Lunar New Year Ushers in Inner Transformation

The Chinese Lunar New Year starts Wednesday, and one concept will be radiating throughout the year—internal transformation. Three aspects of the Chinese astrology zodiac are converging to make this year all about introspection and change: the animal symbolism of the snake, the elemental cycle of a wood year, and the switch from “yang” to “yin” energy. So in this yin Year of the Wood Snake, get ready to shed your skin.

The Chinese astrology zodiac has multiple astrological features that determine the character of a year (and a person born in that year). Here’s how three major aspects will impact what’s in store for 2025.

Yin vs. yang years

In the two-year cycle between yin and yang, yang years (or even number years) are more active, while yin years are more still and contemplative. As an odd number year, 2025 is a yin year.

Animals of the zodiac

The Chinese animal zodiac follows a 12-year cycle with one animal assigned to each year. People born in those years are said to embody the traits of the animals—and the energy of the year itself is influenced by the animal characteristics. Last year was the Year of the Dragon, which was all about emanating fire-breathing energy. In this Year of the Snake, rather than blazing a new path outward, transformation occurs from within. The yin vs. yang energy shift doubles down on this.

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“The dragon is about yang transformation, this big external change,” astrologer Alice Sparkly Kat says. “The snake is about yin transformation, so it’s internal change.”

The snake symbolizes this inner work because of its ability to shed its skin. Also, in Chinese agrarian society, snakes helped with soil fertility. A snake is a “seeding” animal, meaning that it collects seeds and then spreads them throughout the soil, allowing them to germinate. The presence of a snake was also considered lucky to a farmer because it killed vermin in the field. The “earthiness” of a snake, as Chinese medicine expert Anna Hsieh Gold puts it, makes the change a grounded one.

The elements

But don’t mistake grounded earthiness for stillness. Years in the Chinese zodiac also correspond with one of five elements, which switch every two years. It is a wood year, making 2025’s snake a “wood snake.”

Wood, too, is a symbol of growth. It is about forward momentum, like trees stretching for light in the forest. Wood corresponds with springtime and sprouting new branches and leaves.

“It’s not quite like burning fire, but it’s the basis for it,” Gold says of wood energy. “It’s the generative, the creative, the beginning of an achievement. Like the seed that you plant in order to launch yourself.”

The pairing of a shape-shifting snake with an element that’s both grounded and striving gives an urgency to this wood snake.

What does this mean for your new year?

What does internal transformation actually mean? In the wood dragon year, people might have morphed in ways that were unfamiliar to them. But the wood snake is about a homecoming. “Like the snake molting its skin, when it does that, that’s part of the process of returning home.” A snake rests in the shape of a coil, Kat points out: “One end is at the source and one end is either leaving the source or coming back.”

So think about your roots and connect with parts of yourself you might not have seen in a while. For example, to settle into the energy of the year, Kat plans to celebrate the Lunar New Year with their family by taking more walks because strolling is all about walking in a loop.

Snakes also symbolize patience because of their role as seed dispersers and their ability to travel great distances. So change won’t be immediate, but rather thoughtful and steady. Gold pictures a snake coiled up in the woods at the base of a tree, waiting for the right moment to shed its skin and emerge. That’s the vibe of 2025.

“It’s calculating the right time to really express itself,” Gold says. “That’s how I see the year.”