2013 Year of the Snake Part 1

Released: May 15, 2013

ABSTRACT 

The Chinese calendar, commonly known as the Farmers’ Calendar, or the Hsia Calendar, is a fascinatingly accurate system, which not only records the passage of time, but is also a tool for fortune-telling. The famous traditional fortune-telling system – The Four Pillars of Destiny – is exactly referring to reading a person’s destiny from his birth data as presented in the Hsia calendar format.  The unique feature of such calendar is that all information about time – year, month, day and hour are presented in terms of the five basic elements – metal, water, wood, fire and earth, which are believed to be the basic components of everything in the Universe. The relationship between the five elements accurately helps one predict what is to come by way of one’s fortunes and thus, one can by using this knowledge, multiply the good luck or minimize the bad luck in one’s life.

 

THE YEAR OF THE SNAKE

The Year of the Snake, 2013, in the Hsia calendar, is symbolized by two elements – with water sitting on top of fire.   According to the cycle of birth and destruction, which governs the inter-relationship between the elements, water is the destroyer of fire and so they are on the destructive cycle and have conflict relationship. . Such conflicting elements usually mean the year will be not peaceful with more international conflicts and struggles coming up.  The snake is the month of May in Western calendar, which is immediately before peak of summer, the fire energy is rising up and almost reaching the peak, so it carries the meaning of up rising and can trigger revolution and changes. Take for example, in the previous Snake years, we saw Pearl Harbor attack in 1941, breaking down of Berlin War and breaking up of USSR, as well as 4th June Tiananmen Square incident in 1989, then 911 terrorist attack in 2001….  Inside the element of Snake, it does not only contain strong fire, but also is the birth place of yang metal, which is a weapon.  Hence we cannot rule out violent clashes, revolutions and conflicts.   However, in 2013, the yin water Heavenly stem on top of the Snake is symbolized by “Morning Dew” which is much more gentle and humble. As such, the conflict could be less fierce than the previous Snake years of 1941, 1989 and 2001.

 

  The yin water this year symbolizes small drop of water, the drizzling rain, such yin water is the most yin element of the ten Heavenly stems. The outlook of such water element is moderate, gentle, humble, tolerant, patient and easygoing and flexible, yet the other side of yin water is cunning, secretive, and deceptive and can penetrate everywhere. ….. If the energy is guided in positive direction, it can bring intelligent and innovative ideas and reforms. But there can be also secret plots, cheating, terrorist attacks and assassination. The fire element under the water is Snake, which is “uprising” with hidden metal weapon, and it is also considered as mystical, unpredictable like chameleon…...  So the two elements water on snake can still bring about terrorist attacks,  revolutions, skirmishes and killings. In general, there may not be serious warfare in 2013 but we cannot expect total peaceful world as it is still water and fire conflict, and the snake fire could bring social unrest, revolution, bombs, bullets, explosions and the threat of nuclear troubles.     

 

In Chinese medicine, yin water is element symbolizing the kidney and sex organs.  Fire snake is also the element of entertainment and restaurants.  As such, yin fire snake year also brings romance and prosperity to glamorous business such as movies, restaurants and entertainment.

In Chinese Metaphysics, the Snake is a travelling star, and also water is the element of transport and communication.  So the water snake year will trigger more travelling but then it will also bring traffic accidents especially in the air and in the sea.  There will be more incidents in airline business as well as shipping. Also the snake is a long animal; this symbolizes railroad and the train.  So there will be also serious accidents involving railways.

The Chinese calendar year goes on 60-year cycle. This means that we have experienced the same year of yin water over Snake in 1953.  In this year, there is a very serious train accident occur in New Zealand, a railway bridge at Tangiwai collapsed in December  and 151 people were killed.   This was the year when the Korean War ended, Queen Elizabeth II was crowned, and Stalin suffered a stroke and died.  This is period of the cold war, there was no major warfare but hostility between U.S.S.R and  U.S.A continued, and both camps were in hurry to develop and expand their nuclear arsenal.  So the yin water brought apparent peace but there are tension and hostility underneath.   

