Welcoming Year of Yin Wood Snake

Happy New Year of the Yin Wood Snake 🐍

Here we emerge into the Spring with Year of the Yin Wood Snake. Last year’s Dragon sign was also Wood.. but Yang Wood. This year the extreme yang of the last Dragon year flips to the extreme Yin of the Snake. 

In the Daoist map of the meridians, clock of the day and wheel of the zodiac (which are all the same thing), the Dragon represents the Stomach.. and this last year we’ve been through the visceral digestion of experience and energy in that churning, acid filled organ. The Snake symbolizes the Spleen/Pancreas, whose function it is to spread that nourishment and support throughout the body. This is an important year for focusing on health, wellness and self-care.

Snake represents mystery, holding the infinite potential of fullness in the emptiness at the heart of existence. It’s the unknown, unknowable, underground, unconscious aspects of energy and awareness.  In a way, Snake can represent the possibility of all the other eleven signs.. though not actually become any of them. It can be an energy of sheer genius and visionary innovation, drawing upon the Wisdom of Emptiness and Form.

As we step into this year, we are invited into a cycle of transformation, adaptability, and resilience. In Daoist cosmology the Snake is a symbol of deep intuition, wisdom and the shedding of old layers to reveal newfound clarity. This cycle offers us an opportunity to move forward with grace, cultivate inner wisdom, and align ourselves with the natural flow of life’s unfolding changes. 

Yin Wood represents flexibility, resilience, and quiet growth, like a fresh blade of grass or a  young willow bending flexibly in the wind. While it is like a tender young shoot, vulnerable and exposed, it is also rooted deeper than appears on the surface. It’s a bit sensitive and delicate, and asks for patience, adaptability, and the power of gentle persistence.

Snakes like to hide in their holes.. and this lends them a mystical and mysterious quality which invites introspection, planning and refinement. When they move around it is with minimal effort and maximum flow, though that can often be through careful calculation and strategy. Snake represents deep listening to the subtle pulses of the Earth and the whispered message of Nature.. sinking into stillness and poised calmness to observe and learn.

This is a time to reflect in introspection, refine our perception and trust our intuition as we move forward and make decisions. Like the Snake waiting patiently for the precise second to strike, we can benefit from moving carefully, with intention, rather than rushing. Following the Way of Dao means honoring both action and stillness, knowing when to move forward and when to reflect, waiting for the right moment to act.

Snakes must shed its skin to grow, and thusly this year invites us to release outdated beliefs, habits, and patterns. Transformation doesn’t necessarily have to be sudden, dramatic or earth-shaking. Yin Wood encourages gradual, sustainable shifts that align us deeper with our true Nature. This is a time for Inner Alchemy - refining our path through personal development, healing, and creative expression. This is where practices like Qigong can help immensely, opening the pathways of the body to release stored trauma, stress and patterns of habitual holding.

This Yin Wood Snake year is a time for deep healing, mindful transformation, and stepping into our power with grace and discernment. By consciously aligning ourselves with these energies of Yin Wood Snake, we can better navigate this year with clarity, resilience, and growing Wisdom.

May this year bring you deep insights, gentle growth, and the adaptability to move through Life’s changes with the Wisdom of the Snake and the gentle, flexible strength of Yin Wood.