I Talk To the Animals

      

By Richard Ashworth

I Talk to the Animals By Richard Ashworth Out November 1st from O books   The Rat Who is a Rat? Years: 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020, 2032. Month*: December. Hour: 11:00–01:00 am. Day: You’ll need a Chinese Calendar or an expert for this. * Caution: the start of the Chinese month can be as early as the 4th and as late as the 9th. What is a Rat? The Rat is yang water but with a hidden stem of yin Water, that is to say pure Water, the  only Chinese Animal that is so pure. All Water on this planet, unless interfered with by  outside forces, is connected with and on the same level as all other Water. Sea level at  Zeebrugge is the same as sea level at Miami. If I spill my cup of tea here in Surrey and you  spill yours in Taiwan, sooner or later they’ll mix. It may take aeons but they’ll mix. This  powerful idea may clarify the connection between Water and communication. Water of  course always goes downwards and cannot be compressed. Someone said that we have two ears and one mouth for a good reason: that we should  listen twice as much as we speak. The issues relating to Water are listening and speaking  while keeping the ratios right. The Rat can easily miss this. Some of us are elected primarily  to talk and the yang Water of the Rat makes them the talker of the Chinese Zodiac. An  unbalanced or distressed Rat tends to either clam up or run off at the mouth. Awareness of  the need to listen can be a lesson but the Rat on the Beam tuning in to the idle chatter amid  the port fumes and cigar smoke is one of Rat’s roles*. I’ve written elsewhere about the Rats in the House of Windsor. Interestingly both Prince  Harry and his father King Charles, are Rats. Charles’ career has been one of juggling his often  outspoken opinions with the privilege of his position. Harry’s lessons may be similar,  making observation of his father’s conundrum invaluable. Rats can blurt or be schtum. The Rat is supreme in the realm of ideas, a planner, a plotter and a deep thinker. He thinks  ahead, sometimes to the detriment of his awareness of the present. This makes him a good  chess player but not so great at poker. He is apt to be too controlling for games that require  openness – even to good fortune. That sort of uncertainty can be painful. Your average Rat  wants the credit and to get that he has to be in control. In conversation you may find that the mature Rat second guesses in a very distinctive way:  typically he gets his correspondent to commit to a position before he states his; a very  useful quality in a teacher but not everyone’s cup of tea in a collaborator. The Dragon and  the Monkey, even the Ox, may find this reassuring but it drives the Horse and the Tiger wild  and to some extent even the passive Dog. * In particular the Metal Rat of 1960 Being big talkers and travellers, Rats are traditionally suited to work involving  communication: sales, oratory and persuasion. In the collaboration with the Rabbit, Rooster  and Horse that my teacher Derek Walters (himself a Rat) called the Flowers of Love, the Rat  is the talker, the chatter-up if you will, where the Rooster provides the glamour, the Horse  the passion and the Rabbit a warm welcome. A Rat with the assistance of these other  Animals is effortlessly successful and charismatic; to find them all in one ba zi speaks of a  remarkably magnetic individual. If that person’s ba zi – tantalisingly – has three of them,  whichever may be missing indicates his weaknesses. None of the other Flowers though is  ever much at ease alone in the company of the Rat. An unbalanced Rat talks too much and listens selectively. A balanced one gets it exactly  right; he is fascinating talker and a skilled listener. But willful deafness can be a point of  pride. Blessed with an orderly mind and excellent retention, a Rat can consider his own ignorance of a subject a reflection upon the subject rather than upon himself. This sort of  Rat needs to learn to value the convictions of others, especially if they are derived from  premises he does not accept. The Rat is a guardian, a watcher. Sometimes he is self-appointed and the unbalanced Rat  has a particular blindness that leads him to believe that his opinion is an absolute. This is  more accentuated and less well-informed in his partnership with the Ox in what some call  the House of Creativity. Despite the discrepancy in their apparent power, the Ox has the upper hand in their special  relationship with the Rat; they are technically Secret Friends, that is mutual amulets.* The  Ox can be a particularly obdurate and dominating learner, sometimes drawing conclusions  to which he is not entitled and sticking like a limpet to any conclusion he can justify. In these  circumstances the Ox is not so much partner or indeed student of the Rat as tormentor.  Perhaps surprisingly when Ox and Rat are together it is the Ox who calls the tunes. That the  Ox rules the Rat and thus sets the agenda in Ox and Rat years is an important consideration. See comments below about Metal Ox Barack Obama in the Rat and Ox Years 2008 and 2009. A very conscious Rat can make good use of his blindness to the value of other people’s  positions. She is likely to be able to explain things that baffle others and to derive laws from  this gift. To have no explanation however is to open herself up to chaos. If she knows this  about herself she can master even the most abstract discipline. The Rat is versatile and multi-talented though not as notably so as the Pig of whom he is  often jealous or the Dragon who can baffle him despite their mutual affinity. Rat’s Yang  water can speak of profligacy with money. So the typical Rat is a brilliant small businessman  but often a poor tycoon.  *Feng Shui Masters may recommend a protective amulet for each year as it arises. If you visit Chinatown in say Singapore in January of a  Rat year, you will find the stalls well stocked with little jade Rat amulets which they know tourists will snap up in the belief that this is the  correct charm for the year. They will also have plenty of Ox amulets for the cannier Chinese who know the rules. I Talk to the Animals by Richard Ashworth is out November 1st from O books and from wherever books are sold. Book Link: https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/o-books/our-books/i-talk-animals