Year of the Snake
巳 mi · Japanese 蛇 · sign 6 of 12
The Snake, 巳, read mi, is read as the thinker of the twelve — measured, private, unwilling to show a hand early. Where Western symbolism made the snake treacherous, East Asian tradition made it wise.
In Japan the white snake is a messenger of Benzaiten, the goddess of water, music and money, which is why snake shrines attract people hoping for good fortune with finances. Shedding skin gave the animal an association with renewal that predates the zodiac entirely.
Years of the Snake
Each year page gives the exact date the zodiac year began, the element that goes with it, and what it means if you were born in the weeks before that date.
The character readings above are traditional characterisations with a long history, not predictions. The arithmetic on this page — which animal, which element, which date the year turns — is exact and checkable. What the tradition makes of it is culture, and we report it as culture.