Snake

The Snake dossier

Traits. Wise, intuitive and elegant — thinks long before it strikes. The Snake trusts its own read of people over any crowd's.

Fixed element — Fire. passion, visibility and speed — a Fire year heats the animal up: bolder, faster, more dramatic, impossible to ignore. Every Snake carries Fire underneath, whatever the year adds on top.

The year’s own element rotates by its final digit — 0 or 1 Metal, 2 or 3 Water, 4 or 5 Wood, 6 or 7 Fire, 8 or 9 Earth — so across the 60-year cycle the Snake returns in five element forms, each one read against the fixed element beneath it.

The Snake through the cycle

Every Snake year in the table the record holds, with the year’s element and the Lunar New Year that year began on. A birthday in January or February before that date belongs to the previous animal.

The five Snakes

Wood Snake — 1965, 2025. growth, generosity and expansion — a Wood year broadens the animal: more idealistic, more cooperative, always growing toward something.

Fire Snake — 1977. passion, visibility and speed — a Fire year heats the animal up: bolder, faster, more dramatic, impossible to ignore.

Earth Snake — 1989. stability, patience and practicality — an Earth year grounds the animal: steadier, more methodical, focused on what lasts.

Metal Snake — 2001. precision, resolve and edge — a Metal year sharpens the animal: more determined, more exacting, harder to bend. A Metal Dragon (born in a Dragon year ending in 0, like 2000), for example, is the Dragon's boldness with a steel core — ambitious, precise and uncompromising.

Water Snake — 2013. intuition, flow and diplomacy — a Water year deepens the animal: more perceptive, more adaptable, quieter about its power.

Alliances and clashes

The Snake sits in the Thought trine (the thinkers) with the Ox and the Rooster. Animals in the same affinity triangle are the classic harmonious pairings of the Chinese system.

Its secret friend is the Monkey — one of the six secret-friend pairs, the quiet alliances: loyal, low-drama, mutually protective. Directly opposite in the cycle sits the Pig — the classic clash pairing: real friction, and the fascination that can come with it.

Snake questions

What years are Snake years?
Snake years in the table the record holds (1960–2032): 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025. The Chinese year begins at Lunar New Year — late January to mid-February — so a birthday before that year's new year date belongs to the previous animal.

What is the Snake's element?
The Snake's fixed element is Fire — every Snake carries it underneath. passion, visibility and speed — a Fire year heats the animal up: bolder, faster, more dramatic, impossible to ignore. The year adds a rotating element on top: in the recorded cycle the Snake appears as Wood Snake (1965, 2025); Fire Snake (1977); Earth Snake (1989); Metal Snake (2001); Water Snake (2013).

Who does the Snake harmonize with?
The Snake sits in the Thought trine (the thinkers) with the Ox and the Rooster — one of the classic harmonious pairings of the Chinese system. Its secret friend is the Monkey, the quiet alliance; and the animal opposite in the cycle, the Pig, is its clash.

How does Match By Zodiac read my Chinese sign?
Match By Zodiac works your Chinese animal and element out from your birth date — with the real Lunar New Year boundary, so January and February birthdays land on the right animal — and reads them alongside your Sun, Moon and Rising signs in pair reads. The Western and Chinese systems are kept separate, never averaged.

Find your Chinese sign

The free Finder reads your animal and element from one birth date — with the real Lunar New Year boundary — and your Sun, Moon and Rising signs in the same pass.