Hot and cold blooded?

In Chinese astrology, they don’t come much hotter than today's Fire Snake and as snakes are naturally cold blooded, you can see how we chose today's title.

If you have a Fire Snake in your Chinese astrology chart (see our free Chinese horoscope) you will have a very intense and magnetic personality. Said to have almost mesmerising eyes, Fire Snakes are also blessed with a great sense of humour and artistic flair.

Snake days generally good for Rooster zodiac signs who gain prominence, as well as Ox signs who can execute their ideas today.  Pig signs are clashed and will have a fraught day ahead if they don’t pay attention to matters in hand, whilst Horse signs may need to rethink or fine tune plans before moving ahead. For more details and to see how your own Chinese zodiac sign will fare today, see our dedicated Fire Snake web page.

The cold blooded critters mentioned in our title are better suited to the onset of the solar term that also begins today called “Frost Descends”. This marks the Suns position exactly at the celestial longitude of 210° and signifies that the weather will become cold, with frost appearing sometime during this fifteen day period.

Today is also the Chongyang Festival or “Seniors Day”, also called the Double Ninth as it always falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. It is a day for people to eat Chongyang cake, drink chrysanthemum wine, climb mountains and pay homage to ancestors and chrysanthemums.

In Hong Kong, people go to Victoria Peak for a picnic on this day, with many people eating special cakes called ‘ko’. The name sounds similar to ‘high’ or ‘top’ in Chinese and people eat them in the hope of being promoted to high positions.

The Tong Shu or Chinese almanac recommends getting engaged, setting up a fire or stove and hunting as most suitable activities today. It advises against long journeys, buying funeral attire and having your hair done, so don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Today's lucky direction is southwest.

We will return tomorrow on an Earth Horse day. Until then, enjoy every moment of NOW.

Finn & Slim Shooey