It was a warm, sticky morning in the middle of summer on the Sunshine Coast. The kids were busy getting ready for school, so I seized the chance to duck out of the house for a few minutes and take a walk around our 5-acre property. I wanted to ground my energy and get ready for a productive day in the office.
As I stepped out of the door, I stopped short at the Angel Trumpet tree near the entrance. There, hanging from the tree, was a beautiful 2.5 metre (8 feet) snakeskin.
Yes! The complete skin of a real snake (you gotta love Australia).
Instead of getting in a panic about snakes being near our house, I saw this as a gift. I carefully unwrapped it from the branches and brought it inside, placing it on the sacred altar in my office.
You see, this was a treasured blessing from nature. A symbol of what was unfolding in my business and personal life.
Although often depicted as the bad guy, the deceptive, treacherous villain, the snake is actually a beautiful symbol of feminine power.
A snake sheds its skin when it has grown so big that it can no longer fit in its current skin. When it feels the tightness and constriction of its skin, it squeezes itself between the branches of a tree or a tight spot, and gently eases out of the old skin.
At first, the snake’s new skin is fresh and raw, but over time, it grows into its new skin with ease. And as it continues to grow, so continues the cycle of shedding its skin.
The snake continues to surpass its limits with every season and period of growth.
This is why snakes – and in particular, snakeskins – are a sign of transformation. We are constantly growing and evolving, and there comes a time when our current ‘skin’ no longer fits and we must shed it so a new one can grow.
Now, this wasn’t the first time I’d encountered one of these treasured snakeskins. Over the summertime, I had found at least 4 snakeskins nearby the front entrance of our home. At first, I didn’t think much of it – I just thought this was what snakes do. But later I had the realisation that, while walking around my property, I had never seen a snakeskin, except for at the front of our home. It was as if these snakes were purposefully leaving their skins for me to find!
Now I understand the message. This is how I’m feeling as I expand from my role as Founder of Biddy Tarot, and I step out as a businesss mentor and coach at brigitesselmont.com. And I can see that this is how many entrepreneurs feel as they grow and evolve.
We grow and expand, to the point that we need to shed our skin, or remain forever constrained. We need the tight corners, things that stretch us and take us out of our comfort zone. We finally shed the skin. We feel raw and uncertain of our new identity, but we also feel new & fresh.
Ask yourself, how am I growing and expanding right now? And what ‘skin’ do I need to shed so that I can continue to evolve and stretch beyond my comfort zone?
Much Love,