In 1953, there were also plenty of new ideas and inventions. It was the year when Playboy magazine first issue was marketed, the first James Bond novel – Casino Royale was published, and also Walt Disney’s feature film Peter Pan was premiered in Feb. 1953.  All these inventions could associate with yin water – which is sexy, romantic and secretive, and the so called “Peter Pan Syndrome” is also somewhat related to yin water.  This is a term in psychology describing a person whose character is socially immature, include attributes such as irresponsible, dependent, self centered, lacking confidence… and such qualities are also similar to the weak aspect of yin water people. In 1953, the first color TV went on sale in USA in December and it is first year when the Academy award was broadcast on TV- this was one major step forward in entertainment – which is brought about by the fire snake. In science, it is also the year when DNA structure was discovered.

The Chinese character for “Yin water” represents the “Morning dew” and the “embryo”. Waiting to come out.  Yin water people present themselves as gentle, humble, patient and accommodating. They are flexible, easy to compromise and ready to adjust to the situation and environment, at time of disagreement they prefer not to argue but this does not mean they will surrender.  Hence they seldom voice out and insist their opinion and prefer do their own things in secrecy to avoid argument and criticism.  Hence yin water people often harbor secrets and hard to fathom their depth.  Water in general is associated with intelligence and skill.  Such qualities are often found in people in performance art as well as people who love to explore new innovative ideas.

As people born in a day of “Yin Water” .often shows modest and gentle image, they are not so commonly found as leaders in the political arena, but they are more often successful in cultural and entertainment circle.  One typical example of famous Yin Water people is Johnny Depp.  He is born on a day of Yin water; hence he is one typical yin water man. His character of Yin water is very much portrayed in his popular role of Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of The Caribbean. Captain Sparrow is clever, honest, and cute and has kind and soft heart. He can be treacherous and survives mostly by using wit and negotiation rather than weapon or force, preferring to flee most dangerous situations and fight only when necessary. He is also proud and get frustrated whenever someone pronounces his name without the term “Captain”.   This image very much helps us to understand the nature of a Yin water person.   Another example is Prince Charles.  He is a strong Yin water person  and he present himself as gentle and modest man who is more interested in nature and environment than in power politics.

Also in the entertainment circle, the other famous Yin Water persons are Jacky Chan, Catherine Zeta Jones, Edison Chan and Stephen King.  In Chinese history, there are two famous historical figures that are yin water.  One is the most famous expert of war strategy Mr. Kung Ming, who is considered as one of the cleverest figure at the time of the Three Kingdoms around 180 AD.  The other one was a fierce general Cheung Fai, who is also an important military general at the same time of Three Kingdoms and he is famous for his military power as he is extremely strong yin water which carries the quality of fierce ocean.   The modern yin water people involved in politics are the Chinese leader Mr. Xi Jinping, Emperor Akihito of Japan, and the late Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

The Yin water person to watch out in 2013 must be Mr. Xi Jin Ping.  He was born in 1953, which is yin water snake year and he happened to be born on a yin water day as well.  He will be succeeding Mr. Hu Jin Tao  as the top leader of China so he will be the person in focus in 2013.  This is an interesting phenomenon that the element of the outstanding person in a certain year happens to be identical to the element of the year.  Take for example, 2001 is a year of Yin metal, and the outstanding people in that year are Bin Laden, George Bush and Angelina Jolie, all of them are born on Yin metal day.  2009 is the year of Yin earth, and Barak Obama – a yin earth person, was focus of that year as it is his first year in office as President of USA.  And in 2011, another yin metal year. There are many outstanding yin metal people, including David Cameron, Dimitry Medvedev,  Peter Vesterbacka of Angry Bird, Bin Laden who was killed, and the Norwegian killer Anders Breivik……these are all yin metal people.

