The Serpent
Symbol for: the kundalini energy
Serpent
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The serpent is a universal metaphor for the kundalini energy. The Sanskrit word kundalini means coiled up, referring to a serpent sleeping coiled up. A serpent, with its ability to renew itself by shedding its skin, also reflects the transformative and healing aspect of kundalini.
What probably also played a role in the deeply entrenched use in human history of a serpent as a metaphor for this source of divine energy, is that our spinal column, viewed from the side, is shaped like a moving serpent.
Our spine evokes associations with a serpent
Kundalini means coiled up
Examples from Christian art
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Throughout the ages there have always been initiates, artists and mystics who knew that Jesus was not born as ‘the Son of God’, but had experienced a kundalini awakening, after which he was one with his Divine Father. The Gospel writers have hidden this spiritual truth in their texts in inventive ways, including the use of symbolism and wordplay (see my books). Because of the rigid attitude of the church, the truth could not be spoken aloud, but underground, through esoteric groups such as the Freemasons, it found its way onto the canvas.
They also knew that Mary Magdalene – Jesus’ most important disciple – had also been spiritually ‘awakened’. The seven demons that Jesus had expelled from Mary according to the Bible is a metaphor for the purification of her seven chakras by the kundalini, which also connected her with God.
THE SIGN OF THE SACRED MARRIAGE (two fingers together: 2=1) is incorporated in many paintings, in one form or another, often in combination with other esoteric symbolism. This hand gesture refers to a fusion of the polar energies/duality, and with this to a process of kundalini awakening.
Mary Magdalene, artist unknown. Mary’s DRESS resembles the skin of a serpent. Her HAIR reaches down to her PELVIS, the abode of the kundalini, and refers to GOLDEN SERPENTS moving upward. Read about Mary’s kundalini process in my book “Mary Magdalene the disciple whom Jesus loved.”
Eugene Delacroix, 1853 – 1856. The Y-shaped BODY POSTURE (click here) of Jesus on the cross represents the merger of the POLAR ENERGIES
Antonello da Messina. The two TREE TRUNKS are shaped like an ascending SERPENT and represent the ida and pingala nadi.
Benedetto Nucci, 1571.
Master Virgo Inter Virgines. BLACK, WHITE, YELLOW AND RED are the colors of the four phases of the MAGNUM OPUS (click here) of the alchemist, which is a metaphor for the process of kundalini awakening.
Bartolomeo Passarotti
Pedro García de Benabarre. For the deeper meaning of the BAPTISM of Christ, see my book ‘John the Baptist who became Jesus the Christ’.
Bernardo Bitti, circa 1603.
Mary’s DRESS resembles the skin of a serpent.
Peter Paul Rubens (attr. to). The double loop of the serpent body refers to the SACRED MARRIAGE (2=1). See also symbols: the VESICA PISCIS (click here) and the DOUBLE CIRCLE (click here). An extended MIDDLE FINGER (click here) represents an AWAKENED SPINE.
Domenico Tintoretto. The merger of the POLAR ENERGIES is symbolized by: 1. the CRESCENT MOON (coincidence of sun and moon), 2. the Y-shaped BODY POSTURE (click here) of Jesus on the cross, and 3. the INFINITY SIGN under Jesus. Read about Mary’s kundalini process in my book “Mary Magdalene the disciple whom Jesus loved.”
Man of Sorrows (artist unknown), Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nürnberg, circa 1470.
Eugene Delacroix, circa 1835. The crucifixion symbolizes the DEATH OF THE EGO. Read more in my book ‘John the Baptist who became Jesus the Christ’.
Pedro Berruguete
Gerard David, circa 1508. John the Baptist resembles a woman: MARY MAGDALENE. This is a reference to the SACRED MARRIAGE (click here) that took place in Jesus. Read more in my book: “Mary Magdalene, the disciple whom Jesus loved.“
Quentin Matsys. The HAIR COLORS BLACK, WHITE, AND RED of the three men in the background refer to the MAGNUM OPUS (click here) of the alchemist.
