General Characteristics
The Rat is intelligent, hardworking and competitive. By wanting to achieve his goals as fast as possible, he will always use his wily ways to cut corners and find the way of least resistance, calling this “efficiency”.
He is gregarious, fun-loving and amiable to all. However, there is another side to the Rat which is very private and he keeps his innermost thoughts to himself. The Rat doesn’t trust easily and needs constant assurance as he can be insecure. However, those who work hard to enter the Rat’s inner sanctuary will be assured of a loving and loyal friend.
Strengths
The Rat is independent and intelligent, inquisitive and indomitable! His hardworking and competitive nature leads him to be successful in whatever work he chooses and his curiosity will ensure that he knows what is going on at any time. He can be very particular and organized and expects the same from others.
The Rat also is the perfect opportunist, able to accurately spot occasions where he can act to his advantage. His speed and natural nimbleness will stand him in good stead when this happens.
The outgoing, charming and sociable Rat draws people around him easily. He is very hospitable and will always welcome anyone who needs help, but do be prepared to do something in return. The Rat does not put up with freeloaders and fully expects people to pull their weight.
The Rat may be chatty and curious but he is generally reserved and doesn’t confide easily in others. He also has a big ego and needs constant acknowledgement of his capabilities and achievements.
The Rat is a super Houdini, always ready with an escape plan in any situation. As soon as his alarm bells go off, he’s out of there in a flash. Rats generally have a good instinct; this intuitiveness is one of his best assets, and keeps him well on top of his game and out of trouble.
Weaknesses
One of the Rat’s greatest failings is his fickleness. Whether it is in business, the Rat labours over making the simplest decisions, then changes his mind 30 seconds after he has made it. He can also tend to over-commit, biting off more than he can chew and then not delivering.
The Rat can also be thrifty to a fault. If you ask him to lend you some money, he will probably say yes but don’t be surprised if he charges you interest!
Although the Rat is talkative and expressive, the Rat doesn’t communicate his deeper thoughts well and when upset, he will be evasive and simply say nothing is wrong. It can be frustrating trying to deduce how the Rat is really feeling.
Being the perfectionist that he is and with the large ego he carries, the Rat can be very critical and vocal about it too. This leads people to become wary about the Rat’s sharp tongue. The Rat enjoys a bit of gossip and can be picky over petty things, but in general, the Rat has no malicious intent.
Career
In a corporation, the Rat can relate well to people and works well in a team. He will always be concerned about the well being of his colleagues which ensures a happy working team.
The keen and quick mind of the Rat likes debating and intellectual pursuits and he would thrive in the legal profession. As an adaptable, tough little creature, he will work well in many diverse environments and can be a good multi-tasker, keeping an eye on both the work at hand as well as the people involved. It will be hard to pull a fast one over the smart, quick Rat.
Love and Relationships
The Rat is a passionate creature and will have many admirers. The secret of a successful partnership with a Rat is ensuring that it is based on a solid friendship. Once he commits, he will treat his partner well. He can be possessive though, which stems from insecurity. Assure him that he is important to you and that you will stick by him and the Rat will be devoted to you.
Although the Rat doesn’t look like it on the surface, he is actually quite sentimental. He gets deeply attached to his loved ones and his family and will be responsible for them. He trusts his parents and appreciates them so he will happily look after his parents in their old age.
Wealth
The Rat is very contradictory in financial matters. On the one hand, he is very thrifty to the point of stinginess. He can make sure that his budgets are kept and makes sure that he has a nest egg for a rainy day.
On the other hand, while he is good at making money, he is not necessarily good at keeping what he earns. He will buy items to satisfy a whim – not necessarily luxurious items but whatever holds the Rat’s interest at the time, which may not be very practical. Buying a snowboard when he lives in India or a bikini in Alaska would not seem strange to the Rat at all. He just has to have it at that time!
Social Life
The Rat is popular, fun loving and gets on well with most people. He has a good sense of humour and is often the life and soul of any party. When he meets new people, he is the first to put people at ease with his warm, affable nature. Some Rats may have an air of aloofness about them, not being one to put their hearts on their sleeves, but it’s usually because they are just shy. They are actually friendly and kind once you get to know them.
However, while from the outside it looks like the Rat has many friends, they are more like acquaintances. The Rat has only a handful of friends he really trusts and bares his soul to.
Life Lessons
The Rat must learn to communicate better with the people around him. If he can be more open to trust people, he may gain more from the friendships that he already makes so easily.
The Rat needs to learn to be more decisive and to stick to the decision once it is made. If he can persevere and complete what he has said he will, the Rat will be wildly successful.
If the Rat can be more patient and less critical, he will be less stressed. He also has to learn that having high expectations from those who will never live up to them will only result in disappointment. Once the Rat learns how to have realistic expectations, the Rat will be much happier.
COMPATIBILITY
The Rat gets on like a house on fire with the Monkey and the Dragon. These three form a harmonious trio based on their dynamism and high intellect. Always full of initiative and innovation, these three are on the same wavelength to get things done as fast as possible.
