The Kundalini, a concept deeply rooted in ancient traditions, is often symbolized by the snake. This symbolism appears in various cultures, including ancient Egypt, and represents profound spiritual and transformative processes. This section explores the Kundalini symbology that we have all around us, hidden in plain sight.
There are many reasons for why the snake represents the Kundalini. The Kundalini in its dormant state, lies coiled 3 times at the base of the spine, like a snake. When it awakens, it moves upward along the spinal column, weaving in and out of the 7 chakras. The spine itself is shaped and curved like a snake too.
The snake also represents the shedding of skin, which is a growth process, a healing process, a death and rebirth process, which is what the Kundalini process is, of course.
The snake is also a powerful animal that can kill, so it must be respected. This is one thing that I understood about snakes and Kundalini.
In yogic terms, Kundalini is associated with snakelike energy. Kundalini awakening can be powerful, the cosmic current or energy within our subtle spine. The circular movement of energy is the Ida and Pingala, which moves around the Sushumna. This energy can be experienced in different ways.
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The dragon or flying snake is the symbol of enlightenment, connecting the heavenly and earthly realms. The snake with its scales so close to Mother Earth and its feminine kundalini energy of fertility and creation, the divine feminine maha Shakti matter marrying with the feathers of spirit /great father sky.
In yogic philosophy one is attempting to unite Shiva and Shakti within the body temple and the symbol of the plumed serpent is literally a metaphor for this unity that takes place in the human heart.
Over the years I’ve helped many people in ceremonies to transcend their phobias around these majestic creatures who are in my opinion the master yogi’s of this planet. They are living avatars of the teachings, when you meditate with them you immediately experience a calmness and clarity that is akin to that of a great sage or ascended master. They are the most mystical creatures on the planet, able to meditate for hours unmoving and totally connected to spirit, literally in a state of grace for the majority of their life, they will move very seldomly and mainly from necessity. Advanced yogi’s are able to sit peacefully for days on end surfing the astral planes. No eyelids to close and rest, constantly awake in a meditative state. Total awareness of the physical world around them but also of the vast landscape that lies within. Their lack of ears means they rely totally on their sense of taste and vibration to understand their environment. This connects directly to the base chakra and our primal instincts of fight of flight. Generally when people are holding a heavy fear of them it is usually one of a few things, the first is past life experiences where a negative experience has imprinted into the cells and needs to be released. They poke and provoke fears around sexuality, with their phallic appearance and sensual energy, bringing to the surface any unresolved issues and lessons needing to be integrated in this area. They confront issues connected with personal power and fear of one’s own ‘inner snake’, the kundalini life force energy which we all have inside of us that takes form as a fire snake that moves up the spine piercing each chakra on route to open the gifts of the lotuses and eventually achieve an enlightened state. Most tricky of all the anxieties is ‘death fear’, a serpent is a reminder of our mortality and the delicate nature of existence. Their medicine can kill or cure and their ability to rebirth by shedding their skin is the ultimate lesson in transformation.
Consider the nerve of Vajra as the tail of a serpent. The same is also as a half ring as shown above. The Samvedana Kshetra/sensitive area of the Swadhisthana Chakra (where Kundalini is meditated) is the first ring / Kundal / circle of the Serpent. The nerves of the surrounding area also join there, that is the first whorl of the serpent. The second enclosure may be called that, where that nerve connects to the sacral plexus / network of nerves. The third circle can be called as where the sacral plexus joins the spinal cord. There the serpent / spinal cord stands up and also become thicker. In the lumbar region of the back, there is a bend with the pit towards the stomach. The next turn comes in upper area, close to the head. There is no need to go so deep as above. It is a simple matter that the entire sacral/sexual area is thick, circular and layered like a standing serpent’s ringed base. All its sensations go upwards through afferent nerves along with the sensation in Vajra / serpent-tail.
