Snake (zodiac)

This article is about the zodiac sign. For other uses, see Snake (disambiguation).

"Year of the Snake" redirects here. For the album by the group Fly, see Year of the Snake (album).

The Snake (蛇) is the sixth of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. The Year of the Snake is associated with the Earthly Branch symbol 巳.

According to one legend, there is a reason for the order of the 12 animals in the 12-year cycle. The story goes that a race was held to cross a great river, and the order of the animals in the cycle was based upon their order in finishing the race. In this story, the Snake compensated for not being the best swimmer by hitching a hidden ride on the Horse's hoof, and when the Horse was just about to cross the finish line, jumping out, scaring the Horse, and thus edging it out for sixth place.

The same 12 animals are also used to symbolize the cycle of hours in the day, each being associated with a two-hour time period. The "hour" of the Snake is 9:00 to 11:00 a.m., the time when the Sun warms up the Earth, and Snakes are said to slither out of their holes. The "month" of the Snake is 5 May to 5 June.

The reason the animal signs are referred to as zodiacal is that one's personality is said to be influenced by the animal signs ruling the time of birth, together with elemental aspects of the animal signs within the sexagenary cycle. Similarly, the year governed by a particular animal sign is supposed to be characterized by it, with the effects particularly strong for people who were born in any year governed by the same animal sign.

In Chinese symbology, Snakes are regarded as intelligent, but with a tendency to be somewhat unscrupulous.

Years and the Five Elements

People born within these date ranges can be said to have been born in the "Year of the Snake", while also bearing the following elemental sign:

Start date	End date	Heavenly branch
4 February 1905	24 January 1906	Wood Snake
23 January 1917	10 February 1918	Fire Snake
10 February 1929	29 January 1930	Earth Snake
27 January 1941	14 February 1942	Metal Snake
14 February 1953	2 February 1954	Water Snake
2 February 1965	20 January 1966	Wood Snake
18 February 1977	6 February 1978	Fire Snake
6 February 1989	26 January 1990	Earth Snake
24 January 2001	11 February 2002	Metal Snake
10 February 2013	30 January 2014	Water Snake
29 January 2025	16 February 2026	Wood Snake
15 February 2037	3 February 2038	Fire Snake
2 February 2049	22 January 2050	Earth Snake
21 January 2061	8 February 2062	Metal Snake
7 February 2073	26 January 2074	Water Snake
26 January 2085	13 February 2086	Wood Snake
12 February 2097	31 January 2098	Fire Snake

Note that in Japan the new sign of the zodiac starts on 1 January, while in China it starts, according to the traditional Chinese calendar, at the new moon that falls between 21 January and 20 February, so that persons born in January or February may have two different signs in the two countries.

Compatibility

Sign	Best Match/ Balance (2nd Trine Group)	Average	No Match/ Rival-Enemy-Obstacle (Opposite Sign)
Snake	Snake, Rooster, Ox, Monkey	Dragon, Rat, Dog, Tiger, Horse, Rabbit, Goat	Pig

Cycle: (Trine Group) Snake needs Rooster, Rooster needs Ox, Ox needs Snake; (Opposite Sign) but her rival opposes the Pig.

Basic astrology elements

Earthly Branches:	Si
The Five Elements:	Fire
Yin Yang:	Yin
Lunar Month:	Fourth
Lucky Numbers:	2, 8, 9; Avoid: 1, 6, 7
Lucky Flowers:	orchid, cactus
Lucky Colors:	red, light yellow, black; Avoid: white, golden, brown
Season:	Summer

The Snake is the 6th of the 12 signs and belongs to the Second Trine, together with the Ox (2nd sign, 牛, Earthly Branch: 丑) and the Rooster (10th sign, 雞/鷄 [simplified Chinese: 鸡], Earthly Branch: 酉), with which it is most compatible.

Gallery

Depictions of zodiacal Snakes either solo or in group context with the other eleven zodiacal creatures shows how they have been imagined in the calendrical context.

• 
  Old Town of Lijiang zodiac circle: a stone circle inscribed with symbols of the Chinese zodiac near the entrance to the Old Town of Lijiang, Yunnan
• 
  Detail of above, showing the Snake designated by its Earthly Branch sign (front, center right)
• Chinese astrological Snake
  Chinese astrological Snake
• 
  Terracotta zodiacal Snake from the Sui dynasty (581-618).
• 
  The Snake statue is one of the 12 Chinese zodiac portrayed in the Kowloon Walled City Park in Kowloon City, Hong Kong

See also

• Snake
• Snakes in Chinese mythology
• Snakes in mythology
• Serpent (symbolism)

References

• Eberhard, Wolfram (2003 [1986 (German version 1983)]), A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols: Hidden Symbols in Chinese Life and Thought. London, New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-00228-1
• Vietnam Veterans for Factual History. Indochina in the Year of the Snake, 1965. p. 288. ISBN 9781929932658.