When I ASKed for Ms. Snake to talk to me, it immediately raised the question: where does this Female Water Snake live? Where does she speak from? It's the same answer for all 12 Chinese Animals. They are totem masks for the 12 Earthly Branches, meaning the Snake is the aspect of the Earth's deep psyche that is leading the planetary team this year. She lives in Mother Earth's Energy Body, which has 12 aspects (mirrored by 12 tectonic plates), just as our human body has 12 organ and bowel spirits, each with their own meridian. Consider Snake as one of Mother Earth's 12 organs. Western astrology looks at the sky, and the zodiac that changes signs monthly as the sun shifts position. Earth is not included as one of the influential planets - rather strange, since it's the planet we live on. Chinese astrology is the opposite: earth-centered, and dominated by year long cycles. It assigns different animals to the hour, day, and month, but all Humans will have to live with this watery Snake Lady for an entire year. The Snake is 6th in the cycle of 12 Animals,
ney goes underground, and we get initiated into Deep Earth Mysteries in both Chinese and Western astrology. This 2013 Female Water Snake is the 30th year in the Chinese calendar's 60 year cycle, its exact midpoint. That suggests a powerful tipping point in the collective consciousness, possibly a larger "astrological mid-life" crisis. In the western view, Water Snake Year might signify a critical final shift from age of Pisces to Aquarius. Snake Year: Excellent for Sexual - Spiritual Qi Cultivation The Snake is an underground creature, but considered to be a fire creature. Where does it get its fire? The earth is filled with molten lava. So we have a fiery snake in a watery phase for an entire year, suggesting high volatility. In Taoist inner alchemy, the focus is on the coupling of primal water and primal fire. This translates into the inner female and inner male halves of our soul. An alchemist will try to capture and stabilize the sexual volatility of this water & fire Snake year, and put it to spiritual work. In 2013, we have an opportunity to tap into this sexual tension to quicken our selftransformation. A qigong form particularly well suited to cultivating Snake Energy is Swimming Dragon Qigong, originally from Mt. Hua (Flower Mtn.) where Jem and I got married last June on my China Dream Trip. It's called a dragon, but it's really a swimming serpent form – great for weight loss as well as circulating sexual Qi in deep channels. Are You a True Human Yet?
suggesting that like Virgo (6th sign in Western astrology), Snake is a gatekeeper for deep earth wisdom. We journey through all 12 signs to evolve our human soul. At the 6th sign the Jour-
20
Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life)
In the Taoist view, most humans never cultivate themselves deeply enough to become a "True Human" (zheng ren). Most humans are soul sparks that never quite ignite to realize their potential. These soul sparks after death are absorbed back into the collective and their content is recycled - but they lose their free will after death. The spiritual payoff of doing this kind of sexual-spiritual energy work while we're still in a Volume 3, Issue No. 2