The Mystery of the Serpent

Wisdom Teachings
Inner Realities

The scriptures contain many allegoric and mystic tales. Allegories serve to put subtle teachings across to the average intelligence and to awaken intuition. The images being used for this are not to be taken literally. Thus, a horse does not mean a horse, but rather it stands for the life principle; the bird stands for the pulsation; and the bull for the word or language. If we took these images literally, we would develop an odd understanding. However, if we search for their esoteric meaning and meditate on their symbolism, they convey a transcendental, spiritual concept and reveal the levels of wisdom in us.

Many scriptures of this world speak of dragons and serpents. The snake, or serpent, is a great symbol of time, and the windings of it are viewed as the uncountable cycles of time. Eastern wisdom describes in a symbolic way how, at the beginning of creation, Narayana and his wife float on the waves of the infinite ocean of milk, which stands for the blending of spirit and matter. Narayana rests on the curled-up snake named Ananta (infinity) or Adisesha (adi: primal, sesha: lasting). The great serpent is the formula of the entire creation - on the one hand as potential in form of a spiral winding upwards, on the other hand as an entirety of all forms of the universe which unfolds in time.

Two kinds of serpents can be found in symbolism: the creeping and the ascending (or winding upwards). The serpents striving for the light are called Nagas, the winged serpents or dragons of wisdom. In some countries, initiates were called these names. One area of the Himalayas is called Nagaland where spiritual knowledge was especially prominent. Nagas can be found in Central America as well. The Maya possessed deep knowledge about the correct use of time; and their god took the form of a snake. The syllable ga describes movement. Aga means absence of movement. Thus, na-aga is a double negation of movement and describes the motion in stability and the stability in motion.

The creeping serpents are called Sarpas. They stand for the isolated existence of the man who lives in matter completely. Like a creeping snake retreats into a hole, the consciousness is completely covered by matter here. All creatures that creep close to the earth are ruled by the sign of Scorpio; it stands for death of spirit and birth of matter. Many of these creepers possess a deadly venom which causes loss of conscience. Poisonous comments and damaging attitudes pull us down and eventually bring death. A Greek philosopher mentioned once that not the double-tongued serpent but the deceitful man is the most dangerous creature.

The development of matter from the subtle to the physical is symbolically shown as the downward movement of the serpent of time. Nordic mythology knows this as the snake Midgard which entwines around the earth and lies at the foot of the tree of the world, gnawing at its roots. Consciousness descends from the higher planes into matter in form of a converging spiral. The windings of this spiral lie close to one another and become tighter and tighter. So, the spiritual consciousness is captured in space and time and enclosed like in an egg. Man, too, falls into the motherly lap at the moment of procreation and loses spiritual awareness. The loss of which leads to the experience of separation which is also called the fall of mankind. The story of Adam and Eve is a symbolic illustration of this involution, the forming of objectivity. The garden of Eden described in the Bible was etheric. Adam and Eve possessed bodies of light before receiving their mantles of skin, bodies made of flesh and blood. The serpent, the downward pointing spiral path of the fall into matter, tempted both to the experience of the senses. They ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge, which allegorically describes the gift of reason through the Manasa Putras, the sons of intellectual power. It is not anything evil, as it is misunderstood by ignoramuses; rather it is an aspect of creation, a part of the whole game.

Involution and evolution are both parts of the law of evolution. Some energies move into manifestation, others lead into dematerialization. Both belong to each other. Each day is followed by night, and after each night comes a day. It is foolish to think we only needed day without night. Our planet is again on the way of return, and according to the principle of the global chains, there is now another planet that is about to become more dense. Thus, creation is a game of consolidation and expansion, a way from the state of immortality to mortality and again back to immortality. Then, the serpent sheds its skin and ascends. In the meditations of Spiritual Psychology (No. 32), it says, “Serpent K loosens its skin. The pictures of the past Karma on the wall of its skin are peeled off. Karma neutralized.”

Inside of us, we have a serpent that is called Kundalini. Ordinarily, the Kundalini-fire is hidden deep within our root center. It nothing but our own consciousness, being bound to matter for eons. The Kundalini is depicted as serpent in our base center, winded three and a half times. This means that spirit, in unison with matter, created the mineral, plant, and animal kingdom, and also the human body which makes half of the human being. The other, the better half in us, descends from above.

When the Kundalini-fire begins to rise, the attachment to matter gradually resolves. The energies are called from the Muladhara, the base center, to the heart center, and from there to the Ajna center. Through meditation in this center above the brow, a vibration from the pituitary gland downward takes place. This “pituitary hint” awakens the Kundalini and dissolves its definite and safe rise from the lower regions. One exercise is to close the eyes and visualize our head as a light ball. The light ball stands on a stick, our spine, which we imagine as a pillar of light. From the base of the spine emanates a light sound and moves upward like a snake: „Loosening the spirals of Karma, the serpent shines winged and escapes through the bore of the Sun’s body from above the eyebrows. Henceforth the serpent is the winged messenger of the Gods. He is Mercury.” (Spiritual Psychology meditations, No. 28)

The Kundalini-fire must not be evoked as long as we do not follow certain rules in life. There are many who evoke the fire too soon. They fall victim to mental problems and harm their health. To balance the mental energies, the symbol of a white snake standing on its tail before a black background is suggested for contemplation. This symbol may well be of help for epileptics.

In many scriptures of the world, we find tales of heroes who conquer a serpent or dragon. They throw the dragon down with the help of a spear and gain the crown of a kingdom that way. We can imagine the crown as the radiant crown center with a jewel in its midst. The spear is the pillar of consciousness from the base center to the Medulla oblongata. The battle illustrates the process of man neutralizing the lower pole and elevating it upwards. Every man must defeat the serpent on his way to the truth to be able to reign from the throne, the ajna center. Then, time and the divine laws work with him and he can playfully dance on the snake. Krishna is depicted dancing atop a snake. He plays a flute with seven holes. Apollo, the Greek god of light, also dances atop the head of the snake Python, the earth Kundalini. He plays a lyre with seven strings which symbolizes the seven etheric centers in the human body. When the divine beings make music, all creatures are being uplifted. The serpent, too, ascends and dances to the heavenly tones. We should focus on these tones when we turn inward.

Sources used: K.P. Kumar: The Aquarius Cross. Diverse notes from seminars. E. Krishnamacharya: Spiritual Psychology. The World Teacher Trust - Dhanishta, Visakhapatnam, India.