The path of the Snake
14/02/13 13:00 Filed in: Logbook
The year of the Snake began on 10th February. According to Chinese astrology, it symbolises hope, intelligence, wisdom and self-discipline. All to the good, then.
But it is not only the twelve animals of the zodiac that have an influence on the future. The five basic elements – metal, wood, water, fire and earth – also alternate, contributing to determining the future (or the present, depending on when you look at it). This year is dominated by a combination of two elements, fire and water, in conflict with one another. This could have unpleasant consequences, both for private life and for international relations.
The international risks, especially in the theatre of East Asia, are summed up in articles by Francesco Sisci and the Indian former diplomat M K Bhadrakumar, evocatively entitled North Korea nukes the Year of the Snake. Or in this video on the intelligence site Stratfor. Whether true or false, the stories and meanings of the Chinese zodiac are food for thought.
In this case, though, the snake is more likely to set off individual doubts than elegant geopolitical analysis. It is no coincidence that, according to the Judeo-Christian tradition, the snake symbolises doubt in the form of temptation. It is also no coincidence that Carl Gustav Jung used it as an image in his theory of collective unconscious.
It is just that, in the West, Doubt is too often reduced to a right/wrong, good/bad dichotomy, and is therefore exorcised in the form of repentance and good intentions. Which is what New Year’s resolutions are all about.
But here and now we are in the East and here doubt is not defused in the hypothesis of a response or in a choice. Here, it is self-feeding. It is like the coiled snake, the symbol of Kundalini, the dormant energy within every individual, and like the Tao circle, which represents the interdependence between yin and yang, the two poles through which reality manifests itself, because the one does not exist without the other, or rather: each is defined by the other. Here, doubt creates further doubts. Even more so in the year of the snake, the animal that changes its skin and leads you to think of your own future metamorphosis.
“Only the snake understands his path through the grass”. I have no idea where that quote comes from or who said it, but it has always fascinated me.
Personally, I still don’t know what animal I am (not in terms of the Chinese zodiac anyway, according to which I am an ox). Much less do I understand where I am and what path I am following.
But it is not only the twelve animals of the zodiac that have an influence on the future. The five basic elements – metal, wood, water, fire and earth – also alternate, contributing to determining the future (or the present, depending on when you look at it). This year is dominated by a combination of two elements, fire and water, in conflict with one another. This could have unpleasant consequences, both for private life and for international relations.
The international risks, especially in the theatre of East Asia, are summed up in articles by Francesco Sisci and the Indian former diplomat M K Bhadrakumar, evocatively entitled North Korea nukes the Year of the Snake. Or in this video on the intelligence site Stratfor. Whether true or false, the stories and meanings of the Chinese zodiac are food for thought.
In this case, though, the snake is more likely to set off individual doubts than elegant geopolitical analysis. It is no coincidence that, according to the Judeo-Christian tradition, the snake symbolises doubt in the form of temptation. It is also no coincidence that Carl Gustav Jung used it as an image in his theory of collective unconscious.
It is just that, in the West, Doubt is too often reduced to a right/wrong, good/bad dichotomy, and is therefore exorcised in the form of repentance and good intentions. Which is what New Year’s resolutions are all about.
But here and now we are in the East and here doubt is not defused in the hypothesis of a response or in a choice. Here, it is self-feeding. It is like the coiled snake, the symbol of Kundalini, the dormant energy within every individual, and like the Tao circle, which represents the interdependence between yin and yang, the two poles through which reality manifests itself, because the one does not exist without the other, or rather: each is defined by the other. Here, doubt creates further doubts. Even more so in the year of the snake, the animal that changes its skin and leads you to think of your own future metamorphosis.
“Only the snake understands his path through the grass”. I have no idea where that quote comes from or who said it, but it has always fascinated me.
Personally, I still don’t know what animal I am (not in terms of the Chinese zodiac anyway, according to which I am an ox). Much less do I understand where I am and what path I am following.
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