SKYE stephenson

Wishing you a happy Yin Wood Snake year!

The Chinese New Year officially begins on Wednesday, January 29^th, 2025. This is the when the second new moon after the winter solstice falls. Because it follows a lunar cycle, the start date differs year to year according to our solar calendar.

So February 4^th is often used as a standard start date for when the energies are said to shift, and the new year animal and element fully enters our lives, and the world. This is typically the recommended date for making feng shui changes. As I write this article, I am doing these adjustments now. And thinking about what the Year of the Snake will bring. And also Yin Wood. Because this elemental energy: a softer and more flowing kind of wood energy than we experienced in 2024, which was a Yang Wood Dragon year, will add the spice, or coloring, or rhythm if you like to the year ahead.

I have been a long-time student of astrology and Feng Shui. It is a family thing. On my book shelf is a small book my mother gave me when I was in College that has a Rooster on the front cover. This is a book about the Chinese Rooster sign. Which is me.

Do you know what animal sign you are, according to Chinese calendar? 

If so, have you read about and considered whether you feel there is a fit, or connection, between your Chinese astrology sign and who you feel you are: your personality and approach to life?

For many years, and whenever I re-read that small book my mother gifted me when I was a teenager, I have – sort of – felt like a Rooster. In the way this animal sign is characterized in Chinese astrology. The Rooster (which is actually represents all birds) is supposed to resonate with metal colors and characteristics, such as precision, detail, and structure. Finance. Organization. And, sometimes, a rather cutting nature.

Yes, I will admit to some aspect of these qualities. But still, for some reason, the full cloak of Rooster according to Chinese astrology never settled fully upon me. For a long time, many years in fact, I sensed or felt that something was missing, or off, in this depiction – at least of who I believe I am, at a soul level. And also what draws me forward, and incites my interest and passion.

Besides never having had even the slightest attraction to metal colors or, even, metal  jewelry, personality wise I can tend towards disorganization, scatteredness, and a big picture perspective that does not like to get into details too much.

Then a few years ago, I discovered the importance of the element of the year one is born, according to Chinese astrology. This element (and there are five: water, wood, metal, fire and earth) is as important to who you are as the animal. Maybe even more important.

It turns out that I am a Fire Rooster.

Finally, I felt a fit.

I adore the color red. As a child, my mother would take me to museums in New York City  in an attempt to get me to appreciate the serene landscapes of Chinese paintings. But I would invariably pull her to some modern painting by an artist like Dubuffet or Miro with lots of bold read in it and say: “I like this one.”

And I adore candles. I always would light one on my desk before I begin to write. And I like hot weather, and hot places. And I also I tend to move from one thing to another, and find it hard to plot along day after day in a routine way. Fire, of course, is bold and bright, and then can burn itself out fast, becoming ash.

A few years ago, at my job of the time, we were ordering chairs for a group table. I had found a fabric with a fair amount of red in it, and really liked it. But everyone else in the office did not. One staff member went so far as to say that she would not be able to sit in the room with chairs that color. In the end, we got ocean blue chairs. Everyone liked them but me.

Wondering what your element might be? It is easy to figure out. If you were born in a year ending in 0 and 1, you are metal. 2 and 3 is water. 4 and 5 is wood. 6 and 7 is fire, and 8 and 9 is earth. You might find it interesting. And even useful.

I also use the knowledge of the elements of a year to better understand other people, especially those close to me such as my children and my spouse. I find it can help me better navigate my relationship with them.

Since we are now in 2025, we are in our second year of wood. A yin wood year.

Happy Chinese New Year!