Millennia ago the Jade Emperor, ruler of the heavens, decided to create a calendar. To do this, he invited various earthly creatures to compete in a race, with its outcome determining their placement within the calendric cycle. This then formed a part of a greater cycle, with 12 animals being linked to five elements–metal, wood, water, fire and earth, forming 60 years of combinations known as the Chinese Zodiac. Consequently, 2026 then marks the Year of the Fire Horse, but not quite yet… Despite the numerous misrepresentations online, we are still currently in the Year of the Wood Snake, set to end on 17 February 2026.
With the diverse combinations of animal and element evoking differing qualities, the Wood Snake marks a year of endings and closure, of shedding and letting go. Found within this is growth, trusting your intuition and the renewal of the self, whilst maintaining a slow and steady temperament in accordance with this change. The Year of the Wood Snake is thus about new beginnings.
The Year of the Fire Horse then catches the momentum of this change, moving forward from the beginning that the Wood Snake has reset. It is about action, passion, independence, and courage. It is about outwardly living what you have inwardly made. Whilst this may sound good in theory, it does not always work out in practice. Still, online media has adopted the Year of the Fire Horse’s symbolism and used it to perpetuate a fixation on hyper-productivity. It has become absorbed in the repeated counterproductive mantra of ‘new year, new me’– the idea that within the frame of a single day you can completely start afresh. But, as many of us have learnt through trial and error, this mindset does not always carry through.
So, then what? Do we simply submit to the skewered truth that old habits die hard? The short answer is no. The change from the Wood Snake towards the Fire Horse is not about that. It, like any other Chinese New Year, is about transition, with this process being a practice – something that needs to be habitually repeated over and over in order to succeed. So, success does not always come easy, and transition teaches us that. It almost never, if ever, occurs overnight. It is full of setbacks and obstacles that lie in the way, because a snake’s shedding is about discomfort and vulnerability.
Some may have ask: how did the snake come before the horse in the race of the Chinese Zodiac? It beat it because in spite of their vast size difference, the snake’s presence scared the horse. Yet although this momentarily hindered the horse, it did not prevent it from finishing the race. So if there is any momentum you should carry into the Year of the Fire Horse, it should be the continuous reminder of one of the basic laws of physics–that an object in motion stays in motion. But it must also be the reminder that in spite of any setbacks you may face this year, two steps forward and one step back, is still a step forward. It is nearly impossible to change yourself in the course of a day–the new year does not have to mark your reset. If the misalignment of the Chinese New Year with the Western new year can teach us anything, it’s that new beginnings are in abundance, happening throughout time. So be kind to yourself, and be gentle and let the year slowly take its shape.
Illustration by Jessica Bolevin for The Student.