The main bulging points of the serpent are the seven chakras of the body. Kundalini glows more at these points during meditation. The tip of the vajra is attached to the Muladhara Chakra. The snake’s tail (vajra) on the Swadhisthana Chakra (base of the vajra) is attached to that main body of the snake in the annular form, which is on the ground. The rising up of the snake on the rear Swadhisthana Chakra creates an angle of about 90 degrees. The deepest point of the turning of the body of the snake is on the posterior navel chakra. At the back of the Anahata Chakra, the body of the snake emerges out. The Vishuddhi Chakra at the back has the deepest point of turning of the hood-shaft of the snake. Above it comes the outward rise of the head/hood of the serpent again on the posterior Ajna chakra. Entire brain above it/the top of the entire brain is the place, where there is a Kundalini sensation (in the middle of the foremost and most posterior part of the upper surface of the head; it feels like a pit here, hence it is also called Brahmarandhra). There are thousand phanas/hoods of the great serpent/god serpent. That is why it is called Sahasrar (one thousand parts).
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I was meditating with the tantric method one day in the same context. I started meditating on Nag in the above ways. I felt the Kundalini emerging on his tail / vajra-crest and going up to his multi hood / my brain with a serpent-like rustle. In my brain, kundalini was very shining, calm and like Lord Narayana. It was as if Lord Narayana was doing luxury over Sheshnag in the form of Kundalini. Together I got the same feeling as in the Naga temple above. Serpent is considered sacred and revered in almost all religions. Narayana sleeps on the serpent. The serpent also sits on the forehead of Lord Shiva. In many religions, two snakes are shown wrapped together. I kept listening that Kundalini is a serpent. But kundalini is not a serpent. She walks like a serpent on Nag’s body / nervous system. It is not that Kundalini awakening occurs only with the Nag. Premyogi vajra did not pay attention to the serpent. He once felt Kundalini rising straight up inside his body, like a helicopter rising straight up in the air. The attention to the serpent only gives her additional strength to get up.
There is a mythological belief that the god Sheshnag / Multi-Hooded Serpent has all the earth on his head. In fact, this Sheshnag is our own aforementioned nervous system. The whole earth is the same as all the experiences in our nervous system / brain. In fact there is nothing gross and out. Every physical sensation goes through the nerve to the brain. When Kundalini / a special mental picture is superimposed over it, then she also reaches the brain with it. The most intense and enjoyable sensation of the body is that of the Vajra-tip. Therefore, the Kundalini charged with this sensation becomes alive in the brain. That is why it is said that Kundalini sleeps in Muladhara. In fact, only the Vajra-tip is depicted in Muladhara Chakra, both joining through an imaginary line. That is called the tail of the serpent. Kundalini sleeps there in the common man. This means that Kundalini cannot be awakened there. She has to be taken to the brain for awakening.
Nag has his tail entered into his mouth. This means that kundalini starting at the Vajra, returns to the same in the form of ejaculation, and is wasted from there. The serpent’s standing upright by opening its coil means that the Kundalini is moved in a straight direction from the Vajra tip to the brain via the spinal cord, not rotated in the sexual area again and again. There can be a feeling that the whole sexual area (which is of a large snake’s ground pile / pitcher-like shape) is immersed with kundalini fully in all sides, kundalini thus gaining energy from it and going straight to the top. There at the top of serpent’s hood/brain, the Kundalini is strengthened, and it is not taken back to the vajra in the form of ejaculation. However, the Kundalini can be moved slowly down through the front / forward chakras, making them stronger.
The Caduceus Symbol
Here we have the classic Caduceus symbol. This symbol, with two snakes intertwining around a winged rod, comes from Hermes, the messenger of the Gods, from Greek mythology.
We have the two snakes, which might represent the two major nadis that exist next to to the Sushumna nadi along the spinal column. They are called Ida and Pingala in Sanskrit. They weave around each chakra, finally meeting at the crown, where two wings represent awakened consciousness.
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The Caduceus symbol today is used to represent health and healing.
Prior to my major Kundalini awakening experience, when I was leading up to it and experiencing a lot of synchronicity and phenomena, I met with a friend for a bite at the mall. He was also experiencing Kundalini process. Together we went on a walk around the mall and eventually looked for a bench to sit. All the benches were occupied, so we kept walking. Finally, we found a bench and sat down and were speaking about the Kundalini together. Then we noticed that we were seated directly in front of a pharmacy and on the glass window was a massive Caduceus symbol etched into it. It was a nice wink and nod from the Goddess, Shakti, that we were on the right track.
A similar symbol representing the Kundalini Shakti is one that we see all the time - the dollar sign. Once again, we have the slithering serpent rising up a rod. We see it every day. The Kundalini Shakti is not only how we represent health, but also how we represent wealth.
