A Serpent-Bird
Yesterday an express parcel arrived from Venezuela. I was surprised, but then remembered: Friends of mine, a couple from Caracas had announced a week ago they would like to send me something. I had met them 2.5 years ago at the marriage of the son of our spiritual teacher in India, and it was a hearty meeting. Though they don’t speak English and I no Spanish, we had some contact from time to time and they like reading our monthly newsletter, El Mensajero Lunar.
The content of the parcel was a beautiful little work of ceramic art inspired by Latin-Indian tradition: A serpent-bird, made out of an involving and evolving line. I was deeply touched by this gift, for it is a profound occult symbolism for the descent of spirit into matter and of the ascent back to the spirit. The Indian symbol of the Feathered Serpent is depicting the same truth and is regarded as a symbol of an initiate. You might like to read here more about the “Mystery of the Serpent” from our Lunar Messengers. The serpent descending the tree in paradise and tempting man with the sensual experience (apple) is half part of the story. As long as we live in matter, we are regarded as creeping snakes. But when we start upon the path of return, we move up again and the serpent becomes a winged serpent, just as you see in the symbol of the Caduceus, the rod of Asclepius which is still used by our modern doctors as a symbol of healing (though the wings are unfortunately missing – a sign of the state of modern medical art?). “The tongues of the serpent become the wings of the eagle” it says in Spiritual Psychology meditations of Dr. E. Krishnamacharya, thus being the symbol of the unfolding Kundalini energy.
I put the picture of the serpent-bird on the wall at the entrance of our apartment, so that it might be a constant inspiration.
The serpent-bird of involving and evolving currents of energy
Asclepius, the great healer-initiate. Photo: Epidaurus, May 2005
January 5th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Thank you very much for your post! Yes, we were with our spiritual Teacher, Dr. Kumar, in Epidaurus, where he explained to us about the healing temple there. He also explained in Delphi about the serpent Python, which represents the earth kundalini. The Pythia of the oracle in the Apollo-temple was the guardian, Apollo, the sun god, flying on an eagle.
I have seen a “dreaming cell” at the Extern Stones, Northern Germany, at the feet of which you find a sacrophag-like stone basin. It says that in times of old he people to be initiated were put there for 3 days “dreaming” and then brought up into a cave-like stone cell (see at the top of the rock where the bridge leads to), where there is a hole where the sun in shining through only around summer solstice, June 21st. The cellar had been broken up and destroyed later by Christian missionaries, but you still see the hole.
We are tomorrow going to India for a seminar with our teacher. There is a Planetary Healing Centre at a magnetic spot, see the pictures here.
Keep on with your good work!