The Serpent Power
The cunning of the serpent power can be vanquished by one force that exceeds the power of all others, and that is by the commitment to love.
There is a form of darkness that operates within the subtle domain of mind and emotion that we may call ‘the serpent power.’ This force (for it is a cosmic energy that operates in this way), has, as its means, the attributes of cunning, guile, subterfuge, and especially rationalization which reinforce the belief that one should listen to its message.
Such a force has been written about since ancient times, however, it operates today beyond the sphere of legend and story. It operates within our own individual and collective consciousness when we justify actions of harm toward ourselves or others.
The primary tool of the serpent power is seduction through the mind’s presenting seemingly coherent and logical reasons why one should believe the illusions that it is putting forth. The cunning of this force creates webs of partial truths and partial falsehoods, so that one succumbing to its influence can always find a foothold of partial truth to justify actions and feelings that are fundamentally wrong and harmful to life. Such actions and feelings devalue the importance of love and kindness, and put in their place a false sense of righteousness, with a feeling of entitlement to feel and act the way one does.
In this time of outer conflict it is important for each one who desires peace in the world and an end to enmity, to scrutinize their own consciousness so that no traces of the serpent power remains.
To penetrate the cunning of the serpent is to not believe one’s reasons for feeling anger, resentment, blame, and rejection of love. It is to not believe in the underlying premise put forth by the power of the serpent. For most, this is not an easy task, for the mind’s logic which holds the basic structure of rationalization that declares why it is ‘right’ to feel the way one feels, often gains ascendance over the heart’s moral values and desire to love as a primary motive.
To remove oneself from the influence of the serpent power one must first know that it is there and that it is real. When flying into a rage, or in feeling hurt, bruised, or resentful about life or about the actions of another, one must be able to question the underlying premise of such feelings in terms of their justification. Too often, we are caught up in our own self-righteousness so that we do not know that we are being taken over by an unknown and unwanted ‘other’ influence.
The cunning of the serpent power can be vanquished by one force that exceeds the power of all others, and that is by the commitment to love. The practice of love and the unwillingness to harbor or justify feelings other than love more than any other factor can dismantle the overriding influence of whatever logic the mind may put forth to support its own illusions. The commitment to love as the source of all action and all feeling goes far in being able to right a ship that has keeled over, and to restore integrity to a mind and heart that have lost their way within the landscape of illusion. Among the qualities of love, however, must also be love for oneself and love for the Divine, for without these two underpinnings, there is not enough foundational support to the commitment to love.
In this time of outer conflict among individuals, groups, and nations, it is important for each one who desires peace in the world and an end to enmity to scrutinize their own consciousness so that no traces of the serpent power remain to justify resentment, anger, blame, and all the feelings that follow from this. Within the domain of one’s own consciousness lies the greatest potential for defeating the serpent power, and for healing the ills of the world.