Serpent Power

The Chinese say A picture is worth a thousand words. The following is from Arthur Avalon s book, The Serpent Power, in which he records an experience that a European friend of his had. 

Arthur Avalon, The Serpent Power (New York Dover, 1974), pp. 20-21. 

The Sanskrit noun kundalini literally means the coiled one. This refers to the reservoir of the Fiery Power coiled at the base of the spine, and also to the spiral movement of the one radiant energy. The Qabalah teaches that the original kundalini center is in Malkuth (the laboratory of the Holy Spirit) and that the Yesod center is a storehouse for that energy. Kundalini is also called the Serpent Power, because when the ancients observed the serpent casting its skin, the snake was taken to... 

This enigmatic forth state is this limitless consciousness Sir John Woodroffe speaks of in his The Serpent Power, but there is a fifth state even more of an enigma than The Sleepless Sleep. Rarely spoken of, they call it Turiyaatitam "Beyond the Sleepless Sleep". It is the super-conscious state, the universal mind, where there is no object, only one vast and luminous self-awareness that contains within it all things. 

The body turns a reddish hue as the Kundalini is aroused. There will also be a concentration of heat in the region of the awakened chakra, as Woodroffe also attests to in The Serpent Power. "There is one simple test whether the Shakti is actually aroused. When she is aroused intense heat is felt at that spot but when she leaves a particular centre that part so left becomes as cold and apparently lifeless as a corpse. The progress upwards may thus be externally verified by others. When the Shakti (Power) has reached the upper-brain (Sahasrara) the whole body is cold and corpse-like except the top of the skull, where some warmth is felt, this being the place where the static and kinetic aspects of Consciousness unite." At this point the body appears pale, cool, and glows with a soft lustre. 

At the point in our investigation at which we have now arrived, we shall have to make some inquiry into that mysterious force said to be resident in man, which is so often called the Serpent Power. This is the Paraklete of the New Testament, the Speirema of the Greeks and the Sanskrit Kundalini. But before we can deal with this question we must remind ourselves that man is to be regarded as multiplex and not simple, as possessing—at least—three bodies, and not one. 

At the same time we would point out that the question is really so vast, that to do it justice in the short space at our disposal is impossible, and that we venture to deal with the matter at all simply because so much appalling rubbish has been written about it that we do not, ourselves, wish to be misunderstood. For a detailed and scholarly exposition of the subject, we would refer our readers to Shakti and Shakta and to The Serpent Power, both by Sir John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon). 

Now we were led to the consideration of this Serpent Power by the Orphic and Mithraic sculptures portraying the reborn man with the serpent coiled around him. And when we remember that in many instances it is coiled in seven coils, we must admit that the similarity to Kundalini is marked, which confirms our introductory statement at the beginning of this chapter, that She is the same as the Speirema of the Greeks. 

Lamed—To subdue the most ferocious animals and have power to pronounce those words which paralyse and charm serpents. 

As the serpent burns, Hui recites the words of power from the text. Starting with, Fire be upon thee Apep, thou enemy of Ra, he... 

In the myth of Ra and Isis, it was said that the great and powerful sun god, Ra, was one who jealously guarded his name. Desiring this power, Isis used her magic to create a deadly serpent and left it in the path of the sun god to be sure it would bite him. Once stricken by the serpent, Ra could only be saved by Isis, but before she helped him, she... 

I would spare you all the pain in the world if it was within my powers, Irena. Dusha s voice quavered inexplicably over her sister s name. And my reason suffers at the very idea of leaving one so gende - she grasped Irena s wrist and the girl gasped - to the mercies of a serpent such as this ... 

These are also the two serpents sent by Juno, who is the metallic nature, which the strong Hercules, that is to say, the Sage, was to strangle in his cradle I mean to conquer and to kill, to make them decay, rot and engender at the beginning of his work. These are again the two serpents attached to the caduceus of Mercury, with which he exercised his great power and transformed himself as he wished. 

There is a great power hidden in antimony which is often depicted in alchemical images as a black dragon, a venomous serpent, a wolf, or an orb surmounted by a cross. The... 

The intense black colour, high lustre and warm feel of jet were undoubtedly what made it such a sought-after material. Yet its undiminished attraction in the Middle Ages may well have been partly due to a continuing belief in its special powers. It was thought that it could drive out devils and dissolve spells and enchantments. When heated it could ward off serpents. Furthermore, if a potion of powdered jet and water was given to a lady and acted as a diuretic, it was taken as proof that she was not a virgin. 

Some cultures hold snakes in high esteem as powerful religious symbols. Quetzalcoatl, the mythical plumed serpent, was worshipped as the Master of Life hy ancient Aztecs of Central America. Some African cultures worship rock pythons and consider the killing of one to he... 

Tantric, like Taoist, alchemy is mainly internal. It aims to effect a transmutation in the body by producing certain bodily fluids thatwill enable the Tantrist to be at one with the Universe, and to acquire supernatural powers. According to the Tantrist, the body has seven main centers of supernormal psychic energy. They have no physical existence, but can be identified by the Tantrist as being situated along a line between the bottom of the spine and the crown of the head. These centers are known as chakras or wheels. The lowest chakra is inhabited by the kundalini, which in the normal person lies curled up, asleep, like a small serpent, its head blocWng the path of ascent to the next chakra. 

As a beginning we may ask ourselves what is Kundalini Shakti and why is it said to be coiled like a serpent What is the nature of this power and what are the Chakras Why is this force in the Muladhara, and why, when awakened, should it go upwards What is the effect of its going to Sahasrara ... 

At the right we see a great sumiruna who lifts a white serpent to give power to a... 

We also see beings from the Divine Kingdom descending from above and giving perfect foundation to the earth, whose nucleus appears behind them. To the left we see a six-headed serpent, and next to it the rumi salamandra [salamander of the rock], with ultra-physical powers. More towards the front one sees the ailpa-puma [jaguar of the earth] with bristles and two horns. 

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