Why the Year of the Wood Snake starting in 2025 could bring major change, and more luck
With 12 animals and 5 elements, the Year of the Wood Snake comes around every 60 years, and 2025’s may be more favourable than 1965’s
Published: 3 Dec 2024 Updated: 7 Dec 2024 (scmp.com
On January 29, 2025, the celestial dragon will make way for the earthly snake in the Chinese lunisolar calendar.
There are 12 zodiac animals in Chinese astrology, and each possesses a set of unique qualities. Each year, an animal is paired with one of the five elements – metal, wood, water, fire and earth. The elements complement and clash with one another, but it is this constant interplay that is believed to promote harmony, balance and order in the natural world.
The unique qualities of an elemental zodiac are often used to describe the personality traits of individuals born in that year.
In 2025, we welcome the Year of the Wood Snake. It is also known as the Year of the Green Snake, as wood is associated with the colour green according to the Chinese theory of five elements, so you can expect to see a lot of snake decorations and motifs in that vibrant hue.
While the snake may symbolise evil and treachery in some traditions – the serpent represents the devil and temptation in the Christian Bible, for instance – in Chinese culture it symbolises wisdom and agility.
Wood stands for growth, flexibility and tolerance. At the same time, it also nurtures the element of fire, which represents vitality and change.
If history is anything to go by, the year ahead will be a time of dynamic change – much as the world experienced in the previous Year of the Wood Snake. Since each elemental animal follows a 60-year cycle, the last Year of the Wood Snake was in 1965.
That year was pivotal and momentous in many aspects. It saw the passage of the Voting Rights Act in the United States, spurred by peaceful marches that faced violent backlash. The landmark legislation aimed to overcome the legal barriers preventing the black community from exercising their right to vote.
Mass in the Catholic Church was celebrated in local languages instead of Latin for the first time, and Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov became the first person to walk in space.
Also in 1965, Singapore was separated from Malaysia to become an independent and sovereign state.
But the year was not without its challenges. Hong Kong saw a series of bank runs, including the collapse of the Canton Trust and Commercial Bank; elsewhere, the US ’ increasingly active military involvement escalated the Vietnam war (1954–1975).
We may be in luck, and in line for a more favourable year this time round, however, as the coming Lunar New Year is one of “double spring”, with two occurrences of the beginning of spring (lichun) in one Chinese lunar calendar year.
The first lichun falls on February 3 in 2025, the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, while the second falls on February 4 in 2026, over a week before the Year of the Snake ends on February 16, 2026.
In Chinese tradition, spring represents new life and fresh starts. The number two is considered to be lucky, as reflected in the Chinese proverb that good things come in pairs.
When there are two springs in a year, it is believed to amplify blessings and good fortune, making it particularly auspicious for major decisions like marriage.
The Chinese zodiac corresponds to a 12-year cycle, with each year assigned to one of twelve animals: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig, in that sequence.
Interestingly, a snake year is sometimes referred to as a “little dragon” year, since the mythical dragon is thought to have been modelled after the snake, according to traditional Chinese belief.
The term also serves to relieve any feelings of inadequacy among those born under the snake sign, as the snake is not usually celebrated in as grand a manner as the dragon.
Xinyi joined the Post in 2024. She previously covered business news in Singapore and taught writing at a university in Shanghai. She graduated with a degree in anthropology from Yale-NUS