At the start of this post may be I need to explain a little about Animal Medicine.
It is medicine as understood within the Native American ways. To understand this belief it is important to redefine “medicine.” It is following a way of living that connects us to all life and brings about healing and harmony to the Earth and all living beings. It encompasses everything for it requires us all to walk harmoniously upon Mother Earth.
We move through our days and weeks, sometimes, barely noticing where we are and how we feel such are the demands placed upon us in this fast-paced society. To go back to the “old” ways is to take note of things. People throughout time have watched and listened intently to all that occurs in their world.
Although I had no understanding or interest in Native American culture it seems the Universe had other plans for me! Years ago I decided to ‘learn’ Reiki and my teacher, Elaine used the wisdom and knowing of the Medicine Wheel to inform and empower all those who walked alongside her. I loved what she taught and have never forgotten the experience of sitting in a ‘talking circle’.
Move forward 10 years and I am to be found immersed in the immensity of Forrest Yoga Teacher Training. The Universe has again walked with me into understanding more of the Native American ways. Ana Forrest uses the Medicine Wheel and the Ways of the People in her teaching. As one of her teachers I quietly work at empowering and enabling those who come in to my life and thereby assist in Mending the Hoop of the People.
I have recently returned from a week in Turkey where I stayed in a small tent up a mountain. The weather was somewhat unreliable but when the sun shone there was an urgent need to hang, drape and lay out all damp items.
I successfully baked all wet gear in the sun and was then able to fold and tidy it all away. And so I casually picked up a face cloth which had dried to a crisp and there rearing it’s beautiful head was a small snake! I gently replaced the cloth and quietly found my camera. This wonderful creature remained quiet and still and so a quick picture was taken. I then left it in peace and sat quietly a little way off. Enough was enough and some moments later the snake eased its way off the wall and disappeared from view.
I gently mused on what had occurred. When something presents itself to you in this way there are lessons/ideas/inspirations to be gained.
It is important to remember that this all happened whilst I was on a juice-only week organised by the Juice Master, Jason Vale. We were giving our bodies and minds a rest from normal life. We were detoxing on every level.
Snake Medicine; when a snakes glides into your life you know that the time has arrived to shed the old ways, rid yourself of habitual patterns. It is time to really listen to your body and hear what discomforts it. Then locate the real source of the pain, glide through the dead cells, slough them off and emerge improved and renewed with the original design intact. By accepting all the different aspects of your life you bring about transmutation of the energy of fire medicine.
What do we do with the pain of living? How do we end it?
Snake medicine is about turning and moving into the pain. Snake unlocks her jaws in order to swallow life in its whole state…confronting our pain is, therefore the only way to completely dissolve it!
This all teaches you that you are a universal being but first must reach an understanding, wholeness and connection to the Great Spirit.
It is apparently ‘heavy magic’ and you will be bitten many times and will need to transmute much poison; mental, physical, spiritual and emotional.
And there I will end because as I put all this down in words I am left with much to think about. Was it simply a coincidence that I found my snake? There are those in my life who would answer with a resounding ‘NO’. I do know that as our week passed by and the juices began to heal me I felt pain dissolving from my joints and for the first time in years I was pain-free!