In Chinese metaphysics, there is an amazing ancient prophecy similar to Nostradamas. It is a book called “Pushing back pictures”.  This is a series of pictures said to be created in the Tang Dynasty about 600 to 700 AD.  Each picture carries a poem which appears to describe the significant events that will occur in China in the future years.  The picture 44 carries the poem which appeared to predict the arrival of a prosperous period in Chinese history when Xi Jin Ping and Ma Ying Jeou both become the top leaders.  The short poem says :

               The Sun and Moon and the bright sky

                All the yin people submit

                Hundreds of good spirits come to pay respect

                Double feathers and four legs.

                

The first few lines obviously showed China in powerful and prosperous period.  The last sentence “Double Feathers and Four legs” has been very puzzling in the past but now it can be interpreted as Xi and Ma.  The Chinese character Xi means double feather and Ma means  a horse which has four legs. So it seems the poem predicted China will be into a powerful and prosperous phase when China and Taiwan ( the Sun and the Moon ) come under leadership of Xi and Ma, and this will begin in 2013.

The Snake is a powerful fire element, and it is also regarded as “Travelling star”.  As such, it will be busy travelling year for many people and there will be traffic accidents especially related to air and sea.  Snake also represents the prosperous stage in the growth of plants. So it is powerful fire energy and will trigger fire disasters, explosions and energy issues.  In the previous water snake year 1953, both U.S.S. R and the USA are engaged in race to test nuclear weapons and expand their nuclear arsenals.  It will not be surprising that in 2013 the hot international issue will still be the development of nuclear weapon in Iran as well as North Korea.  The Snake will combine with the Tiger and the Monkey to create a strong fire configuration of “Fire penalty”.  This is serious fire energy and will be the cause of explosions and fire disasters.  The more dangerous months are February and August, which are months of Tiger and Monkey. In the aspect of health, fire is related to the heart and blood circulation.  The fire penalty will trigger serious heart and blood disease as well as inflammation problem.  Also yin water is in clash against yin fire which is symbol of the heart and brain. Such clash will cause heart attack and stroke.  So it is anticipated that such incident will be more common in 2013.   In the previous year of yin water snake in 1953, Joseph Stalin of the USSR suffered stroke and died on 5th March.  He was born in 1878 which is year of Tiger and the month he died is also Tiger month, which created fire penalty with the year of Snake.   

Another famous figure died of Fire penalty is Elvis Presley, he was born on monkey day, tiger hour and he collapsed in his residence on 16/8/1977 which is Snake year, Monkey month and Snake day. The multiple combinations of Snake, Tiger and Monkey appeared in his four pillars created serious inflammation and heart problem in his body.

The Yin water in 2013 will clash against yin fire which is symbol of the hearts, the brain and the eyes.  In health aspect, this may be causes of stroke, heart attack, and problem of the eyes. Yin fire is also a symbol of lighting and when it is under clash, there is possibility of black out in electricity supplies.  There is strong indications that 2012 and 2013 are the years when the solar activities cycle will come to another peak and there will be massive solar flares causing possible disruption of electricity supply. This will not be surprising in 2013 when the yin water arrives to attack the yin fire which is symbol of lighting and electricity.   

The term “penalty” in Chinese metaphysics refers to worries, hidden danger and troubles.  So the fire penalty of Snake, Tiger and Monkey not only trigger fire disasters and inflammation but it can also caused other kinds of trouble when they appeared at the same time in a person’s four pillars.  A classic example is Tom Cruise. He was born  in Tiger year, Tiger day and Monkey hour.  When the last snake year came in 2001, the Snake joined his Tiger and Monkey to create the Fire penalty and this is the year he divorced Nicole Kidman.  Such“Three penalties” of Snake, Tiger, and Monkey” arrives again in 2013, so it will also trigger problem in his marriage relationship area.  Just as this article was written in early June 2012, it was announced at end of June that Katie Holmes already filed divorce. Katie Holmes was born in Day of Tiger and currently in the luck of Monkey, so the Snake year also created fire penalty in her house of spouse.  

