6 of 12 · branch Si (巳) · element Fire · last Snake year 2025
The Snake is sometimes called the Little Loong, and it inherits the Loong’s association with wisdom rather than with force. 巳 is the mid-morning hour when the sun has burned off the mist. Snakes shed their skin, so the animal is linked to renewal and to keeping a counsel.
The branch repeats every twelve years, but the stem in front of it moves by two each time, so the element cycles through all five. That is why two Snake years can feel quite different.
The table above treats a whole Gregorian year as one animal, which is true for most of it. January and early February are the exception: the zodiac turns at the Start of Spring (around 4 February, exact to the minute) in divination, and at the lunar new year in festival usage. Between those two dates the animal is still the previous one.
Pick the exact date in the zodiac lookup, or open this year’s New Year date to see where the line falls.