The Rat in the Year of the Wood Snake 2025
Rat Pic by @elliespinelli
Who is a Rat?
Years: 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008.
Month*: December
Hour: 11:00 pm – 01:00 am
Day: you’ll need a Chinese Calendar for this.
* 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 Rat?
The Rat is yang water but with a hidden stem of yin Water, that is to say pure Water, the only Chinese Animal that is so pure. All Water on this planet, unless interfered with by outside forces, is connected with and on the same level as all other Water. Sea level at Zeebrugge is the same as sea level at Miami. If I spill my cup of tea here in Surrey and you spill yours in Taiwan, sooner or later they’ll mix. It may take aeons but they’ll mix. This powerful idea may clarify the connection between Water and communication. Water of course always goes downwards and cannot be compressed.
Someone said that we have two ears and one mouth for a good reason: that we should listen twice as much as we speak. The issues relating to Water are listening and speaking while keeping the ratios right. The Rat can easily miss this. Some of us are elected primarily to talk and the yang Water of the Rat makes them the talker of the Chinese Zodiac. An unbalanced or distressed Rat tends to clam up or run off at the mouth.
I’ve written elsewhere about the Rats in the House of Windsor. Interestingly both Prince Harry and his father King Charles, are Rats. Charles’ career has been one of juggling his often outspoken opinions with the privilege of his position. It’s likely that Harry’s lessons will be similar; wise observation of his father’s conundrum could be invaluable. Rats tend to blurt or have learned to be shtum. Harry’s crusade of course is against an unaccountable media.
The Rat is supreme in the realm of ideas, a planner, a plotter and a deep thinker. He thinks ahead, sometimes to the detriment of his awareness of the present. This makes him a good chess player but not so great at poker. He is apt to be too controlling for games that require openness – even to good fortune. That sort of uncertainty can be painful. Your average Rat wants the credit and to get that he has to be in control.
In conversation you may find that the mature Rat second guesses in a very distinctive way: typically he gets his correspondent to commit to a position before he states his; a very useful quality in a teacher but not everyone’s cup of tea in a collaborator. The Dragon and the Monkey, even the Ox, may find this reassuring but it drives the Horse and the Tiger wild and to some extent even the Dog.
Being big talkers and travellers, Rats are traditionally suited to work involving communication: sales, oratory and persuasion. In the collaboration with the Rabbit, Rooster and Horse that Derek Walters (himself a Rat) calls the Flowers of Love, the Rat is the talker, the chatter-up if you will, where the Rooster provides the glamour, the Horse the passion and the Rabbit the stamina. A Rat with the assistance of these other Animals is effortlessly successful and charismatic. Whichever may be missing at any given time indicates weaknesses. None of the others however is ever much at ease one-to-one in the company of the Rat.
An unbalanced Rat talks too much and listens selectively. A balanced one gets it exactly right; he is a fascinating talker and a skilled listener. But this wilful deafness can be a point of pride. Blessed with an orderly mind and excellent retention, a Rat can consider his ignorance of a subject a reflection upon the subject rather than upon himself. This sort of Rat needs to learn to value the convictions of others, especially if they are derived from premises he does not accept.
The Rat is a guardian, a watcher. Sometimes he is self-appointed and the unbalanced Rat has a particular blindness that leads him to believe that his opinion is an absolute. This is more accentuated and less well-informed in his partner the Ox in what some call the House of Creativity.
Despite the discrepancy in their apparent power, the Ox has the upper hand in their special relationship with the Rat. The Ox can be a particularly obdurate and dominating learner, sometimes drawing conclusions to which he is not entitled and sticking like a limpet to any conclusion he can justify. In these circumstances the Ox is not so much partner or indeed student of the Rat as tormentor. Perhaps surprisingly when Ox and Rat are together it is the Ox who calls the tunes. That the Ox rules the Rat and thus sets the agenda in Ox and Rat years is an important consideration.
A very conscious Rat can make good use of his blindness to the value of other people’s positions. She is likely to be able to explain things that baffle others and to derive laws from this gift. To have no explanation however is to open himself up to chaos. If he knows this about himself he can master even the most abstract discipline.
The Rat is versatile and multi-talented though not as notably so as the Pig of whom he is often jealous or the Dragon who can baffle him despite their mutual affinity. Rat’s Yang water can speak of profligacy with money. The Rat is a brilliant small businessman but often a poor tycoon. In the power triad with the Dragon and Monkey, the Rat may appear to overvalue the hands-on deftness of the Monkey because he finds the Monkey easier to control and may envy the Dragon his magic. Twin Rats Robert Plant and John Bonham and Monkey Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin (formed in the Monkey Year of 1968) may be a good example of this creative tension.
And it is this potential for envy that is the other big weakness of the Rat. He can’t admire what he can’t himself master. This can lead to him not getting credit for originality of mind. Consider Water Rat Alan Turing of Enigma fame.
