Snake Totem Medicine....

Coiling, turning, deep knowledge burning,
Sacred serpent, lead me on
To the initiate's fire on planes much higher.
I yearn to grow, O Goddess one.



Some totems are given to us at birth, and some we acquire along the way. Some totems we welcome gladly into our lives and others we reject entirely. Up until now rejection has been my primary relationship with snake, although I have delighted in overturning a rock in the stream to find a beautiful water snake. Mostly I like to watch them, and let them go their way. Please allow me to share with you my quest to find out more about this wonderful creature...

In the Meso-American societies, the serpent or snake was depicted as feathered and flying. It was a symbol of their greatest god and hero, Quetzalcoatl. Quetzalcoatl's story is the myth of a dying god who would someday return. In many ways he was the patron god of the Toltecs, and it was said that the heavens and stars and all the motions of the universe were under his dominion. "He was the master of the winds and of the clouds and the protecting genius of his people.

Sometimes the snake is shown as Ouroborus, the snake swallowing its own tail, the symbol of eternity. It is of course the symbol of eternity some of us choose to wear when we marry depicted as a never ending circle known of course as the wedding ring. A band of gold, with no beginning and no end.

In India the goddess Vinata was the mother of snakes and a symbol of water and the underworld. Also in India there were demigods, Nagas and their beautiful wives, Naginis, who were usually depicted as half cobra and half deity. The god Vishnu is often depicted sleeping on the serpent of eternity called Ananta. Shiva wears snakes for bracelets and necklaces, representing sexuality.

The serpent and snake has long been a symbol of the sexual/creative life force within humans as is taught in Eastern traditions. The kundalini or serpent fire lies coiled at the base of the spine. As we grow and develop, the primal energy is released, rising up the spine. This in turn activates energy centers in the body and the mind, opening new dimensions and levels of awareness, health, and creativity.

Kundalini the sleeping serpent that it is said lies coiled at the base of our spine, waiting to be released, as the sexual creative life force - will if we study the force hard enough through meditation and healing - rise up activating the energy centres in the body and mind thus releasing new levels of awareness, health and creativity. With this force comes a warning that if wrongly handled it can cause harm to the body and mind so beware and study the subject carefully before embarking on its controlled release.

In Chinese astrology one of every twelve years is named for the snake. Those born within that year are believed to have the qualities of compassion, clairvoyance and charm. They usually need to learn lessons associated with forgiveness, superstitiousness and possessiveness as well. A study of Chinese astrology will help you with this.


Because it sheds its skin, the snake has long been a symbol of death and rebirth. It sheds its skin as it outgrows the old. This death and rebirth cycle is part of what snake represents. It has ties and significance to the ancient alchemists and their symbolic transmutation of lead into gold. This is associated with higher wisdom that comes with the passing of time. This cycle of death and rebirth is often symbolized by the ouroborus, the ancient image of a snake swallowing its own tail. It is the symbol of eternity.

Before the snake begins to shed its skin, its eyes will begin to cloud over. It gives the snake a trance like appearance. To many mystics and shamans this indicated the ability of the snake to move between the realms of the living and the dead, of crossing over from life to death and then back to life again. As the skin begins to shed, the eyes begin to clear as if they will see the world anew. For this reason, alchemists often believed that wisdom and new knowledge would lead to death and rebirth, enabling the individual to see the world from an entirely new perspective.

The snake has often been depicted, along with its relatives, the serpent and dragon, as a guardian. It is found in myth and lore guarding treasures, the springs of life or sacred places.

A snake attacks quickly. It raises itself up and strikes quick, hard, and true to its mark. It is not unusual to find that those with this totem can respond the same way if need be. It is best not to anger snake people. Although slow to lose their tempers, once lost, their bite is quick, sharp, and direct. They almost always hit their mark. They may end up swallowing you whole or just poisoning you in some way.

Anytime a snake shows up as a totem, you can expect a change in conditions and a movement to new life. Examine what is going on around you. Are you needing to make changes but aren't for some reason? Are you trying to force change too quickly? Are you striking out at people and shouldn't? Are you not striking and should? Remember that a snake not only uses its venom and bite to overcome prey, but also for defense. What is needing to be healed? What new opportunities are surfacing that you need to strike out for and take advantage of?

It can also reflect that your own creative forces are awakening. The stimulation of the kundalini usually has physiological as well as spiritual consequences. Physiologically it can activate the sexual drive, bring more energy, etc. Spiritually it can stimulate greater perception of how to apply your insight and intuition. Your own vision and intuition will become more accurate.

