Yin Wood Snake – By Shifu Jonathan Bluestein
(With influence and ideas by Gregory David Done of the Tigers Play Blog)

Reproduced here with permission

Basics

In Chinese Philosophy, Astrology, Cosmology and religion, there are the 12 Celestial Stems and 10 Earthly Branches.

The 12 Celestial Stems are represented by 12 Animals.

The Snake is one among the 12 Animals.

Every year is associated with one of the 12 Animals.

Every year is also associated with one of the Five Phases – Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water.

So every year has 1 Phase (among 5) and 1 Animal (among 12).

Five Phases times 12 Animals = 5 X 12 = 60 . This is why there is a 60-year cycle of the Five Phases and 12 Animals. Every 60 years, one cycle is complete. For this reason, in China, a person’s 60th birthday is the most important one.

Every year has the combined energy of its Phase and Animals. This year is the year of the Yin Wood Snake. Therefore this document shall discuss the energy of this particular year, in accordance to Chinese Astrology.

The energy of the year is not a form of fortune-telling. The energy of the year describes, in our case, how Planet Earth is energetically affected between late January of 2025, to early February of 2026. This energetic trend does not determine our fate. But it does influence the boundaries of our potential and actions. It is believed that acting in accordance with the energy of the year, would make your life easier, and your wishes and actions more successful, one average, relative to yourself. Therefore, the purpose of this document is to help you understand how to better align yourself with the energies of the year.

The Qi of Snakes

Every one of the 12 Animals has its own unique types of Qi – a specific energy signature. The Snake is also said to have a Qi which is uniquely its own. I shall explain the Qi of Snakes (in the context of years), before going deeper into the specific characteristics of the Yin Wood Snake.

In China, the Snake is sometimes a symbol associated with Sages, because it can shed its skin. The Sage is a person who can change with the circumstances at-will, and thereby become something new or different in order to survive. The Snake is similar. It can shed its skin to renew itself, form its body to the shape necessary for survival, or match its body to its surroundings.

The Snake represents Yin and darkness. Emptiness, potential, and openness that hosts all forms. Snake Energy is the empty spoke in the center of the turning wheel. The Dao De Jing explains this – it is the empty space upon the wheel depends for its function. So snake years are like an energetic engine which is hidden at the center. Unlike say, the dragon years, during which the massive energy is clear and evident to see and feel.

The Snake is always in the process of becoming something else. Snakes can remain perfectly still and then strike, act, seemingly out of nowhere, to paralyze their prey. Snake is not gradual. Snake is the sudden and extreme flip from Yin to Yang, like the snapping of a twig.

People with a ‘Snake Character’ like to reflect, mirror, question, and peak behind the curtains. Snake Energy is sinking, gathering, descending, internalizing, coiling, seeking stillness and silence. Like snakes in the wild, Snake Energy

seeks to be hidden, unseen, to blend in with the environment. Therefore, Snakes have a natural inclination to “disappear”, to hide, and to recede from the world by blending in with the surroundings. A snake might look like a vine on the tree, so it is there, present in the world, but it is not the vine, not what it appears to be. Snake Energy is not what it appears to be; it is unknowable and ineffable. They make great actors and can become anyone, like method acting. They can sometimes learn quickly from another person, by ‘becoming’ the teacher – adopting his mannerisms, dress, body language, etc. Monkeys have this capacity, too. Rather than learn the language, this person just became someone who already knew it. The Monkey imitates, but the Snake more so, takes on the external shape – the outlines.

Thereby, the Snake can pretend to be a bit like any of the other 11 animals, yet not become defined by that mimicry. Snakes can become anything and anybody without getting too attached. That sort of quality, of being ‘unknown’ and yet very approachable, can exude much charm on others. They are a mystery even to themselves. Their instinct is to hide, but they can hide in a crowded room because they are inwardly unknowable. You can “know” a Snake for years and still not know who they are. There is no deception therein – only the truth of what the ‘Snake Person’ is really on the inside. This embodies again, ideas from the Dao De Jing: ‘by not being known, all know you’; by not becoming attached, you may attach to anything’.

In so being, the Snake is synonymous with wisdom. This wisdom arises from observation, but also a connection to the beyond. They wait, and this patience reveals much to them. It is by waiting and being passive that they learn, and not through excessive activities.

The Image of the Yin Wood Snake

The Yin Wood Snake is one of Five Snakes in the grand, 60-year cycle of the Chinese Zodiac. The others being the Metal Snake, Water Snake, Fire Snake and Earth Snake.

The Wood Snake is the first of the Five Snakes. Among the Five Snakes, the Wood Snake is the most honest, shy, gentle and calm. It is secretive and still. Since it does not have the venom or striking force of the other snakes, so it hides and becomes invisible. Its energy, then, is just that – docile and unseen. It is the ‘least-assuming’ of all of the 60 animal zodiac combinations, and hides from sight. It can take on two very different appearances:

The first type of wood snake is a small, mild and gentle snake. It can also be thought-of as a ‘baby snake’. The second wood snake is the medium-sized, Green Tree Python (Morelia viridis). It is much bigger, with larger fangs, which are nonetheless not too dangerous to humans. It kills by suffocating its prey. But it is also mostly chill. Both those types of snakes are non-venomous and typically not aggressive. But they can certainly bite if provoked. Therefore the Yin Wood Snake is not the type of snake which is going to chase you, or seek you out to cause damage. But it will defend itself if provoked.