The Rat and Monkey are a particularly compatible couple. Both highly intelligent and active, they share the same outlook on life and the same values. They have the same fun loving personalities which will make them cruise through life with laughter.
The Rat also gets on well with the Ox. Somehow, these two characters are quite different in nature, the Ox’s solid, unwavering stability will complement the shifty, fast-acting, adaptable rat.
NON-COMPATIBILITY
The Rat doesn’t get along with the Horse. Communications will be awry and these two simply have completely different goals. The Horse does not understand why the Rat is so calculative and petty, and the Rat will not tolerate the Horse’s disorganized impulsiveness.
The Rat and the Rooster also tend to be at loggerheads because both are not willing to give in to each other. They are both perfectionists and will have high expectations for each other that can never be met. Relationships between these two are best kept cordial and at a distance.
The Rat and the Five Elements
The Rat: A Water Sign
The Rat sign is of the Water element. Generally, the Water element indicates the potential for a powerful communicator and someone who is able to skillfully manipulate people into seeing a particular point of view. Those born under the Water element are observant and very quick to take advantage of opportunities and harness resources to fulfil their aims. They are also versatile and adaptable, embodying the very nature of Water, which is fluidity.
The Metal Rat
Metal Rats look like they are happy-go-lucky and love the limelight. However, beneath the jolly exterior, they are tough as nails and a possible boiling pot of emotions. They are especially adept at concealing their negative emotions such as possessiveness, jealousy and selfishness.
Whether in business or pleasure, Metal Rats often simply focus on what they want and how they can get it, to the exclusion of all else. When things don’t go the way they want, they can be irritable and quick tempered.
Financially, the Metal Rat is not stingy and can spend, though not on frivolous items. He likes people to think well of him so he always dresses well and makes sure his house is as classy and stylish as possible.
The Water Rat
With Water as his natural element and Water as the element of his year of birth, the Water Rat is particularly skilful at the art of persuasion and manipulation. He is mentally quick and agile; an innovative and a strategic thinker, and excellent at finding solutions to difficult situations.
The Water Rat’s ease of adaptability allows him to relate and get on well with people from all walks of life. He also is incredibly intuitive and is able to assess people’s personalities and characters quickly. This allows the Water Rat to accommodate and use each person’s strengths and weaknesses in order to best draw on their support.
People will be automatically drawn to the Water Rat and not even realise that they are being manipulated. Fortunately, the Water Rat is generally empathetic, generous and kind, so while he may be self-centred, it will not be with the malicious intent to harm others. Water Rats are good and charismatic public speakers and writers. They can also be drawn to scholarly pursuits and academia.
The Wood Rat
The Wood Rat is well-spoken, popular and successful at whatever he does. He can look at things from a macro perspective and is able to find a way to achieve what he sets out to do. He is skilled at selling; from actual items to ideas to business plans. By his eloquence and persuasive speech, people will be happy to buy in on whatever he’s promoting.
However, despite the confident exterior, the Wood Rat is the most insecure of all the Rats. This insecurity tends to drive the Wood Rat to be extra hardworking and diligent. The Wood Rat is also insecure over what people think of him, so he is always very accommodating and amenable to those around him.
There is also a negative side to this Rat’s eloquence and versatile nature – he will find it easy to be manipulative and this can enhance his tendency to be deceitful or to lie, just to get out of difficult situations and have his way. The flexible quality of Wood people can mean that this Rat uses his versatile nature to be sneaky and not always for positive ends.
Aside from anxiety over his insecurities, he does manage to have a good work-life balance and is generally a happy person.
The Fire Rat
The Fire Rat is the most active Rat and is naturally a free spirit. He finds it difficult to stay still in one place for long and constantly seeks new pastures. Independence is important to the Fire Rat, so he tends to be resistant to any environment which has strict rules and regulations. Careers which involve travel or anything creative would be attractive to the Fire Rat.
Even on the domestic front, if the Fire Rat finds that he is emotionally suffocating or being pressured, he will look for the nearest exit and get out of the situation. Despite this seeming allergy to responsibility, the Fire Rat is very generous and charitable, making them very attractive.
The Fire Rat is also the most flamboyant and assertive of the Rats. Add being impulsive into the mix and it means that the Fire Rat can get himself into trouble without trying too hard.
The Earth Rat
The Earth Rat is the most grounded and stable of the Rats. He has the general intellect of the Rats without the flightiness; as such, the Earth Rat is able to make sensible and realistic decisions which lead to solid and successful careers and relationships.
Ever the pragmatist, the Earth Rat sticks to whatever is safe and conventional. Unlike his other more impulsive Rat brothers, the Earth Rat prefers to settle down in one place and stay put wherever he is. The Earth Rat is also risk-averse and prefers not to take chances.
Charming and clever, the Earth Rat has many friends. However, while he is not as egoistical as other Rats, he is still sensitive about what others think of him and yearns to be respected. Those who appreciate and respect the Earth Rat is assured of the Earth Rat’s loyalty in return.
