Snake

My friend Dawn sent me this picture of mushrooms that were growing by her house, and kindly said I could use the pic. I think they're amazing. I really don't know this species, but something about them says 'edible' to me, although maybe my instinct is being influenced by the fact that Dawn told me they had 'cracked' even more since she took this photo and they reminded her of chocolate cookies baking.

On Monday, as part of our witch training, I held a snake for the first time ever. Now I have told a few people about this and a couple have said something along the lines of, yeah, that was never on my list of things to do. Nor was it on mine. But I did feel good about it.

When I did my first training for the Nature Park, I remember feeling quite an unexpected and primordial fear when Kris got one of the snakes out and held it. There was something about the movement of its head.
And Monday, when Joanne held the snake to hand over to me, there was still something there, as the snake flicked the air with its tongue, looking at me, until I actually took it and became the person responsible for its safety, and then the fear was gone.

That was my third encounter with a snake in the last couple of weeks. One of the trails we have we call the 'Sneaky Snake Trail', and yet throughout the spring and summer I have never seen a snake there. Then last week, when Lori, Jo and I were walking it, a snake just very languidly slithered over one of the wooden path sides and we all stood and watched.
Last week also I had the encounter where the snake crossed right in front of me and silently off into the trees, I mentioned that in a blog and said that I felt it had some deeper meaning. So I looked up the deeper meaning of snakes and this one caught my attention.

" [He] taught us about Snake medicine people who know that we are all Universal beings. When Snake energy reaches the spiritual plane it becomes wisdom, understanding, wholeness and connection to the Great Spirit. [He] says that this is heavy magic but wants you to remember that it is no more than a change in consciousness. Do you find yourself in a rut; clinging to old ways and old thoughts because you are comfortable with them? [He] urges you to glide beyond that place which is safe but nonproductive by becoming Snake. Release the outer skin of your old identity and move through the dreamlike illusion of static continuity across the sands of consciousness. Feel Snake's rhythm as part of the Universe and you will experience the sensual dance of freedom."

I liked that, it resonated with the Psychic who told me that I had come from the Jungle to the Desert.

This morning at the Nature Park we had a Jewish school come in for a programme. The boys wore beautifully embroidered skull caps. The teacher, instead of having one of those nasty little jingles that make me want to vomit to grab the children's attention, spoke to them in Hebrew, which I thought was just beautiful, and taught them reverence for the language and when they had a snack, they said a Hebrew prayer. They were lovely kids, but then so were the group we had this afternoon. But what a different task for that teacher. In the class she had to deal with a child with Down's Syndrome and one with autism. I feel quite strongly about this policy of complete inclusion. It is nonsense. It is more isolationist for the children with disabilities than if they are taught separately and by specialists and it impoverishes the learning experience of the rest of the class. It does this both by forcing more teacher attention to be spent on the children with difficulties and by stressing the teacher unnecessarily.

But this morning's children were keen to see the snake and to touch her, so I took one out of the tank and they seemed delighted to be able to see a snake up close.

Pre-hibernating snakes and showy mushrooms. Autumn delights.