Barefoot and Belly-Led: Snake as an Archetypal Remedy

In a world where we’ve been taught to strive for a ‘hot girl summer’ – to appear radiant, confident, and constantly ‘on’ – many sensitive, magical souls feel a pressure to outwardly glow. This constant bombardment to bloom can stir overwhelm, burnout, disconnect from our bodies, and even fear of our true and authentic sensual power.

As we move into the heat of August and holiday season, we may feel a need to perform – even when we aren’t feeling radiant – instead of simply being ourselves. If you resonate with this, it is often a gentle invitation to explore a more instinctual, authentic way to live as we move through the intensity of summer. There’s an archetypal remedy that can help us heal this need to perform radiance, instead of feeling a true glow from within. Quite synchronistically (because I am in the jungle as this is shared), the Archetypal Snake – from the wild ‘Animal Queendom’ of remedies – holds a mirror to this cultural wound of having to dance for the snake charmers, coiling ourselves up and performing, rather than expressing our true sensuality. And she can help us reclaim our inner sensual Witch of Summer – if we let her.  

Snake medicine: the sacred art of belly-led living

Archetypal remedies are ancient energetic medicines drawn from the natural world – animals, plants, minerals and more – that act as mirrors reflecting aspects of our inner selves. They reflect parts of our personality, wounds, and potential for healing. By working with them, we can awaken dormant aspects of ourselves that we have shamed and reclaim lost parts of our souls, remembering our wholeness. They offer us a way to deepen self-awareness, release unconscious patterns and reclaim our true selves. The Snake is one of the most sacred of these remedies. In her healthy expression, she coils with life-force energy centred deep in the belly, where instinct, creativity and power reside. With her wildness, Snake represents the parts of us that have become contained – the parts that have learned to contort ourselves, sell our souls and perform for snake charmers. She calls us to illuminate this, transforming, shedding our skins and becoming who we truly are. Myth and legend honour the serpent as a symbol of rebirth and renewal. Like the snake, we are invited to slow down, uncoil ourselves, stop performing and move barefoot upon the earth, reconnecting with the ancient inbuilt rhythms of our bodies and the pulse of life. By working with her energy, we remember the sacred art of belly-led living – trusting our instincts, embracing our sensuality and reclaiming the true authentic life-force within.  

Snake’s shadow: where we sell our souls

Snake’s shadow is found in the spell of the snake charmer: the learning of having to perform for others, coiling ourselves tightly, or selling our soul to stay safe. It’s the fear of owning our true feminine power, and instead shrinking, hiding or performing a version of ourselves. This is how you might know you’re in Snake’s shadow, and how she is calling to your for healing:

• Feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, burnt-out or numb, especially under summer’s demands
• Moving too fast – rushing our bodies faster than they want to go
• Feeling a loss of connection to ourselves
• Shaming our sensuality and suppressing the sacral power in our bellies
• Dancing to other people’s tunes and selling our soul’s wild feminine power to meet expectations
• Feeling compelled to ‘glow’ for others, hiding who we truly are
• Losing connection to our inner knowing, feeling like we don’t know what’s for us

One particular thing to note is that archetypal healing works on the ancient principle of ‘like cures like’, which means what causes things also cures them. Because of this, the people who need Snake’s remedy the most can quite often be those who directly fear snakes. If you’re reading this, resonating, and also have a phobia of snakes, this may be a calling. This fear is normal – and if this is you, Snake is a potent remedy that you’ve come here to embody in this life-time. An good enquiry is: ‘Which aspects of Snake do I resist or fear?’  there’s reclamation in that question. Recognising these shadows is the first step towards shedding the protective snakeskin that our inner little girl has learnt to wear to keep herself safe, and beginning to step into Snake’s gold: slow, sensual, barefoot and belly-led living that releases trapped, pent-up life-force energy.  

Snake’s gold: embodiment and union

In her healthy expression, Snake invites us into union – with ourselves, our souls, our bodies – and the sacred rhythms of the earth we slither on. She shows us that we don’t have to continue dancing for the charmers, but can reclaim our sense of self by connecting inwardly to our sensual desires, our hearts, our inner intuition and our souls. She offers us the medicine of shedding our old skins – the fears and disconnections that have kept us coiled tightly – allowing us to choose to uncoil, releasing the weight of expectation and reconnecting with what’s important to us. In short, she helps us reconnect to our bodies, to the space of desire that we can often feel when we connect to our bellies, and reminds us that we came here to be fully alive, not to perform. That is how we truly reclaim radiance – by filling ourselves to the brim with connection to life.  

A Snake ritual invitation

Archetypal Snake will teach us all different lessons as we work with her – there’s no ‘one size fits all’ here. It’s about what we have to learn from her symbolism. We can begin our healing with a simple connection into Snake medicine and illuminating where we resonate with her patterns, and by beginning some embodiment of her energy.

1. Create a space that brings in serpent energy - wear snake jewellery, light musky incense, or play snake-like music.
2. Journal – ask yourself:
   1. Where do I resonate with Snake energy? Where am I selling my soul?
   2. Where do I fear Snake energy? How do I feel about my sensual power?
   3. Am I willing for Snake to reveal more around my patterns?
3. If the answer is ‘yes’, take yourself off into a space in nature – barefoot and belly-led – and wander in a circular, coiled path, like a labyrinth.
4. Walk slowly and tenderly, spiralling, holding your womb-space, following your belly button, and staying focused on your breath.
5. Tune into your body’s sensations and instincts. Move however your belly desires – perhaps dancing like a serpent.
6. For a moment, just allow yourself to move as your body desires – no constraints, just your energy flowing freely. This is you embodying Snake essence.

Remember, this is just the beginning. The real work is in the ongoing noticing of where Snake’s patterns show up in your daily life, so keep noticing and loving these parts of yourself which have learnt to keep safe in this way. This work is how transformation begins. There’s radical healing and reclamation as we work with this archetypal remedy and return to our sensual instincts. As you connect with your sensual Summer Witch, remember that true summer radiance starts within, not without – from union with our souls, not dancing for the snake charmer. May you walk barefoot, be belly-led and wild this summer season, honouring your body’s wisdom and desires.