Messages of the Snake
When one sees a snake in the wild, there are many responses. Mine has always been one of respect. Respect because I am entering their land and I am giving them space to continue their own journey before I restart my own. I have seen nine in the wild – all but two on trails that I have been walking. All in Arizona in my twenty-four years of living here.
One, a black snake I literally almost stepped on as eighty percent of it was in a rock pile with just its tail visible. Three were rattlesnakes – the first one ever, I came along as someone went off trail to kill it – and I felt extreme sadness and upset. These wild beings have been displaced a lot from their home territories and I did not expect to see one be killed over fear.
Now don’t get me wrong, I personally would not want a snake in my home through personal choice. However, I believe someone higher up brought them and other wild beings here for us to all coexist on one level or another – and just maybe we are meant to learn something from them just as we are meant to learn from the people we don’t understand.
The next rattlesnake I met close to a trailhead at the White Tanks when two doves flew rapidly into a tree near my head stopping me in my tracks and alerting me as just ahead was an adult five-foot version. I sat my pack down to get my camera out at which point I heard its warning rattle from the vibrations it felt as a result. It was moving to go around a bush on the far side when I asked if I could take its picture not ever moving from my spot. With that it moved by coming where I could see it in its entirety yet not moving closer to me in any other way as it went on its path. At the time I was experiencing a lot of changes in my career, my home, and in facing my insecurities. One of the messages of the snake is about shedding skin – shedding the old that does not serve us through a state of renewal and that is where I was at the time.
Next, I met a gopher snake as part of an education program at a hotel up in Sedona. One that could not be re-released to the wild as it did not have its tongue for sensing what was near or far and would not last long in its natural environment. I was given the opportunity to hold it and it gently wrapped itself around my hands to look at me, not squeezing just being. We had the chance to see eye to eye.
The most recent one, I saw at the end of May on one of the Cave Creek Regional Park trails. It was less than three feet in length and less than an inch in diameter. I learned with some research that it was a non-venomous nocturnal burrowing long-nosed snake scientifically called Rhinocheilus lecontei. It is a shy species due to spending most of its time underground and rarely seen. Just before coming into this experience, a large gecko raced across the trail in front of me causing me to come to a stop – an alert that another was on the path with me. Now, this snake appeared to be not moving at all – kind of like if I am not moving will “it” – me see it – just like a rabbit or other animal that tends to air on the side of caution eliminating all motion.
When I stopped and patiently waited for it to move off the trail in the direction it appeared to be heading, it very slowly – nearly impossible at first to see continued on its path. This one brought another message that yes transformation is taking place even when movement appears to be non-existent, and the unseen is taking steps to be seen.
Messages in connection with animals can represent the heightened meaning of it through its behavior, actions, or characteristics. It can provide us with keys to where we are on our trek to our goals, dreams, and path.
