Spirit Lodge - Totem Animals - Page 153

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Totem Animals

Page 153

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Bear Medicine	Birth Totems	Coyote Medicine	Dragon Ranks	Dragonfly Medicine	Eagle Medicine	Four Animal Helpers	Grey Wolf Medicine	Hawk
Heron Medicine	Horse	Magpie	Raccoon	Salmon Medicine	Spider Medicine	Swan Medicine	Thunder Being Medicine	Totem Loss Disc

SNAKE MEDICINE
By CinnamonMoon

Snake Medicine represents transmutation, initiation, and transformation; psychic energy,
wisdom, and creativity; mystery, the unknown, and life cycles. The ability of Snake to shed its
skin addresses the issues of transformation. As it does its eyes cloud over and when the process
is complete they clear again. This addresses the new perspective gained through the initiatory
process and shamanic death. The process of transformation is also the process of entering other
realms of consciousness and Snake will teach you to penetrate the veils of Otherworlds.

While a venomous bite can kill, in small doses that same venom can be used for healing and
transmuting the poisons. This creature-teacher can show the way to healing others as well as the
self; and it is often the Medicine of great shamanic healers. By knowing which type of Snake you
are dealing with (its habits and its disposition) you will learn about its gifts that reach beyond the
general classifications here.

Snake has the ability to go within Mother Earth and tap her wisdom as well as her protection. He
addresses mystery and the unexplained and shows you how to see through its own skills of sight
and sensory perceptions. The fact that Snake travels across the ground on its belly teaches the
importance of sensing the vibrations of energy around you and going with your "gut" feelings.
He teaches the higher wisdoms that come from being attuned and balanced within the
environment be it on a level of the mental, physical, or spiritual. Then he instructs you on
bringing all into harmony allowing you the greatest advantage and perceptions.

You will find this teacher can instruct you on ways to penetrate your own senses and attune to
those of others creating a greater psychic awareness. Snake devours his prey head first and
whole. This reflects the ability to absorb the thoughts and wisdom of others and apply them
naturally to your own. Because he can take in the entire body he also reflects the ability to absorb
enormous quantities of information that will later surface on a subconscious level when it is
needed. The hypnotic eyes can hold prey or focus on a situation that allows for entry into states
of meditation and trance.

Snake's ability to wind its way around obstacles, penetrate the land, and the speed of its strike all
indicate the skill to swiftly react to any change in the environment and remain in control. Thus,
this creature-teacher will take you to lessons of moving forward on a path of least resistance
while absorbing the energies of the universe. You will gain the knowledge of that passage on a
conscious level. This link to the universe allows you to tap the cosmic memory that is there and
thus maintain a vast wealth of information.

Snake's movements are sensual and provocative addressing the ability to attract sexually and
stimulate the urges of reproduction. This, too, is linked to the cycle of life and charisma. With
the movements that are entrancing and spellbinding, Snake caresses the path it chooses and
attracts the eye of those who observe that passing. Snake will teach you to attract others and gain
from them the intimacy of their passions and desires so that you can apply them to your own. In
this way you will enhance your achievements giving birth to success after success.

Mouse:
From a thread in the shamanism forum:
Snake; changing - paying attention...

EarthSky asked: “A few weeks ago snake came to me in a visualization. I was feeling ill at the
time, and suddenly I had the clear image of a snake curled up in the dark of my belly, where the
discomfort lay. Since then, I have seen snake in many places and situations. I received some
guidance about watching and learning from snake. Since I have started seeing him, snake has
been a deep iridescent green, with a distinctive yellow band over and behind his head. The eyes
seemed quite round and human. When he first appeared, I had an image of a pit on a rocky
outcrop which I needed to pass. My initial attempt to pass by on the left was blocked. Snake led
me around the right side of the pit and away from it. In talking about this (hi Cinn!), I was
reminded that that pit probably contained something I needed to understand and integrate. A few
weeks down the road, and since feeling ill my energy and general sense of wellbeing has been at
a peak. Then over the last few days, it is as if the clouds have started rolling in. Internally, there
is something going on - the feeling of something amiss. It is as if this recent movement has
cleared a space where some underlying blockage can clearly be seen. In the last couple of days,
the character of snake has also changed. Firstly he started turning toward a sandy grey. Then
clear diamonds appeared on his back. He is now a steel grey with black and fairly red diamonds
on his back. His eyes have become amber and cat-like. Our communication has moved from a
place where it could almost be verbalized to one of simply feelings and sensations alone at the
moment. I did some research today to find out more about this metamorphosis. The closest I can
come to this resemblance is the Western Diamondback rattlesnake. A phrase that came up in this
reading that really stuck with me is that this species is known as a pit viper. Sounds like the time
to enter that pit is approaching. Does anyone have any experience of this type of change - in the
movement of feelings - and/or in the change of appearances. Right now, I feel apprehensive
about the next steps in this journey, but it also feels like I am becoming ready to face it. Staring
life in the face and not losing your nerve...Any and all guidance, information, sharings most
welcome.”

Cinnamon replied: “Hi EarthSky, Yes, Diamondback Rattler came to my mind immediately.
Snake as a species in itself is your Totem. The change of species within that context is normal. As
Snake appears in one form or another it addresses different issues for you. It's time to enter the
pit that's all. You're ready. Snake moves through life sensing and tasting its surroundings, it feels
with its body and thus the feelings you are having are in keeping with its nature. The underbelly
of Snake is highly sensitive...your belly sensations...and they often go underground delving deep
within it and they can help you to delve deep too...feeling your way as you go to understand the
issues before you. Enjoy the journey, you have a good Guide!”

