Native American Spirituality

[Lady Pamela]

Originally Posted by not2shygrrl

so my dear LP, what is it symbolic of? if I may ask

ya gotta know I am NOT crazy about the idea of that serpent being my symbolic whatever..... UGH I am not scared of snakes and never have been. Just not sure that it is a positive symbol. LOL see what happens when I have access to unknown territory? This is called running with the ribbon.......run shy run!!

In answer to your question. This is a brief up but you get the point somewhat.
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Snake medicine people are rare. Their initiation involves experiencing and living through mulitple 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).

Snake energy is the energy of wholeness, cosmic consciousness, and the ability to experience anything willingly and without resistance. Mythological legends show Hermes the father of alchemy using the symbology of two snakes intertwining around a sword to represent healing. Complete understanding and acceptance of male and female within each organism creates a melding of the two into one, thereby producing divine energy.

Some words used to describe this snake medicine were: passion, desire, procreation, physical vitality, ambition, creation, resolution, dreams, intellect, power, charisma, leadership, wisdom, understanding, wholeness, and connection to the Great Spirit.

Previously I was afraid of snakes. Now I have a greater understanding and appreciation for this snake energy in my sandtray. It is moving me away from fear into the fire of creativity, leadership, and wholeness.
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Reverse :

You have masked your ability to change. You may fear change, release the outer skin of your present identity to bring out the real you.

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Copied from a couple other sources as they had written what I would have. in short.

I suggest looking it up and gaining more insight because this is definately not a negative...smiles

Blessed be:
Namaste

[not2shygrrl]

Originally Posted by Lady Pamela

In answer to your question. This is a brief up but you get the point somewhat.
----------------------

Snake medicine people are rare. Their initiation involves experiencing and living through mulitple 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).

Snake energy is the energy of wholeness, cosmic consciousness, and the ability to experience anything willingly and without resistance. Mythological legends show Hermes the father of alchemy using the symbology of two snakes intertwining around a sword to represent healing. Complete understanding and acceptance of male and female within each organism creates a melding of the two into one, thereby producing divine energy.

Some words used to describe this snake medicine were: passion, desire, procreation, physical vitality, ambition, creation, resolution, dreams, intellect, power, charisma, leadership, wisdom, understanding, wholeness, and connection to the Great Spirit.

Previously I was afraid of snakes. Now I have a greater understanding and appreciation for this snake energy in my sandtray. It is moving me away from fear into the fire of creativity, leadership, and wholeness.
-------------------------
Reverse :

You have masked your ability to change. You may fear change, release the outer skin of your present identity to bring out the real you.

-------------------------

Copied from a couple other sources as they had written what I would have. in short.

I suggest looking it up and gaining more insight because this is definately not a negative...smiles

Blessed be:
Namaste

Thank you very much LP, for taking the time to find information and making the effort to educate me about the serpent. I still do not know what the whole circle thing is called, and I definitely will pursue more information via the web.

I am glad you are not fearful of your snake energy, fire when used in the positive power can be very dramatic. The creativity, wholeness and leadership that you are being guided toward are good explosions and I bet fit you like a glove. Fire over all is mesmerizing to most people, the colors, the fragrance, the warmth, the sounds, the embers, the rhythm, and yes the danger. No doubt it has some pretty fantastic healing ability.

Sandtray huh? Another term to google and get an understanding of......still educating me my dear friend! If I had to guess, well I wanna guess Sandtray is something kinky LOL........yanno ........just being a smass (smartass). Thank you my friend.

[Lady Pamela]

[Spirit Dancer]

"Growth is a painful process."





--Wilma Mankiller, CHEROKEE



Whenever we grow, we usually need to let go of emotional attachments. Letting go can be painful. Sometimes growth allows us to deal with fear. All fear can fit into two categories: one, we're going to lose something we have, and two, we're not going to get something we want. Both of these categories can cause pain. The best way to grow is to pray to the Great Spirit and ask Him to guide and protect us. All growth is guided by God.


My Creator, guide my growth today and give me Your love and courage to help my pain.

[Spirit Dancer]

Marinating
Making Our Best Decisions
Sometimes when we need to make a decision, we can become overwhelmed or feel pressured into coming to a conclusion immediately. Often, a decision isn’t required right away, and the sense of urgency we feel is merely a limitation that we’ve placed upon ourselves. Once we’ve determined that we do have the time to make a wise choice for ourselves, we can release the pressure with a deep breath, like steam from a pressure cooker, and proceed to make the best use of our time.