 

 As the Snake will trigger serious fire penalty, it will easily cause problem in blood circulation and inflammation problem in health.  Also the Yin water is in clash against Yin Fire which is symbol of the heart and the brain and nerve system in Chinese medicine.  Such clash will also easily bring heart attack and stroke.  So for people who have problem with blood circulation and heart, it is best to take health supplements such as Omega 3 oil, vitamin C, vitamin E to reduce cholesterol and prevent blockage of the arteries.  

The water sitting on fire snake is warm water and this will also trigger serious problem of hurricane and Tornado.  The two essential ingredients creating hurricanes and tornadoes are warm water and warm moist air, and both conditions are fulfilled in year of yin water snake.  Looking back in the previous yin water snake year 1953, we can also found record of plenty of hurricane disasters.  In September 1953, a big hurricane occurred in South East Asia with casualty of over 1000 people. In May 1953, a tornado hit Waco in Texas, killed 114 people.  In June, another huge tornado killed 115 people in Michigan, USA, and then it arrived in Massachusetts and killed another 94 people….. Tornado disasters can even be traced back to the water snake year 120 years ago. In July 1893, 71 people were killed by tornado in Iowa.

In the Chinese calendar system, the animal Snake is an Earthly branch with the hidden elements of yang metal, yang earth, and yang fire.  The Snake is the month of May and it is a birth month of metal element. Yang metal is a weapon, Yang fire is big energy which is compare to the sun, and can imply nuclear energy. This combination of yang metal and yang fire obviously indicates the issue of nuclear weapon will become the most serious issue in international relationship in 2013.  And it is also possible that the clash between snake and pig will trigger nuclear explosions or accidents.

Water sitting on hot fire also creates favorable circumstance for virus and epidemic spreading.  The feng shui flying star 5 is in the centre and sick energy number 2 is in South west.  So these two locations will be more easily affected by virus.  Centre includes any country carrying the name of Central or Middle.  Countries such as China, Middle East, central Africa, and Central America are some examples.  Looking back the previous water snake year in 1953, there was wide spread influenza outbreak in UK, USA and Japan. In UK the death toll was reported as 5655 people died of influenza in first 3 months of 1953 and some blamed it on the poor air quality brought about by dirty coal used for generating power. So this was an energy issue as well.

The Snake is the animal in clash against the Pig.  As Snake is fire and Pig is water, such conflict between fire and water will result in fire and water disasters such as explosions, fire disasters, nuclear issues, as well as shipping disasters.  Both the Snake and the Pig are “travelling stars” which will drive people to travel and move around more in 2013.  And the water and fire clash will therefore bring traffic accidents in both air and sea.

People who are born in the year of Snake are offending the year and people born in year of Pig is in clash against the year.  They usually have more movements and travelling in 1953, it is ok to take such chance to make necessary changes such as moving house, moving office, or changing job or taking trips.  However they should take extra care and refrain from risky sports such as driving fast cars, driving airplane, skin diving, parachuting etc.   It is recommended that they carry the pendant of a Monkey r which will help to attract away the Snake, so as to minimize the negative influence of the clash.  For people born in year of the Pig, it is good to minimize travelling direct towards the South East direction as it is the direction of the Grand Duke in 2013.

 

The Five basic elements represent different parts of our body, Water in general relates to the kidney and the immune system, sexual organ and the urinary system.  And in 2013 the yin water sitting on fire is weak water.  As such, the health problems in focus this year could be kidney problem, kidney stone, and sex organ problem, inflammation of urinary tract, virus and bacteria infection.  The snake fire will cause inflammation, heart and blood circulation problem especially when it combines with Tiger and Monkey to create the Fire Penalty. Yin water also clash against yin fire which is symbol of heart and nerve system. Such clash will trigger potential danger of heart attack and stroke.   These kinds of health problems will be more acute in the year 2013.   It is important to take more Omega 3 oil, vitamin C, vitamin E and anti –oxidant as a preventive measure.   

