Happy Lunar New Year of the Snake! We are ready to begin anew this year, and as it turns out, Change and Transformation are on the menu for 2025. In Chinese astrology, the five elements of Metal, Water, Wood, Fire, and Earth are fundamental to understanding each year's dynamics. This year is a Yin Wood over Fire Snake year, which occurs every 60 years and has both harmonious and conflicting elements. Think about what was happening back in 1965: the Vietnam War, a civil rights march in Selma Alabama that became known as "Bloody Sunday", The Space Race, anti-war protests and sit-in's to name a few. We are entering a year of death and rebirth, a turning of the soil, a year to make responsible decisions, to evolve spiritually, and move away from old habits or beliefs that no longer serve us. Like the snake, this will be a good year to shed old parts of you that are holding you back and reinvent yourself.
While the positive emotions of Wood and Fire are kindness, compassion, and joy, the darker stagnant side of Wood and Fire points to anger, depression, anxiety. Those already prone to these emotions may find it helpful to engage in more activities that bring you joy and that nourish your soul (Hun) and spirit (Shen). Nurture connections within your community and don't forget to ask for help before things get overwhelming. Women in particular are often inclined to push through alone during challenging times and they will also be the ones most affected by the year's hot dry energy. With the element of Water absent this year, there will be more issues with dryness or Yin deficiency in the environment and in our bodies. We don't need Chinese astrology to tell us things will be warmer and drier so we need to be thinking ahead and prepared for fires and droughts.
Practical recommendations for 2025 are to cultivate flexibility, adaptability, and the ability to compromise. 2024 was a Yang Wood Dragon year associated with strong and unbending trees. This year, a Yin Wood year, is more associated with vines, plants, or grasses like bamboo. Remember that snakes and Yin Wood are both malleable yet strong, so being willing to bend means we become much better at weathering change. This is a crucial life skill to develop, given just how much change we experience over the course of our lives. As Heraclitus put it, “The only constant in life is change.”
Sources:
https://raymondlofengshuischool.com/1734582255584
Excerpt from Feburary 2025 Newsletter
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