People take a photo in front of blue snake sculptures at Busan's Haeundae Beach, Monday. Yonhap

The dynamic year of 2024 was filled with a roller-coaster of events defined by chaos in politics, society and even in the entertainment industry. Finally, 2025 welcomes the Year of the Snake, a symbol of revival, wise improvements and new beginnings.

The snake, the sixth of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, is considered the wisest and most agile animal of the zodiac. Due to its nature of hibernating in winter and repeated skin shedding, the snake has often been represented as symbols of immortality and rebirth.

Living both underground and aboveground, the snake was thought to know all the secrets of life, symbolizing it as a beacon of wisdom.

Throughout history, humans have perceived snakes as both fearful and sacred beings, giving the serpent different positive and negative associations. The legless and scaled creature can have flexible jaws to swallow prey as a whole and be venomous, which makes people avoid encounters with them. There were different rituals and practices across the country to prevent the animals from coming into a house, such as writing the word snake in Chinese characters, creating amulets and sticking them on the pillars of the house or planting balsam in the house's yard.

However, snakes have also long been worshipped in folklore. Its ability give birth to many offspring at once led to beliefs that it brings abundance and fertility. Meanwhile, rat snakes were considered guardians. Worship rituals such as putting rice and money inside a jar dedicated to them were practiced, with many praying in front of the jar to ward off misfortune and bring wealth.

Peach-shaped gourd dippers with a snake-shaped hook are on display at a special exhibition to honor the Year of Snake, "The Snake with a Thousand Faces," which runs through March 3, at the National Folk Museum of Korea in Jongno District, Seoul. Courtesy of National Folk Museum

In celebration of the Year of the Snake, the National Folk Museum of Korea (NFM) is hosting "The Snake with a Thousand Faces," an exhibition that explores the creature's multifaceted symbolism as a figure of wisdom, fear and sacred power throughout history.

NFM director Jang Sang-hoon emphasized that the snake has had complex representation not just in Korea but also globally.

"The Ten Kings Who Rule the Underworld" from the 19th century / Courtesy of National Folk Museum

"The snake has long been recognized as a mysterious and multilayered being. It carries various symbols; sometimes as a symbol of wisdom, as a guardian deity and sometimes as an incarnation of regeneration and transformation. These symbols and imaginations are embedded in myths, legends and folk narratives regardless of East or West," Jang said during a recent seminar to commemorate the special exhibition.

"In folk beliefs, snakes carry symbolism as protectors who guard homes and bring good energy, and on the other hand, as beings who connect the relationship between nature and humans while completing the cycle of life. Understanding these images of snakes and their cultural significance deeply seems to be an exercise in looking back at the cultural traditions embedded in this land where we live and its history."

Since 2002, the museum has hosted annual shows spotlighting each year's zodiac animal within the context of Korean culture. This year, however, marks the first time the showcase broadens its scope to include folklore and cultural narratives surrounding snakes from around the world.

"The Snake with a Thousand Faces" thus serves as the first public unveiling of a collection of serpent-related artifacts and relics amassed by the national museum from diverse cultural traditions.

The exhibition is comprised of three parts — The Wise Snake, The Frightening Snake and The Sacred Snake — exploring the different representations of snakes around the world and their relationship with humans throughout history.

It offers visitors a richer experience with snake-related folk artifacts from various countries, including the sacred vessel from the Baga people of Guinea, West Africa, a Maha Kola mask carved with snakes from Sri Lanka and the Sun Stone from Mexico's Aztec civilization.

The Korea Post produced postage stamps in celebration of the Year of the Snake. Yonhap

The Wise Snake opens the exhibit, putting on a display of goods featuring the serpent, showing how people used it as a charm, due to its association with wisdom.

The second part, The Frightening Snake, examines the human fear of snakes and its approaches to avoiding them, believing it to be an omen of warning or punishment for foolish humans. Everyday items like a scented pendant used by women to repel snakes and a traditional fire holder from Jeju Island show how ancestors tried to avoid snakes.

The Sacred Snake section captures various human aspects of worshipping snakes as sacred beings through carvings on tools used by shamans in rituals or on objects such as masks and crafts used in rituals praying for abundance.

The exhibition to honor the Year of the Snake runs until March 3.

The Year of the Snake holds significance for many celebrities as well, from A-list actors to K-pop stars, born under this zodiac animal. Notable figures include veteran actors Na Moon-hee, Kim Hye-ja and Kang Bu-ja, born in 1941, along with Kim Hee-sun and Park Hae-il from 1977 and younger stars like Kim Woo-bin and Lee Jong-suk, born in 1989.

In the K-pop scene, PSY, born in 1977, and Girls' Generation members Tiffany, Taeyeon and Hyoyeon, all born in 1989, are notable celebrities also born in the Year of the Snake. Representing the Gen Z stars are Winter of aespa, Beomgyu of TOMORROW X TOGETHER, Huh Yun-jin of LE SSERAFIM, Yuna and Chaeryeong from ITZY and Sungchan of RIIZE, all born in 2001, showcasing talents across generations.

Among sports stars, Paris Saint-Germain football player Lee Kang-in and figure skater Cha Jun-hwan, who won the 2022 Four Continents Championships, were also born in the Year of the Snake.