The Snake in the Year of the Fire Horse 2026
Snake Pic by @elliespinelli
Who is a Snake?
Years: 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013.
Month*: May
Hour: 09:00 am – 11.00am
Day: you’ll need a Chinese Calendar.
* Caution: the start of the Chinese month can be as early as the 4th & as late as the 9th, depending on the year. I can let you know this too.
What is a Snake?
The Snake is yin Fire and sits between the Horse and the Dragon, possibly the most powerful pair of animals in the Zodiac and certainly among the most difficult stools to fall among. So a typical weakness of the Snake is indecision. Next to that is lack of commitment and finally a propensity for sudden and uncharacteristic dishonesty. The Snake is the prisoner who breaks at the threat of torture; a reasonable decision if you know you’re going to give in anyway btw.
There are perhaps old souls and younger souls. The younger Snake often has a vivid imagination and an inconsistent relationship with the truth; the older Snake may treat Truth as sacred. And Snakes being of Candle Flame Fire, can be easily discouraged. Sometimes they should be actually. Some Snakes stick long term with an inappropriate choice so as to put off making any choice at all.
The most written about Snakes in the third decade of the 21st century are apt to include Chinese Premier Xi Jinping. Xi, born in 1953, the year of the Snake in the Grass and appointed at a time when the internal tensions in China – between efficiency and self-expression, between industrial wealth and rural poverty and between cohesion and corruption – had never been so stark. Never question his sincerity – he means what he says – but he is likely, like his near-twin Tony Blair, to believe that the more he is opposed by those whose beliefs conflict with his own, the more right he must be. For both of these, dictatorship – that is tianming the Mandate of Heaven – is the preferable regime because the Snake can so often not tell the difference between their viewpoint and the absolute. Is this the mark of the young soul?
Older souls may include left-wing totem Bernie Sanders. Born a Metal Snake in 1941, his bluntness is typical of the mature or balanced Snake. A spade for him is not a manually-operated digging instrument but a damn spade. Perhaps too truthful for his own good – at least career-wise.
Truth is the defining issue for the Snake. They can vary between the life-long seeker after truth and the fibber but it is truth that runs them.
Typically, squeezed between the two, the choice for the Snake is between opposites: the extroversion of the Horse and the subtlety of the Dragon, instinct and logic, process and end product, long and short term, relationship and freedom, employment or entrepreneurship. In the face of this dilemma, a balanced Snake will often develop sufficient charm to get through without having to make the hard decisions. In Dragon times Snakes are reckoned to find their Teacher.
Typically the Snake of either gender is not the decision maker in relationship. When they marry a Pig this is doubly so; the power of the Pig’s uncertain yin Water may precisely match the delicate yin Fire of the Snake, often making for stand-offs and provisional decisions. Those decisions the Snake has not made may include the one to be committed to the relationship. The partner of the Snake (best choice probably Ox or Rooster though Monkey lady and Snake man works well) would be well-advised to drag at least this minimum communication from the Snake early on. Interestingly Snakes can despite all this be among the best makers and keepers of relationship of all 60 Animals. But they sure can make it hard for themselves.
One of the advantages of being between the autocratic Dragon and the unruly Horse is that the Snake has her ego in check. Many would consider her wise because what she has to say is well-considered and she never says too much. The Snake can be a brilliant collaborator, especially with the Ox and the Rooster who are in a sense similar to her neighbours: the Rooster is blatant (much like the irrepressible Horse, both are, like it or not, pure) and the Ox determined (like the heads-down Dragon) while the Snake anchors them to each other. There may be moments of doubt when the Snake’s loyalty wavers. At such times, the Snake asks searching questions which should have been settled long ago and then usually re-commits. The high- minded Brutus was probably a Snake. Not Judas though. To know this, grants the Snake both power and integrity. Snakes who know this about themselves earn undying trust.
The Snake can also work with the Dragon in what is called the House of Magic#. Only she can subordinate her ego to the extent that the Dragon demands while also keeping up. An ideal Snake vocation is high-level p.a. Usually (and wisely) the Snake opts to be No 2 rather than Big Chief.
The Snake often has the intellectual and visual gifts of Fire. She makes a good critic as her judgement is sound and she is not out to destroy egos. She will generally have natural and effortless style too.
On the other hand the Snake has a love-hate relationship with the Monkey. Both have hands-on and logical ability and both attract occasional tussles but where the Monkey welcomes an opportunity for mischief, the Snake treats dispute as a regrettable evil. When a Tiger appears in such a form as a Tiger-born person or a Tiger month (February), this misunderstanding can turn nasty. In a Dog year like 2018 it was plainish sailing, in an Ox Year such as 2021 – when the Monkey was for the second consecutive year, favoured – more complex. If there are Monkeys in your friend group, seek them out and try to find common ground. They may save you when the chips are down; it still won’t be their priority though.
The Snake is opposed to the Pig and as both are members of the informal group sometimes called the Four Terminals#, they can impede each other’s movement. Snakes may develop mobility issues in a Pig year and vice versa.
The Snake prefers a short menu and yes/no questions. In a Rat year their yin Fire may be baffled by the width of choice represented by yang Water. It’s possible that the Snake’s dreams will come true only for her to sprint in the opposite direction. Deep communication often has to be wrenched from the Snake and in the Water years of Rat and Pig there is little support for the tight-lipped. In the Ox year that follows, expect just enough Water but not too much. This makes scope for the restricted level of communication the Snake prefers.
Final health note: Snakes have a complex relationship with Fire. They are not usually sun-worshippers but often their skin needs just a little regular sun and without it they may fall prey to easily avoided ailments such as vitamin D deficiency. Caution!
