卯 Rabbit

卯 (Myo), the Rabbit, is fourth in the cycle. It stands for the second month of the old calendar, the height of spring, and the hours from five to seven in the morning. Its direction is due east, where the sun rises, and its element is Wood, the sprouting kind. The Rabbit is read as growth that does not push: things open around it. In Korean folklore the rabbit is the clever one, outwitting the tiger and the dragon king of the sea in the tale of the rabbit's liver, and on the moon a rabbit pounds rice cake with a mallet, which is what Koreans see in the lunar shadows.

Notice one tension in a room today and ease it with a single sentence instead of silence. Rabbit energy is said to show in smoothing, so see how far one spoken line goes.

Rabbit years are traditionally said to sit well with Pig (亥) and Goat (未), the Wood harmony group, and to clash with the Rooster (酉) across the circle. Old pairings to compare with real friends, not predictions.

In Korean the Rabbit year is 토끼띠 (tokki-tti). To call someone 토끼 같다 (tokki gatda), "like a rabbit," is to call them cute and quick. The moon rabbit, 달토끼 (dal-tokki), pounding 떡 (tteok, rice cake) is one of the first images Korean children learn to find in the night sky.