The Lunar New Year is today, January 29, 2025. It is the Year of the Snake. This begins Spring Festival, one of the most important holiday seasons in China. In the misty realm of long-ago history, the Jade Emperor decided to create a zodiac calendar. He called for a race of the world’s animals to determine who would make the cut and in what order. The racecourse required crossing a wide river with a swift current. The finish line lay on the opposite shore.
The snake was cunning (although the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, and dragon proved faster). The horse was swimming strong across the river and closing in on spot six. What he didn’t know was that he had a stowaway. The sneaky snake had hidden itself behind the horse’s foot. As the horse reached the shore, the snake slithered out. The horse startled, and the snake crossed the finish line before him. Horse had to settle for No. 7 (goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig round out the dozen).
The energy of the world and our bodies is known as qi. When a snake’s qi “is fully charged,” the snake is said to be “deeply reflective, wise, meditative, inventive, intelligent, calm, slow, evasive, discreet, solitary, visionary and philosophical.” However, when qi “is depleted,” the snake takes on other, more negative attributes, such as becoming “helpless, deceptive, manipulative, secretive, lazy, and self-loathing [among others]."
Snakes get a bad rap (often not without good cause), but they have positive attributes as well. The skin-shedding snake is a “symbol of transformation, vitality, and even wisdom." Nuwa and Fuxi, the all-important, mythical creators of humanity in Chinese culture, are often depicted as snakes with human heads. Snakes, turtles, and cranes are symbols of longevity. The Legend of the White Snake is a famous romantic Chinese folktale (now also a television series) in which an immortal snake spirit takes human form and falls in love with a man. Their bonds of love are strong and enduring.
Happy 2025 Year of the Snake.
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