Happy New Year!
Hello friends!
I don’t know about you but this past month has really been extremely cold! The ‘arctic cold’ brought snow and ice and below freezing temperatures to most US states and definitely in my neighborhood. But no worries, Spring is around the corner. Notice on your calendar, this season includes Start of Spring (Lichun) and Rain Water (Yushui) Jieqi; and with that we are turning the wheel to a whole new year!
Before I get to highlighting some of the suggested early Spring practices, I wanted to share a bit about the year of the Wood Snake.
You may know that early February marks the beginning of a new year according to the Sexagenary cycle (60 years) calendar that is followed by many east Asian cultures (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and more). Here is my very basic understanding of how this works:
- There are 10 Heavenly Stems, which correspond to the Yin and Yang aspects of the 5 elements. In other words, there are Wood Yin, Wood Yang; Fire Yin, Fire Yang, Earth Yin, Earth Yang, Metal Yin and Metal Yang - which makes 10.
- Additionally, there are 12 Earthly Branches, which correspond to a lot of things, including the 12 months, the hours of the day (2-hour segments); animals (from which comes the Snake, the Dragon, the Rooster etc), the 12 moon phases and other things. Every year is a combination of ONE Heavenly and ONE Earthly Branch (10 x 12 = 60). That’s how you get 60 year cycles.
Ok, so now this coming year (starting in early February) 2025 is representing the Yi (Yin Wood) Heavenly Branch and the Si (Fire or snake) Earthly Branch. So in Chinese, this year is called Yisi. (Yin Wood Fire Snake). It’s a bit complicated, but also super fascinating!😊
How would you interpret this?
- Heavenly Stem Yin Wood - in Chinese cosmology represents gentleness, adaptability and growth. Imagine plants like vines, small trees and flowers - they are gently climbing, adjusting to their environment, and adapting to others. The tendency of Yin Wood is creativity and nurturing, and people with Yin Wood characteristics can be intelligent and strategic in thinking.
- Earthly Branch Fire (Snake) - Fire is the Summer, representing warmth, enthusiasm and passion. The snake is associated with cunning, adaptability, wisdom and focus. People with Snake traits tend to be good strategic thinkers, mysterious in nature and have a strong intuition. It is the 6th branch, so in our calendar it would fall between May 5- June 4.
Combine these two aspects and you should be ready to make your own interpretations for the qualities of this coming year.🐍 And if you need some inspiration, here is more information about this and a few additional resources, see this post.
Here are some practices and considerations for this time of year:
Attend to your seasonal needs. Work with Imbolc (Needs of Safety and Self Care); or even the Spring Equinox (Needs of Self Honor and Respect). Here is a simple reflection and intention-setting practice that you can use.
Practice Spring-inspired Qi Gong: nourishing the wood element. Here is one example.
Prepare a chickweed dressing. Here is a simple recipe on how to get started.
Happy new year of the Wood Fire Snake!
With love,
Judit