# These terms are the brain children of the man who first introduced me to the Chinese Zodiac, Derek Walters, still the only Western authority respected to any degree in Asia. I sometimes tell my students that of the many thousands of books written on Chinese Astrology in the West, 99% are either nonsense or derived from Derek’s The Complete Guide to Chinese Astrology. Or both.
2026, Hot, Hot, Hot
The outlook for the Year of the Fire Horse
Note: There are four (or five) Pillars in your ba zi, each with a different nuance. It is as unlikely that they are all ill-starred as it is that they are all blessed by any given year. Examine the portents for each and perhaps use that as an indication of how to respond.
2026 Animal by Animal: Snake
“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer” is what Michael Corleone counsels in The Godfather. And as you exit your year of dominance –which may have brought with it a variety of duties and burdens – you can put that advice to practical use by building and maintaining association with the Ox and Rooster but also, perhaps surprisingly, the Pig. The first two are your Sam He team and both are boosted this year; the Pig, not usually much help to you is Tin Yute Gwai Yan that is “Nobleman Helper” in 2026. Such a Nobleman is generally, male, older and not family. He may be a teacher, mentor or similar kind of figure.
Because there are both very helpful and quite baleful Stars over the Snake this year, I suggest that this year you play your cards like a skilled poker player. You are at your best the brightest, the subtlest, the kindest of the Animals.
There are actually many parallels between feng shui Masters and card sharps. The trick to poker is to win big when you have the cards and to not lose much when you don’t. The trick to feng shui is to locate where the energy supports you and avoid where it doesn’t. Ba zi is largely the same principle applied to time rather than space.
So this year locate West, the realm of the Rooster and North East (or at least the first third of it which houses the Ox) as far as you can and fill your boots in the months of the Ox (January – both 2026 & 2027) and Rooster (September). Facing these directions when you’re upright as well as having your head at that end of the bed may help too. Your own location South East will be pretty welcoming too.
Meanwhile on the first available auspicious date in 2026 place a container of Water at the Pig location – that is NW3 i.e. 322½º and 337½º North West. Should be at least a foot deep and ideally kept fresh – a Water pump will help.
These measures will go some way to restricting the power of the Bing Fu sickness Star. As will taking care of yourself. The Snake is naturally generous but this year is about self-care and mental health may be a concern. The Horse makes such demands.
I would tend to categorise the epidemic of upset filed under that definition as emotional rather than mental. The pain of “mental” health resides I suggest in our guts rather than our temples. Which is where the Snake is especially gifted; it is no coincidence that one of the oldest symbols of healing is the caduceus: two snakes entwined. On some level every Snake is a healer. But first they may have to get out from up themselves. That is, as Oscar Wilde remarked, to put more attention on the stars than the gutter.
Here’s the $64,000 question as various forms of upset arise: if you are sick/upset/depressed, what is the true reason? This is not to deny germs, microbes and dna but to remind you that you have choice. And upset is never about what it’s about. Why would you choose this moment for that upset? Who are you communicating to and what with your upset? Could it be communicated more directly? What change do you want – or need – to make?
It may be clear to you by now that the Snake’s gift is truth. Some Snakes are resolutely respectful of the truth; some are full of it. This gift can rescue you this year and to make the most of it you need conscious purpose. And you need to be resolutely honest about it. You need to decide that you want something and stick to it. Not wanting something is not the same.
These questions will be particularly apposite when obstacles arise both personal and commercial. There is a career breakthrough coming. It’s unlikely that you can foul it up but you could mitigate or delay it. Best not to. And a screw up would tend to follow insisting on the causes to which you have attributed your troubles. Your gifts are in demand, your complaints not so much. Of course there is a “real” world to address but blame is as self-disempowering as it gets. And it’s not truthful.
This year may test you and you may be thinking that after the stress and responsibility of the Snake year you could do without it. But there’s good news too. Your career and relationship are both apt to bloom. I don’t see a huge increase in assets and your health may be shaky but this year sees you being recognised in a way that you may not have been before. Best get alongside.
But as a coda: as I’ve written elsewhere, the next two years, sometimes termed Crimson Horse and Blood Goat are pretty provocative; the twelve Zodiac Animals are broadly divided between those who relish the urgency, haste and passion of Fire and those who prefer its opposite. In the first category fall Rabbit, Tiger, Dog, Horse, Sheep and indeed Snake, each of whom may prefer cooler times but are used to heat and in such a year are probably best embracing it as huge gains may be made that way. The Animals who are naturally more Watery are Rat, Ox and Dragon. And Monkey. Pig and Rooster do not fall firmly into either group.
As a Snake your choice will depend upon your other three Pillars. So a good look at those is on the cards.
Lesson: Capitalise the helpful/pre-empt the destructive.
Best Months: January, September also for many Snakes June.
Worst Months: April, November.
Theme: Weather with you.
Hexagram: 6, Song Dispute.
Health: 🙁/= Wealth: 🙁/= Relationship: =/☺
Where to find help: Rooster, Ox.
Who should I be careful with: Rat.
To hire me to draw up a full interpretation of your ba zi, that is (all) Four Pillars, email me at richardashworthfengshui@gmail.com. If you want to learn more about ba zi my book I Talk to the Animals is out now. Here’s a link to a chunk of text: https://amzn.eu/d/c6p72iK
This forecast is prepared by comparing your own Chinese year Animal with the Fire Horse of 2026. Your Year Animal is just one of the four that make up your Ba Zi or Four Pillars of Destiny. A fully-drafted ba zi can indicate possible futures and probable pasts as well as moments of decision. Knowing these moments can heal and prevent heartbreak as well make success and happiness more easily achievable. What is a ba zi?
© Richard Ashworth 2026