What is it about snakes? From Eve’s first memorable conversation with a snake, they have held our rapt attention. And how in the world did they end up as one of China’s twelve animals of the zodiac?

“There is indeed something extraordinary about the fascination that serpents exercise upon us through a subtle, indefinable power that distinguishes them from other beautiful and powerful creatures like birds and felids.” – Balaji Mundker, The Cult of the Serpent

Our speaker explores this question as she takes us through Chinese history, archaeology and literature to try to find an answer as to how and why the snake features so significantly in man’s consciousness.

Given that snakes aren’t amongst those animals who are an integral part of a farming or herding tradition, nor do they fall into the ‘cute and cuddly’ category, how in the world did they earn their place as one of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac? This and other questions are those that will be addressed by our speaker, Patricia Bjaaland Welch, who returns to us to look at the Chinese zodiac animal of the year: the snake.

Once again, this is not a talk about Chinese New Year, but about one of the stranger choices to have made the final twelve animals selected to grace China’s calendar. One of the earliest questions our speaker will address is “Were snakes the precursors of dragons?” Come hear what she and other scholars have concluded from a wealth of texts and artefacts. After a quick look at how other cultures have regarded snakes, we turn to how the half-serpent/half-human Nǚwā and Fúxī, infiltrated Chinese mythology and how the snake earned its place on the Chinese calendar.