Despite being a patient and hidden creature, the Wood Snake specifically is still a climber. It goes around obstacles, and its direction is upward and to the sides in all directions – following the growth pattern of trees. The slow and methodical climb is progress, even if it is accomplished in intervals.

Key Points for the Year

Important Dates

The Wood Season: Spring

The Snake month is: May 5th to June 4th

Yin Wood days are: May 15th, May 25th, June 4th

The Snake Hour of every day is: 9AM to 11AM

Thus, between 9AM and 11AM on

May 15th and on May 25th of 2025, these would be the Snake Hours in the Yin

Wood Days in the Wood Season (Spring) in the year of the Yin Wood Snake. These are the hours and dates when the energy of the year would be strongest. Mark your diaries for those dates and times.

Also, consider applying the type of advice and ideas presented on the following pages, during those days and times. These are suitable for the whole year, but on the particular hours and dates mentioned, they might work even better.

Aligning Yourself With the Year

How should we change our lives and behaviour, in order to ‘best ride the energy’ of the Yin Wood Snake year?

First of all, pay attention to the hours. The Snake Hours, every day of every year, are 9AM to 11AM. Those are the hours of the Spleen. In Traditional Chines Medicine, the Spleen and Stomach are key to the health of your digestive system, and your levels of energy. This year then, one must pay attention not to ‘abuse’ the Spleen. For this, you must make a special effort to avoid refined sugars and preservatives. You would also benefit the Spleen by eating or drinking soups made from root vegetables, especially those which are orange or yellow.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Spleen is said to take the food digested by the Stomach, and produce energy from it. For this reason, it is best not to eat during the hours of the Spleen, which are also the hours of the Snake – 9AM to 11AM. During those hours, food should already be in your belly, from earlier meals. That being said, the next-best time-frame for having a meal is at 12 Noon.

All of this also implies, that the energy of the Snake this year is more powerful than usual during those hours – 9AM to 11AM. Thus, it is during those hours that you should try your best not to act in opposition to the yearly energy of the Yin Wood Snake. What that entails, I shall now explore in greater detail.

The previous year, that of the Yang Wood Dragon, was marked by boundless expansion in all directions. It is akin to a massive explosion. This year of the Yin Wood Snake, is like

the mesmerizing silence following that great explosion. Things are still moving, but they do so as an expression of ‘the aftermath’; often building on the previous inertia. You can still make use of that inertia, even if it was created by others. ‘The Dragon flaps its wings, and the Snake can ride the wind’. So for example – if someone started a project, a company, or similar – you may ‘hop on that boat’. The Snake, by himself, will not travel great distances. But it can quietly rest on another’s moving wagon, can it not?

The energetic direction of the year is ‘upward and sideways’, like the growth of a tree. Although progress is had, its rate is considerably slower than that of the mighty and fierce Dragon. The year moves and stops. Sits. Awaits. Charges, bites and envelopes with tremendous intensity, for a few moments. Then advances slowly again.

Within the 60-year cycle, this is the year with the least outside energetic influence on our behaviour or fate. It is because the Yin Wood Snake does not seek to coerce its agenda. This lack of influence may bring out or exaggerate everyone’s innate character traits, because everyone is free to be themselves, for we are neither bolstered nor inhibited. We have the unique opportunity to find out what we truly are. For some, this may be empowering and healing, and for others, it may be confusing and disappointing. We can be like the small, hidden Wood Snake and slither unseen between the cracks, disappearing unnoticed. We can rest and do nothing. Or, we can simply get to work without interference…but also without much wind in our sails from an external source, unless we join-in with another’s venture.

Can you recall how the Snake attains its wisdom? It is via patient observation, more so that the pursuit of knowledge. Therefore, in the year of the Yin Wood Snake, it is better to learn from uninitiated experiences, and through looking at our surroundings, than trying to run around and collect all of the facts and details. It can appear and feel counter-intuitive. It is quite a ‘Daoist approach’. But sometimes when we shut our mouths, and stop forcing our views on the environment, we actually see and learn much more.

As noted before, unlike other years, this year itself – the Yin Wood Snake, does not lend much energy for action, but allows room for personal interpretation. It is like the hidden snake in the tree, which allows you to pass. You would not harass it, because you could hardly detect its presence. As long as it is not harassed, then it would not harass you. Accordingly, do not push the limits of other people. Be like the Yin Wood Snake – live and let live. Those who push their luck, might end up being like the snake’s prey – the poor bird or mouse which gets too close, or the foolish human who attempts to annoy a snake with a stick.

A snake can definitely slither. But a green tree snake is more stable when coiled around a branch. ‘Less movement, more stability’, is a good motto to go by this year… unless one is in need of changing, transforming and grabbing an opportunity.

