The Tiger

Tigers need tribes of friends and allies. Their friends and allies need them too, but the Tiger is intensely individual and fiercely independent and must remain a little apart if the group is to remain cohesive. Like Snow White among the Seven Dwarfs (released in The Year of The Tiger in 1938) the Tiger person is nothing without the tribe but also stands well apart from it. Tiger people typically have several teams or networks but are always outsiders. Think of Her Majesty the Queen and the group of nations in her Commonwealth. She rules this global network but she’s also distant from it.

Consider Tigger in Winnie the Pooh. Tigger is one of the most famous tigers in the world, but he has nothing in common with the other animals in the wood. To read Winnie the Pooh without Tigger would be unthinkable, though. Tiger people are always seen in the context of the group even when they are separated from it. Tiger Pete Townshend has been in The Who since the Sixties but he has never had much in common with his bandmates.

Tiger Germaine Greer helped create the Women’s Liberation movement but is fiercely independent within it. The same might be said for Tiger Robert Bly who created the Men’s Movement but is apart from it. At the other end of the scale think of Tiger Hugh Hefner whose tribe consisted of Playboy Bunnies – but he was never exactly down among the women. If you’re a tiger there are always questions about who needs whom, in the groups you are part of or connected to. That’s typical of tigers in the wild too. You are nothing without the network, but the network is nothing with you. Making that power dynamic work takes a lot of effort. There is a co-dependency between the tiger and her group. However, the group structure has to allow her freedom or the group may not last.

If this is your Chinese zodiac sign then your life path is about making a circle of people work for you (and helping this circle to hit the heights) without giving up your own space, territory and personality. If you think back to your schooldays you will see how the pattern started when you were young.

In the Year of the Tiger, 1938, The League of Nations met its most critical test – keeping world peace – and fell apart. Why? Because not every nation would fall into line. Perhaps it’s not surprising. The League of Nations was actually founded in another Year of the Tiger too – back in 1914.

Tiger Emily Bronte (Wuthering Heights) was part of the Bronte sisters’ tribe but went her own wild way. Fortunately, her sisters understood and made space for her. Tiger Victoria Beckham made her name in The Spice Girls then became more famous than any of them. Think of Tiger Kenneth Williams in the Carry On films – he needed that comedy tribe but he did not belong to it. Robbie Williams is another ferociously independent Tiger who found his power through the group then went his own sweet way. Tiger Tom Cruise is the Scientologist who is in the tribe but set apart from them too. Agnetha Faltskog from ABBA is another Tiger who needed her group – and they needed her – but the structure of ABBA, based on two couples, did not work for her and she flew solo. The group collapsed.

In the wild, the tiger is a solitary but social animal. Mother tigers bond with their children, but the adults congregate randomly and temporarily. They hunt as individuals but come back to the group when the time is right for them. This is how tigers survive and if you are a Tiger it is how you will succeed too. Just remember that the group has to allow for your tremendous need to be yourself – without losing its solidarity, structure and strength. That’s a lifelong quest but if you can master it you will be Queen or King of the jungle.

Tiger years in Western astrology are characterised by strong patterns involving heavenly bodies in the sign of Aquarius. Whatever your Western sign might be, there is a powerful Aquarian theme in your life.