General Characteristics of a Sheep

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 They skirt around controversial, difficult issues, becoming either withdrawn or whiney.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 and Working Life

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.

Finance

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

Who the Sheep will form a herd with

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.

Who the Sheep will lock horns with

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.

How to work well with a Sheep

To work well with the Sheep, you will need to constantly give encouragement, support and assurance. Never leave him alone to deal with matters because he will only spend that time floundering and worrying about what to do. Indecisive and pessimistic by nature, the Sheep will appreciate guidance where decisions, major or minor are called for. He will do much better if you give him very clear instructions and allow him to follow directions to execute.

Always speak to the Sheep gently and be extra sensitive of his feelings and how he may interpret what you are saying. You will never get anywhere with the sheep if you are too assertive, direct or brusque. The Sheep needs to be won over by persuasion and reassuring them that they are capable and matter to you. Dry facts, figures and logic won’t appeal to them nor have any effect in getting through to them. They live their lives through their hearts more than their heads.

5 Positive and Negative Traits

Famous Sheep

Chow Yun Fat, Zhang Ziyi, Bill Gates, Bruce Willis, King George IV, Mark Twain, Mel Gibson, Michel Angelo, Mikhail Gorbachev, Robert De Niro, Boris Yeltsin, Evita Peron
Pamela Anderson, Julia Roberts, Jane Austen, Mick Jagger, Bruce Willis, John Wayne, John Denver, Kate Hudson, Boris Becker, Jamie Foxx, Michaelangelo, Barbara Walters, Mena Suvari, Norah Jones, Heath Ledger, Claire Danes, Maggie Q, Petra Nemcova, Michael Owen, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Kurt Cobain, Nicole Kidman, Jordan Chan, Jeff Corwin, Vin Diesel, Will Ferrell, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Andy Hui, Akshay Kumar, Harry Connick, Jr., Faith Hill, Vanilla Ice, Frankie Lam, Chow Yun Fat, YoYo Ma, King of Bhutan, Whoopi Goldberg, Billy Idol

Other Lunar Animal Signs

1. I am the Rat

2. I am the Ox

3. I am the Tiger

4. I am the Rabbit

5. I am the Dragon

6. I am the Snake

7. I am the Horse

8. I am the Monkey

9. I am the Rooster

10. I am the Dog

11. I am the Pig

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