The Year of the Snake




The Year of the Snake


It's my year: 

the Year of the Snake in the Chinese zodiac. The cycle of twelve years goes back to my birth year and cycles even further back to 2,000 years ago. The snake years are special, representing years of transformation. 

The snake keeps slithering up to me or past me. The other night we went out to a Chinese restaurant and since we had already been there twice, they expressed their gratitude by giving us a calendar. The calendar has a snake curling at the top, representing its dominance over all the other symbols at the moment.

In Western society the snake has such a bad rap...after all, he was the one that convinced Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, which basically damned humanity until judgement day (according to Catholicism.) He is thought of as deceptive at best, evil at worst.

But in China there was/is this fascination with snakes–their colorful beauty showing in shining scales and mysterious movements. It makes sense, then, that individuals born in the year of the snake are supposed to be enigmatic and elegant.

The common ground between the Western and Eastern snake symbol seems to be in that wise tongue flickering out and tasting everything.The snake in the bible encourages Eve to take the apple because he was acutely aware of the power the Tree of Knowledge held. And the snake in the Chinese zodiac is a serious sage who leaves answers in his slithering path, intriguing many with his artistic nature and cool energy.

But what is the snake suggesting to me?  Maybe it's saying to signal my own path: to allow my serpentine inner "charm" and knowledge to snake in the right direction. And to let my intuition and wisdom lead me by being vulnerable.

What does the snake suggest to you?




Photo: <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/abdulkomeng-3360146/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=7256057">Badrudin ,</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=7256057">Pixabay</a>

Text: Kristen Mastromarchi

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