|
|
|
|
The twelve Animal Signs
for Men
|
Dog man
His psychological makeup
One may not like the Dog male for one reason or another; but one would find no reason not to respect him, for he is a man of lofty ideals and his dedication to them forces the admiration of all. Always engaged in more than one crusade, he follows his convictions through to their complete realization, whatever the sacrifices involved. His actions are magnanimous, unselfish, and always in line with the noble causes he fights for.
This subject's primary concern in life is to establish the reign of justice among men. Nobody would have a more acute sense of equity than the Dog man. He appoints himself the champion of the wronged, the oppressed, the underprivileged: He is always the first to speak out - and to act - against injustice, and will not rest until wrong has been righted. His field of action encompasses all levels and sectors - his family, his community, his professional circle, his nation, and the world at large. Tirelessly, he participates in such diverse struggles as those for the rights of consumers, the rights of workers, the rights of man, etc.
A firm believer in human dignity, the Dog male unflaggingly wages a relentless war against whatever may directly or indirectly threaten or infringe upon it. No wonder why we can find him take an active part in any and all campaigns against hunger, ignorance, and illness, wherever these scourges may hold sway. He considers it an imperative moral obligation, for him as well as for all, to try to make this world a better place to live in.
A fervent advocate of the universal brotherhood of man, he feels the compulsive need to be of service to others. His interest in the physical and moral well-being of his fellow men is not only absolutely sincere and unselfish but also quite personal. He always shows himself full of concern and compassion for those he thinks need them. He often goes out of his way to lend a helping hand to his friends, acquaintances, and all those to whom he can be useful in a way or another.
Because he is anxious to change the world, to make it more "decent," this man is generally viewed by those around him as a revolutionary. But he is a revolutionary in his own way and could be called a "bourgeois revolutionary" because he never calls for a drastic, immediate, or violent change in the existing state of things but only for a gradual, peaceful mutation of human societies. It should be remembered that, apart from the noticeable conservative streak in his character, he never wants to bring about revolution merely for the sake of revolution, at the expense of certain human values. In other words, he is made of a more humanitarian than revolutionary fabric.
Not only is the Dog male a person of high ideals, he also possesses many of the finest traits of the human soul. It would take too long to enumerate all the qualities associated with this sign; let us speak briefly about the main ones.
The native's honesty and integrity, everybody would readily concede, are above all possible reproach. He will remain intransigent even when these virtues of his are likely to make him appear unrealistic or, worse still, feeble-minded. He hates dishonesty and hypocrisy with every fiber of his being. He never agrees to compromise with his conscience, whatever the cost. It would be impossible to corrupt him or induce him to behave contrary to his reputation as a law-abiding citizen.
His friends and adversaries alike cannot but appreciate his absolute frankness, sincerity, and dependability. He is totally incapable of make-believe, malice, or deviousness - he says what he does and does what he says, come what may, and one can always trust his given word. Owing to his sternest moral fiber people often make him a depository of their confidences. In addition, his friendship is highly valued because of his exemplary loyalty and fidelity.
With his deep, acute sense of duty, he can always be relied upon to honor to the last detail what is expected of him. There would be no need to exhort him. He likes assuming responsibilities and deliberately looks for as many of them as possible, partly out of his desire to be useful to others and partly because being responsible is one of his ways to ward off rejection and indifference, which he abhors.
The Dog man's patience is well known to those around him. He has nothing to envy his Buffalo counterpart on this score. What he has to do, he will take all his time to do it to complete satisfaction, regardless of the difficulties involved. People hardly ever see him in a hurry: It is as if he had no notion of time or as if time belonged entirely to him. If he fails in one of his undertakings, it will be due to some factor which is definitely not haste.
He possesses considerable self-mastery and power of concentration. While it is true his imagination often remains in an underdeveloped state, he never permits his train of thought to run off the trails. Although his feelings and emotions run very deep, he is good at hiding them under a mask of impassivity, so much so that many people could mistake him for an insensitive person. He also exercises a perfect control over his anger despite the fact that he has a rather irascible character; a psychologist would advise him to lessen this control somewhat and let off stream from time to time for the sake of his health.
People who meet him are generally impressed by his modesty and reservedness. However shining his virtues and ranking his social position, he invariably insists on keeping a low figure, avoiding publicity, and appears embarrassed when receiving compliments. He speaks parsimoniously - except when he is defending a good cause or feels justified in castigating someone. But nobody knows how to listen as he does: Anyone who talks with him can be sure to be heard out by him, no matter how divergent their respective viewpoints may be.
Born with peasant dispositions, the typical Dog man will forever preserve his simple tastes even if extreme honor or opulence may be his. Though not exactly tight-fisted, he frowns on luxury. Frugal, he despises epicureans and hedonists of every description.
