Animal Helpers

              When thinking about animal helpers or as some would call them, animal totems, often we think of Native American traditions. There is a lot of information to suggest most Native Americans work with totem animals. There is also a lot of information supporting the notion animal helpers have been an integral part of earth centered spirituality for a very long time.

                I think of the horse cults from the early Slavic tribes, the Celts who often worked with the boar, horse or other local animals. I am also reminded of the eastern cultures and their reverence for the elephant, tiger, monkey and others. These are only a few examples; there are plenty of resources available to shed light on any particular people and their interaction with animal spirits or helpers.

                Yesterday I was reminded, by one of my animal helpers, that I have not been paying as much attention to her as I could be. I have worked with Snake as a spirit helper for several years and I normally don’t need to be reminded to pay attention to the skills and talents my helpers bring to me. But, apparently I need to take greater heed to my recent pull to return to the healing arts.

                Every morning I walk with my daughter to the bus stop, yesterday was no different, except that on the way to the bus stop we encountered a dead baby snake. I considered picking it up on the way home and properly preserving the body, but chose not to. I put the incident out of my mind until last night. I went out the back door to find a huge rattle snake lying stretched out at the foot of my steps. It was a cool evening and the snake was sluggish. The dogs were literally stepping all over the snake and I was trying to get them to come back into the house before they aggravated the snake and got bit. All was fine until Bubba, my nosey gelding, walked right up to the snakes head and gave it a mighty snort.

                At this point the snake was moving and striking, Bubba didn’t seem to notice that with every snort, the snake came within millimeters of striking his muzzle. I scrambled into the house and found a pair of boots; I normally do a lot of talking to rattlers and coax them into a bucket or walk them off the property with the use of my voice and by thumping a stick on the ground near them.

This snake wanted no part of my conversation last night and found its way up under my steps. I tried for about thirty minutes to push the snake out from under the steps, but there was no way. Near the end of this I could hear the snake was still under the steps, but was no longer rattling enthusiastically. I decided to leave her there for the night and start our conversation about relocation over first thing this morning.

                After getting up and having a cup of coffee I went out to see if the snake was still there, and she was not. It appears that sometime in the night or early morning she chose to leave. This is what I was trying to get her to do last night anyway.

                Today I’ve been reflecting on the message brought to me by snake, two things come to mind. The first being a message of transmutation and the ability to shed our old skins as we out grow them. The other is the message to return to the healing arts. I haven’t been actively using healing energy for several years, and I recently, have begun thinking about getting a new Reiki table and sharing this part of myself again.

                I am going to take the snakes appearance in my life twice in one day to mean all of above and begin the process of reemerging in the Magickal community. Thank you, snake, for reminding me of who I am and where I am going.

Have a Wicked Good day!
Molly