Computed, not typed
The Snake at a Glance
Your Earthly Branch is Sì (巳), carrying the fixed element Fire and Yin (receptive) polarity — both fixed for life, unlike the rotating element below. In the 12-animal cycle the Snake sits 6th of 12, trine-linked to Ox and Rooster, and in direct clash with the Pig straight across the wheel. Traditionally, the Snake hour runs 9 AM – 11 AM. None of that is typed in by hand — it comes straight from the Snake's 6th-of-12 position in the cycle, computed the same way for all 12 signs.
- Earthly Branch
- Sì (巳)
- Fixed Element
- Fire
- Polarity
- Yin (receptive)
- Archetype
- The Perceptive Mystic
- Ruling Hours
- 9 AM – 11 AM
- Cycle Position
- 6th of 12
- Trine Allies
- Ox & Rooster
- Direct Clash
- Pig
- Next Snake Year
- 2037 (Fire)
| Element | Year | Opens | Closes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Earth Snake | 1989 | February 6, 1989 | January 26, 1990 |
| Metal Snake | 2001 | January 24, 2001 | February 11, 2002 |
| Water Snake | 2013 | February 10, 2013 | January 30, 2014 |
| Wood Snake | 2025 | January 29, 2025 | February 16, 2026 |
| Fire Snake | 2037 | February 15, 2037 | February 3, 2038 |
Your nearest Earth Snake year is 1989, opening February 6, 1989 and closing January 26, 1990.
Fire · Yin
The Snake: The Perceptive Mystic
Everything below is true of every Snake, in any year. What makes it yours is the chart above — your Sì (巳) branch, your Yin (receptive) polarity, and the 6th-of-12 seat in the cycle a full BaZi reading builds on. Your fixed element, Fire, colors how that 6th-of-12 personality actually shows up day to day.
You see what other people walk right past. Your perception isn't pure logic and it isn't pure gut, it's something in between, a deep read that takes a situation in from several angles at once and lands on a conclusion nobody can trace the steps to. You just know. And you've stopped explaining how, because the explanation never satisfies the people who need a clean chain of reasons to believe you.
You are private down to the bone. You reveal yourself slowly, on your terms, to a chosen few, and the people who actually know you understand that the public version and the real one are different in ways most never suspect. This isn't a lie. It's how you protect the inner world you live in and depend on. You don't perform openness. You offer real depth only to people who have proven they can hold it.
But what you let in deeply, you start to feel you own. That's the shadow. You invest everything in the few bonds that matter, and underneath the calm sits a possessiveness that wakes up the moment someone you've claimed starts drifting toward other people or other priorities. It moves quietly, but it moves.
And when it does, you react from the fear of losing them, not from anything that's actually good for the relationship. You play the long game in everything except this. The lesson that costs you the most is the simplest to say and the hardest to live: holding someone close was never supposed to mean holding them down.
That's the Snake in general. Born under a Fire branch at the 6th seat of the cycle, with Yin (receptive) polarity running underneath it, is what a full chart uses to make it specific to you.
Where it goes from here
Reading a Snake Chart
-
Confirm your exact year
The Snake covers a birth year, but the Chinese zodiac year opens at Chinese New Year, not January 1 — check your exact boundary before you assume. 1989, 2001, 2025 are Snake years on this site.
-
See your rotating element
Snake is fixed for life, but its paired element rotates. Your next Snake year is 2037, a Fire Snake, opening February 15, 2037.
-
Read the rest of the chart
Your Year Animal is the public layer. A full BaZi reading also weighs your Day Master and the balance of the five elements, plus how your chart sits against the Snake's own 6th-of-12 cycle position and its 9 AM – 11 AM hour branch.
Snake birth years on this site
Your next step
Read the Whole Chart, Not Just the Snake
Your three results — free
- Your exact sign and element, boundary handled
- Your Life Path number and Sun sign too
- No email, no payment to see them
Yours to keep. No account, no catch.
Your full Snake reading
- What a Fire Snake means for how you're read by others
- Your Day Master and elemental balance
- Where all three systems converge
when you sign up
That’s your first chapter on us — with 5 credits still in your pocket. Deeper chapters price by depth from there; credit packs from $5.
Check My Exact SignCredits never expire · no subscription · cancel nothing
Before you go
Snake — Questions People Ask
What years are the Chinese zodiac Snake?
Snake years repeat every twelve years, each one paired with a different element. On this site, 1989, 2001, 2025 are Snake years — your next one lands in 2037, opening February 15, 2037. That's a Fire Snake year, 6th in line since the last full rotation.
What element is the Snake?
The Snake's fixed branch element is Fire, but the Heavenly Stem paired with it rotates through all five elements across the 60-year cycle — Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water each take a turn. The nearest Earth Snake year is 1989; the full rotation is in the table above.
What hours does the Snake rule?
In traditional BaZi, each of the 12 animals also rules a two-hour block of the day. The Snake's hours are 9 AM – 11 AM — the same branch, Sì (巳), that gives the Snake its year also governs an Hour Pillar for anyone born in that window.
Which signs is the Snake most compatible with?
Ox and Rooster and Monkey sit closest to the Snake — Ox and Rooster share its 6th-of-12 trine position, one of the three harmonious groupings the 12-animal cycle forms every 4 positions. Snake tends to hit more friction with Tiger, Pig, Snake — and its direct clash, straight across the cycle, is the Pig.
Is the Snake the same every year?
The animal itself never changes — anyone born in a Snake year is a Snake for life. What changes is the element: Snake sits 6th of 12 in the cycle, and each time it comes back around (every 12 years) it's paired with the next element in the 60-year rotation, which is why 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020 and 2032 are all Snake years with five different elemental characters.
Where does the Snake sit in the 12-year cycle?
6th of 12. The cycle runs Rat through Pig in a fixed order, and the Snake's position sets both its trine allies — Ox and Rooster — and its direct clash, the Pig, which always sits exactly 6 positions around the wheel.
- No birth time needed
- Instant
- Private
- Credits never expire
- 508K readings