Year of the Wood Snake: Astrological Lessons & Themes for 2025

It’s easy to invest in a lot of hope in the year of the dragon which happened just last year. The dragon symbolizes our own internal desires to soar to new heights. It represents ascension, charisma, achievement, reverence. But then, just as quickly as Dragon year arrived, it ended. And life may not have unfolded as we may have imagined.

Maybe we set our sights high, maybe we saw the higher vision of where we wanted to go, the potential of what, who we want to become during dragon year. We got glimpses. Flashes of insight. But couldn’t yet step fully into it. Last year, many of us could have realized the gap in where we currently are and where we want to be, was too wide.

Fast forward to today, we are officially in the year of the wood snake. Unlike the dragon, the snake doesn’t get as much as a warm reception. On an almost primal level, I think we distrust the snake. In Christianity, religious text depicted snakes as hubristic temptation, sin, and even a representation of Lilith. Humans also have an instinctive, genetic predisposition to fear snakes naturally due to evolution of us knowing we were python’s prey.

Even in Chinese culture, the year of the snake has negative connotations which is why many people choose to get married or have children the year before (dragon), or the year after (year of the horse). I’ll personally admit - due to pressures from my own family’s culture and wanting to tie the knot before the election chaos & results, part of the reason we got married last year was to also ride the wave of the dragon.

So I feel like a bit of a hypocrite right now. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Hindsight is 2020 though. While I don’t regret when and how my wedding happened, would it have been so bad or different if we got married in 2025? I really don’t think so.

Aside from this, I think we’ve misunderstood the snake all along…

If we go deep into the stories of Chinese mythology, the snake is actually a dragon in waiting. A "little dragon," as it’s sometimes called.

The renowned modern scholar Wen Yiduo (闻一多) proposed that the primary prototype of the dragon is the snake in his groundbreaking study on ancient Chinese mythology, Research on Fuxi (《伏羲考》), in 1942.

It is said that after 500 years, a snake can transform into a jiao, a lesser dragon. After 1,000 years, it becomes a full-fledged dragon. After another 500 years, it grows horns. And after another 1,000 years, it gains wings, ascending into divinity.

I love this connection between the snake and the dragon. And I want us to go into year 2025 not feeling like we missed out on any opportunities from last year. Maybe last year was never meant to be the moment of arrival…maybe it was simply the introduction to the version of you that you’re now being called to step into.

If the Dragon year confronted us with possibility and showed us who we could be… then the Snake year asks us:

Are you willing to do the work to become it?

This year is the shedding, the releasing, the unlearning. The shedding Snake doesn’t carry dead weight which are the old stories, outdated beliefs, identities that no longer fit. It leaves behind everything it cannot take into its next evolution.

The north node that entered into the sign of Pisces on January 11th of this year aligns with this very notion of letting go and surrendering. In fact, I see the archetypal qualities of the snake being in beautiful alignment with both Piscean and Virgo qualities, when both oppositional signs are in balance.

Here are some of the themes and astrological crossovers between Chinese and Western astrology I want us to take with us as we move into the rest of 2025.

Some of the most striking astrological signatures we’ll be experiencing this year is Venus’s extended journey between Pisces and Aries. And also Neptune’s journey between these two signs as well. Venus first entered Pisces on January 2nd, but because of its retrograde cycle beginning March 1st, it will move back and forth between Pisces and Aries until April 30th, before finally settling into Taurus on June 6th.

I’ll include a mini chart below of the cycle of both Venus ♀ & Neptune’s key dates so if you’re listening to this, be sure to scroll down to make a mental note of what i’m about to discuss:

Venus Journey Between Pisces & Aries 
🌀 Jan 2nd - Venus enters Pisces 
🔥 Feb 4th - Venus enters Aries 
⏪ Mar 1st - Venus stations Retrograde in Aries 
🌊 Mar 27th - Venus Retrograde enters Pisces 
⏩ April 12th - Venus stations Direct 
🔥 April 30th - Venus re-enters Aries 
🌿 June 6th - Venus enters Taurus (finally😮‍💨)

Neptune's Journey Between Pisces & Aries 
🌊 March 30 - Neptune enters Aries 
🔥 July 4 - Neptune stations Retrograde in Aries 
🌊 Oct 22 - Neptune Retrograde enters Pisces 
🔥 Dec 10 - Neptune Direct in Pisces

Venus & Neptune in Aries & Pisces

Astronomer Copernicus, or Conversations with God, 1873, Jan Matejko

Venus in Aries is traditionally said to be in her exile - you can also call it in detriment as Aries natural planetary ruler is Mars. This can show us where we are hot and cold, or too willful in our engagements, dynamics with others - causing unnecessary friction and destructiveness. It’s also a bit competitive in energy, it can be self-focused, which is the antithesis of Venus in Pisces which is an exalted placement where Venus actually thrives.

