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Unfolding Wings: The Myth of the Plumed Serpent

Dear Being Energy Community,

When did you unfold wings?  How did you do it?

Lets start by looking at how we can apply the myth of the Plumed Serpent to our daily lives. First of all it calls for daring.  When we decide to do something new, we start a personal process of becoming, a process that moves us from something we know into unknown and unfamiliar territory.

The myth describes the story of a snake evolving into something inconceivable.  By growing wings the snake becomes airborne and changes into something new and undiscovered.  Earth and sky are united, and conceptually, it reveals a personal process that opens us to uniting the contrasts or contradictions within us.  In order for us to change, we need to give something up before the new thought or behavior becomes the new one.

The myth of Quetzalcoatl links the space between the old and the new, and embodies a process of becoming.  For the shamans of Mesoamerica the Plumed Serpent is a symbol of evolution.  It describes the evolution of the cosmos, or the evolutionary process each one of us embodies.

Apply this concept to your life:

When was the last time you dared to try something completely new?  When did you unfold wings?  How did it feel?

For example, when leaving the stability of an old job to start something completely different.  On the one hand it is exciting and fulfilling to move towards something more meaningful, yet on the other hand, it produces the kind of teeth-chattering fear of not being able to pay the rent or mortgage.  What will I lose, what will I have to give up?  What if I’m successful?

What else unfolds in that process?  If I am moving towards more meaningful work and looking for congruence with one of my beliefs or perspectives, like, “I need to contribute something to the world, I need to give back,” what new view will unfold?  I might find that I have reserves of energy I didn’t know existed for working on projects that satisfy my belief of helping others.  I might find that helping others sometimes satisfies me more than the people I want to “help.”  I might learn that I need to take more time to understand the needs of others before taking action to help them.

Certain aspects of myself unfold and in that process I embody contrasting perspectives. The transformative experience creates a wider perspective that moves me toward new behaviors.

The myth of the Plumed Serpent connects us deeply to the universe and all its contrasts, light and dark, life and death.

You may have heard the quote from astronomer Carl Sagan, spoken in an old television series called Cosmos.  In it Sagan said, “We are a way for the universe to know itself.  Some part of our being knows this is where we came from. We long to return. And we can, because the cosmos is also within us. We’re made of star stuff.”  When we connect with the cosmos, the evolutionary process inside of us, we can become something new.

We at Being Energy practice a sequence of movements and breathing techniques, the Quetzalcoatl movements to explore new beginnings, or to intend a shift in our lives. Through the practice of this sequence of movements, we shift our perception; we focus our minds and hearts in the unfolding momentum of the present moment.

We focus on the vibrations within us to activate the sinewy, undulating movement of the serpent moving up through our spine.  We spark our mind-body to remember and manifest an ancient memory of who we are, and who we want to become.

The Quetzalcoatl movements activate the vibratory force within to connect with something new outside of us.  We open ourselves to the moment of our wings unfolding, acknowledge our discoveries and actively choose new paths. When did you unfold your wings?  How did it happen?  What aspects of you need to unfold?

Share your comments, ask questions and keep exploring!