2025 is The Year of the Snake

According to the Chinese zodiac calendar, 2025 is The Year of the Snake, more specifically the Wood Snake. The Chinese Lunar New Year begins on the new moon closest to the midpoint of the winter solstice and the spring equinox, which this year occurs on January 29, 2025. The Lunar New Year, which marks the beginning of the Year of the Snake, will end on February 16, 2026. Based on the cycles of the moon rather than the sun, Lunar New Year is typically celebrated in Asian countries including China, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and South Korea. Festivities can last for several weeks, with lion dances, feasts, fireworks, and more.

The Year of the Wood Snake is a rare and significant combination that occurs once every 60 years. This unique pairing of the snake, known for its wisdom and transformative energy, with the wood element, symbolizes growth, stability, and creativity. Individuals born under the Snake sign in the Chinese zodiac are often associated with characteristics like wisdom, charm, and strong intuition. They usually think things through thoroughly, prefer to keep things private, and are really good at understanding and caring about others. Wood enhances the Snake’s natural ability to think strategically, making this year a great time for pursuing new ventures, especially in creative or artistic fields.

At the beginning of 2025, the world is still under the influence of the outgoing and positive Dragon, which was a high-action period with plenty of activity. Snake years are times when the world stops to think. Some say that the Year of the Snake could bring career breakthroughs for those who are strategic and diligent. Mythology recognizes the Snake as a creature of healing, which influences the physical body to shift to a more spiritual outlook. A great deal of quiet progress can be made in 2025 with the help of this planetary energy. Honor this transformative beginning every day with positive thoughts.  

The Snake year encourages protection, so create a safe space to work and live by practicing good feng shui to feel safe and secure and to enhance the year’s energy. This is the year to make headway in methodical and strategic ways. There is no need to exhaust your energy: adopt the nature of the Snake with awareness and a greater sense of timing, ready to strike when the time is right to maximize the energy of the year.

If you're celebrating the Year of the Wood Snake in 2025, here are a few practices to consider:

• Family Reunions and Feasts: Chinese New Year is a time for families to come together. Celebrate with special meals, offering prayers to ancestors, and bonding over traditional dishes like dumplings and fish, symbolizing wealth and prosperity.
• Red Decorations: Decorate your home with red lanterns and couplets to welcome the year’s energy and attract good fortune.
• Giving Red Envelopes: Exchange red envelopes filled with money, symbolizing good luck and blessings for the year ahead.
• Wear snake gaiters to protect your lower legs when working, hiking, hunting or recreating in the desert or woods where rattlesnakes, copperheads and other venomous snakes are known to live.