Regarding flying star feng shui, the current twenty year period from 2004 to 2024 is called “Age of 8” and this number 8 represents the Trigram of Mountain and it also is symbol of young children.  Therefore since stepping into Age of 8 in 2004, it seems there are more disasters and misfortune affecting children.  The latest incidents  included the big earthquake in China in 2008 killing a lot of school kids, also the disaster of contaminated baby milk powder caused serious kidney stone problem to children.. In 2011, the famous jasmine revolution which brought about big changes in North Africa, the riot in the U.K, and the massacre of young people in Norway are all examples of young people problem which is most prominent in “Age of 8”.   This number 8, representing children will always present in the centre of the flying star chart in this 20 years from 2004 to 2024.  So it is always important to pay attentions to children safety and well being in this period of 8.

Regarding the economy, fire element is often the driving force behind the stock market.   The five elements are also affecting people’s mood.  In general fire is joy, water is fear, Earth is meditation, metal is sadness, and wood is anger.   As such, fire year often generates optimism and drive up the stock market, such as 2006 and 2007.  But in 2008 the water arrived and obviously people began to have fear about worsening of the USA sub-prime problem and recession.  In the year 2009 there is pure earth on earth. . The earth element is stopping the water and it also symbolizes meditation. So it means people will be conservative and play safe but gain more stability.   In 2010. the Tiger carries the seed of fire element and so there had been substantial economic recovery with stronger optimism.   In 2011, the Rabbit is pure wood, it is not so strong in generating fire like the Tiger so it had been positive in first half of year but worries about European economy with troubles in Greece, Spain…etc started to cause set back in second half of the year. The strong water coming in 2012 brought more set back especially from mid year of 2012 when fire element disappeared after summer. So since 2008 there had not been any real economic recovery as fire had been absent.  However, the real fire snake is arriving in 2013 and we can expect genuine substantial improvement in economic atmosphere as investors will regain confidence supported by the fire snake. So this could be a year that the economic activities and stock market will be very active particularly in spring and summer.  The strong fire this year is creating the positive mood, which is optimism and drive bringing confidence to buy. This positive fire energy will continue into 2014 which is more powerful fire carried by the Wood Horse.

The water fire element of 2013 is expected to bring prosperity to earth industries and metal earth industries; this is because earth conquers water, so the water element is a symbol of money to the earth industry, which includes property, hotel, mining, insurance.    The second best industries could be metal, as metal produces water, so water is productivity to metal industry.  Also metal needs fire to melt it into useful tools and the fire snake is present.  Metal industries are hi tech, banking, machinery, cars, engineering.  Wood industry is also positive as wood produces fire, so it will be an active year for wood elements such as textile, clothing, magazine, paper, books and environmental industry.  As for water industry such as shipping and transport, as fire is money to water industries, there will be improvement in financial gains, but the yin water of this year also shows keen competition.    The not so good industry is fire.   Fire industries are energy, restaurant, finance, entertainment, in a fire year, this industry will be very active, but competition is also very strong and the fire snake brings many competitors in the scene.

Banking and financial tsunami that started in 2008 is mostly triggered by the absence of fire elements and the dominating water element which generated fear. Banking is Metal and it needs fire to melt it into useful tools.   And finance and stock market are more related to fire which generates optimism.  As such, the total absence of fire element in 2008 is responsible for the slowdown in economy and the banking crisis.  However, the real fire year returns in 2013 therefore we may see strong recovery of the economy and steady improvement in optimism. This optimism lasted into 2014 as the wood horse is very powerful fire and continues to drive up the market.

In summary, the industries that will perform well in the year of the Dragon will be industries related to Metal and Earth elements.  Metal industries are banking, machinery, engineering, computer, and high tech industries.  Earth element is referring to property, mining, insurance.  Water industry will enter a year of improvement as their money element fire is present. However, the fire is sitting under water which means competition is strong. And the sectors relating to water are transport, shipping, communication, drinks, and spa.  Wood industry will be moving ahead with conservatism; wood sees fire as productivity but sees water as caution and conservatism. Wood industries are textile, environment, paper, and news media.   Fire industries are energy, finance and entertainment, it may not be doing very well as their money element metal is absent and the strong fire means keen competition in the financial market.