BearInMind:
Cinnamon Moon 1, your 10/26 post was very enlightening! Today from my Pathway Spread,
Snake appeared to represent the pattern or set of life lessons that is moving through my life, so I
was very intrigued by what I read here! FASCINATING! Here is some more, though I much
more appreciate what you presented here, in light of that Spread....From Jamie Sams' & David
Carson's "Medicine Cards" (Revised, Expanded Edition)

Snake . . . come crawling,
There's fire in your eyes.
Bite me, excite me,
I'll learn to realize,
The poison transmuted,
Brings eternal flame.
Open me to heaven,
To heal me again.

SNAKE: TRANSMUTATION Snake medicine people are very rare. Their initiation involves
experiencing and living through multiple snake bites, which allows them to transmute all
poisons, be they mental, physical, spiritual or emotional. The power of snake medicine is the
power of creation, for it embodies sexuality, psychic energy, alchemy, reproduction, and
ascension (or immortality). The transmutation of the life-death-rebirth cycle is exemplified by
the shedding of Snake's skin. It is the energy of wholeness, cosmic consciousness, and the ability
to experience anything willingly and without resistance. It is the knowledge that all things are
equal in creation, and that those things which might be experienced as poison can be eaten,
ingested, integrated, and transmuted if one has the proper state of mind. Thoth, the Atlantean
who later returned as Hermes and was the father of alchemy, used the symbology of two snakes
intertwining around a sword to represent healing. Complete understanding and acceptance of the
male and female within each organism creates a melding of the two into one, thereby producing
divine energy.

This medicine teaches you on a personal level that you are a universal being. Through accepting
all aspects of your life, you can bring about the transmutation of the fire medicine. This fire
energy, when functioning on the material plane, creates passion, desire, procreation, and physical
vitality. On the emotional plane, it becomes ambition, creation, resolution, and dreams. On the
mental plane it becomes intellect, power, charisma, and leadership. When this Snake energy
reaches the spiritual plane, it becomes wisdom, understanding, wholeness, and connection to the
Great Spirit. If you have chosen this symbol, there is a need within you to transmute some
thought, action or desire so that wholeness may be achieved. This is heavy magic, but remember,
magic is no more than a change in consciousness. Become the magician or the enchantress:
transmute the energy and accept the power of the fire.

CONTRARY
If you have drawn this symbol in the reverse, you may have chosen to mask your ability to
change. Look at the idea that you may fear changing your present state of affairs because this
may entail a short passage into discomfort. Does this discomfort keep you from assuming the
viewpoint of the magician within? Is the old pattern safe, reliable and a rut? In order to glide
beyond that place which has become safe but nonproductive, become Snake. Release the outer
skin of your present identity. Move through the dreamlike illusion that has insisted on static
continuity, and find a new rhythm as your body glides across the sands of consciousness, like a
river winding its way towards the great waters of the sea. Immerse yourself in that water, and
know that the single droplet which you represent is being accepted by the whole. Feel Snake's
rhythm and you will dance freely, incorporating those transmuting forces of the universe as a
part of your sensual dance of power.

The day I did that Pathway Spread and Snake showed up in the Medicine Cards (I think it was
Saturday ~ I'm being lazy not to just go look at the post) after I logged off, I went to watch some
t.v. I turned to Animal Planet (show on satellite t.v.) and "Venom ER" was on! Not all THAT
surprising, but what tickled me was that the show was about baby rattlesnakes! The narrator said
that a baby rattlesnake is more a deadly than fully-grown one; adults give *more* venom, but the
effects may change with age ~ the very potent venom of baby rattlesnakes is very deadly. He
noted that snakes are particularly active during the early evening. A 12 year old girl was bitten
by a baby rattlesnake on her foot while camping with her family in the Mohabe Desert (she was
bitten on the edge of the Mohabe Desert). They gave her anti-venom ~ a powerful medicine.

They asked whether she was allergic to papaya or to sheep, so I imagine that those are some of
the ingredients in the anti-venom for rattlesnakes... Just the day after running across THAT show
as soon as I turned the t.v. on, last evening I finished posting, turned the t.v. on, which was left
on the Animal Planet channel, and "Austin Stevens: Snakemaster" was on! I only caught the last
10 minutes or so of it, but the them of that show was the search for the great anaconda. What
caught my attention was that the green anaconda is the heaviest-bodied snake in the world. After
that went of, Venom ER came on, but that show was focused on the venom of Black Widows,
with some info on Scorpions. Did you know that at night you can see a scorpion by shining a
black light on them ~ they glow in the rays of a black light ~ I was amazed!

CinnamonMoon:
The Druid Animal Oracle by Phillip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm
Adder: Transformation, Healing, Life Energy

Adder offers healing and transformation. Its ability to glide into the darkness through crevices in
the rocks connects it to the Under or Otherworld, and the realm of Death. It is the totem animal
of the Earth Goddess, and also the Sky Father Sun God, and represents our ability to die and be
reborn. The energy that enables us to be born on earth is sexual energy, but this also
necessitates our death. Befriending adder or snake power will enable you to journey through life
gracefully and magically, shedding your old life easily when the time comes--whether that old
life be of the physical or of a stage in this present incarnation.

Contrary it urges you to abandon the ability to wound and to replace it with the power to heal.
Although the snake is poisonous, and has been used in the Christian tradition as a symbol of evil,
in the druid and other traditions it represents healing and the power of transformation. the snake
as totem animal urges us to use our powers of energy, penetration, swift and silent movement,
not to harm others but, on the contrary, to help and heal them. We can learn how to love and
channel the serpent currents which flow through our body and the body of the earth so that they
become beneficent, healing, life-giving currents that ultimately flow--like the meandering snakerivers
of the plains--to the wide sea.