The Animal(s) Within

"You sure you're Pisces, and not a Leo?"

A while back I had someone ask me this, and truth be told, this person was not the first. People would usually smirk at the fact my Zodiac, according to the Julius calendar, is Pisces. I mean if you read what is prescribed as the characteristics of a Pisces (shy? dislikes crowds? reserved? etc etc), and if you've met me, you'd possibly understand the smirking and even join in. I am, however, saddened sometimes that people just don't see the Pisces in me. I mean, I see it, but to be honest, I don't let everyone see that side of me.  So why am I 'one way' with one group and 'another' with a totally different crowd? I believe its because of the 'animals' within..my multiple animal personality...:) 

By the way, disclaimer alert, the following 'theory' is totally from me; if you choose to agree, you are a either a genius, or a loony ( based on the premise of 'great minds think alike and fools seldom differ' fame) 

Since the Julius calendar says Pisces, I proclaim myself the dolphin - a mammal that's intelligent, playful and social. The Chinese Zodiac says Metal Pig cause I was born in 1971. According to this zodiac, I am hardworking ( now I never saw that coming, I mean pig and hard work don't seem to belong in the same sentence..:D)  giving, helpful, oblivious to ill intent till its too late ( explains roasted pigs), trustworthy and too trusting cause I give people more credit than they deserve, am outspoken and confident (explains why I can snort at the world :D ) The Metal bit comes into play when the Pig decides to build walls; this piggy will build ones made from impenetrable metal..:D 

Until late last year, I believed that I was 'influenced' by only 2 'animals' but when I visited Myanmar, I finally found the Leo/ Lion connection. So now I have got 3 'animals' showcasing themselves within me.   

According to the Buddhist in Myanmar, the animal assigned to you is dependent on the day you were born. I was born on a Tuesday, so my guardian is Leo the Lion..:) That explained why people assumed I am a Leo. Other than being ferocious, authoritative, dominant, territorial, a lion personality is also consistent, strong, wise, honourable, intuitive, just and protective. 

The lion's the protector, the pig's the worker and the dolphin is the playful brat..;) So how do the animals in me function? Well, the lion comes out to protect the hardworking pig, from being bullied and the dolphin, which only makes its appearance, bringing along with it my Inner Child, when it feels safe enough to play. Which 'animal' you come across will solely depend I guess on what my instincts, or as Oprah would say, my gut feeling, or what my 'Aha' moment says about you. Upon reflection, yeah, most of you would have met the lion, or the pig, but with the lion not very far behind. The dolphin, I'd say, would be the most elusive of the lot and yeah, the lion will be there, close enough to do necessary 'damage' with the metal pig, pitching in with impregnable wall construction and all. 

To test my 'theory', I got SP, my smartie friend, to partake in my 'experiment'. Before this he used the poor sloth (which is, as I type, drawing up a class action suit against SP for using its characteristics to describe his 'human' flaws. I mean its bad to call an animal HUMAN, worse still when its saddled with the human flaws too!) to describe the darker and slower side of  himself. I told him about my theory and being a sporting chap, he was like OK...( I could see the sloth doing cartwheels, yes,  yes,  very slowly but very surely :D) 

After much Googgling, he discovered that he is a Water Ox, Ram and Lion...and according to the Vedic astrology (which is based on time of birth; SP's the typical researcher...has to cover all bases), he is 'deer headed' too. ( According to his search I don't have a Vedic based animal...I have 10 Gods watching over me...I must be quite the handful in celestial terms!..:)

SP decided to go with the Ox, Ram and Deer ( the Lion's on K.I.V cause he can't seem to fathom its role other than the fact it would happily gobble up  the ox, ram and deer..I just believe that the Ox kicked the Lion in the balls and now its hiding behind his 'pride'..:D) In his words..I am very typical representative of character descriptions given by these zodiac systems...and proceeds to list them out with stubborn starting off the list...Yup, I mean both an Ox and a Ram, being stubborn would definitely be one..:D OK, OK, for a researcher, being stubborn, or tenacious, is indeed a necessity. However, despite the coincidences, and being as pragmatic (which is in the list) as he is, I don't think he's going to be swearing by it any time soon. At least now he'll have three, no four, animals to pick on and the sloth's off the hook..:)

So are you game to see which animals form part of your psyche? :) 

OK, the lion's growling, telling me to sleep but the pig is saying, finish the blog while the dolphin is saying, I want to stay up late and play Lex on FB. Hmmm, the human in me says,  I'll let the 10 Gods handle this one...B-)