The Snake

The Snake is the sixth of the twelve earthly branches.

Its place in the cycle

• Phase: fire
• Season: early summer
• Double hour: 9 to 11 a.m.
• Direction: south-south-east
• Linked to: the Ox and the Rooster — the metal group of three
• Opposite: the Pig

The Snake carries fire and yet belongs to the metal group of three — one of the places where it becomes visible that the cycle holds two orders at once: that of the seasons and that of the links between the branches. Both are valid, and interpretation works with both.

What tradition hands down

Deliberateness, restraint, a sense of what goes unsaid; the ability to wait. The other side: guardedness, mistrust, the tendency to keep things to oneself that would be better said.

The same holds here: in East Asia the Snake is not a disparaging image. It stands for wisdom and for the ability to change — the shedding of the skin as an image of renewal — and the European overtone is no part of it.

What the year animal is worth

The coarsest of the four pillars. For anything more precise: year, month, day and hour, with the day pillar standing for the person. The heavenly stem is what distinguishes an earth Snake from a water Snake.

Checking the start of the year

The animal changes between the end of January and the middle of February.

See also: Chinese astrology, the Dragon.