Will the Chinese year of the snake witness your breakthrough in 2025? That depends. First, it depends on what your goals are. Second, it matters whether you regard January 29th as a starting point for new beginnings. Or is it another fabricated holiday like Quitter’s Day, or one few people celebrate like Festivus? Finally, it depends on how much power you attribute to celestial bodies influencing your life here on Earth.
Belief as Breakthrough in 2025
This isn’t a screed defending astrology against missile attacks from logical minds like those of the fictional physicist, Sheldon Cooper. Nor is it a celebration of one of the mystical forces that pervade our existence. But, it does acknowledge that people for thousands of years organized their lives around the motions of the sun, moon, planets and stars. Their cultural impact cannot be denied.
However, what seems surprising is how the motions of these eternal bodies should be interpreted so differently by so many different groups of people. It’s easy enough to say that different people have different ideologies. But, what does that explain, if anything? The demands of living–building shelter, finding/raising food, having offspring–remain common to everyone. If the stars belong to everyone as the song says, why didn’t those experiences produce a common world view when ancient people peered into the heavens?
Culture’s Role in Providing Breakthroughs
The answer seems to lie in setting and circumstance. Though there are many varieties, subcategories, and offshoots of astrological interpretation, the most fundamental and influential boil down to two: Greek or Hellenistic astrology and Chinese. Both forms of thought originated with the observations of the Babylonians and spread throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
For the Greeks, this Babylonian influence combined with ancient Egyptian or Decan teachings to create a horoscopic astrology, i.e. one reliant upon the ascension of 36 groups of stars to a specific moment in time to interpret the purported meaning behind the alignment of the planets at that moment.
For the Chinese, the Babylonian observations intermingled with the concept of the Four Pillars of Destiny to create a lunisolar calendar based on a sexagenary cycle (60 years) of time measurement. Unlike the Greek system, Chinese astrology employs the locations of the sun and moon to derive their significance upon the individual within the context of that sixty-year cycle of time measurement.
The disparity between the two systems results in an emphasis upon the moment (Greek) versus the annual (Chinese). Consequently, the predictions of the former rely upon the individual’s birth at a particular point in time whereas the Chinese system focuses upon generational/ancestral influences on one’s birth.
Perspectives on Snakes
Another disparity between the two astrologies involves their perspectives towards symbolic animals, especailly snakes. Like many other religious traditions, Chinese astrology venerates snakes for their dual nature. On one hands, they symbolize harvest, spirituality, and good fortune as well as guardianship. On the other, they embody cunning and secrecy.
In western culture, snakes represent evil, particularly Adam’s fall in the Christian religion. Other Abrahamic religions such as Judaism and Islam interpret Adam’s fall from grace due to Satan’s imparting knowledge to Eve. In that scenario, Satan is characterized as a snake. The Gnostics take that depiction a step further by saying Satan’s wisdom provided direct spiritual contact with God rather than achieving it through expiation or good works.
Part of this difference occurs due to the lack of distinction in the definitions of snake and serpent. Westerners tend to view the terms as interchangeable. Thus, snake and serpent are identical. Dragons are a variant form under this general heading. Chinese culutre, on the other hand, regards snakes as protectors of grain and produce.
For this and other reasons, the Chinese distinguish the fifth animal in their zodiac as a dragon, characterized as bold, outgoing, charismatic, confident, intelligent, and lucky. On the other hand, they particularize the sixth zodiac of their zodiac as the wood snake. Unlike the Western snake or serpent, the wood snake helps man by eating rodents and other pests. Consequently, it possesses qualities of charm, intelligence, and creativity, while sometimes being secretive or ruthless.
Breakthrough in 2025: Jupiter’s Influence
A happy coincidence in Chinese astrology results from the frequency with which Jupiter/Zeus revolves around the sun. Requiring 11.86 earth years to orbit, Jupiter’s periodicity closely matches the five twelve-year cycles comprising the sexagenary aspect of the Chinese calendar. Regarded as a symbol of wisdom, growth, and fortune in both cultures, Jupiter generally proves a benign influence upon personal goals and aspirations.
Breakthrough in 2025: Final Thoughts
The coincidence cited above offers the direction a person should take regarding one’s goals and a personal breakthrough in 2025. Many cultures regard the snake as emblemizing renewal and/or rebirth as depicted by the ouroboros on the left.
This blog post may have oversimplified the complexities involved in astrology and its influence on human behavior. Still, the more positive choice among the two major astrologies disccused here for a breakthrough in 2025 falls to the Chinese version.
May the Year of the Snake prove a fortunate one for you and yours!
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