Here is a great post from October on the snake by Chris Luttichau who runs the Northern Drum Shamanic Centre (see below):
SNAKE
Now is the time when adders go into hibernation. Every year I seek out locations where I can encounter these old friends. Snakes have been part of my life since I was a child. There was a dare in Denmark when I grew up: pick up an adder and hold it by the tip of the tail, it won’t be able to reach your hand and bite (catching an adder can be very dangerous, so do not attempt this).
Later this skill came in
handy when I lived in the States and had to catch rattlesnakes that had
gotten into people’s dwelling spaces. Rattlesnakes, however, would be
able to reach your hand if you held them by the tail, so they require a
different approach.
These experiences taught me one important thing about venomous snakes: they are peaceful creatures. It takes a lot of provocation to arouse their aggression and make them bite. However, if you overstep their boundaries, there are dire consequences. It was a vital lesson, one that can be applied in many ways.
The second lesson I learned was that snakes can go almost anywhere. Where many other animals can’t find a way in, snakes can: through crevices into caves, into holes in the earth, up into trees, snakes explore all spaces, nothing is hidden.
Metaphorically this means that snakes have the ability to find their way into any secret space, and unlock what is hidden for others. They find their way into the mysterious chambers of the underworld, and this means that they have the power of expanded awareness.
This quality extends into the snake’s awareness of the Earth, and what is happening on the planet. The whole body of most snakes is in contact with the earth all the time, unlike humans and animals where only our feet are touching the earth most of the time, and in the case of birds where the body is removed from the earth a lot of the time.
The snake knows when an earthquake is coming long before it arrives. Indigenous people know this and have made an art of reading and understanding the behaviour of snakes so that they could see what the snake knew and be prepared for what was coming. Snakes know things that human don’t, and in this way they have mastered awareness and perception.
The close connection to, and knowledge of, the Earth is partly why snakes are depicted in statuettes with ancient goddesses, such as the Minoan snake goddess from Crete, along with goddesses from Asia, Egypt and other Middle Eastern cultures. Snake represents the Earth Mother. This symbolism can also be found in many cultures of ancient Mexico in the form of Quetzacoatl, the feathered serpent. Amongst other things Quetzacoatl represents the union of the snake and the quetzal/eagle.: the earth and the sun, the material and the spirit, instinct and consciousness. Together they take flight into awakened consciousness.
The fundamental creative power of the Earth is also embodied in the snake. In India, the kundalini energy is portrayed as a coiled snake at the base of the spine, where it lies dormant, waiting for the right moment to awaken and rise up to the crown, bringing union and awakening.
This is a power that can transform and transmute. Sometimes it will blow things out of the way and tear things apart because it holds the power of transformation, close to the power of creation.
It’s a power of renewal, and like the snake that sheds its skin it leads to rebirth. The snake sheds its skin in one go, not scale by scale. The power of the snake is intense, and not always pleasant, but it leads to rebirth. As the snake repeatedly sheds its skin it teaches us to renew ourselves and not resist change.
The eyes of the snake seem impervious to what happens around it, as if it is a messenger from realms other than the human. In the ancient ouroboros image of the snake biting its own tail, we can see infinity and eternal return, showing us that all life sustains itself upon life in the eternal cycle of birth and death, and that destruction and renewal are part of the cosmic dance of creation. The snake points us towards understanding the union of opposites, integrating our own shadow, and realizing the oneness of all that is. For thousands of years the snake has taught humans that reality is not what it appears to be on the surface.
SNAKE
Now is the time when adders go into hibernation. Every year I seek out locations where I can encounter these old friends. Snakes have been part of my life since I was a child. There was a dare in Denmark when I grew up: pick up an adder and hold it by the tip of the tail, it won’t be able to reach your hand and bite (catching an adder can be very dangerous, so do not attempt this).
These experiences taught me one important thing about venomous snakes: they are peaceful creatures. It takes a lot of provocation to arouse their aggression and make them bite. However, if you overstep their boundaries, there are dire consequences. It was a vital lesson, one that can be applied in many ways.
The second lesson I learned was that snakes can go almost anywhere. Where many other animals can’t find a way in, snakes can: through crevices into caves, into holes in the earth, up into trees, snakes explore all spaces, nothing is hidden.
Metaphorically this means that snakes have the ability to find their way into any secret space, and unlock what is hidden for others. They find their way into the mysterious chambers of the underworld, and this means that they have the power of expanded awareness.
This quality extends into the snake’s awareness of the Earth, and what is happening on the planet. The whole body of most snakes is in contact with the earth all the time, unlike humans and animals where only our feet are touching the earth most of the time, and in the case of birds where the body is removed from the earth a lot of the time.
The snake knows when an earthquake is coming long before it arrives. Indigenous people know this and have made an art of reading and understanding the behaviour of snakes so that they could see what the snake knew and be prepared for what was coming. Snakes know things that human don’t, and in this way they have mastered awareness and perception.
The close connection to, and knowledge of, the Earth is partly why snakes are depicted in statuettes with ancient goddesses, such as the Minoan snake goddess from Crete, along with goddesses from Asia, Egypt and other Middle Eastern cultures. Snake represents the Earth Mother. This symbolism can also be found in many cultures of ancient Mexico in the form of Quetzacoatl, the feathered serpent. Amongst other things Quetzacoatl represents the union of the snake and the quetzal/eagle.: the earth and the sun, the material and the spirit, instinct and consciousness. Together they take flight into awakened consciousness.
The fundamental creative power of the Earth is also embodied in the snake. In India, the kundalini energy is portrayed as a coiled snake at the base of the spine, where it lies dormant, waiting for the right moment to awaken and rise up to the crown, bringing union and awakening.
This is a power that can transform and transmute. Sometimes it will blow things out of the way and tear things apart because it holds the power of transformation, close to the power of creation.
It’s a power of renewal, and like the snake that sheds its skin it leads to rebirth. The snake sheds its skin in one go, not scale by scale. The power of the snake is intense, and not always pleasant, but it leads to rebirth. As the snake repeatedly sheds its skin it teaches us to renew ourselves and not resist change.
The eyes of the snake seem impervious to what happens around it, as if it is a messenger from realms other than the human. In the ancient ouroboros image of the snake biting its own tail, we can see infinity and eternal return, showing us that all life sustains itself upon life in the eternal cycle of birth and death, and that destruction and renewal are part of the cosmic dance of creation. The snake points us towards understanding the union of opposites, integrating our own shadow, and realizing the oneness of all that is. For thousands of years the snake has taught humans that reality is not what it appears to be on the surface.
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