(112) Differences in leadership between Sarkozy and Merkel

By Janet Shin

Korea will be hosting the Group of 20 Summit in November. Not only political leaders from G20-member countries, but business leaders, and thousands of government officials, academics and journalists will visit Korea.

Among the national leaders visiting for the summit, some in particular interest us with their unique life stories leading up to their presidency and influencing their philosophies and ways of politics.

We will review the saju of two leaders, Nicolas Sarkozy, the 23rd and current president of the French Republic, and Angela Merkel, the first female chancellor of Germany. The two show different leadership qualities in governing their respective countries.

First, Sarkozy was born on Jan. 28, 1955, and his saju is as below.

The French president was born with the energy of yin earth, which is representative of crop fields. Born in the yin earth month, where the energy is very cold, it would have been difficult to plant any crops without the help of fire energy (warmth) in the month stem and year branch. His wood energy, which stands for the career star and power, was able to cultivate his own efforts (earth) and fire energy. Fire denotes education and licenses, and is represented by the grandfather in terms of familial relationships. Water stands for money, and refers to the parents of a relationship.

There seems to be no presence of his father in his youth, but in the inclusions of yin earth in the month and day branches, there exists an abundance of the water element, which depicts his relationships with women in his adulthood.

As a ruler of a nation, we are able to see great persistence and self confidence owing to the earth energies in his saju. Once he had decided to go into politics, it would not have been simple to change his mind. Power (wood) may be his ultimate goal, as a ``field’’ energy, but the way he sustains his life is through recognition and reputation (fire energy).

Meanwhile, the saju of Angela Merkel is as below.

The German chancellor was born with the energy of yang wood, which shows a more straightforward leadership than that of yin earth. While persistence (the same energy as the day master) is not prevalent in her saju, the power-career star has a more dominant energy. Metal denotes career star and power, which is in month stem and also included in the earth branch. While earth is the money star, it comes to eventually generate metal energy. In this saju, her father’s presence is noticeable as a major influence, as the earth energy (money star) denotes her father.

It is not surprising that she is the first female chancellor of Germany and became the second woman to chair the G8, after Margaret Thatcher. For reference, Thatcher was born with the energy of yang metal, or great iron, has a powerful career star (fire) and knowledge star (earth) in her saju. On another note, Thatcher was often called the ``Iron Lady.’’

Merkel has been oft compared to Thatcher, as the first female German chancellor, the youngest German chancellor since WWII, the first with a background in natural sciences, etc. But according to her saju reading, Merkel’s life is a bit more vulnerable compared to that of Thatcher. There are myriad outcomes due to the conflict between the two earth energies in her month and day branches.

If the leadership of Sarkozy is the type to push ahead regardless of any obstacles in the process, ten that of Merkel is more about challenges and persuasion until she reaches the goal.

The “Four Pillars of Destiny”? A special saju workshop is held Saturdays in Itaewon. For more information, contact Janet at 010-5414-7461or email janetshin@hotmail.com.

The writer is the president of the Heavenly Garden, a saju research center in Korea, and the author of “Learning Four Pillars” For more, visit www.fourpillarskorea.com