![[Fire Ox]](yr1997.gif)
The Ox corresponds to the Western Capricorn. Its natural element is Water, here mated with Fire. It is a sign of the northern sky and of the winter. It is the quietest time of the farmer's year, when all the work is done and there is nothing to do before the spring rains and the planting season. An Ox in China is a beast of burden in the farmer's life; far too valuable to be served up as food. Its place is in the rice paddies, up to its belly in water, churning up the rich silt and muck where the rice grows. Think for a moment of the Western Capricorn -- its element is Earth, but the constellation is the Sea-Goat, half goat and half fish. Not so different after all!
There is an ancient legend about the Ox and its stars in the sky -- the tale of the Ox-Boy and the Weaving Maiden. The constellation of Capricorn is the Ox, but there is a bright star nearby and above it known in the West as Altair. This is the Ox-Boy. He is perched on the edge of the Milky Way, known to the Chinese as the River Han. Above the Milky Way is another bright star called Vega in the constellation Lyra. This Vega is the Weaving Maiden and Lyra is her loom. This tale is so old that hundreds of variants have evolved, but at their core is a sad story of unrequited love between the Boy and his Maiden separated forever by the River Han.
What can we expect from this year? Well, the weather will take on some of the characteristics of a typical winter, but persist throughout the whole year. As in the Fire Rat and the year of the Wood Boar before that, the summer will be cool and wet and the winter will be frigid and soggy. Expressions of moisture will range from mere dampness, humidity, mushrooms and moulds to severe floods and erosion. Remember: the Great Flood of the Mississippi came in 1993, the year of the Water Rooster. Because of the presence of Fire, the height of summer could prove to be muggy like a sauna, rather than just damp, but it will never bring dry heat. The most violent weather will come in the springtime.
In the mundane world of the daily news, Water gives prominence to the judiciary. It is no accident that so many nations have been dragged through their "Trials of the Century" during these past two years --- the Paul Bernardo trial in Canada, the Mafia trials in Italy, the trial of cult leader Shoko Asahara in Japan, the trial of assassin Yigal Amir in Israel and, of course, the trial of OJ Simpson in the United States. All have been billed as the Trial of the Century in their respective homelands. There were many more trials around the world that received less general attention. Two former presidents of South Korea were put on trial for crimes against the state and people; one received a death sentence. In South Africa, Mandela's government has launched its Truth Commission to uncover all the dirty laundry of the Apartheid regimes.
Many more such grand trials await in the docket --- the Oklahoma bombing trial in the USA and the Mulroney libel lawsuit in Canada are closest to home. The Whitewater hearings continue in the USA in these years of the Rat and Ox even as, two decades ago, the Watergate hearings were held in the years of the Rat and the Ox. And, in fact, the Rat and Ox of the 1970s were the Water Rat and Water Ox. :-) Water, water everywhere. But we should not overlook the pedophile trials in Belgium which promise to drag that country's judiciary through the mud, along with its police and political elites. Next door, at The Hague, a series of trials for war crimes in Bosnia, the first since Nuremberg, promise to provide even more fodder. A continent away, in Rwanda, the drama of war crimes trials will be played out on that local stage all over again for atrocities in its recent genocide. And, in Switzerland, the quest for missing Nazi loot has started to pry open the world's most secret financial system.
It is the letter of the law that will triumph in these cases. The Water signs are sticklers for details one and all and these details must be in order -- the highest powers in the land will be condemned by the letter of the law and its guiltiest villains will be set free by that same law.
Fire introduces some contrary tendencies. Fire injects all politics with a populist streak and all actions with passion and a strong dose of common sense. The people have a bad habit of entering into history and influencing events when they are not expected and, often, not welcome. The last Snake year (1989) is ample proof of that! Mob action is a very real possibility. There will be opportunities here for ordinary people to seize the initiative and to achieve things that their governments cannot or will not or dare not. There will also be opportunities here for leaders to circumvent political rivals by taking their case straight to the people, as in an election or referendum. The public will be an active presence in national life and its views will be made known.
Taken together, the Fire Ox is an introspective and vigilant creature. Water is methodical, deliberate and prudent. Fire promotes creativity, diversity and the passion of self-expression. Water is capable of harnessing the spirit of Fire and applying it strategically. There is an emphasis on healing and community integration. It is far too busy attending to internal and local concerns and problems to launch any ambitious new projects. The Fire Ox dislikes change but appreciates stability and security and it will work hard to win both. It is settled and focussed.
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Created Dec 1996. Last Updated 12 Jan 1997.This page and all others in "Ping Wu's Diary" are
Copyright (c) 1996~1997 by the Author
and Protected by copyright at the AquarianAge.