*The Powerful Female (Yin) Cycle of 2013 has now begun*
Art: Lena Sokol
I don’t know .. I’m a bit bewildered.
I’m both terrified at, and utterly humble towards the powerful Snake Medicine. There are no snakes in Iceland, not even little brown ones in high grass fields like in Sweden, and I think even in Denmark as well. It could never happen that I would incidentally bump into a snake in its natural habitats here. So I’ve never seen one. Ohh, wait, I did see one once.
It was a huge snake (in my opinion) in a glass cage at a guy’s place I remotely knew once. He kept the snake as an ‘exotic pet’. Illegal and all, but you know how it is... I remember not liking it one bit; the whole scenario, the guy, where he lived, the atmosphere, and the poor snake. I remember how afraid I was at ‘him’, the snake that is, but at the same time I felt so so sorry for the poor animal. Being caged like that, it could hardly move. But then again, I know nothing of snakes, and in what position they like to ‘chill’ in. Sorry, I don’t want to sound sarcastic, but it was just all so unreal and uncomfortable to me that experience. Becoming sarcastic is, I think, my defence mechanism.
It’s a whole other story to draw the ‘snake’ from a deck of Medicine cards, become all wise with eyes a bit peered, nodding the head in a ‘..mhmmmm, the SNAKE, very powerful animal, with deep potent wisdom’ kind of way.
So just now, when I was browsing, looking for beautiful and catchy pictures for the Lunar New Year 2013 blog and the Year of the Black Water Snake, I caught myself feeling utterly shallow.
The truth is that I am terrified of snakes! I don’t know what I would do if I would meet one one day. Just the idea of traveling somewhere where there could be snakes gives me goose bumps.
So I don’t know ..
Does that mean something then, on a spiritual level, for me? I mean, has my snake-fear anything to do with my spiritual growth?
Yes please, just go on and laugh..that’s ok J but seriously, I mean it! I, who am so much into all things spiritual and mystic, I just couldn't screen out this thought. Does my fear of snakes have a deeper spiritual meaning!
The Snake, the symbolism attached to the snake is massive, for a lack of a better word. Perhaps immense is better. The snake symbolism is everywhere; it goes way back in history, and is tightly woven to our evolution as species and to our spiritual awakening. Just to roughly type what’s on the top of my mind; The Bible, Eden, Eve and the Snake. The Kundalini energy, often depicted as a snake rising up through our Chakras, dormant, coiled in our root chakra until we consciously work with it. Then Greek mythology is swarming with snakes; The Greek god’s Hermes winged staff with two snakes. Also the staff with one circling snake, the medicine and healing staff, that I’m pretty sure has Greek origins as well, and then the Greek Goddess with all the snakes on her head, I don’t remember her name, and I’m not going to google it. (Medusa, ok, I googled it).
Yes, the snake has been a strong character in many books and cave paintings, sacred spiritual texts. And then of course in Harry Potter!
To me, because I have been working with my dad’s Animal Medicine Cards since I was 13, the snake to me means transmutation. Not transformation like the medicine of the butterfly, but transmutation referring to a deeper, in some cases more painful, change. I will include a link to read: http://scottfoglesong.printandwebdesign.com/06-snake.pdf
The Female and Creation, Healing, Wisdom, Alchemy is inherent to the snake symbolism in my perception. I also perceive the snake in the West, assisting with death and rebirth. Mother Earth gave me a snake totem to carry once, (a wood piece, quite big, that was snake shaped) I carried it fastened in my belt in ceremonies. It came to me when I truly needed its medicine. It helped me enormously when going through great transmutation in my life.
I can’t seem to be able to make a conclusion to this post. Perhaps I’m not supposed to. The snake is perhaps endlessly entwined around existence, like a spiral, and doesn't want to have an end!
I'm sure the Snake will reveal itself to those who understand its power and wisdom*
*Good Night and Blessssssssed night*
I'm sure the Snake will reveal itself to those who understand its power and wisdom*
*Good Night and Blessssssssed night*