The Rat is subject to the so-called Ingratitude Penalty. This means broadly that a Rabbit child may resent the upbringing the Rat parent gave them. Obviously enough it’s endemic in Rat and Rabbit Years and among those who have Rat and/or Rabbit in their Four Pillars. But since these things are metaphors (not just metaphors, everything is a metaphor on some level) it can show up as Parent/Child, Employer/Employee and of course as King/Subject. Technically this is Yang Water overwhelming Yin Wood and a cursory inspection of the events of 2023 would indicate that King Charles’ sons have been something of a headache to him while there has been more industrial unrest than any year perhaps since the last Rabbit of 2011 and if you stretched the dynamic to Empire/Colony it offers insight into the rash of Commonwealth countries seeking republic status and indeed Russia’s incursions into what it claims as an ungrateful offspring in Ukraine.
Finally the Rat can be a fickle partner but an attentive parent, albeit one who may have favourites. The awakened Rat is absolutely even-handed; that in itself is quite a gift.
2025, Breezes, Hurricanes, Twisters,
The outlook for the Year of the Wood Snake.
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.
Rat Special Stars:
Tin Yute Yum San
Nobleman Helper Bonding issues
That Tin Yute Star means that you have to put your attention out. Your impact on the year is potentially substantial and positive – technically your powerful influence upon the Snake is arrived at by more than one calculation. This is rare. You lead. Many of the Chinese guys would say that Rats are the best-augured this year. Your job is to guide and counsel.
The Yum San or Bonding Star however complicates the issue. There is the possibility that you are out of touch with a parent or (more likely) a child. There may be resentment there. Remedying that may be the top priority. Frank admission and starting all over may be enough and may lead to release that you didn’t realise was necessary in other relationships. This is the wise employment of Tin Yute in operation with Yum San.
You are likely to be naturally eloquent, that’s a Rat thing: Yang Water. Your words, phrased and heard correctly are even more comforting than usual but you may need to work for appreciation as your best efforts may seem oppositional: Yang Water (you) meeting Yin Fire (a Snake Year). The poignance or qing that identifies a chronic emotional wound opening can be painful to acknowledge though that is the point where healing starts. There is no choice but to trust your natural eloquence; speak fearlessly and much. There is a lot of hurt out there that can be calmed by your naturally persuasive choice of words. Listen for it and respond.
If offers to address large audiences arise, seize them and tailor your message to mutual benefit.
It may be that the Dragon month of April is tense. Children may demand and drain; choose to experience that a different, better way. For “children” also read employees and other categories of dependant. Cut and paste where appropriate from your parenting to your profession and vice-versa. Both are best nurtured the same way. You know that of course. This is fallout from the “Ingratitude Clash” which will have taken centre stage in both 2020 and 2023.
Likeliest falling out this year, is with Dogs and (surprisingly) Dragons – by Day, Month or Year – even Hour. Earth clashes Water, inhibiting your expression. This will only hurt if you misrepresent yourself. Watch for that because a successful outcome sets an example to the uncommitted observer and makes you many friends.
There is danger of expensive confrontation in June, the month of your nemesis the Horse. You can be dogmatic and Rats are often not the greatest listeners. In a year riddled with subterfuge see that your dealings are above board.
If you are misrepresented – perhaps by the Horse (of June, Fire and the South) representing attention that may sometimes be unwelcome – just continue to live your life so that it makes no difference.
Your mission this year is to speak out both to comfort and inspire. In a dour year you are more likely to prosper than most. But it won’t be by following the herd nor by aiming to feather your own nest. There are probably sacrifices to make, loss leaders to offer, discounts and fulfilment beyond the terms of your contract. It’s that kind of year. And these necessary concessions may apply as much to home and bedroom as the market place, especially if commerce is not your happy place.
There is no obvious threat to your health and it will be enhanced by pacing yourself. A little time in the sun in September as well as shorter working days will suit. Bladder, ears and kidney are generally the areas to care for if for instance you use acupuncture or tcm routinely.
In relationship your role may shift. Your partner – typically an Ox, by energy if not by birth – may find themselves out of their depth. Your job is to rescue them even if the altered power balance suits you. Take no advantage.
Similarly the Pigs in your life who look so competent and on top of things may falter; be ready with compassionate objectivity. They may need physical or financial assistance which could eat into your schedule. Let it. Your Yang Water insulates you, be sure it doesn’t distance you too. Theirs is Yin and of course they are in the cross hairs of the Snake in the tai sui.
Above all talk. Emotional vulnerability is the secret weapon with which you disarm. There may be times – the Sheep Month of July for instance – when that daunts – dare anyway. Your gift is not so much speaking truth to power as opening yourself so far that no weakness remains unowned. Your positive impact upon the year is potentially huge.
Rat Tin Yute Yum San
Lesson: More is sometimes more.
Best Months: January, August, December
Worst Months: April, June, November.
Theme: Teaching and healing with words.
Hexagram: 3 Tun Difficulty at the Beginning.
Health: = Wealth: ☺ Relationship: ☺
Where to find help: Monkeys, other Rats, Dragons, Ox.
Who should I be careful with: Horses, Sheep.
This forecast is prepared by comparing your own Chinese year Animal with the Wood Snake of 2025. 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 2025