The Dog male may be accused of having too much ambition by those who do not know him well and who see how persistent and indefatigable he is in the pursuit of his objectives. In fact, he is ambitious only in the good sense of the word - he is quite willing to do everything in his power in order to achieve his goals. His own needs usually find outlet in hard work; his salvation lies in hard work; he does well whatever he has to do and admits of no half-measures. Having the exceptional strength to endure hardships, he can time and again bring success out of failure.
If the qualities of his mind are admirable, those of his heart are even more so. He is generous to a fault, always eager to oblige or share what he has with those whom he deems less fortunate than he.
Probably no one could be more affectionate than the Dog man. Unfortunately, this is in general the least known of all the character traits of the native. Because of his straightfaced and serious appearance, he projects his image as a cold, distant, aloof, and unresponsive nature; only those who are on intimate terms with him are in a position to realize how much tenderness and lovingness he is capable of. His affection reaches unequaled heights when it is felt for those who are under his responsibility in one capacity or another.
More than anyone else this type needs attention, kindness, gentleness, and love. Dejection or indifference under any form can hurt him very deeply. One could only deplore his extreme emotional dependence on others as it makes him utterly vulnerable. It may be of interest to him to learn to acquire some detachment and serenity; as a rule age provides him with good help in this direction.
Is it not strange that a man like the Dog male, who is graced with so many fine qualities, usually makes more enemies than friends? What is actually wrong with his natural inclinations? Astrologers know the answer to such questions. Apart from his positive points, this man has many traits which, instead of endearing him to people, are apt to antagonize them. These traits are not necessarily negative morally, but they are socially.
The average Dog man is keen on bringing everything under moral scrutiny, which of course cannot please his interlocutors; and when considerations of morality are involved, he habitually sheds off his natural modesty to become obnoxiously intrusive, overbearing, and obstinate, which pleases his interlocutors even less. It proves impossible for him not to make a point of defending or condemning a particular side of any issue on moral grounds, whether or not he is called upon to do it. Once he has made up his mind about a given question, he means his judgment to be infallible and irrevocable: There is no way to change it, and he does not seems afraid to appear self-righteous. Moreover, he gives the impression of looking systematically for faults in everything and never misses an opportunity to give his counsel, which is always well meant, it must be admitted, but often obtrusive. While his moralizing, nay, sanctimonious comportment is only intended to "improve" people, they cannot help feeling that they are mercilessly judged by him. In addition, he tends to be a shade snobbish about his own moral rectitude.
The Dog man barks quite a lot as he has an incurable tendency to play the critic - always for the sake of the improvement of mankind, naturally! His remarks are never casual or sugar-coated, but packed with exacerbated emotion, ferocious irony, and unbelievable causticity. He justifies the use of his sharp, biting tongue by believing and arguing that it is the best means to enforce morality. It never occurs to him that his "rightful indignation" often misses the mark and that a little more diplomacy could have achieved better results.
In sum, this man is so anxious to save people from moral ruin that he simply does not care about their feelings; it is more important to him to enforce his ideas than to seek to please. When confronted with others' hostility, his reaction does not amount to saying "mea culpa," but to developing a severe martyr complex. In fact, it does not quite displease him to feel misunderstood or loathed for there is an unmistakable masochistic side to his nature.
The hostility allows him on the other hand to justify his profound pessimism and cynicism. This is a man who delights in showing how sorry for human nature he is and how little good he expects out of life. The more he rails at all the sins of this world, the more people try to avoid him, and the more he has reasons to whine and lament.
Even in quite ordinary circumstances, when no moral considerations can be at stake, the Dog man does not seem very eager to win the sympathy of others. For instance, his puritanism and undeveloped sense of humor are certainly not assets in social adjustment. He can always be reproached with being too serious-minded - he does not appreciate fun, jokes, and is never noted for his gaiety - or with lacking a certain degree of freshness and innocence - he has an overkeen sense of the tragedy, not of the comedy, of life. To be sure, he has a soft inner core, but it is so well hidden under his straight-faced carapace that it seldom comes to public notice.
Chinese astrologers habitually insist heavily that this subject is born a frustrated person. This aptly explains some of his inescapable character traits, among them his extreme suspiciousness and his chronic anxiety. To him, caution is the beginning of wisdom; therefore, his vigilance is never down. Always on the defensive, he feels the visceral fear of being fooled or exploited; he trusts nobody and takes great pains to verify and control everything himself. On the other hand, there could hardly be an equally confirmed professional worrier as the native. He frets excessively, never allowing himself to be at rest, and seems eternally a prey to deep depression and black moods. A real danger to him lies in his inability to be detached and gain sufficient equanimity. In the most severe cases he could well, eventually, be driven to the bottle or drugs despite his solid moral fabric.
Lastly, his misogyny can earn him many enemies. It has its root in his belief that women in general are selfish, malicious, and most of the time incapable of moral improvement.
|
|
|
