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The twelve Animal Signs
for Men
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Pig man
His psychological makeup
There could hardly be a more lovable creature in the entire Chinese duodecimal zodiac than the Pig male. This subject possesses almost every valuable trait of human nature - he is kind, friendly, generous, tender, affectionate, honest, patient, modest, conscientious, and loyal. Should his species disappear from the surface of the earth, one might wonder how harsh and bleak the life of mankind would become!
This is a most charming individual, full of poetry and delicacy. He pleases effortlessly. Everyone can feel quite at ease in his company. His presence is apt to inspire confidence in the most mistrustful or difficult people and incline them toward opening up their hearts. He certainly owes his gift for intimacy to his childlike naturalness, spontaneity, and innocence - to his eternal freshness of soul which insures him against any form of moral aging or sclerosis.
His meekness is legendary. Practically never aggressive and always overly apologetic, he does not insist on being the first or the best. To him, taking a back seat is as natural as drinking water. It is unlikely he will ever learn the value of firmness. His inability to do harm or avenge himself comes very much to the fore of his personality. On the other hand, he is often baffled and even mystified by the insensitiveness and wickedness of others. Naive in the extreme, he persists in believing that people do good for good, despite every proof to the contrary.
Of all natives known to Chinese astrologers the Pig man is the one who possesses the most fertile imagination; even his Goat and Snake counterparts can hardly equal him on this score. But while this sublime faculty of his acts undoubtedly as a precious asset, it can also prove a liability under certain circumstances, and he does not always know how to make the most of it.
Emotional this man certainly is - and to the supreme degree. His reactions are eminently subjective and irrational. It appears practically impossible for him to remain sufficiently aloof and detached, to stand back from events. Cool-headedness and objectivity, therefore, constitute the qualities which he must constantly strive to acquire.
With his curious mind and multi-faceted intelligence, he takes an interest in a wide variety of things. But he is reluctant to delve deeply into any subject, preferring to let his heart do the rest of the work, for he can as swiftly as surely sense the truth of everything. It is most often an advantage to him to rely on his sixth sense - or his third eye - rather than on his reasoning.
Modesty should be counted as the first of his moral qualities. He consistently chooses to remain low-keyed in manner although he is perfectly aware that in this way his worth may not be appreciated as quickly or fully as that of a more aggressive guy. A pacifist at heart, he hates quarreling and arguments: Indifferent to the question of face or self-assertion, he would prefer appearing stupid to winning a dispute. He does not even take offense at being an object of jokes or teasing - though he does lack the ability to laugh at himself.
This man has no ambition whatsoever to change or rock the world or to stand out from the herd. Fame and honor leave him rather indifferent, all the more since these appear to him as almost inevitably linked with cheats and machinations. Competition he abhors as he does bubonic plague.
He has no metaphysical concerns either. What seems important to him is merely to enjoy living - a quiet life, a few good friends, financial security, and Epicurean delights are all prized by him; he hardly asks for more than that. He takes life as it presents itself to him, and accepts things as they are instead of expecting them to be as they should. To him, everything is so simple, as he himself is simplicity personified.
This is a man who is not ashamed of feelings as the Pig sign inclines all its subjects toward being sentimental. With his heart in the right place at all time, he never takes a casual stance concerning human relationships. Everyone can always trust him to be tender, kind, considerate, chivalrous, and deeply affectionate. If he enjoys the company of children and pets more than anyone else does, it is clearly because he never loses his pristine capacity to be good. His profound compassion, sympathy, generosity, and obligingness generally know of no limits; unfortunately, they may sometimes expose him to exploitation by others.
Friendship represents something really sacred in his eyes. But in spite of his open-heartedness, he does not make many friends as his Monkey counterpart does - he prefers quality to quantity, for he earnestly means his friendship to last a lifetime. There could be no better friend than this individual - he is loyal, dependable, attentive, and willing to help as anyone could wish. Those who have found their way to his intimacy may rightfully consider themselves fortunate.
The Pig male will ever remain an open book to everyone as his candor is absolute. There exists not even the dimmest shade of hypocrisy or pretense in his character. He detests lies, half-truths, and treachery with every fiber of his soul. Even those who hate him for one reason or another could not doubt his truthfulness and honesty. One may only regret that his utter transparency, coupled with his unbelievable credulity, makes him an easy prey to unscrupulous people. Impartiality and fair play being considered by him as indispensable components of integrity, he always does his best to uphold them, sometimes to the detriment of his own interests.