In those cases, make haste, but only for a short duration.

To be like a Snake means to be flexible and adaptable; to change your shape or character to match the circumstances. To be like the Yin Wood Snake also means to be hidden from sight. To conceal one’s intentions. To be still and docile until

the right opportunity arise, before pouncing it, biting in order to grasp, and finishing the job by strangling it. Then, resting once more.

In the context of human society, the ‘Snake’s prey’, should be thought of as opportunities. You need to ambush the opportunities, like the Green Tree Snake ambushes a bird whilst on a branch. The biting action – the grabbing of the opportunity, must be very quick and determined. You need to wrap yourself around it also, immediately thereafter, to ensure it would be yours.

Snakes hunt Rats; and the Rats, in the Chinese Zodiac, are often associated with Money, Wealth and Prosperity. It is expected and known, based on non-astrological reasons, that 2025 would be rough financial year in the global markets. This calls for caution. Behave not like the mighty Dragon or the rushing Horse, but rather like the patient and calculated Snake.

Finally, this year – can you transform into something else? Something new? Feel free to ‘shed your skin’. Perhaps, more than once. But do not do so in an outlandish and spectacular manner. Do it quietly, behind the scenes. You are green and bright. People would notice… eventually. The snake that stands-out, ends-up in the pet-aquarium, or worse.

The next year, 2026, would be that of the Yang Fire Horse. It would bring a tremendous energy, somewhat violent even, much more dramatic than that of 2025. It is therefore good to employ 2025 for the purposes of resting, digesting, recovering and renewing, prior to the burst that is sure to come.

Hexagram

The Hexagrams are 64 symbols that originate from the Book of Changes (Yì Jīng 易經). This is an ancient book from China, dating back over 2500 years. In the Book of Changes, the 64 symbols called ‘Hexagrams’, are used to describe all possible types of energetic transformations in the world. The Hexagrams describe the ‘energetic trend’ of a given time period.

This is the hexagram associated with the year ahead:

䷰ Reform

The image contained in this symbol, is that of fire under water, or a fire inside of a marsh. Why is there a fire inside of a marsh, you might ask? To explain, I need to provide a little background.

In the Book of Changes, the Marsh is a place where things constantly change and transform. One thing turns into another. There is ceaseless growth. Think of water, atop of which there is a floating log, on which there is a turtle, and on it there is a colony of moss, from which grows a mushroom, and on the mushroom stands a dragonfly. Things climb and grow on each-other, and continue to change their location and appearances.

Then as noted before, inside of the marsh there is a fire. What a strange thing, indeed. What is a fire, something which burns, doing inside in a marsh, which is inherently wet? It is a special transformation. A revolutionary spark. Something that ordinarily does not belong in that place. Like a traveler who sets up a fire at the banks, to cook the animals he caught. It is also a fire which transforms the water, evaporating the murkiness of the marsh. Hence the name of the hexagram: ‘Reform’. Some people also translate is as: ‘Revolution’.

This hexagram is likened to molting – the shedding of skin, as in the action of the snake. Molting is the process of re-formation. Transformation. A metamorphosis. One thing changing into another. Adaptation to new circumstances. Old ways are discarded in favor of new ideas or lifestyles.

Remember that the name of this hexagram is often also translated as ‘Revolution’. A successful revolution requires timing. The text of the Book of Changes says, in relation to this hexagram: “The virtuous person makes order in in calendar, so that he can see clearly the times and seasons”. This message is about planning. While the Dragon can go anywhere it wants at all times, the Snake has its limitations. The Wood Snake does not always advance, and though it can make haste when the opportunity arises, briefly so, it is still immobile much of the time, and calculates its trajectory with caution. It awaits the correct timing. This is benefitted by planning. We would do well to plan ahead this year.

What is ‘Reform’ combined with ‘Planning’? It can mean: Travel. So while the Snake does not move a lot, it may make a few great leaps in distance. Tree snakes can sometimes even leap from the tops of trees to far branches below, falling and then immediately grabbing unto their landing place, coiling around it. Therefore, a possible interpretation for this year is that planning, combined with a reform in one’s life, can lead to travel. This is true for any year, of course. There is nothing special about it. The statement implies that such a combination of planning and reform leading to occasional, specific and transformative travel, is more in-line with the energetics of the Year of the Yin Wood Snake. Keep in mind though, that a distance traveled may be physical, emotional or spiritual.

The transformations made in the context of this hexagram, must not be enacted too quickly or hastily. Those changes should be made in accordance to what others can tolerate. This again, matches with the agendas of ‘the Libertarian Wood Snake’. It seeks to live and let live. It transforms, but his change is of no hindrance to its surroundings, or to other animals. Nonetheless, it moves, grows and makes progress. The grabbing of opportunities is an instrument to allow change, but its rapid action should not be the norm.

The hexagram describes a metamorphosis that is like that of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. No one would believe that the first creature can turn into the second, until the metamorphosis is complete. Thus, it is wise to avoid announcing the changes, until they have come to full fruition. Also, as noted before, the changes must be timely. Organizing one’s calendar and planning ahead, can ensure this.