Every spring and fall, I feel very connected to Snake energy. While in real life, snakes evoke a natural caution and sometimes squeamishness for me, they are actually one of my most powerful animal allies that I work with on a spiritual level for clearing and healing.
Every time Snake showed up in my life, a healing on the creative, energetic or sexual level happened shortly after and lasted for several months.
I have had many real-life encounters with snakes, mostly while walking in the woods. Once, while sitting and meditating on a rock on a beach I received an intuitive download about my life and future. Then, as soon as I got up to leave, a massive snake slithered out from under the rock I had been sitting upon. It startled me at first! But it also felt meaningful, and not that surprising, as I had been working with Snake energy in my practice to help me heal a chronic health condition.
Snake awakens our intuitive, creative and vital energies, and help us to transmute our pain into power. They help us heal the past and restore energy harmony within our bodies.
The Healing Gifts of Snake Energy
Snake slithers along the ground, attuned to the vibrations, trusting them to guide her to places of warmth, rest, food and companionship. She flicks out her tongue to smell the air and follows the scent that draws her. She glides sinuously along each bump, crack and curve of the land. She is deeply connected to the earth and subtle energy currents.
Snake is equally feared as revered. Some can kill us with their bite. Most are harmless and simply mind their own business, yet send us humans into full panic mode. We evolved to fear snakes for survival reasons. Yet, on the spiritual level, they actually take care of us and have been a symbol of healing for centuries.
Snakes have been revered since ancient times in many cultures. They are often associated with wisdom, healing, longevity and transformation. They are the shamanic visionaries, the mystic healers, the Kundalini itself rising from the base of our spine.
The Caduceus is an ancient symbol derived from Yoga, the two snakes representing the Ida and Pingala, or intertwining solar and lunar energies around the central column, the Shushumna- the Kundalini energy column that dwells in our spine, bridging the Earth and the Divine. When Ida and Pingala (inner Yin and Yang energies) dance in harmony, Kundalini awakens and rises.
This symbol has also been historically connected to the Greek God Hermes and a similar version of it with one snake called the Rod of Asclepius, (belonging to the Greek God of Healing Aesculapius), is a prominent symbol in the medical profession.
So, in both eastern and western medicine, snakes are associated with healing.
When Snake shows up for us, it is probably because we are amidst a healing process or about to be. We may feel trepidation at first, but Snake cares for us deeply and only wants our liberation from what no longer serves our growth or potential. She wants us to thrive and embody our power.
Following Our Instincts
Snake teaches us to trust our instincts.
They don’t have the best sight or hearing, so they rely on vibration and smell. Snake reminds us attune to the vibrations we feel and what we smell in any situation, rather than what is seen and heard on the surface level.
You know that feeling you get in your gut that something just feels off? The vibes you feel underneath the words? That’s your snakey-sense kicking in. Follow the scent of truth and you will find your way forward.
One thing I love about Snakes is that they don’t tend to move in straight lines, but in sinuous waves and curls. This inspires us to let go of the idea that our path in life needs to be a linear one. Those of us who attune to the deeper vibrations within and around us may move in a different pattern, such as curves or spirals, following a different vibration than those around us.
Forward movement is sometimes better accomplished in waves, spirals or through our senses rather than thought. Our travels can be smoother when we follow the waves of our emotions, the rhythms of the earth and our sensual instincts, rather than trying to follow a straight or rigid path in life.
As walkers between worlds, Snakes bring us the gift of cultivating our life-force energy. They do this by helping us trust our instincts to lead us to places and experiences that enhance our vitality, and by thrusting us through the necessary shedding that must be done in order to continue growing. They keep our life force alive, by helping us move and flow!
Shedding Old Skins, Awakening to Rebirth
Snakes grow their entire life, so they continuously need to shed their skin to accommodate their new size. Many shed their skin twice a year, before the winter and then again after emerging in spring.
When their skin is about to shed, they become less active, eat less and their eyes turn a cloudy white. They may get more anxious, irritable or aggressive as the skin-shedding process can be uncomfortable. They understandably feel vulnerable during this process. Their energies are focused on releasing the old skin, as there is a new skin growing underneath.
Skin-shedding is a death and rebirth process, not unlike ones we experience as humans. There are times when we are in a personal transition, and we too feel vulnerable or irritable as we change.
We may need to withdraw from our usual activities, social engagements and take time to follow the call inward. This is a potent time for dreaming and receiving messages from Spirit.
This liminal shedding experience is echoed during menstruation time. As the uterine lining sheds, we shed energy from the month past that is no longer conducive to our growth cycle. We may feel irritable and uncomfortable (or in a lot of pain, depending on our cycles), and not have the energy for the outside world we normally do, because of all that is going on in our body. Our energy is pulled into the dream state more easily and the body requires rest for this spiritual and energetic shift.
