chinese New year

The Chinese New Year 2013 is upon us and the big day is February 10. According to Chinese legend, Buddha invited all of the animals to a New Year’s party and twelve showed up for the event. As a result, Buddha named a year after each one. This New Year – Chinese year 4711 – is the year of the Black Water Snake. The Black Water Snake represents major transformation and change.

Prior Snake years have brought us such infamous moments as Pearl Harbor (1941), the September 11 attack (2001), the Great Depression (1929), the Russian Revolution (1917) as well as the recessions of 1953 and 2001. People born in snake years are famous for being generous and smart. Some of the most famous people born in the year of the snake are known by just one name: Oprah, Dylan, Garbo and Brad (you know … Pitt).

Chinese Zodiac snakes are always female or yin. Yin energies are calmer, especially when contrasted with the male or yang energy of 2012, which was characterized by man-ic edginess. Snake years are seen as times of transformation, as change is expected in a manner similar to the way in which a snake sheds its skin.