“By perseverance the snail reached the ark” – Charles Spurgeon
In December of 2016 one of my newly found totem animal has introduced and manifested to me physically. I remember that it was in December of 2012 that my original spirit animal (the wolf) has come to possess my body during a shamanic ritual and since then I had one but now I got another.
I first encountered the slug during the yuletide of 2016 during my father’s visit in Tagaytay City. My father brought an Irish scotch in which I drank leisurely each night. When I was about to get a refill I saw a slug at the sink and I immediately took a photo of it. I got fond of looking at this vulnerable creature. I stared at it closely like a child curiously examining it for the first time. Its body was slushy. It looked so frail and weak. Its eyes were like antennas. It had a grey color with black spots that looked like a whirlwind of galaxies. It wasn’t very momentous to me at first but when I saw a ginormous snail (almost as big as a fist) I knew that something was in store. After 3 weeks, I went to my friends house and among all the parking spaces that were available the one that was left had this gigantic snail crawling on the wall. It was positioned visibly in such a way that it was centered on my headlights and it was so huge it was very hard to miss. And so I researched and found out the great implication of this creature in my life.
Among the many incredible symbolism of these creatures represent, here are the ones that impacted me most: the spiral in its shell represents the cycle of life, death and rebirth. The spiral is indicative of time itself. It is a micro-model of our universe. It was then that I realized that these messages has recurred since the time I felt that we human beings are celestial, capable of both dying and living in order to reincarnate once more.
In ancient Greece, snails are considered to be sacred. These magnificent creatures appear when the crops are ready to be harvested. And so they represent a bountiful harvest and fruition of hard labor.
The slug however, though it may look like a nuisance and disgusting for others, it connotes a deeper meaning. In native american cultures slugs are considered to be an ethereal being with healing abilities. The early native american people use to gargle banana slugs in their mouths in order to ease up toothaches. Their belief suggests that the slug’s mucous has anesthetic properties that can help in tooth problems.
Since slugs are also unisexual, they are epitomes of the Divine Masculinity and Divine Femininity and this is the reason why it is considered to be spiritual than an earthly being. They are capable of mating to any slug that can produce a significant number of offsprings and therefore represent great fertility.
In comparison to the snail that carries its home at its back, slugs don’t need to carry it with them. They don’t need to for they are already powerful. This could be very synonymous to a Buddhist principle that “a man that claims he has power doesn’t even have to lift a finger to prove it”. On the other hand, some shamanic cultures believe that they lose a part of themselves during a passing to the spiritual world just like a slug loses part of its body during mating.
And as both the snail and the slug are slow to do things, I can also relate that I often examine each situation in full awareness. I am taking charge of every step and every turn in my life. Thus, I have come into terms with my own physical body in which I am beginning to be fully conscious of what the guru inside is telling me.
I have come to trust the flow of nature. It was in my expedition at Majayjay Laguna that my inner guru has finally tapped me. It was soon after the snail and slug encounters that I’ve finally come to realize the essence of my unending journey – don’t rush everything in life in order to appreciate all the small many splendid things.
Watch the third episode of The First Jump entitled I See You this coming March 2017!
Grow wings and fly!
photo courtesy of: