As we step out of the bold and dynamic Yang Wood Dragon Year, we are invited into the more mature yet equally potent realm of the Yin Wood Snake. The Dragon's energy pushed us to expand outward and rise to new heights with courage and determination. Now, the Snake asks us to coil inward, tap into our intuition, and integrate the lessons of transformation into something sustainable and meaningful.

Chinese Medicine offers us an anchor point to return to over and over again in order to help us transition with a bit more ease. Within the 5 Element/Phase Theory 五行 Wǔxíng, we have Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal. In many traditions, the Earth element is placed in the center as this serves as a resource for the other elements to transition into one another.

Each element, representing a major season, dips into the Earth element in order to help bring us forward into the next season. Earth represents the Late Summer season but also all of the in-between times between the major seasons.