巳 Snake

巳 (Sa), the Snake, is sixth in the cycle. It stands for the fourth month of the old calendar, the first month of summer, and the hours from nine to eleven in the morning when the day is fully awake. Its direction is south by southeast and its element is Fire, the hidden, steady kind rather than the blaze. The Snake is read as depth and timing: it watches, waits and moves once. In Korea the snake is double-edged in folklore, feared in the field yet welcomed in dreams, where a snake has long been read as a sign of wealth or of a child on the way.

Hold one opinion back for a full conversation today and offer it only at the end. Snake energy is said to show in the well-timed word, so notice how much more it carries when it arrives last.

Snake years are traditionally said to sit well with Ox (丑) and Rooster (酉), the Metal harmony group, and to clash with the Pig (亥) across the circle. Old pairings to test against real friends, not verdicts.

In Korean the Snake year is 뱀띠 (baem-tti). The four-character phrase 용두사미 (yong-du-sa-mi), "dragon head, snake tail," is used for anything that starts grand and fizzles out. A 뱀꿈 (baem-kkum), a snake dream, is one of the dreams Koreans traditionally take as a good omen.