The Fall season, as well as the waning moon are also common times for us to feel this call to shed old baggage and prioritize rest, healing and inner work. These are times when we may withdraw some of our energy from the external world to focus on the process of inner change. One foot is here on Earth and the other is in the Otherworld or Spirit world.
Feeling Misunderstood
For some of us highly sensitive folks on a spiritual healing path, or those working with a Snake ally, dwelling between this world and the Spirit world is a lifestyle. It may appear from the outside looking in that we are reclusive, anti-social, introverted (gasp!), or even aloof, snobbish, escapist, detached, moody or intimidating. These are typical misunderstandings or self-judgements we encounter when we are called to walk a Snake path in life or enter a spiritual time of transformation and rebirth.
In the capitalistic, material world it can seem like those on a spiritual path are doing nothing of value. However, personal healing and rebirth require a ton of energy, courage and strength. Self-healing affects our lineage and the collective at large. It radiates to others around us. It stays with us when we leave this world. It may be the most valuable thing we can do.
Like the Snake, we may seek privacy and seclusion for our times of skin-shedding and to help contain the sacred unfolding of our rebirth. Alternatively, we may let only a trusted few into our sanctuary during these times. If others are used to having access to your energy all the time, it can be challenging but also very energizing to place boundaries around your tender transitions to let things unfold in a sacred space of your own making.
What Are You Ready to Shed?
This time of year is conducive to our own personal skin shedding. We may wish to finally let go of old selves, habitual ways of thinking, relationships, or material things we’ve accumulated that are no longer serving our highest good.
It is important to remember that it is perfectly normal to feel vulnerable or anxious when things in our life or aspects of ourselves seem to be falling away. When life brings change, we may immediately feel like something must be wrong. It is partly a survival instinct, but it also can be a trauma response and social conditioning to maintain a ‘safe’ status quo that can eventually stifle our life force.
We need to be gentle with ourselves and remember that change and loss come because new life is emerging from within. Like the Snake shedding their old skin because a new one is forming underneath, loss is a natural outcome of new growth, and like Snake we are meant to continuously grow.
The new will be revealed in time. During the in-between transition, honor this sacred time of being closer than ever to Spirit.
I am shedding a bunch of things right now. Old timelines and goals I had carried that have now proven unrealistic and misaligned with my spiritual values. I’ve been gradually shedding old fitness routines and re-training how I breathe, move, eat and treat my body in its middle age. I am shedding habitual ways of relating and repeating childhood traumas and feeding old fears. I am shedding social expectations I internalized about what I should have accomplished by now and simply let my journey be an authentic expression of who I am rather than trying to fit into boxes.
What do you feel is changing or healing in your life?
We may wish to reflect on the following questions:
What Old Skin is shedding? What no longer feels relevant to who you are now and where you’re headed?
What is the New Skin emerging? What new energy, desires or dreams are rising up from within?
How do you use your vital energies in daily life? Do these activities or relationships nourish, energize or drain you?
How can you use your energy in more revitalizing and empowering ways?
Connect with Snake to help you follow the flow of energies calling you forward and help you to leave behind that which isn’t serving your highest good.
How to connect with Snake?
- You can start by closing your eyes and taking a few relaxing breaths.
- Bring one hand to your heart and the other to your lower belly and feel the energy awaken in these areas.
- Then simply call Snake spirit. Open your heart to receiving their wisdom. Sense the energy in your pelvic region, as this area is attuned to the Snake creative impulse. You may wish to look at an inspiring photo of a snake to help you connect.
- Ask them- “Dear Snake Spirit, I am open to receiving your wisdom. Do you wish to connect with me today?” If yes, take a moment to let the energy build and ask, “What guidance do you have for me today?” and listen for their answer.
- You can create a little Snake altar in your home if you wish, with an offering, a photo, or representation of them and a candle and connect on a regular basis.
Another great way to connect with Snake is to dance! Put on some sensual music and let your instincts guide your movements. Imagine a golden Snake energy flowing through your belly and limbs as you move, clearing out stagnant energy and bringing in health, vitality and power.
You may also find you naturally feel Snake energy when you practice Yoga, vigorous exercise, dance or have sex. Notice the ways in which Snake may already be present in your life, as they are our kin.
Do you have any experience with Snake as a spiritual ally? Or a real-life encounter that moved you? Please feel free to share in the comments!
Wishing you ease and flow through this ‘shedding season’ of change,
xo
Serena
Interested in nourishing your spirit through animal ally connection and more? You may wish to check out my 6-week program: Nourish Your Spirit- Healing Allies Program, available online or in-person.
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