Chinese New Year 2025 Ushers in the Year of the Wood Snake Across Seychelles
VICTORIA, Seychelles — The first day of the Chinese New Year started on January 29, with celebrations lasting for 16 days. In 2025, Seychelles joins billions across Asia and the diaspora in welcoming the Year of the Wood Snake, also known as the Year of the Green Snake, because wood is associated with the colour green according to the Chinese Five Elements theory. Since each elemental animal follows a 60-year cycle, the last Wood Snake year was in 1965.
Snakes have long been associated with evil and temptation, but in Chinese culture they hold a more complex and varied symbolism. Snakes are linked to both positive and negative qualities, representing harvest, protection, spirituality and good fortune, as well as cunning, evil, threat and terror. The Wood Snake is seen as charming, intelligent and creative, but also secretive, cunning and sometimes ruthless. Some famous individuals born under the sign of the Snake include Mahatma Gandhi, Pablo Picasso, Mao Zedong, John F. Kennedy, Anne Frank, Bob Dylan, Xi Jinping, J.K. Rowling and Taylor Swift.
In Chinese astrology, 2025 is set to bring significant change for various zodiac signs, with Horses enjoying a peak year, Rabbits experiencing a major rise in luck, and Snakes themselves facing challenges requiring optimism and adaptability. The accompanying photos show celebrations of the Chinese New Year at Les Lauriers hotel on Praslin, where the Seychellois-Chinese community gathered to mark the start of the new lunar cycle.