Filippo Lippi. The front TREE, a Cypress, is exactly in line with the angel’s SPINE.
Bernardino Zaganelli 16th century, Brera Gallery.
Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lissabon (anonymous).
Santissima Trinità church, Momo. Read about the crucifixion and the kundalini serpent in my book ‘John the Baptist who became Jesus the Christ’.
Fresco Baptism of Jesus, artist unknown. The TWO FISH refer to the VESICA PISCIS (click here), a symbol for SACRED MARRIAGE (2=1). The CROSSED LEGS (click here) also refer to this UNION.
Amalteo Pomponio, Santo Stefano Church, Venice.
Espallargues. The AUREOLE of Mary and John has the shape of a DOUBLE CIRCLE (click here): a symbol from alchemy that represents the fusion of the POLAR ENERGIES (the masculine and the feminine).
Raffaello Sanzio
Manet Edouard, 1864. Both angels point to the HEAD: here the DEATH (of the ego) and the RESURRECTION take place.
Giuseppe Cesari il Cavalier D’Arpino
Bartholomaeus Bruyn the Elder, 1532. The MAN on the left is dressed in the colors of the four phases of the MAGNUM OPUS (click here): BLACK, WHITE, YELLOW AND RED. The manner in which the man next to him holds the THREE NAILS with which Jesus was crucified symbolizes the MERGING of the ENERGY CHANNELS.
Tiziaan (Tiziano Vecelli), circa 1520.
Tizian (Tiziano Vecelli). The BODY POSTURE of the dead Christ resembles the movement of a SERPENT. The BALD SPOT on the right man’s head refers to the alchemical symbol for SACRED MARRIAGE (2=1): The DOUBLE CIRCLE (click here).
The Baptism of Christ, Rijksmuseum. There is a piece of cloth hanging around the arm of John the Baptist that resembles a SERPENT. Jesus points to his SPINE. Standing on ONE LEG (click here) refers to the SACRED MARRIAGE (2=1). The two pairs express the SACRED MARRIAGE (click here), or REBIS (click here): light-dark (left) and man-woman (right). Only ONE LEG of all four people is visible.
Andrea del Castagno, circa 1447. The ANGELS are dressed in the colors of the four phases of the MAGNUM OPUS (click here): BLACK, WHITE, YELLOW AND RED.
Jesus and the Centurion of Capernaum, Franz Christoph Janneck. The PALM TREE (click here) is a symbol for the AWAKENED SPINE. The FIG LEAVES (click here) in the foreground are a symbol for the kundalini. Only ONE LEG (click here) of the man next to the fig leaves is visible. This is a reference to the merger of the POLAR ENERGIES (2=1). On the SHIELD, THREE LIGHTNINGS (of the god Zeus) are held together: the three energy channels that merge into one during a kundalini awakening.
Tiziaan (Tiziano Vecelli). The DOUBLE HEADED EAGLE (click here) is an alchemical symbol for a completed MAGNUM OPUS (process of kundalini awakening).
Giovanni da Modena (follower of), circa 1450, Cappella di S. Croce, Mondovì Piazza, Torino.
Cain and Abel, Giorgio Vasari. More about the symbolism in the story of Cain and Abel in my book ‘Kundalini Awakening in the Bible’.
The Mystical Marriage of St. Catherine of Siena, Clemente de Torres. Jesus does not place the wedding ring on the ring finger, but on the MIDDLE FINGER (click here) of Saint Catherine, which symbolizes her awakened SPINE.
Jörg Ratgeb, 1505 – 1510.
The dance of Salomé (=the kundalini serpent) and the beheading of John the Baptist, Monastery of St. John in Müstair, Switzerland.
For the deeper meaning of the beheading of John, see my book ‘John the Baptist who became Jesus the Christ’.