Caduceus Symbol
The Serpent in Religious Texts
In the first chapter of the Bible, the serpent shows up again too. We have Adam, Eve, and the snake. The serpent approaches Eve and offers her a chance to attain knowledge. I won’t go too into detail about this, because I’m not familiar enough, but there’s plenty online that breaks down this symbology.
I think what’s most notable is that this is the first story told in the Bible. It’s not hidden away in some cryptic verse. It’s right there in the open from the beginning.
The religious symbology of the snake, representing the Kundalini, also shows up in Buddhism. We see here the Buddha being protected by the hood of a cobra. Tibetan Buddhism acknowledges Kundalini by the way. You can look more into this yourself.
The ancient Egyptians also have very similar symbology representing the Kundalini Shakti and divinity. Pharaohs are portrayed with the snake as well. This religious symbology is not random. Each of these icons were created with intention. The symbols used are a special language that is being spoken.
Buddha protected by cobra
The Ouroboros: A Symbol of Eternity
The ouroboros ([2]) or uroboros ([3]) is an ancient symbol depicting a snake or dragon[4] eating its own tail. The ouroboros entered Western tradition via ancient Egyptian iconography and the Greek magical tradition. It was adopted as a symbol in Gnosticism and Hermeticism and, most notably, in alchemy. The ouroboros is often interpreted as a symbol for eternal cyclic renewal or a cycle of life, death and rebirth; the snake's skin sloughing symbolises the transmigration of souls.
One of the earliest known ouroboros motifs is found in the Enigmatic Book of the Netherworld, an ancient Egyptian funerary text in KV62, the tomb of Tutankhamun, in the 14th century BCE. The text concerns the actions of Ra and his union with Osiris in the underworld. The ouroboros is depicted twice on the figure: holding their tails in their mouths, one encircling the head and upper chest, the other surrounding the feet of a large figure, which may represent the unified Ra-Osiris (Osiris born again as Ra). Both serpents are manifestations of the deity Mehen, who in other funerary texts protects Ra in his underworld journey.
Ouroboros Symbol
Early alchemical ouroboros illustration with the words ἓν τὸ πᾶν ("The All is One") from the work of Cleopatra the Alchemist in MS Marciana gr. Z. 299. In Gnosticism, a serpent biting its tail symbolised eternity and the soul of the world.[14] The Gnostic Pistis Sophia (c. The famous ouroboros drawing from the early alchemical text, The Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra (Κλεοπάτρας χρυσοποιία), probably originally dating to the 3rd century Alexandria, but first known in a 10th-century copy, encloses the words hen to pan (ἓν τὸ πᾶν), "the all is one". Engraving of a wyvern-type ouroboros by Lucas Jennis, in the 1625 alchemical tract De Lapide Philosophico.
In Norse mythology, the ouroboros appears as the serpent Jörmungandr, one of the three children of Loki and Angrboda, which grew so large that it could encircle the world and grasp its tail in its teeth. In the legends of Ragnar Lodbrok, such as Ragnarssona þáttr, the Geatish king Herraud gives a small lindworm as a gift to his daughter Þóra Town-Hart after which it grows into a large serpent which encircles the girl's bower and bites itself in the tail. The serpent is slain by Ragnar Lodbrok who marries Þóra. Ragnar later has a son with another woman named Kráka and this son is born with the image of a white snake in one eye.
The ouroboros has certain features in common with the Biblical Leviathan. According to the Zohar, the Leviathan is a singular creature with no mate, "its tail is placed in its mouth", while Rashi on Baba Batra 74b describes it as "twisting around and encompassing the entire world".
Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung saw the ouroboros as an archetype and the basic mandala of alchemy. Jung also defined the relationship of the ouroboros to alchemy:
Carl Jung, Collected Works, Vol. 14 para. The alchemists, who in their own way knew more about the nature of the individuation process than we moderns do, expressed this paradox through the symbol of the Ouroboros, the snake that eats its own tail. The Ouroboros has been said to have a meaning of infinity or wholeness. In the age-old image of the Ouroboros lies the thought of devouring oneself and turning oneself into a circulatory process, for it was clear to the more astute alchemists that the prima materia of the art was man himself. The Ouroboros is a dramatic symbol for the integration and assimilation of the opposite, i.e. of the shadow. This 'feedback' process is at the same time a symbol of immortality since it is said of the Ouroboros that he slays himself and brings himself to life, fertilizes himself, and gives birth to himself. He symbolizes the One, who proceeds from the clash of opposites, and he, therefore, constitutes the secret of the prima materia which ...