The best first step may be to gather all the facts we can find. Once we have all the logical information we need, we can allow ourselves to sit with it and soak it up. Like a good recipe, we can allow ourselves to marinate in the juices of intellectual understanding while also adding our own spices made up of our feelings, our intuition, and any other considerations. We can taste the recipe for readiness as we go in order to decide if more time or ingredients are needed. We might want to take time to visualize ourselves playing out the various scenarios to see which feels the best, remind ourselves of our goals, or merely sit silently in meditation, listening for guidance. Any of these techniques can add depth and flavor to the recipe of our decisions.

We can allow ourselves to sit with our choices for whatever length of time is needed, whether it is a day, a week, a month or longer. Doing so gives our hearts, minds and spirits the chance to align, allowing us to make a decision that is right for us. Other times, we may need to let the wisdom of the universe unfold for us at its own rate, allowing our growth and realizations to sync up with the universe’s secret and essential ingredients so that all of the flavors are ready at the same time. When we allow ourselves the time to sit and allow understanding to sink in, we can cocreate the best decision possible for ourselves and for everyone involved.

[Spirit Dancer]

Beyond Counting Blessings
Being Truly Thankful
Often when we practice being thankful, we go through the process of counting our blessings, acknowledging the wonderful people, things and places that make up our reality. While it is fine to be grateful for the good fortune we have accumulated, true thankfulness stems from a powerful comprehension of the gift of simply being alive, and when we feel it, we feel it regardless of our circumstances. In this deep state of gratitude, we recognize the purity of the experience of being, in and of itself, and our thankfulness is part and parcel of our awareness that we are one with this great mystery that is life.

It is difficult for most of us to access this level of consciousness as we are very caught up in the ups and downs of our individual experiences in the world. The thing to remember about the world, though, is that it ebbs and flows, expands and contracts, gives and takes, and is by its very nature somewhat unreliable. If we only feel gratitude when it serves our desires, this is not true thankfulness. No one is exempt from the twists and turns of fate, which may, at any time, take the possessions, situations, and people we love away from us. Ironically, it is sometimes this kind of loss that awakens us to a thankfulness that goes deeper than just being grateful when things go our way. Illness and near-miss accidents can also serve as wake-up calls to the deeper realization that we are truly lucky to be alive.

We do not have to wait to be shaken to experience this state of being truly thankful for our lives. Tuning in to our breath and making an effort to be fully present for a set period of time each day can do wonders for our ability to connect with true gratitude. We can also awaken ourselves with the intention to be more aware of the unconditional generosity of the life force that flows through us regardless of our circumstances.

[Spirit Dancer]

Creative Cuts
Editing Your Life
Our lives can be compared to an ongoing movie script over which we have complete creative control. Within us lies the power to examine what works or isn't working in our lives and make "edits" to our life's script, accordingly. Choosing to actively edit your life can be incredibly empowering. As you evolve, you have the choice to accept the script you've written thus far or edit it so you can create a life that fulfills you. You can cut out from your life's script what is no longer working for you. Acknowledging that you are responsible for the experience you create gives you the ability to create the life you've always longed for.

Granted, editing your real life isn't always as easy as erasing a line of text. If you've carried emotional baggage or held on to an unhealthy relationship for a long time, these may be difficult to edit out. But when you do cut out what isn't working from your life, you'll feel lighter and more alive. Editing out activities that you find stressful, disassociating yourself from people that drain your energy, and letting go of your emotional baggage are all beneficial cuts you can make. In the empty spaces that are left behind, you can add in anything you like. Just as you have the power to edit out negative situations or beliefs that you no longer wish to have as part of your life, you can now include the kinds of positive experiences, people, and beliefs that you would like to fill your life with. The manifestation of these thoughts and images as realities in your life will inevitably follow. As you make changes to your life, you can also add in the bits where you choose more intimate, healthier relationships, seek out adventure over tedium, and are no longer negatively impacted by old experiences.

To begin editing your life, simply think about your positive and negative experiences. When you determine what parts of your life are no longer serving you, make the commitment to remove them - though, it is important to remember that there is no proper timing or way to do this, and patience and compassion for yourself are always important during this process. Then, ask yourself what has brought you profound bliss and consider how you can make those experiences and beliefs part of your life now. With a little editing, you'll be able to clear out what is no longer serving you and make room in your life for more happiness, love, and wisdom.