And The Snakes Came

This will be one of those promised "weird" posts, so, all I ask is please read with an open mind.

When I was a child I used to always have dreams about snakes. Of course, I attributed it to the time when I was helping my best friend clear a field for planting. I got something in my eye, and was rubbing it, when through the blur I noticed what appeared to be a stick laying across my new shoe. I reached down to pick it up and toss it, but the stick came to life and wriggled right up my leg! My immediate reaction, along with screaming, was the kick it hard and take off running for the house! I had kicked it so hard, apparently, that my friend's dad found it coiled around a fence post all the way down at the other end of the field!

So, I decided that my dreams were simply a subconscious reminder of that event. But, as I was at church one Sunday, the pastor was preaching and suddenly he pointed at me directly, and shouted, "And if YOU have been dreamin' of snakes, you better get down here to this altar and beg God for forgiveness, because YOU must be sinnin'!" Well, you better believe I jumped up from my seat and ran to the altar, begging God to forgive me of whatever sins I must have unknowingly committed!

Still, over the years, I continued to dream of snakes. They came in all sizes and colors, and they never attacked me. As a matter of fact, for the most part, they seemed to be trying to tell me something.

When I was thirty-something, I met an Indian man at a Native American art museum, who invited me to his house for dinner. I, being of Cherokee and Chippewa descent, was honored to receive such an invitation. From then on, I was introduced to many Native Americans of all different tribes. I became more involved with the Native community and over time was taught many of their beliefs, traditions and customs.

At one point, I met a man, who I was to learn later was a "Medicine Man", a spiritual teacher. We spent many days and nights discussing things that were spiritual in nature, and comparing their beliefs with my own Pentecostal Christian upbringing. When we got to talking about different "Totem Animals" or Spirit Guides, I asked him about what the snake meant. Having been raised that snakes were the incarnate representatives of all that was evil and satanic, I fully expected him to cringe and back away from me, sending me on my evil way. But, to my delight, he smiled and told me something that finally put my spirit to rest.

He explained to me that in their belief, the snake was a messenger between the Earth Mother and the Creator. The snake spends its entire life closest to the ground. It can hear the heartbeat and the cries and prayers from the earth. It then climbs as high as it can and sends those prayers and pleas to God, the Creator. While I understood that this was simply symbolism, it started to help me to understand more about my dreams.

The snake also represents constant renewal, the shedding off of the old and living with the new. That there is constant change taking place over our lifetimes and we must be willing to shake off all the old things of our lives and accept the new things and events that are to take place.

Suddenly, I understood that the snakes in my dreams were messengers to me from God. Perhaps, the snake was my "totem animal", my "spirit guide". Once I started paying more attention to them in my dreams, their particular colors, their particular species, and their movements during my dream, I came to understand their messages. I also noticed that every time they came to my dreams, it was when I was faced with a serious life changing decision. In interpreting their movements, they've yet to fail me in helping me come to a decision. I've noticed that if they move forward, I, too, should move forward with what I'd been considering in my life. If they turn around and go back, I know I'm moving in the wrong direction. If they stop and look me in the face and don't go in either direction, I'm to stop and think about what I'm planning to do. That it's not a time to make a move, yet. I'm to take my time and pray on it.

So, while I'm still afraid of physical snakes, I'm not so afraid of them in my dreams. I know they're telling me something to help me in my life. It certainly causes me to stop and consider everything. And, who am I to say that God does NOT use other spirits to His good and for our own? We never know what form God will take or how he will send his angels to us. They might not all have golden hair and wings, you know!