We will go back and forth between these two flavors with venus to teach us where we need to dissolve our ego, and being discerning on what and who we’re actually fighting for.

Neptune has spent over a decade in Pisces (since 2012), dissolving boundaries, softening our perceptions of reality, and immersing us in the depths of the collective unconscious. It’s been a time of spiritual seeking, artistic expansion, and, in many ways, avoidance.

What can heighten Venus in Aries energy is Neptune will also ingress into the sign of Aries on March 30th. Neptune is also traditionally NOT comfortable in Aries. So this is an added feeling of disruptive energy, or investing our life force energy impulsively or being led astray from being emotionally reactive.

Neptune hasn’t been in Aries since 1861–1875, a period that saw the American Civil War, the unification of Italy, and major ideological battles over freedom, identity, and sovereignty. Neptune here isn’t about soft spirituality—it’s about fighting for ideals, turning dreams into action, and sometimes, the distortion of belief into fanaticism.

This placement can create a spiritual battlefield, where people become warriors for their beliefs, whether grounded in truth or illusion. Expect surges of:
- Radical movements driven by ideals, whether utopian or destructive.
- Personal awakenings that demand action—no more passive waiting.
- Friction between intuition and impulse, between surrender and control.

This is Neptune’s most “activist” placement. It will test whether we are capable of moving from faith to action without falling into delusion or aggression.

Here are some things to consider when Neptune ingresses into Aries (with the crossover of Venus in Aries as well)

🔴 The Dangers

• Spiritualized warfare → Beliefs become weapons; people fight in the name of ideals, whether justified or distorted.

• Fanaticism & disillusionment → The shadow side of Neptune can make people easily manipulated by grand promises, false prophets, and aggressive utopian dreams.

• Acting without clarity → Neptune in Aries can cause people to impulsively act on dreams without fully understanding the consequences.

🟢 The Gifts

• Turning visions into action → This is the time to bring spirituality, creativity, and higher ideals into real-world movement.

• Courageous healing → Unlike Neptune in Pisces (which tends to escape), Aries forces us to face our shadows directly and fight for what we believe in.

• The end of passivity → No more waiting for fate to intervene—this transit will make people agents of their own spiritual and creative evolution.

Therefore, this Snake year almost serves as a totem if you will, a reminder to be tactful, precise, in how we engage with others. If Aries charges forward without thinking and Pisces drifts wherever the current takes it, the Snake moves differently altogether.

Snake energy doesn’t rush nor does it act blindly. Snakes will study it’s environment, and trust when it’s the exact moment to take action/strike.

Where Neptune in Aries burns bright but fast, the Snake undergoes slow, methodical transformation, ensuring it doesn’t self-destruct.

Neptune in Aries can burn everything down in its rush for transformation—but the Snake ensures we don’t destroy ourselves in the process.

So here are some things to consider for the greater first half of this year.

Not every battle needs to be fought. Timing is important this year. So check your tempers. Direct your anger productively & intentionally.

Knowing moments of when to surrender (choose your battles) is also not passivity. Don’t mistake the two. Venus in Pisces is teaching us to soften into our inner faith, guidance, acting when you’re in a state of peace rather than trying to gain control, compete, or prove a point here.

Both Venus & Neptune in Aries AND Pisces need to learn how to not waste their energy. Aries energy (especially rx in Venus & Neptune) can waste their energy leaning too much into impulse, creating a bunch of false starts with projects and other people. Venus in Pisces can waste it’s energy giving too much to other people that there is no boundary - causing depletion.

Part of being precise is being discerning on where you may be overextending yourself. Invest your time, energy mindfully, thoughtfully this year because the shedding you’ll be undergoing is going to require you to not be on all the time.

We got two more important astrological signatures I must also mention.

Uranus will enter Gemini on July 7th.

I’ll include a mini chart below of Uranus’ key dates as well so if you’re listening to this, be sure to scroll down to make a mental note of what i’m about to discuss:

⚡ Uranus Journey This Year ⚡ 
🌀 Jan 30 - Uranus Direct at 23 Tau 16 
🌪 July 7 - Uranus enters Gemini  
🔄 Sept 6 - Uranus Retrograde at  1 Gem 28

Once Uranus ingresses into Gemini, we will begin a new 7 year cycle of disruption & also chaotic growth when it comes to how we communicate, share information, knowledge, news, connect with other people on a larger societal level. There is so much flux energy. Uranus does tend to fracture anything that’s old and outdated but it can also make us distracted.

📡 There will definitely be a shakeup in areas of:

• AI, media, and digital communication → The battle between free speech and controlled information intensifies. Who controls the narrative? Who gets to decide what is truth?

• Education and learning systems → A radical decentralization of how knowledge is shared and taught. Traditional education may begin to collapse under the weight of self-directed, decentralized learning.

