The Kundalini
In ancient pre-biblical times, the serpent was a symbol of healing and spiritual transformation.1 To this day, that sacred meaning of the serpent persists in the image of the caduceus, which is the symbol of Western medicine.
According to the tradition of the Hindus, the kundalini is a “coiled serpent energy” that resides at the base of the spine in the first chakra. The fact that it is coiled represents powerful latent energy. When the time is right in one’s spiritual evolution, that latent power unleashes, and travels through the chakras up the spine. As it passes up the spine, it vastly increases each chakra’s spiritual frequency, which causes purification and transformation.
If it meets blockages along the way, “spiritual crisis” ensues. The symptoms of these crises persist until the blockages are released. Eventually, when the kundalini reaches the spiritual eye, the crown chakra, and other higher centers within the brain, spiritual awakening occurs. This state is characterized by tremendous joy, a sense of oneness with the Universe, and depthless wisdom.
The rise of the kundalini energy can take the form of a sudden life-changing cataclysmic event that totally transforms one’s consciousness and world-view. Or it can be a slow and gentle spiritual transformation over time. The form it takes depends on the psycho-spiritual reality of each individual.2
However, we can smooth this process of transformation by improving our psycho-spiritual health. To accomplish this, all blockages of energy within the field must be cleared. This is supported by witnessing and releasing unresolved trauma and negative beliefs. Above all, we must choose the path of love and compassion above bitterness and hatred. The Spiritual Great Ones, exemplify the completion of this spiritual transformation.
- Why then does the book of Genesis represent the serpent in a negative light? This is because the God of the Hebrews was a God of transcendence and the heavens. He was also a God of conquest, who sought to establish his rule over the peoples the Hebrews had subjugated. To do this the Hebrews had to overturn the symbols of the conquered peoples, and replace them with those sacred to Yahweh. One of those was the serpent, formally representing the wisdom and healing of Mother Earth, and now recast by the Hebrews to represent evil and deceit. Thus, the conquerors sought to destroy the sacred symbols of the Canaanites, and thereby control them.
This set the precedent for the western tradition that the energies of the first and second chakras, namely the earth and sexuality, were separate from the spiritual. In the Judeo-Christian mythos, the Earth, formerly the abode of the Divine Mother, giver of life, became the residence of Hell; and sexuality, formerly the sacred power of creation, became shrouded in sin.
“It’s a peculiar twist of our biblical tradition that the serpent is condemned, as are women and nature. For other cultures the serpent, while dangerous, is one of the three great symbols of the power of life in the field of time.” Quote by Joseph Campbell from his book Goddesses: Mysteries of the Feminine Divine p.42 ↩︎ - For more information about the rising of the kundalini, see The Kundalini Experience by Lee Sannella, M.D. ↩︎