2013 Yin Water Snake Year‏

Happy Lunar New Year!

February 10th, 2013 marks the beginning of the Year of the Yin Water Snake. The Chinese horoscope is based on a cycle of 12 animals (rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig) and 5 elements, (wood, fire, earth, metal and water). Thus, a particular animal-element combination recurs only once every 60 years. In previous water snake years: (1833) the British Parliament passed the Slavery Abolition Act giving all slaves in the British Empire their freedom and the the Factory Acts limiting child labor; (1893) a crash on the New York stock exchange set off the first US depression; Gandhi committed his first act of civil disobedience in India; (1953) James D. Watson and Francis Crick announced their discovery of the structure of the DNA molecule; Queen Elizabeth II was crowned; Dwight Eisenhower was president; and Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first men to reach the summit of Mt. Everest.

The snake is a magical animal in Chinese Astrology. Like the dragon (which the snake can transform into), the snake relates well to large scale events: earthquakes, tides, and underground and hidden, current-like change. The snake is deep, wise, calm, still and solitary, but is capable of lightning quick precise strikes. Following are prognostications offered by Daoist scholar Liu Ming.

• General Recommendations: Look at the big scale and pay close attention to the under-currents in all things. This year's energy is inappropriate for small and delicate matters. The spring time may be volatile. Do not rush forward this spring or get anxious this summer. Wait until fall and autumn unfold. A key expression to embrace for the water snake year is "I do not know". Withdrawal and patient observation may lead to sudden un-asked for clarity.
• Political Arena: 2013 is the first Snake year since 9/11. Similar incidents are possible but this Snake year also holds the possibility of spiritual realization to simple kindnesses that may defuse cataclysm. There is much possibility for awakening in the snake year, and there is a great chance for the peacemakers' messages being heard and followed.
• In business and finance, best strategies are to focus on investments for long-term benefit. The snake knows that the resources of the world belong to all of us. The business model of the water snake is to work beyond boundaries on all scales – local and international. Altruism and giving away what you don't need is the heartbeat of the water snake. 
• In regard to health, chronic conditions will be difficult to treat. Sudden acute symptoms will be common but self-resolving. Thinking less will enhance immunity. 
• In the Inner Realm, religious doctrines will continue to divide us from each other. However, the water snake year provides a splendid open spiritual door seen only once every 60 years that allows us to go inside our own hearts and find an 'ordinary' life of generosity, fairness, and thoroughness.

Famous snake year people include: Abraham Lincoln, Alfred Nobel (founder of the Nobel prize), Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Feodor Dostoyevsky, Edgar Allen Poe, Mae West, Mao Tse Tung, Martin Luther King, Ferdinand Marcos, Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, Pablo Picasso, John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, Oprah Winfrey, and Prime Minister Tony Blair

The water snake year is particularly auspicious for those born in dragon years, most monkey years, and rooster years.

The water snake year will be succeeded by the yang wood horse year beginning on January 31, 2014.