• Social movements and activism → A new wave of intellectual rebellion, where words, ideas, and technology become the ultimate tools of revolution.

Most of all, we will need to grapple with how to handle disinformation.

Meditating on the wood snake energy, here are some things to also consider:

• Change will be inevitable. It’s quite clear with all the changes going on in 2025 on an astrological level. But how you change is a choice. You can adapt and change deliberately. Don’t let Gemini energy push in you a hundred different directions. Observe the changes happening first before you immediately react.

• One of the snake’s greatest skillsets is using their words wisely. Something we will deeply need with so much shadow energy of Venus & Neptune in Aries already displaying it’s destructiveness (just see how the political administration handles responsibility and blame - it’s ego-filled and wild)

Words now more than ever are powerful. They will be used as weapons, as medicine, as tools of both liberation and control. Know when to speak and when to remain silent. And HOW you deliver the message is just as important as what the contents of the message is.

A Son's Devotion by Pierre Jean Edmond Castan

Jupiter in Cancer on June 9th

Another big astrological signature this year will be Jupiter entering into the sign of Cancer on June 9th to June 29th, 2026. Jupiter is exalted when in the sign of Cancer.

I am seriously looking forward to this energy because it will create some balance with the cerebral rush that is Uranus in Gemini.

Jupiter's Cycle This Year 
Feb 4 - Jupiter goes direct in Gemini 
June 9 - Jupiter enters Cancer 
June 15 - Jupiter square Saturn in Aries 
June 18 - Jupiter square Neptune in Aries 
Nov 11 - Jupiter stations Retrograde in Cancer

If Uranus in Gemini electrifies the mind, Jupiter in Cancer swells the heart.

This transit brings us back to emotional intelligence, deep intuition, and the question of what home truly means. Cancer is the archetype of the nurturer, the guardian, the protector but this time, Jupiter is expanding this concept beyond personal comfort.

In a world moving at lightning speed (credit to Uranus in Gemini), Jupiter in Cancer will help slows us down, reminding us that knowledge without feeling is empty.

Here are some trends that may come about during this 12 month period.

Jupiter in Gemini filled the world with information but Jupiter in Cancer will demand we process it emotionally.

The collective exhaustion of rapid AI-generated content, constant online debate, and mental overstimulation will push people to seek emotional truth. Expect more people resisting full automation and craving real, human-made content. Instead of cold logic as well, we will see a deeper craving for meaning, for emotional storytelling, and for wisdom that can’t be computed by an algorithm.

We’ll also being seeing people craving stability, deeper community bonds, and traditional family structures (both biological and chosen). Lately, I’ve been finding myself gravitating towards more interest in ancestral lineage, reconnecting with personal heritage, and finding meaning in roots instead of chasing constant newness. I think this will be further emphasized during this Jupiter Cancerian cycle.

Something to watch out for though that we will have to manage is Jupiter in Cancer may intensify emotional narratives in politics, news, and cultural movements. So expect public discourse (we’re already seeing this) to become more emotionally charged, with deep-rooted national and cultural identity becoming focal points.

There’s also further shift toward protectionism (countries reinforcing borders, communities focusing inward, and a deeper divide between “us” vs. “them” mindsets). The rise of compassion-based policies—healthcare, childcare, mental health support—but also nationalist rhetoric appealing to nostalgia and security.

Expect a rise in emotional well-being becoming a status symbol—people prioritizing rest, slow living, and deep satisfaction over productivity. More people leaving high-stress jobs for emotional fulfillment, security, and a slower pace of life. I definitely see businesses shifting toward nurturing environments, mental health integration, and sustainability over constant growth.

I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a deeper push toward analog experiences—handwritten letters, printed books, in-person connection over virtual.

Emotional marketing and storytelling will be key in 2025 - 2026 people want to feel something, not just consume content.

So whenever you find yourself too much in your head as Gemini so often finds itself, ⟶ Shift from, “What do I know?” → “What do I feel?”

So here’s the choice we face in 2025:

Do we react impulsively to the chaos of change, burning ourselves out in the process? Or do we move like the snake—calculated, precise, shedding what no longer serves us so we can grow into something wiser, stronger, and more aligned?

The astrological transits ahead will test our patience, our discernment, and our ability to balance instinct with strategy. Neptune in Aries may ignite passion, but passion without purpose is just a wildfire. Venus’s back-and-forth between Pisces and Aries will show us when to soften and when to stand firm. Uranus in Gemini will shake up the way we think, while Jupiter in Cancer will ask us to feel, to nurture, to find meaning beyond the noise.

The wood snake reminds us: Change is inevitable, but transformation is intentional. Move wisely. Move with purpose. And above all…move in a way that ensures you won’t be shedding the same skin twice.

Until next time, take care and I’ll see you in the next podcast episode.