Under a facade of timidity and superficiality, there lurks a man with incredible tenacity of purpose. It is customary to compare him to a crab which, once it has seized something, would rather lose a claw than let go. But however admirable they may actually be, his perseverance and patience, like all his other qualities, are quite discreet and unobtrusive, for he always shies away from publicity.
He shows himself most conscientious and scrupulous in whatever he has to do, whether he likes the task or not. People rarely suspect this apparently futile dilettante, this seemingly nonchalant sensualist can in fact prove an extremely hard worker. It is his manner of going about his business that misleads - he always takes his time, not allowing himself to hurry or fuss.
The average Pig male's negative character traits are virtually negligible in comparison with his positive ones. Almost all of them concern the emotional side of this individual.
His hypersensitivity makes him feel too deeply whatever impression he receives. This, as already indicated, is apt to render it impossible for him to extricate himself from his emotionalism and to see things in their proper perspective. His esthesia is such that it borders on oversusceptibility - no matter how careful one is, one can never be quite sure not to hurt him in a way or another. But his vulnerability is carefully hidden, with the result that many people may inadvertently make him suffer pains which could have been avoided should he be less tight-lipped.
No matter how difficult his problems may be, he is generally too shy to ask for outside help - or too kind-hearted to importune someone else with his own concerns. He will try to keep himself afloat to the best of his ability. Perhaps it is not exactly self-reliance here, but rather a kind of stoicism. With age he will probably work out a philosophy of his own, which may be more or less utopian.
Keen on making merry, especially in the company of his trusted cronies, the Pig male appears to have a fundamentally care-free, light-hearted comportment. In actuality he is burdened with a heavily melancholic nature which induces him ineluctably to look at the sadder side of life.
With his frequent spells of moodiness, deep depressions, and his chiefly sentimental memory, he gives every indication of being a nostalgic poet. He is distinctively romantic about the past and remains forever attached to his own family, particularly to his mother whom he idealizes in every possible way.
He has an unmistakable predilection for daydreaming, often taking his desires for realities, thereby exposing himself repeatedly to deceptions. This usually truthful man may sometimes surprise with his "lies," but it should be acknowledged that those so-called lies are what he actually perceives through the lens of his profound subjectivity and bear no trace of malice whatsoever.
Every Pig man, regardless of his age, material success, or social position, more or less consciously wishes he could have remained a boy. Growing up always proves a difficult process for him, and in some cases it is even doubtful if he ever reaches the stage of full maturity. This male will therefore tend to behave as a big baby, unless he makes vigorous and sustained efforts to grow up emotionally. Extremely fearful of danger and suffering, of the future and the unknown, he likes people to know what a defenseless and pathetic individual he is. He does not hesitate to resort to all sorts of gimmicks, including masochism, self-pity, and sentimental blackmail, in order to secure sympathy and protection. Should it prove impossible to get them, then the temptation to regress into childhood becomes irresistible.
The Pig man always doubts his capacity to fend for himself, to defend even his own interests and reputation. He is too passive, too faint-hearted to be willing to stand up and fight when necessary. No challenge of life holds much fascination for him. His basic philosophy consists of taking the line of least resistance and resigning himself to suffer in silence. In this way he is quite vulnerable to alcoholism and drugs as a consolation for his frustrations and cowardice.
As a general rule this man can be notoriously extravagant. The more anxious and fearful he feels, the more money he spends. Material comfort, which however encourages the passive side to his nature, seems to him indispensable as it effectively counterbalances his disappointments. To tell the truth, he does not value money for its own sake, but only as an indispensable means to an inexorable end. Nevertheless, he can never bring himself to worry about his financial future. Fortunately, he is quite often lucky with money and can win in games of chance with surprising frequency, or enjoy unsuspected, substantial inheritances. A financially overextended Pig would be a rarity indeed! What predisposes the typical native to such an enviable situation remains unknown, but popular belief in Asia has since time immemorial associated the Pig sign with the idea of plenty and prosperity. But although great wealth may be his much more frequently than is the case with the average person, he will ever keep a low figure, preferring informality and simplicity to luxury.
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