W. Ross Ashby applied ideas from biology to his own work as a psychiatrist in "Design for a Brain" (1952): that living things maintain essential variables of the body within critical limits with the brain as a regulator of the necessary feedback loops. Hence the snake eating its tail is an accepted image or metaphor in the autopoietic calculus for self-reference,[30] or self-indication, the logical processual notation for analysing and explaining self-producing autonomous systems and "the riddle of the living", developed by Francisco Varela.
Second-order cybernetics, or the cybernetics of cybernetics, applies the principle of self-referentiality, or the participation of the observer in the observed, to explore observer involvement.
A medium-sized European hake, known in Spanish as pescadilla and in Portuguese as pescada, is often presented with its mouth biting its tail.
The Kobe, Japan-based Dragon Gate Pro-Wrestling promotion used a stylised ouroboros as their logo for the first 20 years of the company's existence. The logo is a silhouetted dragon twisted into the shape of an infinity symbol, devouring its own tail.
A variation of the Ouroboros motif is an important symbol in the fantasy novel The Neverending Story by Michael Ende: featuring two snakes, one black and one white, biting the other's tail, this symbol represents the powerful AURYN and the infinite nature of the story. The Worm Ouroboros is a high-fantasy novel written by E. R. Eddison.
Snake Goddesses
The Minoan Snake goddess and Egyptian snake goddess like Wadjet and Meretseger share some similarities, including a human-like figure holding snakes.
This Minoan figure below, dating from around 1600 BCE (Descending Dwapara Yuga) depicts a goddess-priestess holding two snakes in her raised arms, which may represent a ritual.
This Minoan Snake Goddess depicts a woman holding snakes and is often interpreted as a Mother Goddess. The snakes in her hands represent the renewal of life, and her attire is typical of a priestess and Mother Goddess.
While some believe she represents a mother goddess and creator, others suggest Minoan images of women with snakes represent priestesses.
Minoan Snake Goddess
Kundalini Shakti and Personal Experiences
Finally, let me share with you about my discovery of the largest statue dedicated to Kundalini Shakti on the planet. A few months before my major Kundalini awakening experience, I was in the midst of experiencing a lot of Kundalini phenomena. Heat in my spine, explosive bliss in my heart, deep and spontaneous meditation, and incredible synchronicity. I found myself at a theme park here in Canada, called Wonderland.
At Wonderland, I was about to go on a famous ride called Leviathan. As I sat on the rollercoaster before it launched, I noticed the attendant. His name tag said Shakti. And then we blasted off.
Soon after, I began to think about how his name alone was another nod and wink from the Universe, from Shakti, the Divine Mother, that I was on the right track. Next, I thought about the name Leviathan, the sea snake. As well, I count 7 major drops on the roller coaster, aligning with the 7 chakras. Clearly, this has to be the largest Kundalini Shakti statue on the planet, that is not only a statue, but also a direct experiential machine that represents the intense roller coaster ride, with ups and downs, that is the Kundalini process.
Never Ignore Snake Dreams — Why Kundalini Energy Manifests in Serpent Dreams
Now, I don’t necessarily think the designers were aware of Kundalini Shakti and trying to make their roller coaster represent it. I think that they were divinely inspired to choose this name for their roller coaster. The same goes for those who decided to use the other symbols for the healthcare field and the dollar sign. Maybe I’m a crazy person trying to superimpose my favourite topic onto the world and give meaning where there isn’t any. Maybe what I call synchronicity is merely coincidence and this can all be explained away as being random and arbitrary. Personally, I don’t think so, but I leave this up to you to decide. Maybe you have some of your own encounters with Kundalini Shakti symbology in your life.
| Symbol | Culture/Context | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Snake | Various | Kundalini energy, transformation, healing, rebirth |
| Caduceus | Greek Mythology | Health, healing, balance of Ida and Pingala nadis |
| Ouroboros | Egyptian, Greek, Alchemic | Eternity, cyclic renewal, self-reference |
| Serpent around Buddha | Buddhism | Protection, enlightenment |
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