2004 for all signs - The Year of the Wood Monkey

By: Robert Wilkinson

Begins Jan 22 2004, ends Feb 8 2005.

This year is similar to last year, but different in some important ways. In 2003, the Water Goat helped us with our feelings and associations. Last year offered a special talent for intuiting the most subtle aspects of situations and people, offering us chances to cultivate an ability to pick up on nuances, hints, suggestions of how things and people are, and what was to come. We were working at how to recognize subtle impressions and instinctive knowledge, and hopefully began to be alert to excessive egocentricity and preoccupation with self-reflective images.

We needed to sharpen our inner radar through gentle but firm routines, and find those who would applaud us for our creative offerings. We also had to practice showing and recognizing forms of appreciating self and others, and push on and leap the hurdles, regardless of how hesitant we felt. We were allowed to explore pleasant forms of fantasy, and put our genius to practical use, make contacts, open doors, and jump at opportunity. We learned how to avoid any sense of martyrdom, stop whining and complaining, or accepting guilt that we weren't taking care of others the way they wanted. As I said last year, they'll get by, and so will you. And we have. That being said, we are now in the new year, that of the Wood Monkey.

Contradictory and joyous, Monkey energy is mischievous, high spirited, and sociable, but also very emotional, capricious, insecure, ego-driven and sometimes too careless. They are playful, likeable, and clever, but also consider themselves a cut above the other signs. Monkeys are faithful, autonomous, candid, altruistic, and entertainers. Natural teachers, they like to learn, as they have a great yearning for knowledge. They indulge in games, plots and plans, and want to manage things from places of concealment or safety. They may seem to know everything about everything, having numerous facts and figures on hand about what's going on in every aspect of their world. They tend to rely on their great memory, which gives them access to all the details that the others signs learn and then forget (with the obvious exceptions of the Rat and Tiger, who overlook NOTHING!) However, the Monkey really needs more discipline and organization regarding what they know. They don't adhere very well to deadlines, and coercions don't work with them, since they're usually much more clever than those trying to manipulate them into something.

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