Dr. Tamsin Lee

Great question, because we're in the year of the snake in 2025! I love looking at how these animals show up in other cultures because it's not that different, right? They show up in mythologies and stories, and there is a similar theme to them. And the snake is really interesting because in many cultures, yes, there is sort of this deceptive, manipulative quality because we don't know what the snakes do. But at the same time, there are these images of snakes being the healer, the medicine. Like, even in Western medicine, that logo is of the snake. And that's what doctors wear on their lab coats.

In BaZi, the snake has this manipulative quality, but maybe manipulation is not the right word. When it's not in balance, it can be like that, but it's because they don't show all of their cards, so you don't really know how they think. But they're very observant, so they're purposely not showing you everything because they're watching you. And what happens when you do that is that you start to cultivate your own discernment; snakes are very good at being discerning. And they don't feel the need to tell you why they don't agree with you or why they don't want you around. They'll come in and they'll just watch you, observe you, see how you act, let you talk, and then decide for themselves.

Snakes are represented by the Yin Fire, which, if we look in nature, is like the stars, it's the candlelight, it's the campfire; it's the little fires. There's something very alluring and magnetic about them, but not in this grandiose way. On the contrary, next year is the year of the horse, and the horse is represented by Yang Fire, which is like the big sun. When you compare a bright sunny day versus stars in the sky, it's a different type of energy.

Snakes have this quality of being incredibly charismatic, but in a very warm way. They love beautiful things, elegance, and refined beauty rather than loud or overstated. They like really detailed, meticulous kind of beautiful jewels, and very minimal basically. The biggest thing is that they're incredibly magnetic and charismatic, but in a much more subtle, more alluring way that is very seductive.

One thing about romantic compatibility is that you need to read the pillars to really determine it; the third pillar is where you're going to read everything about romantic relationships. So that's where you'll read if you're compatible or not. But like everything, every animal can be compatible with another animal. Even if they have a clash, even if they have other energy like harm or punishment. The important thing is for both people to be aware of that. And if both people are aware of that, then they can work at it, but if both people aren't or they don't want to work at it, then you already have some sort of friction, and it's going to be very difficult.