General Characteristics
The Sheep is the most feminine of all the signs associated with affection, care, trust and selflessness. Sheep are gentle mannered and sincere. They also have a compassionate nature, are sentimental, sensitive, understanding of others’ faults and quick to forgive. They are naturally self indulgent and love a life of luxury and ease.
Creative and artistic in nature, they have a unique sense of originality. They are easy going, relaxed and enjoy a pressure free environment. The Sheep is usually a follower and prefers to be given direction and guidance. Usually quite insecure and worrisome, he prefers to work with the support and encouragement of a team.
Being direct and open about his feelings is not one of the Sheep’s traits. Sheep are likely to beat around the bush and will avoid speaking their minds. You’ll be put to task trying to deduce what’s really going on inside his head. However, if they are shown love, care and understanding, they will eventually feel more comfortable to open up to you.
Strengths
The Sheep’s greatest strength is his altruistic mind and compassionate heart. Sheep will always make themselves available to help others and like to be involved in social work for the benefit of the underprivileged.
Empathetic, intuitive and sensitive in nature, they tend to be able to sense the needs of others and help them according to their needs. Due to their gentle nature, they create harmony wherever they go. Their charismatic and engaging personalities win people over easily.
They are also highly creative and artistic, excelling in any activity that gives them the freedom to express their creativity.
Weaknesses
Ironically, the overly soft nature of the Sheep is what will give him the most grief. Sheep are diplomatic to a fault, always avoiding confrontation or being inoffensive to a point that when assertiveness is called for, they will often fail to deliver.
They tend to avoid making decisions making them unsuitable for positions of responsibility. They skirt around controversial, difficult issues, becoming either withdrawn or whiney. They are hesitant, pessimistic, insecure, shy, easily influenced and offended – in general, they lack the confidence or firmness to be able to draw support and will irritate people with their wishy-washiness.
Due to their obliging nature, they are vulnerable to being taken advantage of. A Sheep needs to be led, guided and protected by a strong and scrupulous leader who knows how to bring out his talents; he needs a lot of coddling.
Career
Sheep have an inclination for social work and careers in the arts – music, design, visual or performing arts. They are not suited to desk jobs but thrive on work that allows them to exercise and express their creativity.
They dislike strict routine and discipline; having structure and order to their work will help them find that much needed security and give them confidence. They won’t enjoy surprises and will often doubt their own capability for doing something beyond their comfort zone. How motivated Sheep are will depend on how that particular job helps them to fulfill their responsibility, such as providing for their family.
Love and Relationships
Where matters of the heart are concerned, the Sheep’s heart will always rule his head. Overly sensitive and emotional, Sheep can be highly emotional and very clingy, needing constant reassurance and someone to bleat their insecurities to. However, with their lovable nature, they can make great romantic partners and will do all they can to make their partners happy. They are naturally quite giving and kind, so their partners will never be in want of love. Generally, Sheep do not like to be alone. They are very family-oriented and will give themselves entirely to the right person and do everything they can to maintain a stable, loving, happy relationships.
Because the Sheep is quite a private person, it will be hard to get to him to open up to you. He likes his own company and is often a worrier who likes to wallow in his anxieties on his own. Unless he learns to express himself and confide in others, his partner may often feel neglected and at a loss of how to help him.
Sheep need partners who are supportive, attentive, assuring and will help them develop their self-confidence. As the Sheep can be hypersensitive and prone to anxiety over the smaller, insignificant matters, they will need constant support and open reassurance from their lovers. Sometimes, they may just need someone with a very contrasting personality, who is firm, confident and outspoken to boost his own timidness.
Wealth
Although not materialistic by nature, the Sheep will usually have no problem with money. They are blessed with the unusual luck of benefitting wills and inheritance, and are bestowed gifts from friends and admirers. They attract this naturally by their own gentle and giving nature, making people want to indulge and please them in return.
Even during tough times, they always have enough for their basic needs. Somehow what they need will always fall on their laps.
However, Sheep have the tendency to be overindulgent and do not make provisions for the future. He may be penny-wise, pound-foolish – his attempt to save and be thrifty on small things will be thwarted by a single large and indulgent buy, like an expensive car. The Sheep can be extremely extravagant, especially when someone else is paying for their bills.
Social Life
Although the Sheep is generally a very private person and a homebody who prefers the company of his close loved ones, he does have a good sense of humour and can be great company. They can be the most gracious hosts and entertainers at parties if they are among friends and people they know.
As the Sheep is often introverted and withdrawn, he can appear to be very reserved and standoffish to people they don’t know. It is not that he means to be snobbish; often, it’s only because he’s just very shy and feels insecure when among people he’s not familiar with. However, once he does up warm up to you, he will find it natural and easy to be friendly and make his friends happy.
Life Lessons
It would help the Sheep very much if he could learn to be more practical and less emotional. Sheep should generally make it a point to be less self indulgent – particularly in worrying about the smallest, mundane things – and more serious in taking responsibility. They could make better use of their time planning for the future instead of constantly holding pity parties for themselves and contemplating obscure questions about life.
The Sheep could do with taking steps to build their own confidence – they could take public speaking courses or find a hobby that develops their independence. They need to push themselves to make firm decisions too, instead of always relying on others to support and guide them. This in turn will help to bolster his confidence as he begins to makes successful decisions and starts to stand on his own two feet.
COMPATIBILITY
The Sheep, Rabbit and Pig form one of the four trios of the Chinese zodiac. As such, Sheep will do very well to work with or find partners in the Rabbit and Pig. The Rabbit is one of the best partners for the Sheep as they both share the common trait of gentleness and soft-spokenness. They are both romantic and sentimental, so would be able to share a lot of tenderness and benefit from the mutual kindness of each sign.
