Chinese Zodiac: The Monkey

The Chinese zodiac is a repeating 12-year cycle in which each year is associated with one of twelve animals: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. The animal of your birth year is believed to shape your personality, temperament, and compatibility with others.

The Monkey is the ninth animal in the cycle. Recent and upcoming years of this sign: 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028, 2040. Those born under this sign are traditionally regarded as clever, inventive, and curious, people with quick minds and the ability to escape every difficult situation in the most unexpected way.

Monkey Woman

The woman born in the years of the Monkey has a mind that never stops. She thinks constantly, combines, compares, lays plans. She is not a woman you will tire of listening to — her conversations are full of surprises, witty observations, ideas you had not yourself thought of. Her intelligence is perhaps her most seductive trait.

She is playful and enjoys situations with humor. She may tease you lightly — always, though, in a way that makes you laugh with her, not get angry. She knows how to read people quickly and find their weakness, and she does so either to help them or to outwit them, depending on how they have treated her. Her cleverness has a dark side too: when she wants to get what she desires, little stops her.

In love she tires easily of routine. She wants a man who can follow her intellectually, keep her interest alive, not be predictable. If her partner becomes boring, she begins to seek outlets — whether in flirtation, in work, or in new company. She does not do this out of malice or irresponsibility, but out of a natural inability to tolerate suffocation.

She is among the most capable types in business. She knows how to see opportunities where others see nothing, knows how to persuade, knows how to manage with little. In her finances she is usually shrewd — sometimes stingy and sometimes surprisingly generous, depending on her mood and who is before her. But she never loses them easily — if she must start over from zero, she will do so without being daunted.

Monkey Man

The Monkey man is one of those types toward whom it is hard to remain indifferent. Either you adore him or you do not trust him at all — a middle ground rarely exists. He has a quick, sparkling charm, an intelligence he uses as both weapon and shield. He tells jokes, makes others laugh, but behind his laughter there always stands a calculation.

In his work he is very capable — often more capable than required for the position he holds. He grows bored quickly, which is why he frequently changes professions or directions. His superiors admire him and are annoyed by him at the same time, because he knows things they do not and does not hesitate to remind them tactfully. When he works for himself, he can build a small empire in a time that would make the most industrious entrepreneur envious.

In love he is charming but unreliable. Not necessarily out of malice — his curiosity about women is simply insatiable, and he hardly resists a new challenge. The woman who will keep him must herself be witty and many-sided, must surprise him constantly, must never give him the comfort of being bored. If he acquires such a partner, he may remain faithful for a lifetime. If not, he will do what all Monkeys do: he will continue the game elsewhere.

Demetra Togka