In general, the Yin Water Snake year, with water on top and fire below, is symbol of optimism and enthusiasm for new innovations and progress.  There is still conflict and disharmony in international relationship and may not be a peaceful year but the international clashes are less violent than the last few years.  Also there are natural disasters such as tornado and hurricane and some fire disasters and nuclear issues and disease and epidemic still prevail.  There had been many elections in 2012 bringing new leadership in many countries and 2013 is year of implementing new policies bringing a new phase to the politics of these countries.

 

The animal sign which is most unfavorable is the Pig which is in direct clash against the Snake. Such clashes will usually bring about turbulence, movements, accident or changes...As it is fire clash against water, it will stimulate misfortunes related to air and sea traffic accidents, fire disasters, explosions and nuclear troubles, heart attack, stroke and inflammation problems.  .People born in the year of the Pig will anticipate more traveling, or movements such as changing jobs or moving house.  It is necessary to carry the pendant of a Monkey as protection to attract the Snake away. For the Pig people, the clash against the Snake could bring accidents related to fire and water, such as burning, explosions, sinking of ship, accidents in the air and at sea and on a train  etc.   For people who are under clash with the year, it is ok to travel more, making changes such as moving house, or change job. However, for people born in the year of the Pig it is recommended not to travel directly towards the direction of the Grand Duke, which is the south-east direction. . The other animal’s signs facing unfavorable positions is the Snake.   When Snake encounters Snake year will be offending the Grand Duke.  Also for people born in year of Tiger or Monkey will suffer Three Penalty with Snake year.. . Such penalties will usually bring disharmony, irritation, worries and frustrations, as well as sickness, it is necessary to carry Monkey pendant to minimize the negative effect.

 

 

The animals combining with the Snake year are the Monkey, the Rooster, and the Ox. These animals are into a year of harmony. However, such animal astrology is not totally reliable as the system is not recognized as a formal type of fortune-telling. For more reliable assessment of one’s fortune in the year of the Snake, it is recommended that one checks the full Four Pillars of Destiny, which requires full birth data information of the Year, Month, Day and Hour of birth.  As the animal signs can appear in all four pillars in a person’s birth data, the clash and penalty relationship with the Snake will not only cause impact on people born in the year of  Pig and Snake. Such clash and penalties can also impact anyone who has such animals in the birth month, or day or hour.

 

Some examples of famous people born in the year of the Pig and in clash against the Snake in 2013 are Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carlos Santana, Hillary Clinton, Kevin Spacey, Winona Ryder, Ricky Martin, Ken Watanabe…….  There are people not born in the year of Pig, but they are also under clash because they are born on the day of Pig, so they will also face a challenging year.  Some examples of these people are Prince William, Emperor Akihito, Winona Ryder, Jet Li, Celine Dion, David Bowie, George Michael ……. …. The clash against the Day Pillar will usually cause movement or conflict in the family or human relationship area, especially in the relationship with the spouse or opposite sex.

 

People born in year of the Snake is said to be “offending the Grand Duke” and it is also recommended to carry pendant of the Monkey... Examples of people born in Snake year are Bob Dylan, Vivienne Westwood, Ben Stiller, Ben Bernanke, Dimitry Mededev, Sarah Jessica Parker……

 

But when Snake, Tiger and Monkey come together they create a very unfavorable aspect of Fire Penalty, which will cause fire disasters, inflammations, and heart and blood circulation diseases.  When such fire penalty appears in the Day pillar, it will bring complications and disharmony in relationship area. Examples of people having such penalty in 2013 are Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, both have fire penalties appearing in their Day pillar affecting their marriage relationship in 2013.  Other examples of people encountering such penalties in 2013 are John Travolta, Madonna, the Queen Elizabeth II, Mr. Li Ka Shing,  John Nash, C.Y. Leung and Alan Leong……