Dear LPG readers,

I found myself reading a website about Chinese astrology the other day and realised that I need to catch what is left of my year of significance as we speak.  Most people will know that, when it comes to it, from the Chinese point of view, a person’s special year only comes around once every 12 years and, while I am not going to tell you how old I am, the article makes it clear that I have lived through more than half of mine without even realising it.     In the Chinese way of thinking, I am a dragon, and perhaps my grandchildren think of me as one in the Western sense because I am a pretty strict grandma when they are left in my care.   

But the end of every era nearly always heralds the beginning of another.  Did you know that if your age, during most of 2025, can be divided equally by 12, you are likely to be represented as a snake, and your year of significance will start on January 29th, 2025? The sad thing is that many of the ignorant might think they have done something to offend if someone they know directs that observation.  Can you imagine being told that you’re a snake?  

For as long as I can remember, that has been the sort of accusation that would fit a person who borrowed money and never paid it back or, worse still, stole the affections of another’s partner or soulmate.  

It got me thinking about why snakes get such a bad reputation.   I believe that it all stems from the bible because whether you have read it in detail or not, we all know that Satan chose to become one when he got Eve into all that trouble in the first chapter of that book.  Genesis chapter 3 14 tells us that God condemned him to stay that way.  

Since then, there have been so many stories about snakes being the bad guys.  Rod Dahl gave us a story called ‘Snakes in my Bed’, which has not helped, while the Greeks gave us the mythical tale of Medusa, a gorgon with very snaky hair.  We must include Apep or Apophis, the Greek God of chaos, and Manasa, the mighty Indian Goddess of snakes. 

Of course, we have to be careful and know which ones can bite or which can squeeze you to death. There is the issue of their venom, but bee stings and humans can be quite vicious in our ways.  Their slippery and sliminess is also alluded to in the top-rated children’s board game ‘Snakes and Ladders’, where on a ladder, the only way is up while the only way is down if you land on a square with a snake’s head.  

I have read that their ability to shed their skins entirely and, in one, makes them appear in some cultures as creatures with a gift for deceit. However, others see the act of crawling out of a completely snakelike skin as a talent that allows them to renew themselves in some sense. 

The Chinese people see those influenced by their eastern astrological snake as mysterious and smart. They think profoundly and are problem solvers, although I have also read that they can be somewhat dishonest and the show-offs of the Eastern horoscope. 

I have never wanted to be too close to a real one for any length of time, but when watching them in films and on television, they always seem so graceful unless they are in pouncing mode.  The internet says that they only ever attack when hungry or in defence, and having spent a little time with my friend’s pet, I can confirm that they are not slimy and, while hers is quite cold to the touch, it is as ‘strokable’ as any other pet although they don’t take orders very well. Perhaps that is because they don’t have ears and can’t hear when you talk to them…

For all that, if you ever encounter one, by all means, be weary, but please don’t dismiss them as all bad…   

JB, Lee

JB shares some of her research…

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