Meditation Upon a Copperhead

 

What do you do when you stumble upon a copperhead one morning as you are feeding your goats?  

What do you do when you stumble upon a copperhead one morning as you are feeding your goats and the previous night you spent time before bed reading a timeless spiritual classic, The Way of the Shaman?

What do you do when you stumble upon a copperhead one morning as you are feeding your goats and the previous night you spent time before bed reading a spiritual classic, The Way of the Shaman and for the past several months you have been contemplating what it means to become an Alchemist?

Well, you put the dogs away, go to the house and grab a machete. Then you have an enlightened spiritual moment that says maybe you should do things differently.  Maybe you should try to understand the way and the meaning of the copperhead instead of chopping off it's head.  Maybe you should have a meditative moment, transmute the situation, unite heaven and earth...ok? OK.

I have Native American ancestry on my mother's side and perhaps that is where my fascination with shamanism originates. However, I have always, even since I was a sensitive little child, been a spiritual seeker.  Long before I learned that my ancestors were tribal people, perhaps even some of them shamans, I was trying to find my connection with Spirit, Divine Love, GOD.

As I considered what to do with the copperhead this morning, I remembered I knew that snakes were spirit animals.  I found that out last spring when I did some internet searching after stepping on a poor lowly black snake that had laid itself across my threshold one day.  I was pretty sure I remembered that snakes symbolize transformation. Stepping on the black snake last spring did seem to coincide with some very important transformations and awakenings in my life.  This remembrance caused me to pause today and reconsider my reactionary, fear-laden first thought that said, "Off with it's head!"

One of the things that has opened up to me and opened me up has been a curiosity for and beginning some research and study of Alchemy.  For me, a major theme of Alchemy is transmutation, taking what is or appears to be and changing it into something else, optimally for good, something beautiful, somethings elevated, something divine.

The question this morning quickly became how to transmute an encounter with a copperhead? Another way of looking at it...what would a shaman do?

 Since my cellphone is with me virtually all the time, I did a quick internet search on copperheads and reconfirmed that snakes are symbols of transformation. They are said to be able to unite heaven and earth. In Native American culture copperheads are seen as symbols of wisdom, life, and change. As totem animals, copperheads represent strength, independence, and determination.

I reckoned that I could always use a little bit of wisdom and who couldn't benefit from more strength, independence and determination.  Life is always full of change. A little heaven on earth is very much welcomed.

So, I fed the goats, keeping my eye on the copperhead as much or more than he was keeping his eye on me.  Him frozen, me moving carefully to and fro until the chores were complete and the goats, oblivious to the viper that was coiled outside their abode, gobbled up grain and grazed on hay.  They appeared satisfied, fat and happy.

The copperhead stayed still, perhaps welcoming some meditative time as an alternative to having his head cut off.  He relaxed his coiling, and I began a drumbeat upon what I had at hand, an empty 5-gallon plastic bucket that I use to carry water to the goats to drink. I began.

Pum- pum- pum. Pum- pum- pum. A wren flew dangerously close to the resting viper. I watched. Pum- pum- pum. Pum- pum- pum. Would the snake strike?  Was the wren in danger? Pum- pum- pum. Pum- pum- pum. 

Nothing. Pum- pum- pum. Everyone was safe.  Pum- pum- pum. The copperhead wanted to hurt no-one. Pum- pum- pum. It was just being a snake. Pum- pum- pum. 

Transmute this moment, I thought. Pum- pum- pum. A distant bird joined in, wee-O-wee-O-wee-O-weet.  Pum- pum- pum. Bring love and harmony to this goat yard. Pum- pum- pum. Thor, one of our yearling weathers looked at me in wonder. Pum- pum- pum. Could I capture this moment?  Pum- pum- pum. Could I share it with the world?

Pum- pum- pum. Pum- pum- pum. I pulled out my cellphone again.  Started recording and the bird in the distance joined in. Pum- pum- pum. Pum- pum- pum. Pum- pum- pum. Pum- pum- pum. I ended the recording.  Got up to reassess the situation.  The snake stretched out in a long line.  He poked his head into a hole and slithered away.  The time was 12:12, a fortuitous time...and the day has been filled with synchronicity ever since.  

I'm feeling grateful.  I am feeling blessed.  I am feeling a little bit nervous to go out to the goat yard this evening.  Where is that machete?   And so goes the spiritual journey, my spiritual journey.  Perhaps I'm not quite ready to walk every moment in the way of the shaman. Or maybe...I AM.  They say you can achieve anything you want when you work with a copperhead totem. No more fear!  Abracadabra!