Welcome 2025!
The current terminology around our invented measurement of time marks the time before the birth of Jesus Christ as BCE (Before Common Era) and after his birth as CE (Common Era), both euphemisms which replaced the former BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini - In the Year of Our Lord). Though the new terms are comfortingly similar to the old terms, so as not to stress people out who have to adjust, they still ultimately rely on the presumed timeline of Jesus Christ as part of the understanding.
The year 2025 is the Year of the Wood Snake in the Chinese zodiac, symbolizing a time of growth, renewal, and transformation. In Chinese culture, the Wood Snake brings qualities of wisdom, adaptability, and a steady, methodical approach to life. Wood, as an element, enhances the Snake's intuitive and analytical nature, encouraging patience and long-term planning. Chronologically, 2025 is the 4723rd year in the traditional Chinese calendar, which begins with the reign of the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi), considered the cultural founder of China. The Chinese calendar starts in 2697 BCE, marking the legendary beginning of a unified Chinese civilization and its spiritual and political history. In 2025, the Year of the Wood Snake begins on January 29.
The Maya believe that time moves in cycles, and 2025 falls in the 14th baktun, a unit of 144,000 days, which began after the completion of the 13th baktun on December 21, 2012. According to their intricate calendar system, time is divided into cycles of varying lengths, with the Long Count calendar starting on a mythical creation date equivalent to August 11, 3114 BCE in the Gregorian calendar. The Maya calendar is known for its precision and cosmic alignment, and in 2025, it is thought that humanity is in a time of regeneration and balance, as the cycles are believed to influence not only the physical world but also spiritual and societal dynamics.
Ava Park introduced me to the concept of Goddess Time, and Constance Tippett opened my eyes to the Goddess Timeline. What if we measured time not in the false binary of “before” and “after” but in a flowing continuum that begins with the earliest known DNA Ancestress, affectionately called Lucy or the Lucky Mother…wellspring of the L mitochondrial haplogroup from which all current living humans derive? If we believe that, then it is currently 3,102,025 in the year of our Mother.
What if that feels too large and abstract, so we bring it down, only measuring time since the earliest known Goddess figurine was created? The Venus of Hohle Fels was carved around 35-40,000 years ago. In that case, we could confidently presume it is now 37,025 in the year of the Goddess.
Time, as we know it today, is arbitrary and contrived. Yet, for something so imaginary, it is one of the most valuable currencies in the universe. However you measure it, whatever year you think it to be, make the most of this one and remember how magical it is to Be Here Now.