Animal Dreaming Oracle - Example 1

Snake - Transmutation

Snake can be viewed as being both feminine and masculine in nature, both solar and lunar-influenced, an emissary of life and death, and of healing and venom. It embodies all possibilities, being masculine in form and phallic in nature, while traditionally accompanying the ancient Mother deities as symbols of intuition and wisdom. It has arbitrated the three worlds since the Dreamtime as the lightning and solar rays of the Sky Realm, the primeval waters of Mother Earth, and the Underworld in which it dwells. The Celts saw the Snake as a powerful symbol of fertility, often depicting Serpents in their artwork with eggs lodged firmly in their mouths – emblematic depictions of Creation, with the masculine seed meeting and joining with the female egg.

While embracing the promise of new life, the Snake can be seen as representative of the healing we must accept if we intend to move into the next phase of our life in a complete and fertile way. As a symbol now employed by the medical fraternity, the Caduceus is a stylised emblem incorporating a pair of Snakes entwined together in the sacred act of copulation, working themselves as one around a staff, taking a symbolic journey to the higher, mystical realms of Before we can welcome what we yearn for into our lives, we must first be prepared to identify the things we no longer want or need.

There is no such thing as a sick person who is not grieving for something. If we are grieving for some aspect of life that we feel is out of our reach, no matter how hard we twist and turn in a vain attempt to draw it closer to us, the grief we feel will eventually make us ill.

The presentation of the Snake card is a way of gently pointing out that you need to look deep within yourself and honour those aspects that pose the threat of making you ill. We have to hand them over so that we may see clearly again, allowing us to move forward with confidence and a renewed sense of purpose. Snake encourages us to look at our baggage, our burdens and our pain and transmute them into new opportunity and new life. She offers us the chance to physically rebirth ourselves by strengthening us emotionally and deepening our relationship with Spirit.