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The twelve Animal Signs
for Women
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Rat woman
Her psychological makeup
The Rat woman is the kind of woman whose company men eagerly seek but who never causes them to nurture "dishonest" designs on her. They tend to treat her as one of them, as a chum, not as a true female to be given a special treatment. There is nothing surprising about their attitude, for she behaves naturally, straightforwardly, without coquetry or whimsicality, and is on the other hand gay, amusing, voluble, intelligent. Some may regret her rather unwomanly manner - they are those who have definite ideas on what feminity should include - but people in general do appreciate her frankness, her sincerity and her dependability.
No less gregarious than her male counterpart, the Rat-born woman leads an extremely active social life. Wherever she finds herself, her presence is welcome. She enlivens any reunion in which she takes part. She loves entertaining and does it with a lot of know-how and refinement. Her guests, who are always legion, find her a most remarkable hostess and are inclined to lavish compliments on her. In this way she is very popular, not only with men but also with members of her own sex.
Unfortunately, though, her positive qualities constitute only one face of her personality. The other face reveals us an immature individual, reckless and full of complexes. She constantly labors under an obscure, albeit forceful, feeling of something unfinished or incomplete in her. Never quite sure where she stands psychologically and emotionally, she is in perpetual quest of an identity, more unconsciously than consciously, like an adolescent groping for self-assertion. In trying to prove her worth she makes rash judgments or shows scorn for all those whom she thoughtlessly deems worthless. If someone refuses to take her seriously, she will react violently, flying into a white rage and saying hurtful things. Her marked tendency to shock - another device of hers to force the respect of others - sometimes gets her into tense or embarrassing situations.
Despite all her apparent poise, the native is most of the time gnawed by a devastating feeling of insecurity - fearing to find herself in want on the one hand, and to be left out emotionally on the other hand. Owing to her congeniality, she can have an impressive circle of acquaintances at her fingertips. But somehow it is extremely difficult for her to make or keep close friends despite all her conscious efforts; it is as if people perceived a permanent danger lurking in her person and were afraid to get into her intimacy. This state of affairs proves distressing and sometimes intolerable to her. A little objectivity might enable her to put her finger on the snag. Isn't her difficulty in securing the confidence of others due to factors that she can control and not to an irony of fate? Her chief fault is to be hard to please; she refuses to satisfy herself with "anything," demanding that her friends live up to certain definite standards and often considering every potential friend as a potential deceiver. It is why her best or only friends are generally those made in her childhood or her school - those who have sufficiently proved themselves over the long years. Another defect of hers is to be keen on firing witty remarks; while this amuses many, it certainly displeases those who are the victims. So long as she remains unaware of this side of her character and unprepared to do something about it, her problem of relative isolation will still be her lot whereas she abhors nothing more than loneliness.
This subject ranks among the thriftiest persons in the world. Her economical virtue is such that those around her can easily make a joke of it. Every penny she spends must have its full justification, and she often takes considerable time considering the pros and the cons before buying a small item. Always worrying about her material future, she clings to her money and other possessions like a crab which would rather lose a claw than let go; her stinginess is at times practiced to the detriment of her health or common sense. Hoarding, on the other hand, is one of her regular activities; she acts as if her town were going to be besieged!
The Rat sign after all confers upon its female natives an immense potential, enabling them to distinguish themselves in many fields. Once they have achieved emotional stability through personal efforts or psychiatric help, these subjects appear to be marvelous persons with a host of fine qualities. No one can then be more useful to society than they are.
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