The Pig and Sheep are also great combinations. Both are sensitive and sociable, seek harmony and a peaceful life. They get along very well and have mutual understanding. They usually sort out the problems in a calm and reasonable way, work very well together and rely on each other for support.
Sheep are are attracted to the strength and optimism of Horses and Tigers, who have the drive, strength and confidence to guide the Sheep and uplift his grumbling spirits. They also get along with people born under the signs of Monkey, Dragon, Rooster, Snake – all strong signs that will help to boost his confidence and push him along.
NON-COMPATIBILITY
The Sheep will encounter the greatest conflict with Oxens, whose strict and stubborn ways will only serve to accentuate his insecurities and jar against his delicate, sensitive disposition. The Ox, always pragmatic and direct, won’t stand for the Sheep’s constant self-pitying ways, self-indulgence and need for attention. The practical Ox is unlikely to concede to the Sheep’s impractical demands.
The Sheep’s clingy, dependent tendencies will get on the nerves of the independent, quick-witted, street-wise Rat who doesn’t have time nor patience for being emotional. The very practical, grounded Dog will also not put up with the whims and fancies of the Sheep, finding this attitude frivolous, unproductive and unreliable.
The Sheep and the Five Elements
The element of Sheep is Earth
The Sheep sign is of the Earth element. Generally, people born with the Earth element are known for being unpretentious and honest. This element brings them a strong sense of stability and integrity. Earth people are very reliable and you can be sure of their loyalty, hard work, common sense and practical approach to making the best of every situation.
The Metal Sheep
The metal Sheep is highly confident and aware of his capabilities. He is kind hearted, has strong principles and a great sense of responsibility. However, he can be very sensitive to feedback from others, often allowing it to affect him and even the people around him. Although he may have a composed exterior, he is highly emotional beneath. He is prone to bouts of being unreasonable and expects people around him to appease his emotional outbursts. This Sheep is likely to insist on having his way or become very depressed and discouraged.
The Sheep naturally enjoys a good life and beautiful surroundings. The Metal element in this Sheep enhances his creative tendencies and he will always look for ways to incorporate beauty into his work.
Socially he is more comfortable with the company of close friends and family. He tends to find comfort in familiarity and dislikes changes or surprises. He’ll need time to fully accept new situations and people. However, he will make it a point to mingle with people whom he thinks will help him in his career or business. In a way, he is an opportunist but to him this is just a necessity for survival.
The Water Sheep
The Water Sheep is very loyal to friends. He is popular and mixes well with people due to his multitude interests. He will find it easy to find support for what he needs because of his naturally endearing nature. He is a natural artist and is extremely creative in music and fine arts. The Water Sheep is dedicated in his career and usually has great relationships with his supervisors and colleagues. On the whole he is quite conservative and not too adventurous in nature.
The water element in him makes him accommodating to others but at the same time it also means that he can be easily influenced by others. He’ll be swept along with the tide, finding it hard to stand his ground. Unfortunately, this will make things very difficult for the Water Sheep as he likes stability and doesn’t take well to unexpected changes. He prefers to do things and be in situations he is accustomed to. Being so readily influenced by others will not serve him as he will constantly be challenged out of his comfort zone. If he is challenged or if things cannot go as he plans, he has the tendency to take it personally, and become very emotional and sensitive.
The Wood Sheep
The Wood Sheep is good-natured, thoughtful, diplomatic, sociable and courteous. He is kind and compassionate to those in need and is always willing to help friends and families. He is considerate and always thinks of how others feel and how to make them happy. He is tactful and always makes it a point to express his message without offending the other party.
However, he does have a tendency to be overzealous in trying to please or make others happy. This very sensitive Sheep will also have very good nurturing instincts and capabilities. He is altruistic in nature, always on the lookout for who he can take into his fold and help to better their lives. The Wood element gives him a more steady, stable nature than other Sheep though and while he may still be ruled by his heart more than his head, he will be more sensible in his reactions, responding less emotionally than his other Sheep brothers.
The Wood Sheep however, is innately insecure and tends to seek the approval of others to feel his own worth. Sometimes, he can also be too trusting of others to the extent that they take the opportunity to take advantage of him.
The Fire Sheep
The Fire Sheep can be very confident but at the same time very self-centered. His confidence can make him arrogant and when that happens he will have a tendency to disregard the feelings of others. He is intuitive and has no qualms about following his instincts but often, he’ll allow his intuition or “inner voice” to override logic and common sense. He is also highly sensitive, easily offended and can become easily petulant and unreasonable if things don’t go his way. The Fire in him can also tend to become very dramatic about things – this can bring dynamic, creative energy to his work but also cause him to react unnecessarily and childishly.
The Fire Sheep tends to be too meticulous and give too much attention to details to the extent that he worries himself sick over every little thing and drive everyone around him crazy.
The Fire Sheep is also likely to be more flamboyant than other elements. Sheep generally like to have comfortable, beautiful surroundings and the Fire Sheep, all the more, is especially prone to being extravagant over such things. He’ll need to keep a keen eye on his spending.
The Earth Sheep
The Earth Sheep is extremely honest but can be brutally blunt at times. However, although he is good at dishing out his opinion of others, he is not very receptive to feedback and can become very defensive when criticised.
Nevertheless, he tends to look at the bright side of things. He is loyal to his friends and family and is willing to make sacrifices for them. He is someone you can definitely call upon if you are in trouble or need help, and can be sure of a lifelong loyalty.
The Earth Sheep is industrious and works well under pressure. He is a responsible worker and seldom encounters difficulties in his career. He is also more independent, able to hold his own ground and not likely to be as easily influenced as other Sheep.
The Earth element in him makes him more conservative and cautious than other Sheep where money is concerned. Although still indulgent in nature, he is more controlled in his spending.