Always examine some of the qualities and characteristics of the snake in general. Snakes are carnivorous. They swallow their prey whole. To be able to do this, their jaws will unhinge. The mouth is where we take in nutrition in the form of food. This unhinging ability of the snake reflects the increased ability for those with this totem to swallow and absorb greater amounts of nutrition for the head, i.e., knowledge. Learning opportunities, formal and informal, will surface frequently. Usually with a snake totem, there is little chance of overloading the brain circuits. You will be able to swallow and digest whatever you take in.

Some people have associated hypnotic qualities with the snake because of its stare. The unblinking stare occurs because the snake has no eyelids. Learning to use the eyes to mesmerize and look into the hearts and souls of others directly is part of what traditional snake medicine can teach. It may even indicate a need to look more closely into your own heart and soul.

Snakes have a keen sense of smell. They actually smell with their tongue. The sense of smell is linked to higher forms of discrimination and spiritual idealism. Individuals with the snake totem will find themselves extremely sensitive to smells and fragrances. Aromatherapy may be a form of healing that is beneficial to explore. They should pay attention to what is going on around them. Do things really smell right around you? Make sure that you are very discriminating about what you say and to whom-and with what you involve yourself?

Snakes are symbols of change and healing. They have speed and agility, so those who have snakes come into their life will usually find the changes and shifts occur quickly and are soon recognized and defined. When snake comes into your life you can look for a rebirth into new powers of creativity and wisdom.


Thanks for reading...
Sam

Saw him and his snake at monday live here at Munich

Alice Cooper !!!... Alice Cooper !!!

Now, Southernman... if anyone has Snake Medicine... He does.

Sam

Oh yeah!!!

Raining outside here. I'll send you later an email with some pics from Austria.

Here at Germany there is no great tradition with snakes, may be, the Celts had one 2000 years ago, but they left no scripts over and the Christians did all, they could do, that people forgot the old cultes.

The Lithuanians worshiped the hearth snake zoltes. If you had a snake in your home or barn in Lithuanian, it was considered a blessing.

Look forwards to that email...

Sam

Southernman... if you'd like.... why don't you post those pics of Austria here. If they're personal, well then, I'll understand and look forward to seeing them anywho.

Sam

not so personal, but I think, not so interesting for the public, therefore via email. Did you get it?
Tonight I'm here, a yearly festival here at Munich.

Interesting snake story...I think I have some snake medicine...being a Scorpio helps, I think...

I found this big black snake once in my basement in PA last winter...I figured he was good at getting rid of the mice, and so I told him to stay...stay out of my way (snakes do freak me out a little), but take care of the mice. I guess he did, even though I didn't see him again during the winter.

When I went into the basement last week to check on the water heater (with a man that was trying to fix it), the man looked up and saw an immense snake skin hanging from two of the beams in the basement...it was huge!! I felt kind of honored to see that skin hanging from the ceiling, and left it there...it was perfectly draped over two beams, and looked like it belonged there...I thought to myself, "wonder if the snake left it there to say thanks for the good meal of many mice over the winter!" Ya' never know, but it just felt kind of special to have it hanging there!

Sus! You know what my new puppy brought to me as a gift today? A newly shed, black snake skin! It's 5 foot long and in perfect condition.

I sort of feel like you did when you found yours... good vibrations.

Sam

Interesting that you bought up the subject of the snake. My children had various snakes when they were younger (my oldest son used to take a little garter snake to school hidden in his hair) we babysat (ratsat?) someone's diamondback rattlesnake for a while. I couldn't stand feeding time though, we got damaged mice and put them in the cage, but I had to go away then. It was hard because I think all life is sacred, but it is the way mother nature is so it had to be done. Anyhow, this started my liking for snakes.

I have a celtic snake tattoo on my right arm from shoulder to elbow and a celtic dragon sleeve on my left (to the elbow). the dragon is surrounded by the night sky at the top and the setting sun at the bottom, below that are celtic dogs in a band to protect. I think, if I have a totem, it would be the dragon. I was born in the year of the monkey by the way, but I am a scorpio.

I am into symbolism and find that the dragon and snake have been used by all cultures and religions throughout the ages. Snakes are entwined on the caudecus that is the symbol of medicine and their venom has been used for healing.

I really liked your post and it has given me some things to think about. Thanks!