Serpent Along The Spine: Would It Do Better At The Box Office Than Snakes On A Plane?

by Lael

Kundalini is a Hindu divinity. Coiled and ready to pounce, She is a serpent goddess said to reside at the base of the spine. Not Kali’s spine or Krishna’s spine, your spine. Yes, according to Hindu mythology, you are inhabited by a god.

As a quick gander at any of the many websites devoted to the phenomenon will attest, the process called Kundalini awakening is complex, multifaceted and mysterious. However literally you wish to take the serpentine mystical metaphor, this energetic transformation, most closely charted by the ancient Hindus, has been observed in a wide range of cultures. Indeed, according to Lee Sannella, MD in his seminal tome The Kundalini Experience, it can also be found in the esoteric teachings of Chinese Taoism, Tibetan Buddhism, some Native American tribes and the Bushmen of Africa.

Sannella himself uses the metaphor of childbirth more than once to describe this internal, sometimes unsettling or violent happening that is, nonetheless, entirely natural. The end result of childbirth is a new being. Likewise, the individual with awakened Kundalini energy ultimately emerges with a new, mature and blissful consciousness of oneness and peace.

Many a spiritual seeker has hungered for such an awakening. And many a guru has offered to uncoil the sleeping serpent for his followers by merely touching the top of a devotee’s head. Known as shaktipat, this sort of hands-on energetic transmission is one means of getting the serpent energy moving. However, some who spontaneously experience the chakra-opening experience of awakened Kundalini might speak a word of caution to eager seekers. The symptoms of awakened Kundalini vary widely, but some are disruptive in the extreme. (Perhaps this accounts for much of the fearful lore that has risen up in relation to the phenomenon.) If you are experiencing a heightened awareness of energies coursing along your spine, out of any of your chakras or elsewhere in your body, fear not. First of all, you are not alone. And, secondly, there are wise teachers aplenty to guide you. You might begin by reading Lee Sannella’s book or by checking out the helpful website of Lawrence Edwards, PhD, LMHC (TheSoulsJourney.com).

Again, in relation to Kundalini, caution and prudence may well be of value. However, fear is never either necessary or useful. In the biblical Western tradition, a snake and a woman together herald a fall from grace. Perhaps it’s only poetic justice, then, that in another mythic tradition a female serpent offers a route back into the garden of naked oneness and timeless bliss.

| 10/17/07 | Practices