On January 29, 2025, we celebrate Spring Festival, the end of winter and the start of Spring. It is also the start of a new astrological year, the Year of the Snake.
Chinese New Year falls on the second New Moon after Winter Solstice, another time for family gathering. Growing up, Chinese New Year was what showed up on the calendar my mom had in the kitchen. So it was an interesting tidbit to read this link with the New Moon. Arguably, Winter Solstice and Spring Festival are the biggest celebrations for families in China and for the Chinese diaspora. As kids, Chinese New Year also meant wearing new clothes, visiting family and family friends, receiving red envelope money, and eating special foods. My mom always brought out her special round tray that held beautiful porcelain trays for New Year treats.
As you probably know, the Chinese Zodiac is made up of twelve animals, beginning with the Rat, and ending with the Pig. The order that follows the Rat is Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, and Dog. Possibly, the least known to me is the Snake. In Chinese Culture, it’s common to know the year people are born in. Knowing this list, we have an easy way to know approximately what age someone is, for example.
The Year of the Snake
This year, like the last, is a Wood year. Chinese Cosmology includes five elements – Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. The element gives each astrological year an additional flavour. The last time we had Wood Snake was in the 1960s. The last Snake year (2013) was the Water element. In Astrology, it’s an interesting investigation to review the events in our personal life and in the world. Are there parallels? Anything to observe?
The Wood Element is about growth and movement. This is the element of Spring, so we can think of upward energy that plants have, breaking through the soil into the sunlight. It’s an initiating energy, after the most yin and inward energy of Winter.
Unlike last year, which was a Yang year, 2025 is a Yin year. Yin is a more receptive energy. This year is more about inner connection and transformation.
What does the Snake symbolize?
The Snake sheds its skin. Having watched videos of this molting, it’s a rather fascinating process. So the background frequency and the weather of this year, from the Chinese Astrological lens, is one of birth and rebirth and shedding what’s already done its job. Perhaps it’s a pattern or belief we’re ready or have already moved beyond.
There is also intuition, creativity, fertility, and prosperity “in the air”. Travelling on the ground, the Snake is connected to the Earth and nature and sensitive to vibrations and shifts. The Snake is also seen as mysterious and cunning. As we know, some snakes carry deathly venom and can be dangerous.
Astrological transits, including cycles, are weather and a passing phenomenon. Some weather conditions are more challenging and it’s about connecting with our own authority in making decisions from alignment.
