Year of the Snake

" Mine is the wisdom of the ages.
I hold the key to the mysteries of life.
Casting my seeds on fertile ground,
I nurture them with constancy and purpose.
My sights are fixed. My gaze unchanging.
Unyielding, inexorable and deep I advance
with steady, unslackened gait,
the solid Earth beneath me.
I AM THE SNAKE. "

(Note: The poem above and the following paraphrased text below are from The Handbook of Chinese Horoscopes by Theodora Lau)

"THE YEAR OF THE SNAKE"
" Looking back into history, we find that the year of the Snake has never been tranquil.... Many disasters which have their beginning in the year of the Dragon tend to culminate in the year of the Snake. These two signs are closely related and the calamities of the Snake years often result from excesses committed during the Dragon’s reign.

It is a year for reflection, planning, and searching for answers, for shrewd dealings, political affairs, and even coups d’etat. It is an auspicious year for commerce and industry.
Solutions and compromises can be arrived at after initial distrust is worked through. The Snake likes to resolve differences, peacefully if at all possible. This is a lively time for romance, courtship, and scandals. Fashion and the arts, music and theater, science and technology are highlighted. The general temperament is elegant and fluid, and people strive for a more sophisticated life.

The year of the Snake is unpredictable. Snake’s wisdom will be evident in those facets of our lives requiring decisions. Changes that occur during this year can be as quick as lightning and as dramatic. The Snake gives us the courage and faith of our convictions. We will be coerced to act and to act forcefully, a year for striking while the iron is hot."

Thank you Theodora Lau !

Happy Year of the Silver Snake!
(also called White or Golden Snake...)

Fireworks bursting in air and dragons dancing in the streets stir the vital forces of Nature for a bountiful year.
The Serpent Year unfolds its power and meaning as the lunar crescent grows in the western sky from new to full moon.
As the serpent is a lunar creature its power will grow and diminish with the waxing and waning Moons throughout the year.

The Hindu Khumbha Mela celebration happens every twelve years, always in a Snake Year. The snake Vasuki is needed for churning the "ocean" to bring up the Khumbha that contains the nectar of immortality. Possession of this nectar insures victory for the gods in their struggle with the demons. A Maha Khumbha Mela is celebrated every 144 years when a special astrological arrangement occurs.

This 43 day celebration is an opportunity for transformation and liberation on both personal and universal levels.

According to the Khumbha Mela's mythic story, Indra, the King of the gods, sought aid from Guru (Jupiter), Surya (the Sun), the Moon and Saturn to protect his son Jayant and preserve the Khumbha.
The conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the evening sky for many months past and to come is a part of this story unfolding.
Next to Jupiter can be seen the Pleiades, the sisters of inspiration and the milk dipper of nourishment.
Prior to this New Moon these two planets have been moving retrograde with each other since the beginning of Fall. The horned god Saturn moving backwards in the sign of the Bull played havoc with the stock market. All our personal shortcomings and the wounds of our society became fully exposed in this time.
Jupiter and Saturn turning direct together at this New Moon bodes well for bringing positive changes in the coming year. Jupiter and Saturn changing direction at this Lunar New year gives these two planets pivotal power for the entire year.

According to the Khumbha myth, the churning process first brings up poison that has to be drunk before we can get to the nectar of immortality. Drinking the poison means experiencing and releasing the toxic residue of the past cycle. Only this way can the emotional blocks to soul expression be cleared.

The Khumbha is a water pot. It is the Hindu name for the sign Aquarius. The Age of Aquarius is dawning as the millennium is turning. One of the last instructions of Jesus was to
"Follow the Water Bearer into the upper room."

A vessel symbolizes the psyche in Jungian tradition.
Primal nature naturally nourishes psychic development. When primal nature is blocked or distorted by imagination then there is a psychic and sexual stasis that is like the wasteland of the Grail story. Then there comes a "churning," a breaking up of old conditions that frees the soul and restores vital nature.

The Khumbha is the Grail and this Serpent year is a year of personal & collective restoration.

The serpent shedding its skin is a symbol for transformation and personal / collective renewal. The directions for this process are timeless. They are encoded in myth and traditions of celebration around the world. These we will come to realize more in coming months.

.... A message indicated here is:
"Guidance coming from center for closing the circle of personal responsibility."

Decisions are to be made regarding what is desirable to include in our lives: what commitments are to be made, what goals to be set for the new cycle.

The serpent biting its tail is ageless wisdom, eternity and immortality.
The snake Ladon encircles and guards Aphrodite's golden fruit bearing tree.
The seal of the Theosophical Society has an ankh symbol of Venus at the center of an encircling serpent biting its tail. Venus is to Earth as soul to personality.
Psychic containment is key to soul expression.

"Taking action to set things right," is a keynote for 2001. This will become more and more apparent as spring approaches. Clarity of purpose is therefore important....

Many blessings to you and yours now and through the year - Steve Nelson