“Snake Wisdom – An appreciation of the mystery & the unknown, both in life and within ourselves”
Dear Integral Meditators,
Lunar new year this Wednesday! With this in mind I thought I’d pen a few thoughts on snake meditation in this week’s article.
If you enjoy the article, your welcome to join us on Wednesday for the Lunar New Year Meditation 2025: Developing your wisdom, intuition & renewal in the year of the wood snake.
Quick update regarding new events:
Saturday February 8th, 15th, 22nd, 10-11.40am – Mindful Life-skills for Teenagers – a three module course
Starts Tues 11th, Weds 12th February, 7.30-8.30 pm – Freedom & Fullness – A practical introduction to non-dual meditation practice
In the spirit of snake wisdom,
Toby
Snake meditation
Coming up to the Lunar new year, which is the year of the wood snake, I thought it might be interesting to reflect upon a few of the qualities and capacities of the snake, both in Chinese astrological lore, and as a power animal within indigenous traditions more generally. With some of the qualities I’ve put them in their higher and lower expressions, with the idea that you can reflect upon their presence in your own life, steering your expression of them toward their higher aspect.
Renewal and rebirth – The association of the snake with rebirth comes from its ability to shed its skin, emerging from its old form anew. In its higher expression this is the capacity to let go of our old self that we have ‘outgrown’ and allow the new self that we have been incubating to be ‘birthed’ and emerge. In its lower expression this might be a tendency within us to ‘shape shift’ and change in the face of circumstances when really, we should be holding true to the values and way of being we feel to be authentic.
Wisdom and cunning – “Be ye wise as snakes and innocent as doves” is a phrase from the Bible, Matthew 10:16. The wisdom of the snake in this context is the ability to navigate complex worldly situations appropriately, without loosing our connection to our spiritual simplicity and innocence. This wisdom in its lower expression means becoming cunning in the sense of manipulative, Machiavellian and exploitative of others.
Patience – The ability to bear challenges and difficulties with dignity and level headedness, as well as to see medium to long term goals through to their conclusion. The capacity for waiting for the right time and not rushing.
Creativity – As per the section on wisdom and cunning, but more generally an innovative capacity both around problem solving, but also in terms of artistic activities.
Empathy & diplomacy – The ability to take the perspective of the other person (2nd person), and see where they are coming from, without loosing your sense of where you are coming from. Diplomacy adds the ability to take a third person, objective perspective to 2nd person empathy.
Mystery & the unknown – An appreciation of the mysteries and unknowns, both in life and within ourselves. An opening to inner depths. In its lower expression this might be fear of the unknown, of the deep, and sticking to the known out of that fear.
To quote a summary from a page on the snake:
“People born under the sign of the wood snake tend to have balanced, calm, and reflective personalities. They have a great capacity for analysing situations and a deep interest in understanding the mysteries of the world and themselves.”
All in all, it seems like integrating some of like the snake personality into our lives this year could be a good choice for all of us!
As well as reflecting on the qualities of the snake, it can also be a very nice exercise to simply sit with an image of a snake, or a memory of meeting one. Let your intuition and inner guidance lead you in your interaction with the snake energy, and see what emerges for you. What comes may be related to some of the above qualities, or it may be something totally unique and unexpected, which is the nice thing about meditating imaginatively in this way.
Related article: The Sea Snakes of the Mind
© Toby Ouvry 2025, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com
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