The Year of the Snake is all about shedding that bad energy

1. The Year of the Snake has started, and the vibes are all about renewal and regeneration. Lunar New Year — which includes Chinese New Year, Seollal in Korea, Tet in Vietnam and more — begins on Jan. 29, kicking off more than two weeks of parties, customs and copious feasts. Have you or are you attending any Lunar New Year events?

2. Though the snake may get a bad rap across many Western cultures, the animal is actually a celebrated and revered sign across the Eastern hemisphere. It's all about "shedding toxicity in personality, in character traits," said Jonathan H. X. Lee, an Asian and Asian American studies professor at San Francisco State University whose research focuses in part on Chinese folklore. "It's shedding the ego, letting go of the past, letting go of anger, letting go of love lost," Lee said. "This is the year where that kind of growth — personal and macro, internal and external — is very much possible." Do you plan to focus on self-improvement this year?

3. The snake, which matches up with the years of people born in 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013 and 2025, is most commonly associated with intelligence, resilience and love, Lee said. And people born in those years are thought to do "whatever it takes to accomplish a goal." Were you born in the year of the snake?

4. Do you have any negative traits or habits you would like to "shed" this year? Comment below!