debt and will go out of his way to acknowledge assistance.

The typical qualities of yang Wood are sharp eyes, a strong will and swift movement. The Tiger stalks his prey silently and pounces when they are ready. He can wait days as long as he is not hungry. A needy Tiger is very dangerous. Never scorn the Tiger.

The Tiger will often have a fresh view of things which makes him the eyes of the team he makes up with the Horse and the Dog. The Horse is front of house, the Dog the keeper of records and the Tiger the hit man.

In terms of human relations the Tiger may be the most yang of the animals; that is assertive, aspirational, swift, sharp and unsubtle. The earth he inherits from his predecessor in the Zodiac the Ox, is turned miraculously from yin to yang when he receives it. The unbalanced Tiger knows no mercy and expects none. And in this he has altered the dogma he receives from the Ox – do as you would be done by – into a personal code. This alteration can amount to perversion and make for misunderstanding; the unconscious Tiger probably knows himself less well than any other animal. His ruthlessness which he can wear as a badge of honour, is often simply a failure to open up to interdependence with others. Of all insults “dependent” is the deepest for the Tiger. He will not depend. This makes relationship an act of will. With a true act of will, the Tiger forms the most enduring relationships. If it is not truly a choice but a resigned agreement to bend himself out of shape, all around him will distort also. Sometimes the truly unconscious Tiger thinks this reflects a merciless world in which he has been clever in getting his revenge in first. This logic doesn’t work and the smarter Tiger knows this.

But even the smartest Tiger is not in the clear because the corollary of foregoing revenge appears to be falling on her sword. This is a mistake too. Most of us prefer not to live by the law of the jungle but then most of us are not as well-equipped for it. The Tiger in this as in many other ways is a leader and visionary even when he doesnt know quite where he’s going. Paul Atreides as played by Timothee Chalumet in Dune is just such a leader.

Metal is generally considered to represent logical thought, authority and competition. The Tiger is yang Wood, elementally the opposite of Metal; the wooden Tiger likes to think of himself as logical but instinctive (or even automatic) is a better description. Generally he can only make use of Metal early on in life or at the inception of a process. After that he can deceive himself that he knows what to do and that he is beyond advice. Her chief adversaries are the (yang Metal) Monkey whose frivolity he can’t stand and the Snake who won’t offer him a static target.

The really unbalanced Tiger (yang Wood day stem for instance born in February) considers himself bold and resolute but truly is hanging onto past (mother) stuff that ought to have been completed. The admission of this would affront his pride and he is unlikely to do it.

Richard Bandler (himself a notoriously ruthless 1950 Tiger) the Godfather of Neuro-Linguistic Programming, used to say that the person with the most flexible behaviour has control. The Tiger is the yangest woodenest of the animals. He is so flexible that he can be completely immovable. In a sales situation – paired with the Rabbit in the so-called House of Progress# – the Rabbit opens the sale with sheer charm but the Tiger closes it.

This can be his role in the alliance with the Monkey, Pig and Snake sometimes called The Four Terminals#: the Monkey sells the traveller a ticket, the Pig may offer to accompany him and the Snake can enchant with tales of exotic locations but the Tiger is liable to snarl and send the traveller on his way. Without the Tiger in the ba zi this combination can lack edge, implying restricted movement.

A tender father and an implacable father-in-law, a good leader but an erratic motivator, at his worst, the keynote of the Tiger is an uneasy combination between a long memory and a short fuse. At his best he is the sort of leader you would gladly die for. Take short-lived (and deeply respected) Labour Leader John Smith as an example perhaps. At worst she’ll do the job for you.

Tiger in The Wood Dragon Year 2024

Sap Gon Luk Learn & Prosper

Yik Ma Travel Horse

Power in waiting.

There’s travel coming up. Which may not be convenient. As the above implies, learning will be involved, technical or commercial most likely. By year’s end you will be in a completely different environment. For some Tigers that will be literal, physical and geographical, for others it may be more to do with a change of personnel, a shifting of friend groups or a separation. It doesn’t look like loss though and whatever it looks or feels like, the movement is actually yours. And the whip hand. For the Fire Tiger destiny may beckon.

The Tiger can find the Dragon tiresome. Yang Earth is hard work even for your aspirational Yang Wood. You somehow don’t know where you stand with Dragons and by extension a Dragon Year can be baffling. You may have envied Dragons sometimes, that feeling of unfair exclusion may come and go this year. Watch for this in April and take time out to feel it through. If you are conscious throughout you will master a distress that may have gnawed at your vitals a long time.

Aggression is simply an expression of the will to live and yours has been well-harnessed this last few years. Tiger is the most aggressive of the animals. You may be seeing the completion of a long project. Your job now is to make sure you haven’t left a mess behind you and that you are ready to make best use of your imminent elevation. There’s further to go and new opportunities appear almost as soon as you arrive at your immediate destination. Remember not to pull the ladder up behind you. And keep your eyes on the prize.

January brings small opportunities, February company, partners, helpers and peers. In March you may feel like flagging; a few days off would be wise but only a few. You are deeply driven. May draws fresh energy from you. You are in deep learning mode now. There is so much to take in. June and July are fast and demanding. But think ahead: August holds snares.

Like last year and the one before, you may be especially challenged in August, the month of your nemesis the Monkey. You’ve prevailed before and you will again just as long as you remain true to yourself. There’ll be temptation to drop the principles of your work to date. Don’t.

There’s travel all year, mostly to places you know well. And you are busy but don’t confuse effectiveness with haste. You depend upon the lasting impression. Be conscious of that throughout.

You’ll be challenged (but less) in September. Keep in check your tendency to judge today in the light of long ago. October brings company and the chance of serious relationship – an opportunity that may seem overwhelming. A meeting over coffee. Don’t be over-awed. Don’t slum. November offers power; take it into 2025.

Romance: intense late in the year.

Wealth: commuted to power.

Health: watch your weight.

Hexagram: 34 Da Zhuang Great Power.

This forecast is prepared by comparing your own Chinese year Animal with the Water Rabbit of 2023. 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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