Snakes have been coming up for me recently. The healing medicine of snakes is something that people have acknowledged since the beginning of time.
Snakes shed their skin. They remind us that we sometimes need to shed our external persona or ways of life in order to allow who we are becoming to shine.
In ancient Egypt, snakes were both feared and revered. While snakes could carry poison, or even be celestial beings that could eat the entire earth, they were also helpers at harvest, ensuring that mice and other critters wouldn't eat the food stores for harvest.
Nothing here on earth is all good or bad. Life is an exploration of gradations and polarities. Though snakes hold a strong sway over our imaginations and are often shown in media in their most negative light, they are also helpers, guides, and protectors.
There are also many snake deities. Sometimes they reach out to us, especially if we're open to the spirit realms.
Decades ago I had a dream of an Egyptian snake-headed goddess who came to me with a book. It was my book, I realized, and she began to point out a dense wall that was upcoming in my life. It had the potential to block everything I was working on.
"You can change this, but you need to do it now," she advised me firmly.
"I'm afraid!" I told her, ashamed. "It's too hard!"
Life is constantly offering us opportunities for change. Snake can guide us, reminding us to:
get close to the earth to rebalance our energy
trust the power and primal energy that flows up through us from our sacral and root
confront and deal with our wounds with compassion so we don't accidentally poison others with our pain or anger
remember that shedding old habits and ways of life can be uncomfortable but for the best
activate our kundalini rising, or creative life force
heal
embrace our power, our shadow, and our light
Dreaming of Snakes
Throughout the years I've had fantastical snake dreams. One was in a cave in ancient Greece with 3 women who gave me a snake that took ownership of me. I knew, as soon as it was in my hands, that we belonged to each other. It was an intimate, personal feeling, like finding an old friend after many years apart.
In another dream a vibrant green snake larger than the statue of liberty was spiraling and sidewinding deep in the earth, and I was sliding down its body like a child on an oversized playground slide.
They say that dreaming of snakes means that you are healing. Snake dreams can also portend an initiation into personal power.
In a shamanic journey before the pandemic, I was eaten by a snake, dissolved into
pure liquid blood, and then reconstituted into a shining luminous woman in a sacred pool of water. I awakened within the dream, in the well of a temple of a goddess.
I love and appreciate snake dreams. I am often bitten or eaten. Though it hurts, it also feels like initiation. For several months after snake bite dreams, I find my energy returning full force. My thoughts are clearer, and my intuition is stronger than ever.
A few years back my son's father got rid of the family snake. That snake had woven in and out of my life since my early 20s. It was a boa constrictor. When we picked him up to take home, I was terrified. And he was very small, maybe only a foot or so long. I'm not sure because he was coiled, afraid at the bottom of a sac.
Over the years I got to know him. Sometimes I would sit on our black leather couch and hold him, moving, dancing, and singing magic into being together as he slunk across my arms. I'd have visions of green jungles.
When I was pregnant and fearful of the future, I would speak to him, telling him my concerns. During that time he danced with me from within his cage when I was pregnant with my boy.
Later, he got so big that he outgrew his cage and needed a new home.
Snake medicine teaches us how to own and trust our power. It reminds us that our power grows, shifts and chances in cycles, just like a snake's shedding skin. Snakes can undulate, sidewind, and move in all kinds of creative patterns, reminding us to wield our power creatively. The direct path forward into our dreams is not the only path.
The direct path forward into our dreams is not the only path.
Most importantly, snakes will grow regardless of the size of their space-- and when snake medicine is at play, it means we are growing too, no matter how much room we've given ourselves.
When life is feeling too small, or challenges too big, snake medicine can mean that you have spiritual allies at play helping you to claim your power and rise up. Whatever your life dynamics, I hope you outgrow your cages this month, and just as a snake returning to nature, I hope you return to trusting the power and wisdom of your own wild heart.
Today I honor Snake.
DAILEY LITTLE is a healing practitioner, transformational life and business coach, ordained Priestess, and spiritual teacher who founded Healing Heart Reiki to help others navigate life with joy. She offers private sessions, and teaches classes in healing and mindset from a magical peaceful corner of the world in Northern California. For more info see: www.SantaRosaReiki.com
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